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Short Stories




Cold-Eyed Triage Nurses In High-Heeled Boots by Angel Obregon Forced into a Lesbian encounter in the fitting room. [Rated R] [2,527 words]
The Way To Bet by Angel Obregon The horrible result of reading a book called The Pleasures of Probability by Richard Isaac. [1,035 words]
...And Everything Goes Black by Darcy K Metz A nightmarish story about a young man, two taxi drivers, and one unforgettable wom... [2,517 words]
The Winds Of Change by Darcy K Metz This is the first short story I wrote based on characters in a novel I tried writing when I... [7,246 words]
The Trouble With Carla by Darcy K Metz This story follows a previous one, "The Winds of Change." This story is more of a horror... [4,905 words]
A Jennifer Love-Affair by Darcy K Metz A completely false story of a treeplanter from Vancouver who meets and falls in love wit... [3,869 words]
The Wicked Witch Of Creative Writing by Gary Donnelly Non-fiction/fiction. [1,418 words]
Dark Rebirth by Kerry L. Schofield Dark Rebirth is the story of a man named Senwick, who inherits on the death of his mysterious aged... [7,117 words]
Satan Smiled by Albert Davis - [3,737 words]
The Fourth Floor Landing by J. Michael Kearney A young firefighter recounts how a pompous Captain finally got his wish. [6,364 words]
Forever And Always by Virginia A. Sheppard A young woman is tormented by a decision she must make. Her four year old daughter lies help... [1,567 words]
Spring Break by Arlene Mason Another adventure for Keith Richardson, Private Investigator. This time his vacation is interupte... [4,784 words]
Hidden Reality by Lisamarie Jones Christina's lunch-break is not quite as it seems. [736 words]
Autumn Wind by Dorothy Getchell About an old man who must learn to deal with his wife's death. A very sad but moving story, if I m... [1,461 words]
Art Lovers by M J Martino A Guardian Angel's simple manipulation of fate allows two soulmates to meet for the very first, and ... [2,481 words]
There Be Dragons by Scott Jones A young couple on an afternoon jaunt get more than they bargained for. [1,809 words]
The Empty Bay by Alex Empire [461 words]
On The Other Side by Lisamarie Jones This is a story about a young girl who is tired of being pushed around. She takes matters int... [1,134 words]
The Witness by Thomas J Misuraca A Kafka-esque story in which a man finds himself and his loved ones in danger if he reveals informa... [2,244 words]
The Perfect Kiss by A Shockley A teenager wonders about the word "Love." She begins to believe that what she has heard about... [1,959 words]
The Running Man by Eric Allen Written for freshman English class, to explore the concept, meaning, and definition of heroism.... [1,091 words]
Come Back, Mr. Mojo Risin' by Noel Dolan Kennedy James lost her beloved brother in the Vietnam War. A year later she sees leg... [4,245 words]
God's Messenger by Tom Di Roma About the influence an elderly gentleman has on the patrons of the diner where he has been froz... [5,970 words]
The Good Gun by Russ Bauer A lone women prepares to leave a city falling into chaos. She also has to protect herself from som... [1,564 words]
A Day In Dell by Barbara Villarreal Old west setting... good vs evil. [1,969 words]
My Boy's Best Friend by Melissa Allen About a girl who can't stand her boyfriend's bestfriend and then one day she finds out she... [4,020 words]
Music To My Ear by Melissa Allen About a girl who cannot stand a guy and then she has to sing with him in her band and realizes ...
It's A Wonderful Life by Jennifer M Haynes The story of a man surviving (and wishing he hadn't) a nuclear war. What happened before ... [1,950 words]
The Jigsaw Puzzle
A Teen's Diary Entry by Rachel Elaine Reeves A teenager writes a diary entry after driving drunk and killing four people. Her chilling... [295 words]
Sticks by Charmaine L. Glass With the help of an overweight classmate, an underweight girl finds her hidden courage to overcome teasi... [877 words]
Always With You, A Collection by Toni Jaquay Lynch Always With You - It's a story of undying love. [514 words] I Will Feel It - It's... [149 words]
The Big Bang by Darcy K Metz A short short about a man who meets himself. [196 words]
Escape To Samsun by J A Melody A tale of three comrades, chartering their epic path to freedom, and to escape the horror that... [2,450 words]
Haul Out The Holly by Jennifer L O'callaghan This is a holiday story I wrote for a writing class, inspired by what my sisters and I call... [2,087 words]
Warriors' Mired Blades by Daniel A. Souers A true medieval and inspiring masterpiece that brings the reader within the mind of a gr... [1,799 words]
Fake Reality by Erin D. Traynum Covers the thoughts and influences of a gold digger at the moment when she commits suicide. [1,034 words]
Through The Window by Erin D. Traynum This story is about a nine year old girl who is being sexually abused. [1,211 words]
Florence by G�rard Ducasse A rather banal love story. [762 words]
Deposit Three Billion Dollars For The Next Two Minutes by Angel Obregon This is the horrible result of watching 3 X-FILES re-run... [2,931 words]
Quarter Of A Century by Drexler McStyles This short story is an obscene tale of insanity and excessive drug use set in Las Vegas. [4,084 words, Rated R]
Destroy The Link by Jennifer M Haynes Story of a girl who comes home from school to find things are wrong, and then realizes that sh... [3,333 words]
Packed With Peanuts by Jennifer L O'callaghan This is a flash fiction piece I wrote for a writing class about an attempted late night sna... [731 words]
Bovinza by Duane A Wood/Caveman A 12 year old boy has a peculiar, reoccuring dream about, of all things, a cow. To discover its meaning... [898 words]
Shear Trouble by Addison Gast A short story. [514 words]
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A Quarrel In The Forest by Darcy K Metz An argument between a cedar tree and a stone resolves itself after much time. [161 words]
Remember The Bubbles by Dana Drew The story of an elderly man rekindling his youth with the help of a playful child. [623 words]
The Mistake by Kavan Tate drama of a boy's decision gone wrong [504 words]
Mike and Sadie Mae by Judith Z Marrs Short story. [4,038 words]
A Work of Art by Roy L Pickering Jr The tale of man who feels trapped in the merely serviceable existence he believes he has settled ... [3,944 words]
Elizabeth by Christine Dorothea-Maris A short mystery story about a widow, taken in by her late family's husband in the late 1890's, who ha... [255 words]
Home by Matt Matics This short story (or possible beginning to a longer piece) is ostensibly "about" a boy returning home from... [3,299 words]
Cold Wind by David H. Paniagua The short story of three soldiers who've deserted the battlefield of WWI, only to discover they've be... [1,345 words]
The Fortune Teller by Michael J McGrath A group of friends encounter a mysterious fortune teller who changes lives. [975 words]
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Twenties by Larry D. Griffin Flash Fiction [668 words]
Tiki's Revenge by Edward L Wier A short-story of a lesser god's dwindling popularity in the spirit world. The Christians and t... [8,078 words]
Outlaws by M H Doty It is a irreverent piece about falling in lust in a beautiful tropical town with an outlaw-type guy! [2,500 words]
The Cake in His Pocket by M Betette A dark comedy about a very disfunctional and very happy family. [850 words]
Blue Dog Days by W Delaney This short story is about an ex-politician turned political writer named John Gerrick. The story ... [2,000 words]
The Doona Drag, A Collection by S Lichtenstein The Doona Drag - A humorous look at the plight of modern middle-aged man, coping w... [650 words]
The Girl in the Ocean by Edward D Adams Two women are dead and only one man cares about finding out who did it. In catching the ... [4,300 words, Mystery]
(Un)Faithful by P D Woo How do you forgive someone you love? What if you'd betrayed them before and they'd forgiven you? W... [1,050 words]
Leaving by Murray Evans Leaving home for not just a new country, but a new world. [4,050 words]
The Perfect Joke by J A Young A dark and funny slice of life detailing a boy's search for perfection. [1,800 word]
Bazaar by W I B R Smith This story was inspired (very) loosely by an incident which happened to me in college, back in 1991, whe... [5,500 words]
Age Before Beauty by Mary Ann Savage Women get bored and restless in some of these apartment complexes. Even old ladies. Let the g... [1,900 words]
Weeds by Mary Ann Savage This is not really about flowers, not really about love. [1,350 words]
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The Magic Ball
The Beast
Pfarfenagle
The Sheriff
The Alien
Vampires
Jealousy
Corrine and Victoria
Destiny
The Death Reader
Early One Morning
Lost Four Words
Lavender Moon
Sweet Angela
Iridescent Imagery
Christmas Shopping
It's Been There...
Burnt Out
Stolen
Tinfoil Memories
A Pang of Pity
The Way It Ends
Miss America
Don't Ask
Obsession
Tales from the Altar
Waves
In the Cards
Billy
Looking At Me
The Gift
Suspension of Disbelief
Bingo Blood
The Belief
Aunt Rose's Revenge
Lytle Creek Trek
Utter Untruths
Protect and Serve
The Figure
The Last Tenant
Into the Knight
Salugi at Starbucks
The Parent Hunt
The Last Laugh
Mother's Day
The Cop
The Red Eagle
The Grand Old Party
Lacy and the Bear
Locusts
Unconfessed Sins
Rules of Civil Procedure
Do Unto Others
A Stranger Dressed Black
Strike Force - The Reckoning
The Doorway
Coping
Sniper Hunt, A Collection
The Slayer
Some days you're the pigeon...

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TITLE (EDIT)
The Jigsaw Puzzle
DESCRIPTION
A teenager tries to free himself from the sickenly perfect town he lives in, to make it into perfection in his eyes.
[1,084 words]
AUTHOR
Jennifer M Haynes
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I'm 17 years old, I love to write, in the 12th grade, have 6 cats, live in Tennessee, have won several writing contests, hope to be able to get published "for real" some day.
[December 1999]
AUTHOR'S E-MAIL ADDRESS
[email protected]
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (6)
An Unlikely Friend (Short Stories) A man with an unusual "job" while hitchhiking to get away from his last piece of work, meets another man with similar interests. [1,622 words]
Destroy The Link (Short Stories) Story of a girl who comes home from school to find things are wrong, and then realizes that she needs to break her dependence on her parents. [3,333 words]
I Will Die In Peace (Poetry) A poem. [400 words]
It's A Wonderful Life (Short Stories) The story of a man surviving (and wishing he hadn't) a nuclear war. What happened before and after the attack. [1,950 words]
The Paradoxical Understanding (Poetry) About the frustrations of being a teenager - hormones, the confusion of life, and the feeling of doubting the existence of God [72 words]
The Sweater (Short Stories) Andy finds his dead brother's body in the backyard, and takes the sweater to see if he can catch the murderer. Will his brother ever be at peace? [500 words]
The Jigsaw Puzzle
Jennifer M Haynes

A Jigsaw Puzzle
By: Jennifer Haynes


It was a pleasant town, like one you'd see in a jigsaw puzzle.
I hated jigsaw puzzles. And even more I hated pleasnant towns.

It was one of those places where people didn't have to lock
their doors. Children could play outside without fear of drivebys or kidnappings. The sun always seemed to be shining. Eveyrone knew everyone and they all got along. The perfect town, right?

My idea of a perfect town contrasted severely with most people's.
I think if children are screaming, it should be because of pain and fear, not fun and happiness. People would have double locks on their doors, but even that wouldn't be enough to keep the robbers, rapers, and murderers out.
The sky would always be a deep dark gray, and a light fog would hang permanently in the streets. THAT is the perfect town.

I didn't talk to anyone. I stayed down in my basement instead
of being with my family. Talking to people here was dreaful because they all thought I was weird, and you could see fear in their eyes. They thought I was going to flip out and kill them. So, I just stayed down there and painted.

I have a lot of talent as a painter. I'm not bragging; it's just
what I've observed. My pictures are what caused people to start avoiding me. They said they were so vivid that they were disturbing. I find that hard to believe becuase the pictures were soothing to me.

I decided to go upstairs because I was starting to get hungry. I
figured my parents would be asleep by now.

"Hello," a timid voice called as I walked to the refrigerator.

I turned and saw my mom sitting alone in the libing room with a
lamp on. "Hi, Mom. What are you doing up so late?" I asked, feeling annoyed.

"I was just working on a jigsaw puzzle..."

"God, Mom!" I yelled, infuriated. "Why do you constantly work
on those mindless things? That's what all the people in this stupid town do! Did you know that every piece you try to place in the wrong spot kills 100 brain calls?"

"Now, honey, I've never heard that..."

"It's true! Just wait till you're working on that puzzle with your last brain cell. You'll put it in the wrong place and drop dead, just like that! And you know what? I'll laugh, and I'll tell Dad I told you so, but you wouldn't listen. I'll tell everyone, and then maybe this town'll listen to me for a change!" I tried very hard to keep my face distorted into a look
of anger, because seeing the fear develop on my mom's face was quite amusing.

"Oh, dear," she said, wringing her hands together nervously. "Oh,
no..."

"Maybe you'd better go to bed, Mom. If you have a heart attack, I
don't want you to have it in front of me."

My mom didn't even hear the last comment I made as she slowly walked upstairs. She believed just about anything I said if I yelled, because she was submissive when she was yelled at.

I walked over to where she had been sitting to turn the light off, but the puzzle caught my eye. It was a puzzle with lots of people walking pleasantly down a street, with children playing, and with two lovers looking up at the birds in the sky. My mom only had twenty or thirty pieces to go.

The more I stared at the happy scene, the more I despised it. I
started taking it apart. I couldn't understand why puzzles were always so bright and happy. People needed dark and dreary puzzle, scary puzzles, puzzles depicting death and pain.

I watched the town fall apart, piece by piece, as it became nothing more than a jumpbled mess on the table. With each piece I removed and dropped aside, an idea formed in my head. And finally, as I took apart the last two pieces, I knew exactly what I was going to do, but the idea was crazy.


For months I had worked diligently on my two best and most important works of art. The first was a painting of the town, and it had required outside research. The first day, when I stepped out into the wretched sunlight, breathed the sickeningly perfect air, and looked at all the smiling people, I threw up. It was so disgusting being out there, but I had to do it. And I did do it. I got the town's main buildings and houses sketched
out on a home-made map.

The second work of art was a painting of my dream town, and all it had required was a trip into my imaginiation. I painted every last detail, right down to the dead dog in the middle of the street.

Now I was cutting the pictures into pieces, like a jigsaw puzzle.
The idea was insane, but I had to try, no matter how crazy it was.

I walked home with the two puzzles in a bag. I went down into my
basement without saying a word to anyone. After I had put some items away, I pulled out a carefull sized picture frame and started putting together the puzzle of the ugly, boring town. I didn't get it cut into too many pieces, so it didn't take long. Then I placed it in the frame.

Nothing happened, although I hadn't really expected anything.
I started pulling the puzzle apart, all except for the piece with my house on it. Then I started putting together the puzzle of my town. The place with the dead dog. As I placed the last piece, a low rumble came from outside. It was time to see if it had worked.

I ran upstairs and opened the door, and for a minute I couldn't
move. I hadn't expected it to work!

The sky was dark and cloudy. A fog hung in the street. The air
smelled of filth and garbage, and people were running through the streets, frightened. There was a dead dog in the road.

A lady ran past me. She was clutching a child to her chest, and
dirt and grime were smeared on her face. A man with a knife ran after her, pausing to wave at me. He knew I was a friend.

I left the door open to let in the air, and sat down on the couch. Outside I heard screams and gunfire, and I envisioned the pain the people were feeling, and I smiled. My parents were trapped in a hostage situation, and would probably die since the cops had no control over this place. I relaxed. This was the life.

 

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"This story is kind of twisted, and very cool. I can relate to the whole boring town sort of thing too." -- Paula Shackleford, Hamilton, Scotland.

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COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 1997 Jennifer M Haynes
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
December 1999
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
2253
 

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