Month: December 2014

One Page Short Stories #5: Broken

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One Page Short Series is a story series created by Matthew Eng. Click here to see the Rules.

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Broken
(12/17/14)

“How does it feel?” His head is perspiring into think rivers against his bulging neck. She voices concern without answering the question.

“I just don’t know,” she says. The hope and anger drain from his eyes. Something has knocked him off his high vantage point. he is defeated and broken all at once. The magician is out of tricks.

“You are a  goddamn liar! I can’t believe we are arguing over this!” He can’t help but scream in her face.

But she is not listening.

Little does he know…

she has been  broken

a lot longer than he will ever

care to fix.

One Page Short Stories #4: Sugary Ray

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One Page Short Series is a story series created by Matthew Eng. Click here to see the Rules.

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Sugary Ray
(12/8/14)

I once had a friend who loved Sugar Ray. I’m not talking about a long time ago, It’s the year 2014 and I stopped talking to him about two years ago. His name wasn’t Ray. It was Craig. But all of us called him Sugary Ray. Don’t ask m why we added the suffix. I wouldn’t say he was full-blown obsessed with the band. But he did have every one of their albums, pus an autographed picture personalized by Mark McGrath. Douche chills. The douche chills were further compounded by his decade long ritual of recreating the lead singer’s frosted tips hairstyle. That might have been enough to sever ties by any normal standard. But I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt. That was until the night of 15 December 2012. That was the final straw.

We both worked at a small engineering firm at the time. We had our big christmas party. We were hot on the heels of finishing a big design for a major government contractor, so we all wanted to cut loose. Craig and I drank from the start to the end of the party, never stopping. On the way back to my place, he asked the cab driver if he could make a quick stop at the convenience store. He walked in, paid, and walked out quietly and calmly, two bags in hand. Minutes later, I paid my share of the cab fare and headed upstairs to my apartment. He then got back in the can and went straight back to the firm where we worked and burned it down with two bags worth of lighter fluid and matches. In the end, Sugar Ray had nothing to do with it.

One Page Short Stories #3: It’s Fantasy

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One Page Short Series is a story series created by Matthew Eng. Click here to see the Rules.

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It’s Fantasy
(12/11/14)

I’m braking every promise I made to myself when things started getting bad a few years back. People think they are so goddamn open-minded when it comes to life and love. I never thought it would get this bad. I can close my eyes and feel the small steel blade cutting like butter against the arterial highways of my body. But I know that’s all a fantasy. I’m hoping to keep that a fantasy. Who likes blood, anyway? I faint at the sight of blood. What would I do if I saw all of that coming out of me? Would I pass out from shock? From disgust of the blood, or disgust in myself? It’s hard to tell which one. That’s one guessing game I don’t want to participate in.

John dipped his head deep into the cold water. It felt good on his head, which felt like it was burning. He shook his head of the thoughts that ran through his mind like a freight train. He opened up the bathroom door in just enough time to sing happy birthday to his son.

One Page Short Stories #2: Misha’s Cake

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One Page Short Series is a story series created by Matthew Eng. Click here to see the Rules.

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Misha’s Cake
(12/7/14)

There is this old Chinese guy sitting in front of me. i don’t know him, but I think he may be the most interesting person in the world. Well, at least for today.

He has a long and bushy mustache that most Chinese guys can only dream of. He is like Lo Pan meets Burt Reynolds. Rugged. Learned. Handsome. He is sipping on a hot cup of coffee and tackling a slice of pumpkin cheesecake. Why is he so interesting? He is taking bites from the tasty dessert with military precision. One bite – 1/8 of a piece. Then again, then again. all the while, his eyes never drift from the paper he is reading. I know Asian people were majestic. But shit, are they even majestic when it comes to eating cheesecake?

The effort and concentration astounds me. Not a single crumb. Is this some sort of wizard cake? In the background, two men who likely turn on Fox News first after they come home from work are talking about Obama’s plan to “oversex” and “overpay” the military. I had to find out about that cake. Was he a wizard, or was it the cake. I went up to the counter and ordered a slice. I paid the try-to-be-hard Mumford reject and sat down. Me and the wizard locked eyes. Could he sense my fear? My hands gripped my plastic weapon, and I dug in.

The cake is a lie. Crumbs everywhere. The old Chinese man folded his paper like origami, smiled, and walked away. That’s how I met the cake wizard.

One Page Short Stories #1: Time’s Up

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I enjoy writing. I also like getting to the point. Why not merge the two together. I wanted to start a new writing exercise where I write one page short stories. The rules are pretty simple:

1. The story can be about anything.
2. The entire story has to fit on one page of my composition book.
3. It is all written in one shot – no editing after it has finished.
4. I will post a picture of the story and its transcript.

Should be fun. Here is my first one.

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Time’s Up
(12/6/14)

Jesus. Oh Jesus. I have to piss so bad. Leave it to me to down a large coffee before the morning meting. If I hadn’t stayed up so late last night staking my ex on Facebook, this wouldn’t be an issue. I would be well-rounded and well-adjusted. I’d be a fully functional twenty-something with a great job, wife, and kids. But no, I’m just a single twenty-something who can’t stand how stupid Annie’s new boyfriend looks in that sweater on her profile picture. Asshole. So now on top of my bladder overflowing with liquid waste, I’m pissed off. This is my life.

My boss with the turkey neck and the penchant for ass-grabbery is finally wrapping up his closing speech. He calls it his “Morning Motivational.” Christ. It wasn’t so bad until I started to realize he was just Googling quotes from Tony Robbins videos on Youtube. This guy couldn’t motivate me to do anything now. It doesn’t matter because he is finally wrapping up. I’ve started to feel pain in my ears I have to pee so bad. How does that work?

I rush to the bathroom down the hall. The door opens in slow motion. It’s like I am in the goddamn matrix or something. My lips are chapped  as I scan my new surroundings. EVERY. URINAL. IS. TAKEN. Next best options are the can. Nope. All taken. I can tell by the shoes in the corner stall that my fucking intern is dropping hot business.

I’m sweating in disbelief in the middle of the bathroom. Three guys begin to flush as the warmth runs down me.