Author: carlbystrom@live.com

A Quiet Beat

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 12 Comments
Reading Time: 4 minutes

“Why do I always look so squinty in these things?” I stared at my calling card. One side of my face was scrunched up. I looked like a scurvy scallywag.

“You’re always squinty.” Paolo, my go-to communications wizard, replied. Right there with support.

“Special request,” I leaned over the cluttered counter and lowered my voice, although, currently, I was the only patron in the dusty little shop. ”Can you hook me up with a sensate spell or two?”

“Those are only for the cops, Stag.” Continue reading “A Quiet Beat” →

From Beneath the Black Hood

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 4 Comments
Reading Time: < 1 minute

The robe slipped down his back. His scars startled me, three ripples stretching from shoulder to waist. Sliced, lashed, or perhaps scratched by some three-fingered beast.

Respect didn’t sway my mission. My lips pursed and blew.

Falling, his hand raised to the sting in his neck.

I bowed silently into the shadows.

 

For Sacha Black’s #writespiration 52 word challenge: The Girl That Wore the Black Hood
Original penciled art by Carl Bystrom

Silhouette

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 12 Comments

Reading Time: 5 minutes

“You’d think I’d be used to this by now.” Davis absentmindedly addressed the plump little bird cradled in his hands. The creature squirmed. The vestigial wings, dwarfed by its nearly round body, wiggled uselessly while its legs pushed in a pulse against Davis’ cupped palms. The wide, nocturnal eyes appeared unfocused and the small, nearly round beak gasped open and closed. “I guess I’m just a softy at heart.”

Davis broke the bird’s neck with a practiced twist. Continue reading “Silhouette” →

15 Minutes #writespiration

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 3 Comments
Reading Time: < 1 minute

I waited outside the storage room door.

“Hi.” Maybe nervous or surprised that I actually came. “15 minutes..”

She unlocked and led me inside.

Breath catching as my hands wrapped her waist, her face turned up and back towards mine, hungry, urgent.

We fumbled, kissed, caressed.

“The best break ever,” she whispered.

For Sacha Black’s #writespiration 52 word challenge: The Break
Original photo art by Carl Bystrom

World Views #BlogBattle

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 18 Comments

Reading Time: 4 minutes

“Hello girl,” Chisholm greeted the Arken’s transom. “I missed you.”

“Don’t get too flirty,” Meredith shot sideways, popping the ship’s hatch. “She’s my baby now.”

Chisholm gave her a black glare. “Perhaps a hand of cards later?”

Meredith’s eyebrows raised in mock surprise. “Do you have anything left to lose, Chisholm?”

He flashed a disgruntled smile, then sighed, surveying the area. “Looks like Davis took off with more than just my bedroll, but I’ll gladly wager the tug if we can track it down. He can’t have flown far.” Continue reading “World Views #BlogBattle” →

Ricocheted #writephoto

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 12 Comments

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Davis surfaced slowly. The previous day’s trauma had knocked him deep into a dreamless slumber he felt reluctant to exit. His eyelids clung together, sticky with dust from the cave, and he levered himself onto one elbow before prying them open enough to survey the cavern. Light poured from the entrance, casting his shadow across Chisholm’s empty bag.

“Good morning!” Davis shouted, relaxing and reclining again. Silence. “Hey Chiz!” He tried louder. “What’s for breakfast?!” Continue reading “Ricocheted #writephoto” →

Beezle Keeper

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 15 Comments

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Hazel rattled the gate.

“Don’t do that,” her little brother scolded. “The bees’ll come.”

“The Beezle?” She mocked back. “Is that a monster?”

“No,” he replied frowning. “The bees in those boxes. They’ll sting us.”

Hazel peered at the cubes standing in the yard. Maybe they were hives. Maybe someone dressed in white coveralls and a mask collected honey every morning. She’d never seen them. Her whole life the place stood empty.

“You better just hush up or the Beezle’s gonna get you!”

*

In the windowless basement of the abandoned mansion, as if manifested by a magic word, something stirred.

Written for Friday Fictioneers  organized by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. 100 words. Photo prompt.
To see other’s responses to the prompt go here.
PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll

Meat Market #3LineTales

Quality Meats in Neon
~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 10 Comments

Reading Time: < 1 minute

The pungent sting of the ink twitched his nostrils (black always seemed to go to his head) but Daniel waved the marker under his nose for a moment before recapping.

He flicked the switch and the neon fluttered, the electric buzz looming large then receding quickly into the hum of the morning as he hung the Special.

Her eyes flashed an emerald green and Daniel cocked an eyebrow with his smile but her forehead furrowed as she walked past, transforming his grin to a sneer: “Probably a vegetarian.”

Photo by Cathal Mac an Bheatha via Unsplash
For Three Line Tales, Week 60 by Sonya

This is Not Okay #BlogBattle

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 12 Comments

Reading Time: 4 minutes

“Davis?” His voiced dropped to a whisper. Davis wasn’t in the cave. “Where the hell did you go?”

Chisholm turned in a slow circle. The cylinder tucked under his arm illuminated the empty floor around him. His sleeping sack and shoulder bag had vanished along with his companion. Continue reading “This is Not Okay #BlogBattle” →

Gravity Well #writephoto

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 13 Comments

Reading Time: 5 minutes

“I’m stuck,” Davis groaned. “And I can’t see anything….”

“That’s ’cause your big ass is blocking the light.” Chisholm twisted the top of the cylinder he was holding and a glow illuminated the rocky floor in a dim circle around his feet. He let out a sigh. Continue reading “Gravity Well #writephoto” →