Shawn O'Connor

“The Estate Sale” by Shawn O'Connor

“I’ve got a plan!” Marcus yelled, barging into the room and swiping everything off of Dominic’s desk. “Does your plan include cleaning all of this up you absolute psycho? What the hell is wrong with you?” Dom stared at Marcus in shock and amazement. “Sorry, I’ve always wanted to do that. But seriously check this out.” Marcus spread out a newspaper on the newly cleared desktop. He flipped over to the obituaries and slammed his finger down aggressively staring at Dominic with a sinister smile. “So are you going to explain yourself or jus...

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“What's Mine is Yours” by Shawn O'Connor

The twin doors of the saloon swung open and Alistair walked inside. Apart from a few fleeting glances nobody paid him any mind. He wasn’t exactly an opposing figure and though it was a bit odd for a scrawny man like Alistair to be walking into a place like this alone, the patrons had gotten really good at minding their own business. As such, Alistair made his way to the bar mostly unnoticed, save for a single gentleman seated across the room in the corner, out of sight. Taking his seat at the bar, Alistair swung his bag around and plopped ...

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“Pete” by Shawn O'Connor

Submitted to Contest #143

“I need something sturdy. Something with some constitution.” Kevin said to the cashier. “Something that isn’t just going to drop dead?” She said with a chuckle. “I got you, don’t worry.” She led Kevin down an aisle, passing many tropical plants on either side. Kevin followed, shoulders slouched, gazing at her heels making sure not to step on them. “Here we are. This is a ZZ plant. It is nigh unkillable. It would take an impressive level of neglect on your part to let this one die.” The girl looked at Kevin with a grin which quickly faded...

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“Inheritance ” by Shawn O'Connor

Submitted to Contest #142

The lawyer plopped a folder onto the desk labeled “Moira MacTavish” onto the desk. Moira’s lawyer had made a promise and agreed not to take any peeks at the contents of the folder until she had passed on, which she had done so three days ago. “Your late mother has asked that I be referred to as just, Lawyer,” stated the Lawyer. “That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest,” replied Katherine. “My mother always was a bit of an eccentric.” Katherine was Moira’s only daughter and the middle child of her siblings. Though, due to being the only...

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“Sunday Scaries” by Shawn O'Connor

Submitted to Contest #138

It was a quarter past ten and Michael was lying in bed staring at the stucco on his ceiling, connecting dots with his eyes. He had shut his bedroom light off what felt like ages ago, but his eyes had adjusted and the light from the street lamps coming in through his window was enough for him to make out the shapes of the dots above him. He stared at them with the intent of focusing on them hard enough to rid himself of every thought that was floating around in his mind. He didn’t really want to fall asleep. If he fell asleep then the next ...

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“The Lodge” by Shawn O'Connor

There had been fewer and fewer guests to the lodge every year but it had been over a week since Sam had seen a new face. It had been 26 years since he had inherited the Goathorn Lodge from his late Father, and nestled deep in the Canadian Rockies, Sam was used to the solitude by now. But it was hard to stay comfortable with no money rolling in. The Lodge was sort of remote - about two hours from the main highway - and wasn’t hard to miss. There were signs, but the amount of traffic headed that way in general had become quite thin. Neither Sa...

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“The Path is Clear” by Shawn O'Connor

Submitted to Contest #95

7:00pm The evening arrived and Angelo prepared to leave for ceremony. He had travelled a long way, from Seattle to end up in the middle of the Amazon rainforest and one million thoughts were going through his head as to why he had made such a wild journey. The facilitators approached his hut with flashlights and motioned for Angelo to follow them as they guided him to his very first Ayahuasca ceremony. Angelo picked up a bottle of water and a small blanket and followed the staff out of his hut and down the dirt trail into the woods. Though...

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“Checked Out” by Shawn O'Connor

Submitted to Contest #91

“Miss your bus?” Suzette’s mom called out from the living room. Suzette returned home a little later from her therapy session than usual which had worried her mother enough for the question but not enough for a text message as that would have been a bit invasive in her mind. “No, I had to stop by the library on my way home. Did you know there are still libraries?” Suzette said with a bit of snark. “Funny. I didn’t know you had a library card?” “I don’t. Well I didn’t. I do now. That’s sort of what took so long, they needed a lot of inf...

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“Stripped” by Shawn O'Connor

Submitted to Contest #53

A cherry popsicle, still fresh, was still melting to the sidewalk as Agent Lucan stepped out of his vehicle. A terrifyingly familiar scene, on he’d hoped he wouldn’t need to get used to. The clothes remained, same as the rest, lying flat upon the ground. These, along with the melting popsicle, belonged to a child who couldn’t have been more than 5 years old judging by the shoes. This wasn’t the only victim. As Agent Lucan looked around the typically crowded downtown block, not a single person could be seen, only pile after pile of abandoned ...

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“On Edge” by Shawn O'Connor

Submitted to Contest #51

The night sky was crystal clear for the first time in what felt like a month. It was the rainy season, which was underselling the experience a bit referring to it as simply, “rainy”. It certainly felt appropriate to refer to it as a season though since, apart from tonight, it felt like it would last months. As nice as it was to have a view of the stars for once, the cover provided by the storms was more important to the mission. Denver tilted his head back down slowly and began to scan the tree line with his eyes. The jungle, though it provi...

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“Way Up Above” by Shawn O'Connor

Submitted to Contest #50

It became a ritual; tradition. Every summer when school finally released us back into the wild, we would spend the majority of our days high above the rest of the world, looking down upon the peasants of Collier County from our tree house in the sky. And today was no different. I finished eating breakfast with my parents and practically flew out the back letting the screen door slam behind me. I could faintly hear my mother’s warnings about slamming doors come from inside but I couldn’t possibly concern myself with that right now as there w...

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