This is the table of contents for all of my short stories, including short summaries of the piece and a small bit about what I was trying for with each one.
—Drama—
Broken Windows
The struggle of the artist, captured in a more personal way. (This was written for a writing contest on MyIGN. Admittedly, it’s not very good.)
Only Words
This was for my Creative Writing Challenge for myself. It’s a story about a great writer who experiences writer’s block when trying to write the hardest thing in his life.
Warmth
A Christmas-themed story about a man at the end of his rope who finds a friend in an unlikely companion.
Fragments Remain
A man struggles against some abstract hallucinations that seem to be fragments of memories. (This was me trying out a bit more abstract story-telling method. It’s a collection of thoughts tied together in a more surrealistic manner.)
Beyond Horizons
A very short piece I wrote that was really quite popular. Since it’s so short, it’s hard to really say much without giving away the plot twist. But if you want one that’ll go really quick, give this one a shot.
Fight Or Flight
A man gets up and leaves it all behind. Just choosing to walk in one direction until he can’t walk any more. (This is just a strange piece I wrote about escapism and reflecting on the trappings of everyday life)
Thoughts From The Floor
A running monologue in the mind of someone who finds themselves just lying on their floor. (This is probably my favorite of everything I’ve written. It actually even makes me a little teary-eyed when I read it.)
Perfect In Imperfection
A teenage model reflects on her life before and after running away to join a cult-like group of girls. (This is one of my personal favorites. It’s sad but also empowering. I wanted to tackle the issues of looking beyond superficial beauty and what it’s like to find true contentment with ones self.)
Case #10729M
A psychologists report on a session with one of his patients in a mental hospital. (People keep saying they hear my voice and personality in the patient. Maybe I did skew his thoughts to match mine from time to time. This was more a test of using dialogue as a basis to tell a story. The format is a bit different, but it worked quite well.)
Pedestrian
A look at the mundane trappings of a normal day in an average life. It has a bit of a twist at the end, however.
The Bliss Of Tragedy
A man recounts a chance meeting with an interesting girl in a diner. (This is a character piece. I love the characters and I love the narration style, which is teeming with sarcasm and almost a sense of literary satire. I used the first-person narrative to build a character instead of direct details.)
Stuff
A woman on her deathbed reflects on her life as she looks over some of her things kept by her bedside. (This piece was more my attempt at looking at our attachment to the material objects in our lives that are most meaningful to us. How us as people can be partially summed up by the things we collect and cherish. It’s a bit bittersweet, but I wanted to try writing a full life in only a short burst of words.)
—Sci Fi—
Human Connection
This was part of my Creative Writing Challenge for myself. it’s a sci-fi piece that takes place entirely in a futuristic chat room. It’s a story of a man questioning the oppression of a controlling government.
Subterranean Homesick Alien
Very loosely inspired by the Radiohead song it shares a name with, this story is about an alien disguised as a human who is sending back a report on what he has observed in his short time on Earth. (I love the character, and the ending really hits hard. It was the first story I wrote that really felt more authentic and a full story, instead of just a test.)
—Suspense/Horror—
Treading Water
A man is trapped in his house while it slowly fills with water. (This is probably the best thing I’ve written. However, it’s also the longest one on this list. If you have time, it’s well worth the read. It’s a psychological thriller with a lot of content. I’d strongly urge you to give it a shot regardless of it’s length.)
Louder Than Words
This was for my Creative Writing Challenge for myself. It’s about sisters, one who is mute, who help the police solve crimes. The focus was on a protagonist that was unable to speak, but I really loved the dynamic between the two sisters.
Final Words
This was part of an “Urban Legend” short story contest. It’s my take on the “Buried Alive” myth.
Last Shade Of Gray
A mortician tries to remember where he knows the latest dead body to appear on his table (This was a mystery piece with some heavy focus on visualizations to capture mood and thought. It’s definitely a dark piece.)
Motionless
A night guard at a mall begins witnessing strange events involving store mannequins (This is very Silent Hill inspired, but it’s basically me trying out the horror genre. I’m not very happy with the ending and would like to re-work this one someday.)
The Third Identity
A person with split-personality disorder discovers a third personality just waking up. (This wasn’t actually meant to be a stand-alone piece, it was more me just testing an idea I had, but ended up just letting it be as is.)
Nothing Is Everything
A man awakens in a windowless/doorless room with no idea how he got there and no escape. And the room seems to slowly be shrinking. (Not sure what I was going for on this. It was more of an idea test than an actual story. I wanted to touch on the feeling of madness and desperation.)
—Fantasy—
Where The Fallen Star Lands
This was part of my Creative Writing challenge for myself. It’s basically an attempt at a steam punk story. It’s centered around an inanimate object, in this case an airship, the wheel of said airship, and a pocket watch carried by the captain of the ship.
Seeds
A man returns to his childhood vacation spot in search of a lost memory. (I’d go so far as to say this story is almost like a fairy tale.)
—Humor—
Katie Kitty’s Gift
This was part of my Creative Writing Challenge for myself. I wrote a children’s story with the theme of self-sacrifice. I put it in humor because it’s silly and meant for children. It’s still amusing to read.
The Birds And The Bees
This was part of my Creative Writing Challenge for myself. It’s a rather funny “creation myth” that turns out to be a bit more ridiculous and have a hidden agenda.
Shelter
A man barricades himself in his apartment and escapes from the outside world. (This is a more satirical humorous story. I love the humor in it, and you can easily see my voice in this one.)
—Romance—
Song Of Connectivity
A small story about choosing between opportunity or love. (This was another one that’s not much of a stand-alone story. Just a genre-test more than anything.)
Fresh Brewed
This whole story was a character-piece. There isn’t much to it other than someone waiting to ask a girl out. My earlier works were more wing-stretching than anything. This isn’t much of a stand-alone story, but me testing my ability to write characters and dialogue. I still like the details thrown in though.
