Historical
Glow
I peeked into the window as I neared the house. The room was a-wash with green, imitating the green light of the "Go" signal in the traffic light on the corner. It was Friday night, the girls night out, after working all week in the factory. We made a decent working class wage of about five cents for every dial we painted using the lip, dip, paint approach. I was slower because I didn't like the taste, so just dipped and painted instead. I was occasionally reprimanded for slowness and inaccuracy since my method was not as precise in comparison to the girls whom followed the lip, dip, paint technique.
By Pamela Johnson5 years ago in Fiction
The Fall of Carlu
A note by the author - I encourage the reader to not be put off by the unfamiliar names and words mentioned in my writing. The names contribute to a collection of fictional stories based on genealogies of both Northern European mythology and my own creation. Words and names in italics are sourced from Norse and Celtic myth and folklore and can be investigated for historical context.
By William Evans-Pughe5 years ago in Fiction
A Good Woman is Hard to Hide
1832 Something was wrong with the orchard and Lucy Coffin had a good idea why. When spring came, the trees had burst with white blossoms and she’d walked between the rows with her hands held out. Once she had even spun round and round as the wind dropped snowy petals onto her hair, her face, her eyelashes. Her skirt flared out in the cool morning light and she’d collapsed onto the grass, laughter bubbling up from deep within her.
By Lori Lamothe5 years ago in Fiction
Telling the Bees
1817 I’d already waited too long. Not that it wasn’t the right thing to do. Sure, Hallie was 18 and she’d put off the wedding for a full year just so Daddy wouldn’t fall behind with the chores and the kitchen garden behind the cabin. Caleb was a good man though and if he minded the wait he didn’t let on, at least not in front of Daddy and me.
By Lori Lamothe5 years ago in Fiction
The Escape of Marigold Wolfie
The Escape of Marigold Wolfe i (For the freedom of all the world’s children) Cologne Germany was post-card beautiful before the war with its Gothic architecture, connecting villages, and passionate people. It reveled in the cultural and religious differences of its inhabitants. When a baby was born, or a couple was married, church bells rang, and families gathered for celebrations.
By Zel Harrison5 years ago in Fiction
December 4th 1984
Nothing of interest had happened in the months leading up to the discovery. Nothing at all. No clues, hints, whispers in the dark that knew what would happen in December ’84. We were at the holiday house when it happened. Just our luck to miss the only interesting thing that had happened in our small, dull town in decades. You always think you're safe. You never understand until it happens to you. You ignore it, ‘it’s their problem’, you say. Well this time it was our problem.
By Jennifer Walker5 years ago in Fiction
jack of diamonds
CHAPTER 16 parts 2 & 3 “I suppose this is the reason these were the only two costumes left?” Nigel said, stepping into the foyer and looking around. Yesterday had been his first time in one of these palaces—there was no other way for him to describe it—and he smiled, reminding him of the opulent hotel lobbies in Paris where the Generals headquartered. They always occupied the largest of the suites, perhaps thinking rank had its privileges?
By ben woestenburg5 years ago in Fiction
Politics
It is the Sengoku or “Warring States” period in medieval Japan (c. 1450 - c. 1600). The emperor in Kyoto continues to wield nominal power through his military commander the shogun, but real, day-to-day authority more often rests with the local lords. These daimyo, men like Chosokabe Kunichika, rule clans like the Chosokabe, from the island of Shikoku, and vie for influence over their rivals with armies of samurai and ashigaru. Open warfare, however, is not the only means by which dominance is achieved. The daimyo also employ secretive shinobi like Narisada in campaigns of espionage, sabotage, and assassination, accomplishing with stealth and deception what they cannot with brute force alone.
By Sean Fenlon5 years ago in Fiction
Caroline's Splash of Light
Caroline’s Splatter of Light Bath, England, July 1782 Caroline Herschel peered again through the lens as she pondered the tiny speck, she’d seen in the vicinity of the new planet her brother William had discovered just the previous year that he had dubbed, Georgium Sidus in honor of their good, kind King George whose benevolence had allowed their study to continue. Had she actually seen something that looked like a tiny splash of reflected light from that tiny dot of luminescence her lens was focused upon? Could she have seen a different object entirely-a new planet herself? William had only recently trained her on the magic of the wondrous telescope, and she could only use it when he was away. She had eagerly learned all its mysteries and still more were always apparent each time she investigated the sky. Excited, she carefully adjusted the focus to a keen sharpness, and placed her good eye close careful not to move the telescope a fraction, for the area of sky along the solar ecliptic was tiny indeed. One minute vibration would set her view asunder by a degree - a matter of hundreds of thousands of miles if not millions in the backdrop of stars.
By Stephen Vernarelli5 years ago in Fiction
Architect of His Demise
Wandering the lengthy pathways of Athens, Perillos's gaze remained locked at his feet as he was stuck in a endless loop of thought. You see, the day prior, the Gods of Chaos and Torture came to Perillos and offered him the challenge of a lifetime. They assigned him the task to think of the most painful and agony-inducing torture method of all-time and if he could pull it off, he'd be rewarded with immortality. Understanding the weight of the task and the implications if his invention would be replicated, he knew exactly what he had to do and agreed to take part in the challenge.
By Connor Davis5 years ago in Fiction
