GENRE: Suspense. LENGTH: 1612 words. SYNOPSIS: 90-year-old Mildred Applee is thankful she still has an excellent memory—until a surgical procedure makes her blessing seem more like a curse. “Mrs. Applee, have you had anything to eat or drink since midnight?” “Well, let’s see. I had steak and eggs and two biscuits for breakfast,” said Mildred. [...]

GENRE: Suspense. LENGTH: 5,629 words. SYNOPSIS: A young woman offers a ride to a stranger, knowing she may regret it. He’s good-looking. But he could be a criminal. He could be dangerous. So could she. The young clerk smiled at Obadiah as he entered the convenience store. He already felt guilty about what he was [...]

GENRE: Humor. LENGTH: 1,898 words. SYNOPSIS: Chip’s life is changed forever after an encounter with bullies in the woods on Halloween night. Today I turned 13. My birthday party was cool. I got a lot of stuff I wanted—and one thing I didn’t want: a personal journal. Journals are for girls. But my mother gave [...]

GENRE: Fantasy/Horror. LENGTH: 1,908 words. SYNOPSIS: Five-year-old Jessica doesn’t go anywhere without Smiley—the handmade doll that protects her from the evils of the world. Amber had been driving to Wal-Mart with her five-year-old daughter, Jessica, when she spotted the garage sale sign. “Why are there so many dolls?” said Amber. The woman sighed. “Because it’s [...]

GENRE: Suspense/Crime. LENGTH: 2,863 words. SYNOPSIS: An ambitious campaign manager claims she can deliver a victory every time—once she gets the poll numbers within the Margin of Error. But she learns too late that not everything in life works like an election. And that statistics can only be carried so far…before you become one. “Have [...]

GENRE: Suspense/Crime. LENGTH: 3,525 words. SYNOPSIS: Mary Goldalore is very attractive, wealthy divorcee in her mid-thirties. She’s also a bit naive—making her a prime candidate for a con artist’s scheme. A tall, slender woman in her mid-thirties spotted the two wealthy-looking women about her age at the end of the bar. She picked up her [...]

GENRE: Suspense. LENGTH: 2,457 words. SYNOPSIS: The year is 2018. Television is obsolete. Everything is web-based. Watch any show whenever you want. And thanks to massive computer databases and powerful processors, all data is now saved. Place your grocery order. You don’t have to specify what you want—they already know. Fries with that? They don’t [...]

GENRE: Adventure/Suspense. LENGTH: 6,136 words. SYNOPSIS: Kory Mantra is a 32-year old computer programmer who, after losing his job and his girlfriend, went on a diet and took up yoga. And to help him stick with it, he made weekly videos of his progress and posted them online.By the time he reached his goal of [...]

GENRE: Suspense/Crime. LENGTH: 1,264 words. SYNOPSIS: Road Rage can take you on a trip to somewhere you’ve never been. And make you wish you hadn’t gone. Miguel pushed his cart to the front of the small grocery store. Just as he reached an empty checkout lane and began to place his items on the conveyor [...]

GENRE: Suspense/Crime. LENGTH: 2,128 words. SYNOPSIS: Some people will do anything for a buck. You might call them buck-thirsty. Travis and Tara were thirtysomethings who lived in an affluent suburb. Travis spent most of his time on the road. But when he did come home to his live-in girlfriend, he brought major cash. Tara loved [...]