Tricia Shulist

“Of Stalks and Bonds” by Tricia Shulist

OF STALKS AND BONDS. It was late when I stepped off the bus. It had been a long day, an even longer night, and I was ready for it to be over. I looked around, sighed, and started the trek home. It was only three blocks, but it might as well have been three miles. I was exhausted, and I wasn’t sure that I could make it all the way home. I admonished myself for being so “budget conscious” and not ordering an Uber or grabbing a cab. But, at the time it seemed like an extravagance, and I’d felt fine. It wasn’t...

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“The Magic Library” by Tricia Shulist

THE MAGIC LIBRARY “So, what is it?” Jenna asked looking at the object in Noah’ hands. Noah shook his head, slightly.  “I’m not sure,” he said, “I think it’s a diary or something.”   He fanned through the pages, then opened the cover. “It belonged to someone named Benj Thomas.” He continued reading the first page. “The first date is August 14, 1989.” He turned the book towards Jenna, who read the front page. “Benji Thomas … why do I know that name?” Noah shook his head. “I have no idea.” Jenna took out her...

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“Spill The Tea” by Tricia Shulist

SPILL THE TEA Ariel loved the summer. Her mom was home from work—she was a teacher—and they got to spend all their time together. And they went out to cool places—the Children’s Museum, the park, Mom and Toddler program, the library, and her favourite—Charlotte’s house! Like today! Charlotte was Mommy’s best friend. They’d known each other forever—at least that’s what Mommy said. Ariel knew that forever was a long time, which made her wonder how old Mommy really was. Charlotte and Mommy had gone to school toge...

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“Lost Without Elliot” by Tricia Shulist

Submitted to Contest #249

LOST WITHOUT ELLIOT “You have got to be kidding me!” Elle looked out at the lake. She was stopped at the mouth of a boat ramp. It was supposed to be a road. There was not supposed to be a lake. Slamming both her palms on the steering wheel, she swung her gaze to her phone. “You are a piece of crap!” She smacked the steering wheel again, and threw herself back in her seat.   What if I hadn’t seen the light glint off the water? What then? What if—and it's a good thing I didn’t—I had trusted the GPS in my P.O...

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“Paradise Lost” by Tricia Shulist

PARADISE LOST “Where is he?” I asked. “Who?” replied Ramey. “Paradise.” He looked around, as if just noticing that our 70 pound Sulcata tortoise, Paradise, wasn’t where he was supposed to be. “I have no idea.” I looked at him horrified, worst case scenarios spinning through my head. “I asked you to bring him in, this morning before I left for work.” I walked to the back door, scanning the yard. Ramey looked confused. “You did?” “I did. You were playing video games. You said you would as soon as you beat the level.” “I d...

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“Our Bucket List” by Tricia Shulist

OUR BUCKET LIST I looked at the horse. The horse looked at me. I looked at the paper in my hand. Sign up for horseback riding lessons. Technically, I had signed up for the horseback riding lessons. I just hadn’t actually gotten on the horse. Yet. My pedantic soul said that I had fulfilled my obligation, but in all fairness I knew that just signing up and not riding, would be a cop-out. “Okay, let’s do this!” ***** When Emile and I had decided that horseback riding lessons were a thing, we’d been staying at a cabi...

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“Livin' Your Best Life” by Tricia Shulist

LIVIN’ YOUR BEST LIFE “What’s going on?” Chris looked at his two friends, a smile splitting his features. “Nothin’” said Rita. “Not too much,” said Sammy. The three had been friends forever. They had attended the same elementary school, and were now in their last year of high school together. Rita was going off to university, as was Sammy. Both were smart, and worked hard for their grades. The same couldn’t be said for Chris, and that was, perhaps, part of the problem. Chris was stupid-smart — the smartest person i...

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“To Hell With Eclipses!” by Tricia Shulist

TO HELL WIITH ECLIPSES!I could almost taste the excitement in the air. But I had no idea why. I looked around the house.There was no tree in the living room, so it wasn’t Christmas. Nobody had hidden any candy or chocolate around, so it wasn’t Easter. There were nothing scary out on the front lawn, so not Hallowe’en. Nothing was green, there were no fireworks, there were no heart-shaped boxes of chocolate lowering on the table. So what was happening?I sat back and watched. Everyone was excited. There w...

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“CHEESE!” by Tricia Shulist

CHEESE! “CHEESE!” I clicked the shutter button. I felt a little weird saying “cheese” out loud because I was alone. But, hey, I wasn’t going to see any of these people ever again. And you always say cheese when you take a picture, right? I checked the time, and realized that I had to hurry, or I was going to be late with my meetup with my husband Max. He was finished with his session at three o’clock, and it was already two forty-five. I was a bit of a distance away from the conference venue, so I decide...

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“Arti” by Tricia Shulist

ARTI ‘This is crap!” Ryan pushed himself away from the desk, crossed his arms, and stared at the computer screen. “Perhaps you could consider giving me a better prompt. Telling me to write something about aliens is very vague.” “Shut it, Arti!” said Ryan, frowning. “Do you really mean that?” “Yes, I do.” As an AI, Arti was used to being the brunt of Ryan’s temper tantrums. A frustrated writer, he depended on Arti to do the heavy lifting in his “career”. Initially, Arti had tried to help him, but she’d soon learned that ...

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“There's No Place Like Home” by Tricia Shulist

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME CRASH! “Oh no! Oh no no no no!” I looked at the crushed remains of what was once the most important piece of the collection. I felt sick. ***** I’d been looking forward to today all week long. It was Restoration Day — the day that we examined a predetermined collection and decided whether or not the artifacts within that collection were aging well, or if they needed some TLC. And being the head curator and in charge of maintaining the historical “health” of the various collections, today was the da...

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“My Shoulder Angel and Devil” by Tricia Shulist

MY SHOULDER ANGEL AND DEVIL They have always been with me, and they have always argued! Right from the beginning, bickering back and forth. ***** “You should throw that at Mom.” “Noooo. That’s mean!” “But funny!” “Noooo. You could hurt her.” “Yeah, but still funny!” SPLAT! I started to laugh, but was quickly silenced by the look my mother gave me. She stared at me, surprised, and a bit angry. “Alexandra! What do you think you’re doing?” She looked down at her shirt. “Why would you throw your ...

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“The Captan and The Petty Officer” by Tricia Shulist

THE CAPTAIN AND THE PETTY OFFICER Casha twisted the door handle, and pushed. It was heavy, but the door opened slowly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said, squeezing through the narrow opening.  She was in! Thank God. She didn’t think that she would have been able to survive much longer outside in the storm — she was cold, wet, bruised and battered. And …  She looked around. She was in the lighthouse. Not one of the new, automated ones, but one of the old ones that had been retrofitted.&nbs...

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“MI-3” by Tricia Shulist

MI-3“The magic seems a bit stronger than usual,” said Detective Inspector Janet Delacour, reading through the pile of daily reports.“Yes, I noticed,” said Detective Ethan Ryder. “Why do you think it’s happening now? What's changed?”“I wish I knew. Then maybe we’d be able to control it more. I'm afraid we won’t be able to do a damn thing until we know why.”Ryder handed Delacour a stack of manila file folders.“I have a number of incidents here I think we should investigate today. The top one is regarding a possible electron...

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“Who Are You, and What Have You Done With My Friend?” by Tricia Shulist

WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY FRIEND?“If I don’t get out of here, I’m going to chew off my own arm so they have to call the EMTs and I can leave.”*****“I think it will be beneficial.”“Really? Have you met me?” Renata said, looking at her friend and co-worker Callie. “When have you known me to be quiet? Except maybe when I’m sleeping, but I can’t be sure, because I’m asleep. I probably talk then, too. I’m a stream of consciousness kinda gal.”Callie laughed. “Yes. Yes you are. That’s w...

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