OK this was the last one. Had to post a few for Halloween, sorry for the dump. No other day defines an entire genre so I couldn't let this opportunity go.
Joy nearly got lost on the root-knotted red dirt path off of Highway 99, losing sight of the gaps between the live oaks and Spanish moss that fanned across her hood and windows like fingertips. Driving back to her familyβs cabin twenty years later reminded her that the woods had rarely been restful ...
Do the woods do it for you? Well then this is for you
The human condition can be summed up in a drop of blood. Show me a teaspoon of blood and I will reveal to thee the ineffable nature of the cosmos, naked and squirming. Squirming. Funny how the truth always seems to do that when you shine a light on it.
The first story in this collection is my favorite and the one I wanted to share. It's sci-fi and the book is offered for free from their website which is honestly quite cool. You can also find a link to a free audio version of each of the stories, as well as the paid Kindle version or paperback.
βI am hugely black and hopeful, I bounce on six legs along the mountains in the new warm! . . . Sing the changer, Sing the stranger! Will the changes change forever? . . . All my hums have words now. Another change!
This Web site is dedicated to the wonderful world of the short story and to all who enjoy reading shorts stories as I do. I will try to add a few short stories every month.
One of the greatest stories I've ever read. If you love a psychoanalytical story or supernatural fiction, give it a go!
Since the outbreak of ZP-98 in August of 1998 the number of cadaver animatum had risen to over 180 million members at its peak. However today in 2027 the majority have died off while the remaining captive instances numbering 4,500 are in government custody and a further 2,000 are in private collections. A unknown number of wild instances inhabit several destroyed island nations and although the UN IIE (islands in exile) committee requested a peacekeeping operation be deployed to reclaim their lands this request has been denied by the security council until at least 2035.
A cadaver animatum Is the result of a human which has been infected with ZP-98 and was not dispatched by medical staff or others within 35 minutes of brain death. Defined by W.H.O ZP-98 is a complex prion believed to have mutated from BSE(Bovine spongiform encephalopathy) sometime in late 1997 or early 1998. While rumored cases go back as far as 1990 the first confirmed case was in 1998 by Dr. Perry Pasteur.
The name of patient zero remains unknown due to HIPAA. The only known facts are the patient was between 25 and 30 years old at time of infection, a male, and is still believed to be held by the WHO in cryogenic storage.
The incubation time of ZP-98 is 3 days from time of infection to time of death. Vectors of infection include. Blood transfusions, Organ transplants, and Occlusion bites. Symptoms Include chills, fever, sore throat, vision problems, visual and auditory hallucinations, total organ failure and in 100% of untreated cases death.
After death in any case where the brain is not destroyed or the spinal cord severed the infected person will reanimate and become a cadaver animatum in 35 minutes at the minimum or 8 hours at the maximum.
WHO recommends all medical personal, funeral workers, and care home workers are certified in methods to control and dispatch cadaver animatums as they are highest at risk for infection.
ZP-98 still claims over 10,000 lives a year and almost 200 medical personal a year. A majority of deaths are blamed on those who either hide a known infection or families of infected who do not wish their loved one to be dispatched. A worrying report from the W.H.O CA institute shows over 18% of the population still believe cadaver animatums retain some humanity. While a smaller 2.5% believe that cadaver animatums retain all humanity and shouldnβt be terminated. The WHO retains its 2000 study showing a majority of human thoughts and memories are lost at time of reanimation and remaining thoughts and memories are lost within 3 months of infection.
While some survivors of the initial outbreak claim amputation of bitten limbs would result in the infection not spreading and therefore saving the infection person. A 2003 study shows no evidence for this claim and WHO retains the only effective treatment is the Plymouth protocol which calls for a medically induced coma and various medications designed to slow infection.
"Miss Carpenter. Please. I know my business," the young man said. "You just keep your eyes open for any bananafish. This is a perfect day for bananafish."
I was about ten years old (too young) when I read this for the first time. At that age I was accustomed to banal stories about clever grasshoppers and friendly bears.
I'm sure my jaw literally dropped when I got to the end-- but I also realized how powerful a story could be. I'll never forget that first time.
Fiction, from 1948: βThe people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions; most of them were quiet, wetting their lips, not looking around.β
Artwork by Jane Corrigan.
I pitched through the lobby door and then, as I caught my breath, stood looking back at the storm. It was bad out there. The city had been reduced to dim outlines and floating lights; snow moved down Nineteenth Street in waves. I beat it from my hat and coat, knocked my....
I tell this story not for my own honor, for there is little of that here, and not as a warning, for a man of my calling learns quickly that all warnings are in vain. Nor do I tell it in apology for St. Benedict’s School, for St. Benedict’s School needs no apologies. I tell it only to....