Stories tagged fear

PTSD

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it happening again to me, preconfigured, a hedge bet, yet imminent as any memory.

Chicken on a Wire

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Brady's mouth is dry and his heart is in his throat. The fear is palpable and he feels like he's jumping right out of his own skin. Then he remembers to breathe. Breathing is the only way he's found to handle the fear before it becomes an insurmountable f

Odd Man Out

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I stand frozen on the wall, with 40 pounds of tarpaulin slung over my shoulder. A late winter chinook wind howls off the front range. Stevie says we've been assigned to move a stack of tarps to another spot. This involves navigating a traverse of about 50 feet across…

A Bear Hunt in Riga

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A Russian bear has trapped a full-grown Texan and absconded with him to his Baltic den, and we don’t know why. But we are hunting him, hunting them both. The Russian and the Texan.

bolt the door: revised & shortened

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After her death I begin to see and hear her ghost. It’s at night she scares me the most. The mumbled groans from behind her bedroom door. Granny, lying there, rigid, arms by her sides, her watery eyes fixed on the ceiling.

Dirt

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Terry sat there in the dirt, suddenly realizing he was thirsty and started to shuffle on his rear towards a mini fridge hooked up to a generator. He opened it and pulled out a Capri-Sun.

Popcorn Tigers

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The last row of furniture is all black leather. In unison the tigers hop onto a couch a piece, sit calmly on their haunches, and reach for remote controls buried in the cushions. Roaring, they paw at the remotes.

Dreamland

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Damien, my boyfriend, talks me back to sleep when I wake up in the middle of the night, he doesn't judge me for being afraid of the dark, or being lost at sea, he simply listens to me breathlessly explaining why I'm awake— again— at 3:32 in the…

Maggie's Mayhem

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Tonight was no remarkable night. The sun rose and set without question, children’s hearts broke with truth, around the world millions of people lost someone they cared about, millions people fell in love. It was an average day—it was unremarkable. It w

When Deer Attack

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Carla woke up from her hospital bed screaming. "Somebody please help me. Please save me. I am begging you."

A Thin Piece of Something

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Last week, Beatrice told Rick she doesn’t want to marry him because why should they need an antiquated religious ceremony to validate their love for each other? But really it is because she does not love him. They both know this, but only deeply. They do

To A Diver

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Your soul an ampersand of air.

Awakening

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I was awakened by a disturbing dream. He was no longer with me and I felt afraid. Everything was cloudy, almost blurry. I couldn't see much in front of me, but I knew for sure he wasn't there with me. Then he said the words I feared the most “I don't love you.…

How to Forget

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Refuse to go to the church service, even though you already missed the funeral. Tell his mother something came up. Call his phone over and over, just to hear his voice, until his mother asks you to stop. Make a recording of his voicemail. Delete it an

Natural Histories I

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I feel about the universe/ as Abrahamics are supposed/ to feel about their Yahweh, /their God, and their Allah:/ I am in fear, I am in awe, /I am in love.