Jeff Coleman's Blog: Jeff Coleman Writes, page 3
June 17, 2020
The Hammer
Ermolaev Alexander/Shuttestock.comThis post was originally published through Patreon on February 19, 2019.
Only after opening the door did I discover Mr. Duncan’s body, and by then it was too late. He’d given me yesterday off, and when I returned, the smell was overpowering.
It was an old shop—older, even than Mr. Duncan himself—and not many like it were left. This wasn’t due only to the unusual wares Mr. Duncan sold, but also to the building’s Dutch Colonial architecture, which came straight o...
June 10, 2020
Rental
zef art/Shutterstock.comThis post was originally published through Patreon on February 5, 2019.
The street was dark and empty, and aside from the tidal hum of distant cars, I was alone. I’ve always been open about my fear of crowds, but what only a few close friends know is that I find the opposite extreme equally unsettling. You never know who or what might be standing beside you, unseen.
I looked up and down the street, waiting, and soon enough I heard her coming.
It wasn’t just the chunka-ch...
June 3, 2020
The Watchers
Phovoir/Shutterstock.comThis post was originally published through Patreon on January 29, 2019.
Remy found the journal right where he’d left it: on the bedroom shelf beside his favorite book, The Shining. It stood at an angle, and where it touched the slanted afternoon light from the open window above, a shadow had formed, an intense and palpable black that might, for all Remy knew, be some kind of black hole, ready to suck him in should he venture too close.
He leaned in, his nose just inches ...
May 27, 2020
The Price of Rebellion
Barandash Karandashich/Shutterstock.comThis post was originally published through Patreon on January 22, 2019.
Derrick gasped and the nightmare dissolved. He lay on his back beneath the light of the full moon, drenched in sweat, and loosed a hellish, world-shattering scream. A message. The dream had been a message, and its meaning was clear.
Derick’s family was dead.
He’d tried to protect them. He’d sent them to a place where no one could find them…or so he’d thought. He could still smell their...
May 20, 2020
Into the Forest
Tom Tom/Shutterstock.comThis post was originally published through Patreon on January 8, 2019.
It ended with the wind.
The sky had been overcast all morning, and a deep, abiding cold had permeated the air. The elders of my village warned me not to enter the forest, but it’d taken my brother, and I would not let it claim my only sibling for its own.
“If you won’t stay home where it’s safe,” Grandma pleaded, “at least take this.” She handed me a woolen cloak, which I draped over my head gratefull...
May 13, 2020
Connection
zef art/Shutterstock.com The phone rings and Kevin answers.
Hello?
But static is his only reply. Kevin waits one second, two seconds, three, then ends the call and drops the phone back into his pocket.
The phone rings again.
Kevin glances at the screenUnknown Numberand answers once more.
Hello?
Static.
Kevin waits some more, then drops the phone onto the coffee table and takes a seat on the couch, waiting for the other party to call back. Hes been through this a thousand times before and will...
May 6, 2020
Katie’s Secret
Maistet/Shutterstock.com Little Katie Morgan has a secret and shes not telling. Not her father, not her mother, not her brothers or her sisters. There are many things Katies not good at, but keeping secrets isnt one of them.
How would the world react if it learned the truth that was revealed to her? She imagines the rioting in the streets, the talking heads on the news, and sometimes, when shes afraid, she hums the tune of the song the witch across the street taught her when she was four...
April 29, 2020
Happily Ever After
DFLC Prints/Shutterstock.com This post was originally published through Patreon on December 18, 2018.
Happily ever after.
The cliché mocked Samuel in the moldering darkness of his one-bedroom apartment. A fairy tale ending, saccharin sweet, and so unlike the reality of human life.
Happily ever after.
It was a lie told to little children to shield them from the dark, sinister truths of the world, and perhaps also a lie told to adults too weak to face their problems head-on. In either case, it...
April 22, 2020
The Unnamed God of the Sea
Andrey Yurlov/Shutterstock.com My daughters dead! Are you happy?
Stephen stood on the edge of the world and watched the tide roll in. A cold and bitter wind swept through the empty beach, and he steeled himself against it, shirt billowing like a maritime flag. The loud crash of the surf swallowed his words, and after his anger reached an excruciating crescendo, it tapered, leaving him limp, listless, and subdued.
It was almost three in the morning, and the pre-dawn darkness had already worked...
April 15, 2020
Memoir of a Star
Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock.com Lyra was a noble star descended from a long line of other stars: Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Perseus, Andromeda. Together they reigned in peace and prosperity, each of equal stature, strength, and rank, presiding over an expanse of space and time that blazed with their celestial light. But in the midst of such perfection, Lyra grew bored and, restless for adventure, decided to leave her kin and stake out a corner of the cosmos for herself.
And so, after saying goodbye...
