fiction Archives - Sheila Lee Brown

Illness

Alfred waited in the antechamber, pacing nervously. The door opened, and two men walked through. “I’m afraid we have bad news,” the first one said. He was tall, lean and with short-cropped hair. “The results are conclusive. Your daughter Veronica’s illness is contagious. She will have to be quarantined.” Alfred jerked bolt upright. “Look, there must have been some misunderstanding. That look on her face…maybe it was a muscle twitch?” The men looked at each other, then back to Alfred. The second man spoke. “I’m afraid not. It was a deliberate and willful act known as a ‘smile.’ It is a definitive indicator of an acute mental illness, known as ‘happiness.’ We have a responsibility to the public, and we cannot allow this disease to spread. She will not be allowed to leave the facility.” Alfred tried to keep the horror from spreading to his face. “Is it possible her condition might be…cured?” The men frowned. One shook his head while the other spoke: “Once a child has crossed the line into willful rebellion against the Republic, the law offers no return path. She will be assigned to a processing facility.” Alfred nodded, and a tear began to well up on the side of his face.

NOTE: The brief narrative above was brought to you by The Bite-Size Fiction Project, created by Dave Baldwin and Sheila Lee Brown (this particular one is a Dave-story). The results of this project are bite-size story morsels for short attention spans. These tidbits are sometimes fun, sometimes weird…but always short!

Bite Size Fiction Project

Party Over

The full moon switched off its bright glow abruptly one night at 11:22 p.m. In truth, the sun’s light winked out and thus stopped reflecting off the moon’s surface. As a result, the earth was dark. And cold. All life shriveled up and died rather quickly, forcing all manner of spirit back into energy form. It was equivalent to someone walking into a dance club and killing the music. The fun was over. Confused and a little miffed, spirit energy looked around for something else to do with eternity. The possibilities were endless.

NOTE: The brief narrative above was brought to you by The Bite-Size Fiction Project, created by Dave Baldwin and Sheila Lee Brown (this particular one is a Sheila-story). The results of this project are bite-size story morsels for short attention spans. These tidbits are sometimes fun, sometimes weird…but always short!

Bite Size Fiction Project

The Suffering Writer

He sat over his keyboard. It was time to suffer. He remembered his professor’s famous line from writing class back in the day. “If it was hard to write, it should be hard to read.” He kept those wise words next to his computer. He was fully disgusted with himself. He’d typed up a full manuscript and received an offer from a publisher. They’d shown much enthusiasm and offered up a generous advance. But there was only one problem. He hadn’t suffered enough. Therefore, it just wasn’t right. He took one last look at the manuscript’s only copy before throwing it into the fireplace with a loud thud and watched the pages blacken and curl. Ironic, this. It was painful to watch the manuscript burn. He was finally suffering properly. Now, his work could begin.

NOTE: The brief narrative above was brought to you by The Bite-Size Fiction Project, created by Dave Baldwin and Sheila Lee Brown (this particular one is a Dave-story). The results of this project are bite-size story morsels for short attention spans. These tidbits are sometimes fun, sometimes weird…but always short!