CarmenKern.com
writer of fantasy and other strangeness
me: Did you feed him? him: I didn’t. You told me never to do that, so I didn’t. me: How did he get here? him: I don’t know. Maybe he followed me home last night. me: He’s old and rusty and his hind end sags. He needs a doctor. It’ll cost....
“You’ve had a most unusual experience, would you tell us about it?” asks the talk show host. “I heard about the Pearly Gates all my life. I had certain expectations, perhaps like most of you,” I look out at the studio audience, not for dramatic effect as some might think, but to see if...
It was the time when day drinkers morphed into night drinkers. The noise in the bar multiplied with each drink poured. At least that’s how it seemed to me. I wore a scowl that normally scares people away. But one pint earlier, a tall, twiggy man, dressed in style-mashed clothes, planted himself across from me....
The sun touched its fingers on the mountain tops as I found the cave. It was steamy and damp. The air fluttered with dust mites and flies. In the distance, I heard water running. In my mind, the cave would pulse with a thousand black wings as I’d trudge through layers of droppings, or a...
The small alien clutched the ticket in its hand and danced from one limb to another as it waited in line next to its guardian. They had come early, long past feeding time, but neither seemed to notice the growing hunger in their guts. The guardian flashed multiple rows of teeth at the alien behind...
The Fates, sisters, weavers, sat in the stiff theatre chairs they had complained about for decades. They were the sort who took comfort in stiff and creaking joints. The morning show was a doubleheader. Two lovers who found each other late in life. The one sister crocheted a long scarf, alternating spring green and...
Last week she received a small bundle of postcards postmarked from heaven. The date stamps were for the past seven years, each one dated on her birthday. The person who wrote them told her of the eternal choir practice that had resulted in honing their voice to something aligned to angelic, but there was also...
It was hard for her to remember what it had looked like before the quake. Before the earth shook them around like a snow globe, and drywall crumbled, and waters rose and swelled over banks to flood streets, pushing cars and walls and people along with furniture and livestock. She was old, but her wits...
Get release updates and your FREE story, just tell me where to send it.
Let’s Connect
All written material and images found on this site belong to Carmen Kern and Djinn & Tonic Publications. Ⓒ 2024. Read Privacy Policies and Cookie Policy here.
