Rafferty's Rules is Closing Down

Tag: Short story

  • Restless Revenant

    Intrigued, she carefully cracked open the cover, mindful of the brittle pages, so absorbed with her find that she never noticed the gently blown dust forming patterns in the air, or the increasing chill causing her skin to goose bump.

  • Error 500

    We’re alive, but not living, not really. We’re stuck in some endless play and can’t find our way from the stage.

  • Infestation

    Infestation: noun — the presence of an unusually large number of insects or animals in a place, typically so as to cause damage or disease.¹ I slam the dictionary closed. The word certainly describes my life at the moment. Infestation. The only question now is what to do about it. I’ve tried traps, but they…

  • 30 Day Fanfic Challenge – Day 16

    Favourite short story (1,500 words or less) While I love to read longer, novel-length, stories, that does not mean that I eschew short one-shots. In fact, sometimes a short story can have more power, emotion and impact than a longer one. I have many, many short stories on my favourites list, but the ones I…

  • Tree

    I got to help Dad pick the tree this year. The one I chose took up the whole backseat. I didn’t mind. It meant I got to sit in the front with Dad. Still, we drove home slowly, ‘cos the trunk was sticking out the window. We’re lucky there weren’t any cops around to give…

  • X53Za Part 1

    The footpath was teeming with commuters, pressed so tightly that Sam was carried along with the crowd. He sighed. This would add at least an hour to his travel time and he was already exhausted. By the time he finally manoeuvred his way out of the crowd, his feet ached and his head throbbed with…

  • Imaginary Friends

    The first time I saw my friends was right after we moved into our new house. I didn’t like the house my parents bought. It was old and dirty, with grime on the windows and doors that creaked and redbacks under the stairs. The yard was practically a jungle with overgrown gardens and grass up…

  • ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

    ‘’Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.’ I wish.  It sure as hell isn’t that quiet in our house, let me tell you. There’s no popping off to bed early, dreaming of sugar plums (whatever the hell they are) and waiting for good…

  • Sleigh Bells in the Snow

    Snow. It means so many things to so many different people. It speaks of magic and Christmas and the sound of children’s laughter; it speaks of cold and darkness and death.

  • The Sound of Falling Snow

    Trigger Warning: Suicide I never knew snow had a sound. Oh, I knew about the crunch it makes as you walk over it and the irritating nails on chalkboard sound of skis passing over the top. I have even heard the dull thud of snowballs hitting my brother once when we visited Charlotte Pass. Nothing…

  • Better

    I knew this would happen. Granted I hadn’t expected it to be quite so soon, but I had expected it. And I told them. Repeatedly. I tried to warn them; tried to prepare them for this moment, but they refused to listen; refused to believe. I’m not so crazy now, though, am I? I’m no…

  • Marked

    I was marked at the moment of my birth. My mother lay screaming on her birthing blanket, tears leaking from her eyes, her forehead beaded with sweat, my slimy head dangling from her body while the priests placed the tattoos on my cheeks. She wanted to keep me, my mother, wanted to take me and…

  • Spirit

    When the photo was developed, he was shocked to find her face staring out at him sadly. He had been unaware that she was at the party and had not noticed her hovering nearby when the snapshot was taken.

  • Black Juice by Margo Lanagan

    Black Juice by Margo Lanagan

    Opening Sentence:We all went down to the tar-pit, with mats to spread our weight. Synopsis:‘And through the silence comes something immense and leisurely, that sheds the filth of heavens from it’s dusty wings…Whatever it is, it comes for all of us, ant or angel, lost child in the forest or lady and lord of manners.…

  • The Fat Man in History by Peter Carey

    The Fat Man in History by Peter Carey

    Opening Sentence:Crabs is very neat in everything he does. Synopsis:A landmark in contemporary Australian literature, The Fat Man in History brought early acclaim to Peter Carey for his brilliant and ingenious fiction. These twelve stories introduce visionary landscapes of intense clarity, where the rules of the game are bizarre yet chillingly familiar. Genre:Short Stories Rating:@@@@…

  • Nightfall by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg

    Nightfall by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg

    Opening Sentence:It was a dazzling four-sun afternoon. Synopsis:For the people of Kalgash, complete darkness is a terrifying and impossible unknown: their six suns constantly illuminate all corners of the known world. But new and shattering ideas have come to light. And pioneering scientists, archaeologists and religious extremists unite to predict the coming of a bimilleniary…