Tricia Shulist

“Monica and the Five Stages of Grief -- A Different Take on the Meaning of "Stage"” by Tricia Shulist

MONICA AND THE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF — A DIFFERENT TAKE ON THE MEANING OF “STAGE” Monica looked down at the gravestone with her husband’s name on it. She was feeling okay. Not great, considering, but a whole heck of a lot better than she had been the day Seth had announced that their marriage was over. That had been the worst day — Day One of a new life; not a life Monica sought for herself, but one foisted on her by Seth. Stage 1: Denial “I want a divorce.” Monica looked at her husband, shock showing on her fa...

3 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“When the Going Gets Tough ...” by Tricia Shulist

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH ... “We’re not going anywhere. We’re stuck.” I looked around, panicked. We were surrounded by an ocean of cars and trucks and motorcycles, and not a single one was moving. “We can’t be stuck. We have to go!” “I know, Tilda, but there’s nothing I can do.” “You have to do something, Jacob, because if you don’t, this is not going to turn out well.” I threw myself back in the seat, gritting my teeth as pain racked my body. Oh, God, I thought. I can’t stand this. Make it stop...

7 likes 8 comments 8

Read story

“Big Surprises in Small Packages” by Tricia Shulist

BIG SURPRISES IN SMALL PACKAGES The doorbell rang, and of course, the dog lost her bananas. Bark, bark, bark, twirl, twirl, twirl, bark, bark, bark, jump, jump jump, bark, bark bark … you get the idea. I love my dog, don’t get me wrong. But man, she’s, what eight now? How many times has the doorbell rung? A million? And each and every time she loses her mind. Why? I have no idea. The majority of recent doorbell rings have been either friends or deliveries. Nothing heinous. Just pals or packa...

5 likes 5 comments 5

Read story

“The Gift of Qamar” by Tricia Shulist

THE GIFT OF QAMAR The woman looked down at her fingernails. They were filthy and ragged. Her eyes continued down to her worn and dirty jeans. They didn’t even fit her anymore. They were baggy, too long, and she held them up with a hank of old yellow rope she had found on the street. Her shoes were worn and she knew that she was only a few days away from wearing a hole all the way through the sole of her left shoe.  She was thankful she didn’t have a mirror. She did not want to scrutinize her own reflecti...

4 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“Case Closed” by Tricia Shulist

CASE CLOSED “Back in my day, when a person tried to kill another person, the police hunted that person down, arrested their ass, and threw them in jail!”  “Mr. Byrne, that’s what we’re trying to do.  But we need you to tell us everything that happened." “Bullshit!” said Byrne, slapping his hands flat on the table.  The handcuff chains rattled and clanked.  “If that was what you were doing, I wouldn’t be sitting here trussed up like a common criminal.” There were three people in the police interview room: ...

6 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“Ghost in the Machine” by Tricia Shulist

GHOST IN THE MACHINE Abigail plopped herself down and closed her eyes. She was exhausted and wasn’t sure she could do it all over again tomorrow. But, she knew she would. She closed her eyes and wished for a glass of Merlot to magically appear on the table beside her. She opened one eye and peeked at the table. No Merlot. She sighed, opened both eyes all the way, and looked around the room. It looked as if a tornado had been through it. A little tiny dark-haired twenty-five pound tornado named Angelica — or ...

5 likes 4 comments 4

Read story

“How Quickly Things Can Change” by Tricia Shulist

HOW QUICKLY THINGS CAN CHANGE I knew it was late in the season. I knew that I shouldn’t go camping this time of the year. I knew the weather was unpredictable in the mountains. I knew all of these things, but I didn’t care. I just needed to get away. Far away. And I needed to be alone, to figure things out. And how did that work out for you, Elle? Not well, not well at all … * “I don’t give a shit what you say. I’m not going to prostitute myself so that you can get the account!” Jason, m...

5 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“A Ghost Story” by Tricia Shulist

A GHOST STORY MISSING TEEN — FAMILY AND POLICE WORRIED FOR HER SAFETY. Family and police are seeking information about the disappearance of Bernadette George, 16, who vanished from her family home sometime Saturday. Bernadette was last seen by her parents at 3:00 p.m. Saturday when they travelled out of town for the evening, leaving Bernadette alone in the house. Upon their arrival back home at approximately 2:00 a.m., they noticed signs of a struggle in the house, and found Bernadette missing. Her parents, Hilary and Wins...

4 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“The Chicken House — Jemma” by Tricia Shulist

This is a continuation of another entry, but is still a stand-alone story THE CHICKEN HOUSE — JEMMA 2021 Jemma put her phone down. It had been her brother Allister. He wanted to get together and talk about the what had happened at the Chicken House.  She had agreed to come over to his place on the weekend, but she was conflicted. Did she really want to dredge up the past?   1997 Jemma maneuvered her head between the spindles at the top of the stairs. She tilted her head towards the kitchen, where ...

4 likes 4 comments 4

Read story

“Broken” by Tricia Shulist

BROKEN tw: school shootingPROLOUGE 9:11 am I looked at the clock. There had been no sounds for almost two minutes.“Okay, okay, okay” I whispered to myself, heart pounding in my chest. “What do I do now?”I looked at the twenty-three faces looking back at me, waiting for me to do something. Waiting for me to save them. I felt sick.The pre-recorded message started again: “ATTENTION. THE SCHOOL IS IN LOCK-DOWN. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. STAY IN YOUR CLASSROOMS. LOCK YOUR DOORS. I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” We sat on the fl...

11 likes 25 comments 25

Read story

“Eye Can See Clearly Now” by Tricia Shulist

TW: Murder, mutilation, misogyny, mayhemEYE CAN SEE CLEARLY NOWTamara stared at herself in the mirror — at her eyes, in particular. She could see the differences in colour of the irises between the two, although they were very, very similar. Her right eye was just a smidge larger than her left. From a distance they looked exactly the same, almost as if she had been born with both of them. Not perfect, but so close. She smiled at her reflection. She was so thankful that she even had two eyes to look at, let ...

7 likes 9 comments 9

Read story

“Can I Get A Witness? (**TYPO: BINDED = BLINDED)” by Tricia Shulist

Submitted to Contest #105

CAN I GET A WITNESS?Detective Terry Waits drummed her fingers on the top of her desk. She wasn’t angry, so much as frustrated. Witness statements. They were the worst — always notoriously unreliable. But more so this time. It wasn’t the statements that were confounding her, but the witnesses themselves. They were an unconventional group, to say the least.“So, what do you think? Anyone lying?” asked her partner, Carlos Ito. Ito was the junior partner, and he valued Waits’s take on most situations. ...

13 likes 10 comments 10

Read story

“Ziggy's Extraordinary Adventure” by Tricia Shulist

Submitted to Contest #104

ZIGGY’S EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURE Plink, plink, plink. My head shot up from my pillow, and I looked around for the source of the sound.   Plink, plink, plink.   I jumped up from my bed and ran towards the sound. My leash!  That means walkies! But my human, Mercedes, was standing there with my leash in her hand, and my purse on the floor by her feet. Dang! I thought. Mercedes wanted to take me out.  Not for walkies, but for drivies. Not my favourite. Don’t get me wrong. I love Me...

29 likes 6 comments 6

Read story

“The Universe Spoke” by Tricia Shulist

Submitted to Contest #103

THE UNIVERSE SPOKE Brandi bounced happily into the apartment she shared with her two roommates, Amanda and Candace — or Mandi and Candi as she referred to them, much to their chagrin. The three of them shared a two bedroom flat close to the university where they were all enrolled in classes. Brandi was twenty-two, tall, with straight dark hair, and brown eyes. She was very pretty, and knew it. She also helped curate her good looks by always having the most current everything — fashion, electronics, apps, jewellery. ...

20 likes 12 comments 12

Read story

“The Institution of Marriage” by Tricia Shulist

Submitted to Contest #102

Trigger Warning: Murder THE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE “The institution of marriage, my fat ass.” Leah slumped back in her chair, and looked across the table at her husband, Leo. “Leah, I sense some hostility,” said the other woman in the room. “No shit, Caroline. There is definitely hostility.” Leah shot Caroline — or Dr. Winter as she preferred to be called by her patients — a withering look. “Do you care to explain Leah?” “Sure,” she said, still defiant. “When we got married, we promised each other that w...

18 likes 6 comments 6

Read story