30-Minute Stories

It was easy, really.  Easier than she had first thought.  Frankly, she didn't know if she could do it at all, but once the blade pierced flesh it took hardly any effort or thought at all.  And the euphoria that followed was unlike anything she'd felt before.  To think that only a week ago she was having second thoughts about all of this.  Second thoughts wrestled with and gave way to initial thoughts, though, and all that was left was the set up and follow through. The first had been some nameless Joe from a bar.  It had been easy enough to get his attention from across the room.  Her short dress and plunging neckline did most of the work.  Hell, she could have probably not said a word after that and still been able to pull it off.  But better to be safe than sorry.  She caught his eye a couple of times before finally giving a shy smile as she finished her drink.  Soon after he clumsily made his way over, two drinks in hand, many ...

Steve would never get used to the buzzing at all hours of the day and night.  He pawed around in the dark for a second before finally silencing the alarm on his phone.  Slowly, almost painfully, he opened his eyes and let them adjust to the darkness of the room.  He took a moment to collect himself, stretching as he did so.  Once again he bumbled around on his bedside table for his phone, picked it up and hit the power button.  The harsh glow of the screen caused him to wince, but he was able to read the time anyway.  11:13 p.m. "This is going to be a long night," Steve said, to no one in particular. He had received a call and hour prior that he was on duty that night, and had tried to get in a little sleep before he had to get ready and leave for the train yard.  He knew he was close to being called out for a job and should have gone to bed earlier, but he foolishly stayed up watching some horror movie and had just lied down to rest a few minutes ...

For as long as he could remember, Calvin's parents were a bit overprotective of him.  He'd had a terrible sickness when he was an infant and after his recovery they feared losing him for good.  They were informed that he had mostly recovered, but despite the best help his parents could afford they couldn't fully heal him.  He had a daily reminder of this, in the form of a potion he had to drink each morning.  He called it his "special shake", and was told it was a mixture of vitamins, minerals, and a few other things that he probably didn't want to know about.  It was concocted to keep his ailment at bay, and because of it he was supposedly able to lead a long, normal life.  Normal-ish, anyway.  At least it didn't taste like the usual medicine he had to take for anything else that he came down with. I should get out of bed, Mom will be calling me any minute , Calvin thought to himself.  Almost on queue, he heard her soft voice echo up the stairc...