Tricia Shulist

“Hell On Wheels” by Tricia Shulist

HELL ON WHEELS “You? You’re my date? Unbelievable.” ****** “You know, Wren, Brandon’s got a friend. I think the two of you would hit it off. Do you want to go out for dinner next weekend? I could set it up. Double date?” Wren gave Cybil stink eye. Then she dramatically looked around the room. Then, doing her best Robert De Nero from Taxi Driver, she pointed to her chest, and said, “You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ me?” Cybil rolled her eyes. “Yes, Wren, I’m talking to you.” Wren shook her he...

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“Great-Aunt Hilda Versus the Machines” by Tricia Shulist

GREAT-AUNT HILDA VERSUS THE MACHINES When the Johnson’s first saw their new home, they were a little disappointed. It had been Jolly Johnson’s Great-Aunt Hilda’s house, and Jolly and his wife, Willow, had never actually been to the house. The best they had were pictures, and those were mostly of Great-Aunt Hilda in her house, not necessarily of the house itself.  Great-Aunt Hilda had never married, and had no children of her own. Her only brother, Charles, had only one child, Werner, who also only had one child, and t...

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“Run!” by Tricia Shulist

RUN! I opened my eyes to the warm sunshine flooding my bedroom, and stretched. It was a great day. I had absolutely nothing on the agenda. Since I’d retired from running, my calendar was surprisingly open. I never realized how much of my time racing took up until I wasn’t doing it any more. I smiled, rolled over, and went back to sleep. ***** “GO!” I took off from the starting gate, running as fast as I could, trying to catch the leader. It seemed the faster I ran, the faster the leader moved. I...

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“The Last Thirty Seconds” by Tricia Shulist

THE LAST THIRTY SECONDS I looked at Ken Jennings. He stood there passively, waiting for the thirty seconds to tick down on Final Jeopardy!. Either I knew the answer, or I didn’t. And, unfortunately, I did not.  Crappola! So close. Three Minutes Ago “The category for Final Jeopardy! will be [CHIME] Word Origins. And the clue is coming up right after the contestants make their wagers.” Bet big, or bet nothing? If I bet big and know the answer, then yeah. But, if I bet big and don’t know t...

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“Because I Have To” by Tricia Shulist

BECAUSE I HAVE TO I looked down at the journal in front of me. “January 1” was staring up at me, the page void of anything but the date. I sighed.   I had bought the diary, journal, reflection book — whatever you want call it — last week. It was a book that I had purchased out of necessity.  It had been the week between Christmas and New Year, and I’d been at work. The office was mostly quiet, and I had opted not to take holidays. Most people wanted the whole week off. Not me. It was the perfect time...

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“Dark Skies, Polar Bears, and Northern Lights” by Tricia Shulist

DARK SKIES, POLAR BEARS, AND NORTHERN LIGHTS “Svalbard.” “Where?” “Svalbard archipelago, Spitsbergen Island, the town of Longyearbyen.” “I have no idea what or where you are talking about.” My boss, Josh, smiled at me. “I figured as much. The Svalbard archipelago is part of Norway. It’s in the Arctic Ocean—‘ “Did you say ‘Arctic Ocean,’ not Atlantic Ocean?” “Correct. It’s actually north of the Barents and Norwegian Sea and east of the Greenland Sea.” “That sounds too far away. How close to Norwa...

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“I Went To The Store, And Ended Up Here” by Tricia Shulist

Submitted to Contest #231

I WENT TO THE STORE AND ENDED UP HEREWhen I woke up, I had no idea where I was. None whatsoever. Zero. Complete blank. I wasn’t even sure what day it was. There’s nothing worse than not knowing where you are, or why. In a perfect world I would be in my own bed in my own house … I had a house?I looked around. I was sitting in a chair in some sort of huge waiting room. There were a whole bunch of other people—dozen and dozens, maybe hundreds—sitting here, so …So what? What the hell was I doing sitti...

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“The List” by Tricia Shulist

Submitted to Contest #231

THE LIST Shred. Shred. File. Recycle. Shred. Shred. File. Recycle. File. I was up to my eyeballs in paper clutter. I really needed to get a better system than “I’ll deal with that later.” Because by the time later came, I had one hella big mess to deal with. Recycle. Recycle. Shred. Recycle. Shred. It was that magical week between Christmas and New Year’s. I was off work, had burned through Netflix, Disney+, and Prime, and really couldn’t bear to see another person until...

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“Prom” by Tricia Shulist

PROM Ohh, I thought, I do not feel well. My forehead was drenched in sweat. My body was wracked with pain. This was not how Prom was supposed to go. In fact, this was not how my life was supposed to go.  I looked around trying to spot my friends. They were out on the dance floor making fools of themselves. I smiled. Or tried to over the pain. I breathed in through my nose, and out through my mouth, the way they tell you to in yoga. In … out … in … out … I started to feel a little bit better.  O...

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“Queen Molly?” by Tricia Shulist

QUEEN MOLLY? I was riding my bicycle down Chester Street, a sparsely populated part of town. While lovely during the day with lush coniferous forests on either side of the road, on an overcast day just before dusk, the dark woods were kinda creepy. I was peddling my heart out, when a red sports car sped past me, throwing up road grunge, spraying me as it went by. Yuck. Jerk! Then, the car screeched to a halt, the front door flew open, and the driver stepped out, and threw something into the bushes. I watched the pac...

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“I Couldn't Help Myself” by Tricia Shulist

I COULDN’T HELP MYSELF Now “Hello, Mrs. Wright. My name is Detective Terry Waits. This is my partner Detective Carlos Ito.” Waits nodded towards her partner. “We’d like to ask you a few questions about the death of your husband, Craig.” Maisie looked from one detective to the other.   “Why?” she asked. “He died of anaphylaxis. That’s what the paramedics said. Because he ate the pie.” Waits smiled. She never wanted to seem threatening to people she was interviewing. Especially on...

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“Snowmageddon” by Tricia Shulist

SNOWMAGEDDON “No no no no no no!” “—An Arctic river of snow has blown into our area, dropping over one hundred centimetres of snow in less that ten hours. That’s over forty inches of snow, folks! With an additional thirty centimetres still to come! The city is snowbound —” “No! Please, no!” Click. “—All road traffic is prohibited until further notice—” Click. “—Snowmageddon. Snowpocalypse. Snowzilla. Whatever you want to call it, it’s here, and there’s still more coming. It’s not supposed to let up until la...

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“Thanksgiving, Am I Right?” by Tricia Shulist

THANKSGIVING, AM I RIGHT? “POLICE! OPEN UP!” “Oh God, not again!” ***** Thanksgiving. The one day of the year that we give thanks for all the good things in our lives. If that’s true, then why does it turn into a shit-show every year? ***** Glenda looked around the kitchen. Everything was ready.   “Turkey in the oven — check. Buns rising in the proofing oven — check. Green bean casserole ready to go into the oven — check. Potatoes peeled, chopped up, ready to be boiled and tu...

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“Just Plain Old Quinlyn” by Tricia Shulist

JUST PLAIN OLD QUINLYN I’d realized that someone was watching me a few days ago. But, being human, I ignored my lizard brain, and convinced myself that I was imagining things.   “Who’d be watching me?’ I’d asked, scolding myself for being paranoid and overly dramatic. But I was wrong — someone was watching me.   I was sitting in a cafe, reviewing my notes from my last psychology class, sipping a latte, when a man approached my table. I looked up. I recognized him as the man that I had seen a number of time...

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“Things That Go Bump In The Night” by Tricia Shulist

THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT “I can’t sleep.” GROWL. “Fine,” I said. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me. Reading. Alone. In the middle of the night. Bored. Because I can’t sleep. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. All alone in the dark.” GROWL. I got out of bed, pulled on a pair of trackpants and a hoodie. “It’s okay. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing down there waiting to attack me in the middle of the night.” GROWL. I looked at the dog. “You coming?” WHINE. ...

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