Jeff Coleman's Blog: Jeff Coleman Writes, page 4
April 8, 2020
Old Man Jeffords
Creaturart Images/Shutterstock.com This post was originally published through Patreon on December 11, 2018.
A light came on in the Jeffords house, disturbing the darkness of the night. It oozed out of a smokey plate glass window, alighted on a cracked and peeling wall, brushed the tops of thick bramble-like weeds. If anyone had happened by and glanced through the grimy glass, they might have caught a rare glimpse of Old Man Jeffords himself, clutching his chest and tumbling to the moldy...
April 1, 2020
The World Inside My Closet
Mia Stendal/Shutterstock.com It was supposed to be an April Fools joke. How could I have known? If I could change anything about that day, if I could take it all back But life doesnt work that way, and like frightened, abused children, were punished for what we cant imagine.
You swear?
School had let out an hour ago and my best friend Matt and I were hanging out on the playground, lounging beneath an ancient weeping willow.
Honest to God.
He looked at me askance, but I donned my best poker...
March 25, 2020
One Last Time
IgorZh/Shutterstock.com This post was originally published through Patreon on December 4, 2018.
Daniel wanders into the park he once frequented as a child. The time is exactly 5:45 p.m. He sits on the oak bench where, as a boy, he used to watch the other kids play and, huddling into himself against the cold, he stares into the sky.
Tomorrow, everything will change. Tomorrow, the life he once knew will be stripped away. It is a time of mourning, a time of sadness, a time of profound and...
March 18, 2020
Saved by the Rain
Leszek Glasner/Shutterstock.com In the end, it was the rain that saved Peter Nortons soul.
Hed always dreaded gloomy weather. He was the kind of child who thrived beneath blue skies and endless sunshine and, whenever the clouds rolled in, like a neglected house plant, Peter would wither by his locked bedroom window and watch the open sky bleed. In each pattering drop, Peter perceived the haunting tale of a great paradise lost, and by the time each stormy day wound to its inevitable end, hed...
March 11, 2020
Lord of Darkness
Tithi Luadthong/Shutterstock.com Heart stammering, tripping over roots and shrubs, I stagger forward through the dark, fog rising up around me like gunsmoke. Beyond the fog there is nothing; I do not know which way to go.
Howls sound from all directions in supplication to the Lord of Darkness, the ancient, bloodthirsty god who seeks my ruin. The hunt is on, those canine voices say, and I know that if I wish to escape, I must be fast.
Gnarled roots push up from the ground like zombies from...
March 4, 2020
The Tragic Tale of Agnes and Stephen
Poring Studio/Shutterstock.com “You’re not supposed to be here.”
Standing at the foot of the stairs with her hands on her hips, Agnes stared at the man she’d killed almost thirty years ago.
“My dearest Agnes, did you really expect to get rid of me so easily?”
Face pale, lips blue, Stephen descended from the second story landing donning the same faded fedora Agnes had known when she was young.
“What I expected,” she said, standing her ground, “was for you to have the decency to remain dead.”
...
February 26, 2020
Mastering Grief
Selin Serhii/Shutterstock.com “Let’s make a deal.”
Two eyes beamed in the shadows of the night-darkened alley, each a bright arctic blue. The demon’s cold reached me from the other side of the street and I took an involuntary step back, mist pluming from my mouth like pipesmoke.
“Some sort of trade, perhaps?”
I couldn’t help but be fascinated by the way its whisper filled the hollow spaces of the world. I could feel that unholy voice reaching into my ears, curling icy fingers around my mind....
February 19, 2020
Moving abroad, so no blog this week
My wife and I are now boarding a one-way flight from the Philippines to our new home in California. Check back next week for a new story
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February 12, 2020
Soldier
Aleksandar Mijatovic/Shutterstock.com “A weapon of incredible power,” they said. “A technical marvel. It will crush the enemy, and in so doing, bring peace.”
I was young and idealistic and I believed them.
“Help us,” they said. “Your country needs you.”
And so I packed my bags, and when the sun set and the dark of night set in, I left everything behind and followed after them.
“Let us change you,” they said. “We’ll make you stronger, faster, more agile. With your enhanced abilities, you can...
February 5, 2020
Rebel
Tithi Luadthong/Shutterstock.com I raise my head, bloody, beaten, broken, and gaze into the crowd.
“Citizens, behold your would-be king.”
Staff in hand, Deltor, the conqueror of humanity, steps onto the cliffside beside me, his cobalt cape flapping in the wind. He glances at the chains binding my wrists and feet, and after shooting me a condescending smirk, turns to face the people.
“And how,” he continues, “should we treat our royal highness, the rebel? What manner of death does he deserve?”...
