The Novella Life of Illuscia Nester Himawari

I have this condition called Alien Arm Syndrome. It sounds fake, I know. Like something out of a sci-fi horror flick. But it is a real medical condition and I was lucky enough to be cursed with it. I never cared to look into it scientifically, but basically a part of your brain doesn’t function correctly and one of your arms grows a mind of it’s own. Sometimes it’s controllable. Usually a doctor will tell you to hold something in the affected hand and this would help keep it under control. Sometimes the condition will get better and sometimes it will get worse. It’s different for everyone who has it but with me it keeps getting worse, and worse. When I was around nine or so, is when it all started. It was really very subtle at first. Every once in a while my arm and hand would just make small movements. Like I’d be sitting down watching T.V. and all of a sudden I’d notice my arm stuck out to my side making random movements. A few years later I was watching T.V. when sudden...

I knew she was the one from the beginning. When I saw her at first, that beautiful flowing sundress, that smile. She seems to be a good person. I even got her address, Oak Grove. There was, however a lot of people dressed in their Sunday best around her, each in line, walking past her. It is now midnight, everyone is asleep and all of her visitors are gone for the day. I remember her smile as I begin digging. – Credits to:   http://xboxgamer098.tumblr.com/

I feel confident yet still a bit nervous as I clutch my job resume folder. I feel like I’ve been in the waiting room for hours though it’s been minutes. I’ve worked my whole life to get up to this point. You see, I’ve always loved playing with trains. When I was a boy, I’d build my own trains, my own tracks. I’d design whole towns. I’d spend so much time on my trains that my social life, my family life suffered. My favorite thing to do was build it all up then smash everything together in violent collisions. I’d rig it so that the trains would catch fire. The little town guys would also become engulfed; I’d imagine and mimic their screams. Trains flying off tracks. Devastating whole sets with hammers. Sounds of metal scraping on metal. Glorious. God I hope I get this job. I’m tired of playing with toys. It’s time to move up to the real thing. – Credits to: Huntfrog

What many people don’t realize is…. I died, in the woods, on my way to Grandma’s, I died. No, it wasn’t the wolf. It was an accident, on my way over the river I slipped, and bumped my head on some rocks. The Wolf was framed. - The day began like any other, the sun was shining, the birds were singing their melodious song, and I was to take a basket of goodies to my grandmother. The day was so nice that I decided to wear my short hooded cape, the one that only covered my shoulders. After tying the ribbon around my neck, I kissed my mother goodbye, grabbed my basket and headed into the woods. I chose to take a short cut today as I was kind of in a hurry- I wanted to get Grandma out of the way early so I could spend the rest of the day with my beau. The shortcut was as safe as any other and I had taken it many times before. It consisted of going over the river and through the woods, in opposed to taking the road and crossing the bridge which puts me at least a mile out of my w...

It started simple with army grunts like me. Each time one of those monsters would pop-up we would send jets and tanks and try to hurt them the best we could. Didn’t do a dent most of the time, but at least I can recall a few times were we managed to steer them away from the cities. Still most of the time a couple of town would get flatten before they went back to the sea. Despite our best efforts we were considered supremely incompetent and not enough to prevent the possible extinction of mankind. We needed better weapon, our first really big success was with the robot suit. I can remember being so happy the first time I saw one those damn critter beaten to a pulp. I think that was 30 years ago. But of course we are not fighting mere animals here, they adapted to the big guys and eventually we had to find something new once again. The first thing the eggheads did was to create some Frankenstein like creature. I think they piece the thing together from all the remains they ...

I had one wish granted to me. Limitless potential. Anything I could think of. I had to be careful, but also had to make it count. I decided time control would have the most potential. Deadlines would hold no meaning anymore, I could visit my ancestors, I could travel instantaneously, and aging was… a thing of the past. Control of space-time made me the most powerful human ever to live. My first order of business was to pause time. I wish I wished to control time more than once. – Credits to: joesbeforehoes

It should have been so simple. I thought everything had gone to plan. John had come round right on time. No one knew he was coming to see me and there were no witnesses. He never suspected a thing – never saw the blow coming until it was too late. I swung the spade round in a wide arc and felt it connect with his neck, making a sickening crunch. He flopped to the floor and squirmed around in silent agony, before I was able to land another couple of blows and put him out of his misery. All very well I hear you say – no problems there. What I wasn’t expecting was his wife to walk in. There was a horrible moment as she stepped in through the door (which in my haste I hadn’t locked) and we both tried to assess the situation. It was like the calm before the storm – several seconds passed in slow motion as we both stared at each other in complete shock. And then the silence was broken by a single piercing scream of pure terror, as she realized the full horror of the situation. I made a very ...

I froze in my bed, terrified by the soft moaning and crying coming from the living room in my apartment. It’s 3am. I live alone. I start saying to myself, There’s no such thing as ghosts. I cover my ears when I hear nails scratching on my living room floor. My eyes are shut tight, but it couldn’t keep the tears from flowing out anyway. There’s no such thing as ghosts. I open my eyes just a little. She’s right outside my bedroom door. Bloody. Contorted. Broken. Crawling. My heart stopped for a second. There’s no such thing as ghosts. 30 minutes went by. The moaning and crying has gone. Her too. I sigh in relief. I start wiping the blood and sweat off me with a towel. There’s no such thing as ghosts. The next time I attempt to murder someone, I gotta make sure they’re actually dead. And immediately buried. Bathrooms are a terrible place to temporarily store their bodies. I laugh at how silly I had acted earlier and sleep peacefully. There’s no such thing as ghosts! – Credits to: captaino...

Mary had a little lamb, Its fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went The lamb was sure to go. She brought her lamb to school one day; The kids let out loud jeers. The children took her lamb away And Mary choked on tears. Mary had a little lamb, Its fleece was red with blood. She took its little body home And swore she’d hurt them good. Mary knew that lambsblood called Things ancient, hidden, and deep. As Mary painted signs of old, Never did she weep. Mary had a little lamb; It made her something scary. Now I dare you, look in a mirror And whisper “bloody Mary.” – Credits to: eightyeightkate

I love my girlfriend! I doubt anyone will read this but I want to tell everyone. I want everyone to know that I love my girlfriend so much! She’s amazing. We’ve only been dating for two weeks but it’s been the best two weeks of my life. Her name is Alison and she’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met. I first noticed her about a month ago and I immediately knew she was the one. I remember the first time I saw her. I was eating lunch by myself when she walked by. She was talking to a tall muscular guy with nicely gelled hair named Ryan. He was way too handsome and I felt insecure. I knew she’d never notice me if she’s dating a guy that looked like that. One day he stopped coming to school, I asked around a bit to see where he went (also to find out if she’s single). Multiple people told me he must have dropped out, so I made my move and asked her out. She was reluctant at first, probably because her and Ryan recently stopped seeing each other. I eventually kept asking her everyday unt...

The three travellers crowded around the pool at the top of the mountain. A small goldfish swam inside. “This is the fountain of knowledge?” doubted Timothy, a staunch Christian. “What nonsense. No such thing exists. How would it work?” Rebecca said, “Ask it a yes or no question. If the answer is yes, the water bubbles. If it’s no, the fish will leap up.” Jacques, a businessman, approached. “Will CoscoCorps make a good investment soon?” The fish leapt up. The travellers watched, stunned. “Coincidence”, said Timothy. “Ask something else.” Rebecca came up. “Is my daughter still chaste?” The water bubbled furiously. Timothy gasped. “My God, it exists!” The water became still, and the other two travellers turned to look at Timothy as the fish landed back in with a  plop. – Credits to: dev9x

The first thing I remember of my arrival in Ahtunowhiho, the small Native American village in the northern reaches of Minnesota, was the smell. The familiar aroma of soaked dirt permeated the air and was instantly noticeable as soon as the doors of the cramped, twelve-seater plane were opened. The runway that we landed on almost looked like it could have been constructed a month ago. Not at all because it looked new, but because it looked so…basic. Like it was built for my arrival only. The dirt runway stretched about 950 meters and was accompanied only by a small, one-story concrete building. I had come to this godforsaken no-mans land in order to do research for a book. I was an aspiring author and planned on writing a fictional story set in the wild and needed inspiration. I was also interested in the local legends of the area and the mysterious deaths that were rumored to have taken place near the town. I was not excited about camping in the coldest regions of the country and being...

My roommate Ashley is ridiculously clumsy. Poor thing. She trips, stumbles, and breaks things all the time. And, bless her heart, she’s terrible at cleaning up. Socks and shoes are mandatory in the kitchen. “Don’t worry!” She shouted down the hall towards my room. I had heard the crash in the kitchen and was getting up to investigate. “What happened?” I hollered back. Apparently she’d broken a glass on the shelf. “I’m cleaning it up!” She announced. I didn’t even give it a second thought and went back to my show. When it was on commercial, I got up to get a drink. I grabbed my favorite glass, a blue tinted mason jar, out of the cabinet and poured myself a large glass of sweet tea. Man. Northerners don’t know what they’re missing!  I thought to myself, swallowing another chunk of ice. As I crunched it between my teeth, a terrible realization struck me. I didn’t get any ice. – Credits to: krshann

“I’m so cold.” This was the first thought that entered into Amber’s dazed consciousness. Her eyelids flickered open to see nothing but hazy darkness around her. Moaning softly, she struggled to raise her body from the prone position she lay in, wrapping her bare arms around herself in response to the strange chill that permeated the air. She blinked several times and brushed a wisp of dark hair from her face as her eyes began to adjust to the ethereal aura that filled the cold, empty room. “What… Where am I? How did I get here?” She pushed herself up on one knee and shuddered. The room was cold… so cold. She had no memory of how she had gotten here; no memory of the past few hours. Slowly, Amber stood and looked around. “He-hello? Where am I? Is anyone here?” she called out, her tremulous voice echoing slightly in the bare room. Her normally active mind was in a blur she attempted to discern what was happening to her, and in her confusion, an icy fear began to grip her.  “What’s go...

We ate the oxen first. We didn’t even need them anymore. The fields have been barren dust for nearly a year now. And they fed us for weeks. But the meat eventually ran out, as it always did. And once again, our stomachs clawed away at themselves, with nothing to eat for days, days that were churning into weeks. We ate the family dog next. The children cried as I butchered the poor creature, but their tears dried as our small house finally smelled like cooking meat again. But a starved dog has only so much meat. I could tell that my daughter wouldn’t make it. She was weak, getting weaker. And my son was stronger—he just needed some food. My husband was long gone at that point. No guidance. No help. No forgiveness. Just my husband’s quiet bones in the dust of our yard. I begged God to answer me, to tell me what to do. He was silent as the night sky, silent as the slowly dying world around us. I couldn’t lose them both. I pulled out the large cooking pot. And the c...

I stood under the tree enjoying the blow of the wind as I waited for my little friends to arrive. Today was a special day. Today was the anniversary of Ugly’s death. Ugly was our local stray kitten. He was his namesake: One side of his ear was loop-sided and half of the other ear was gone, literally. He had scars that could rival the hardest of military men and criminals alive, and a huge patch of fur on his back and one of his hind legs were gone, showing the bald, rotting skin underneath and he walked with a limp on his front left foot. Ugly was not very popular among our community. Housewives and old men sprayed him with garden hoses to keep him off their lawn. Teenagers threw stones at him and shooed him with sticks and brooms. He got whacked, kicked and shoved off from anyone and everyone imaginable. He was probably the most unloved creature in the whole wide world. Despite that, he still continued to approach the people he met, asking just for a little love. He particularly ...

I came back home shocked to find out from my mother that my brother was actually going to bring a date back home tonight. I had never known my brother to be eligible to anyone. He had always struck me as a nerd who had his head in the books, have geeks for friends and couldn’t care less about the female species, as he put it. Mother said my brother is still a man after all, and that I’m being mean. When I asked, Mother said she has yet to meet him even though my brother has technically dated the girl for more than 6 months now. Being the over-zealous woman she was, she claims to know the perfect way to test and see if the girl was good enough for her little boy. That was when I saw the fish she was cleaning. It was quit huge, with a hint of earth colour on the skin. Looks almost like a fresh water (or was it salt water that has this colour?) fish. The only difference was that it had a slightly protruding belly, like it was female and had eggs or something. Mother told me that thi...

I’m sitting on a bench in a park. It’s morning, the air feels cool and fresh. I see a few joggers here and there, but other than them not that many people around. I’m holding the latest newspaper. War, death, poverty, same news as usual. Patiently, I wait for my prey. From afar, I see a small girl, about 10. Alone and unsupervised. She’s scribbling on something, like a sketchbook. This is it. My target. I stuff away the papers in my coat, and make my move. I approach her carefully, minimizing suspicion. I ask her what she’s doing here. Cheerfully, she explains her love for sketching things. Cats, dogs, trees, all that stuff, but especially birds. She says she wants to be an artist someday. There’s my angle. I tell her I saw some exotic birds in a secluded section of the park earlier, and ask her if she wants to see them. Ecstatic, she says yes. Luring her is almost too easy. We arrive at the spot. Secluded. No witnesses. The time has come. I tell her I saw a bird in the trees, and as h...

When I was seven, Melanie Harper from down the road said that my Daddy probably left us because I was so ugly. I never saw Mama so angry as she was that night. "Where does she live, baby?" she demanded. Melanie didn't show up for school the next day, and school was cancelled the day after that. We moved away three days later. _ Two days after my eighth birthday, a boy named Sam pulled my hair in the playground and then pushed me over, grazing my knee. Again, Mama asked where he lived. Again, he vanished. Again, we moved. _ Later that year, the boy who sat next to me in Math class copied off my test, and got us both disqualified for cheating. I was furious. I'd practiced hours for that test, and I told Mama so when I got home. I told her that it wasn't fair, that the teacher wouldn't listen when I said it wasn't my fault, that the stupid boy refused to admit that it was him and not me. I raged all night, even after Mama left around midnight, and w...

Most people agree; spiders, on their own, aren’t scary. What’s scary is their size. They are small. They are easy to lose. The only thing scarier than the scary thing you see is the scary thing you don’t see. The spider could be anywhere. It could be under your covers. In your pillowcase. In your socks. Ready to strike at any time. This is my predicament right now. Not a spider. No. A person, I suppose, would be my metaphorical spider. I live in a rural area in the Australian Outback. Not a very fancy desert town, but one surrounded by mountains. Oftentimes, at night, I’ll look outside and just think. I live alone right now, because I’m travelling for work, so I have a lot of downtime. In any case, about a month ago, I started seeing a shadowy figure on the mountaintop. Keep in mind, this isn’t a distant, nor a tall mountain. It’s about an hour’s hike to the summit, and only about 20 minutes down the road. It’s not uncommon to see hikers or tourists on the mountain, but this one struck...

It was my first day in a new town. Tramps don’t have it good, you know? The best place I could find to sleep was this old, run-down shopping mall. I went deep in to avoid detection. I passed by several mannequins in tattered clothes, food stores, and finally found shelter underneath a life-sized T-rex sculpture. It was going to be a long night. The full moon shone on me, and I awoke to see that a few mannequins from down the lane had moved towards me. Freaked, I started shuffling to the entrance - but they inched foward every time I blinked. It was like a perverse game of “traffic lights”. There was no sound of their footsteps; no sound of their clothes moving as they stretched their arms towards me. I ran, keeping as many of them in sight as I could, until I reached the exit. They were almost on to me. I looked forward, prepared to jump out…. when I saw that someone had pulled down the steel shutters. I made a quick left and found myself in a dead end. They were a step before the left...