Laura Pollacco is a model and an actress and you can find more of her work here.
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Limited Release read by Laura Pollacco
Laura Pollacco is a model and an actress and you can find more of her work here.
If you like this story, or any of my other posts, please become a Patron, or share my work with someone else who might enjoy it.
Incommon Haunts: Sepulchral Pact
At 6:46am, Dom Greis rolled out of his bed, stood up, and scratched his ass. He stretched in his holey t-shirt and boxer briefs. The summer’s morning light filtered in, scattering its rays across both his bed and his alarm clock.
“Need to get heavier curtains.” He mumbled to himself. He grabbed his alarm clock and canceled his 7am alarm, then pulled the curtains fully open.
He cradled the phone in his hands, blinking against its blue glow. His phone flashed a message from his mother, but he was more interested in checking for the weather.
“Sunny, 37. Damn, gonna be a bit of a scorcher, eh?”
He checked his mom’s message, “Gonna be a bit of a scorcher today. Stay safe.”
He walked over to the door of his bedroom while checking his emails for the day. When he opened the door, he felt a chill waft over him.
“Ah, fucking hell. Today?”
(more…)Tomorrow, Cowgirl
Kaori focused hard on her hand. Sweat beading down her face, she put every ounce of effort into moving her little finger. The other fingers were a little easier, but moving her pinky took considerable energy.
And then it twitched.
She exhaled.
Dr. Aman wrote something down on her clipboard and then looked up at Kaori. “That’s a good sign. You’re progressing quickly.” She moved over to the IVs and checked their levels before continuing. “It usually takes a bit longer for patients waking from cold sleep to get, well, any motor control back.”
Kaori continued focusing on her fingers, trying to move her hands into different shapes but instead only twitching the tips.
Dr. Aman continued, “If you keep progressing this quickly we should be able to start working on moving your arms by the end of the day.”
“When do you think I can leave?” Kaori asked.
“You’ve still got a few days here, maybe more.” Dr. Aman turned her hand palm up so she could look at her watch. “But, good news, you have a guest on the way.”
(more…)The Gentleman’s Lie: Part 1
The Duchess’s consort was well looked after. After all, people would not look upon her favorably if she lived in wealth while her husband lived in squalor. His apartment, directly attached to the Duchess’s, included its own kitchen, lavatory, study, and smoking room. They were all, of course, smaller than the Duchess’s, as it also would look a bit unseemly if her consort were to have living conditions that matched or even exceeded hers.
The consort’s bedroom was, however, the same size as hers. This was a gift to him, and one she could easily give, as, hopefully, no one of importance would happen upon it and discover her indiscretion. When he asked why, she simply said, “You make me laugh.” and left it at that. The room was lavish. There was a large oak dresser, imported from the north; expensive jewelry, imported from the west; placed in an ornate ivory jewelry box, imported from the south; and a four post cherry wood bed with silk sheets, all imported from the east.
Underneath those sheets, the consort, Duke Theodore Mercier, felt a tickle as the ties of his lover’s mask brushed against his neck. With him was Gabriel Chastain, of the Chastain family of merchants, the wealthiest family of commoners in the area. And Gabe had one goal, to caress every inch of Theodore’s body with his lips, starting from the top. This was a time-intensive task, but he was a man who stuck by his word. And so, as he gripped Theo’s shoulders and pulled him close, as he straddled Theo, one leg on either side of his hips, Gabe brushed his lips gently down the side of his neck.
(more…)Shining Chariot
“Ugh, I brought the wrong shade, can I borrow yours?” Selene was applying her eyeliner, holding herself to the wall with her feet wedged under the stabilizing bar. Cynth angled toward her and held out their hand.
“Here babe!” Selene underhand tossed the tube of lipstick to Cynth, who had wedged themself to the opposite wall of the pod.
Cynth grabbed the stick out of the air, as it slowly glided towards them. They slowly applied the lipstick, savoring the moment and feel of the pigment brushing up against their lips. “I’m really glad you have the right shade. It’s just too far to turn back towards the ship, you know.”
Selene finished prepping and released herself from the bar and pushed herself towards Cynth, holding them tight as she got closer. “It’s okay babe! Just be more mindful in the future. I swear, you’d forget your phone if you didn’t have to swipe into the pod.” Selene looked at the console. “Oh shit! Hurry up. We’ve almost connected.”
(more…)The Truth: Part 1
Trouble always seems to find me if it wants to go looking. It makes sense; my office can be reached from almost every corner of the world. See, all you really need is the right ingredients and the right incantations when walking into any investigator’s office. By the time the incense has finished burning, you’ll be right across the desk from me.
See, every one of us had an aspect, a calling, something that defined us in the abstract. I was truth, and by extension I was the one the others went to when they needed to know the truth. It doesn’t mean I was always honest though. I was just simply inclined to find the truth, not tell it.
There were millions of us, I think. It was hard to keep track of at the time. You got to know those who worked around you, but that doesn’t mean that you knew anyone beyond your network. To be honest, I hadn’t seen my immediate network in a couple months. Most of them were of similar aspects, like “lying,” “honesty,” “knowledge,” and even “communication,” so they didn’t need my help as often as others.
(more…)Dragonfly: Static
Jenny flipped the switch to start the rotation of her dragonfly’s habitat module. The spinning allowed the structure to simulate light gravity, which, even if it was nothing compared to Earth’s, was much better than nothing. She removed her hair tie, let her hair fall to her shoulders, skipped over to the fabricator and popped out a warm meal.
“Too tired to cook today. I’m sure you understand, Fab Fab.” She patted the fabricator right above a crudely drawn face she made on the front, above the screen. The machine did not respond.
Jenny glided across the habitat and sat herself into her chair, ready to set up a call with Sammi, her sister, still back in the states. “Did that girl change her lock yet or not?” Jenny said to herself while popping a bit of the breading into her mouth.
After pressing the call button, Jenny sat back and waited, expecting the call to take a minute before being accepted. Instead, the call was immediately accepted, shocking Jenny forward and forcing her to drop her meaty pastry.
“Shit! Hold on a second, let me get my food.” Jenny got off her chair and crawled under her desk, quickly finding the pastry before crawling back to her chair. “Stay there, I’m almost back.”
(more…)Somewhere Only We Knew
Katie was sitting at the bench in the bus stop close to her house. She checked her phone. No new messages, just the plans from Becca. “Hey, let’s meet at the bus stop after school. 4? It’s close to both of our places so it’s perfect.”
Katie already finished her homework, doing most of it between classes, and finishing up at home before walking to the stop. She didn’t have that far to walk, and Becca’s house was even closer to the bus stop than hers. That was part of the reason why they were going to meet there.
Katie and Becca were close friends. They’d known each other for years. Becca learned how to bake specifically so she could make treats for Katie. Katie practiced extra hard for soccer so she could impress Becca. Becca even made a bracelet for Katie with a little soccer ball design on the wrist.
Becca was supposed to be there up to half an hour ago so they could go to their secret base. About two months ago Becca found a dried up well in the woods behind her house. When she showed Katie, Katie immediately climbed in it and started to climb down. She remembered reading that you could see the stars in the sky during a sunny day when you were in the bottom of a well.
(more…)Duplicitous
I think it’s important that you hear this from my perspective. It… it might not make sense and I don’t completely understand what happened either. I just don’t know what she would say about this, and that terrifies me.
Earlier today, I returned home from a business trip. There…there was a conference out in Chicago, and with the snow, I just couldn’t get out of the city. So I was a day late. She knew that could happen. She had to have seen the weather reports, right? She was always the kind of person to fret over these kinds of things so I can’t imagine she didn’t spend most of yesterday checking the weather every hour.
I tried to call. I really did. I called home and no one answered. It didn’t even ring. I thought I had the wrong number. So I called again. I think I called about 10 times, but nothing changed.
When I got back home, I was worried, really worried. So I ran inside. I banged the door into the wall, I think. There was a dent in the wall where the handle would have been. I didn’t think I opened it that hard, but there was the dent, like on the wall. This startled her, I thought at least. She turned around speechless and just stared at me. She was wearing a light blue dress that went down to her knees, and over that a white apron.
I said, “Oh thank god! I tried to reach you!”
(more…)
Stephen Hemmer Fiction 