Robin J. Harrison

I don’t think I’ve ever been what you could consider ‘innocent’. When I was born, maybe. But that was short lived. There are men who like babies in ways that put them on a list. My mother had a nasty habit of not only finding those men, but also selling my body to them. Again, I was a baby. I’m not sure how old I was when this started. Maybe a few days. Maybe a few months. I just know I wasn’t yet a year.  Mother taught me to keep my mouth shut about how those men played with me at all times. I wasn’t to talk about it with her, with my brother Robert, and definitely not with anyone outside of our immediate family. I personally think it made her queasy to think about what they were doing to me, but she didn’t want to let go of the drugs and money she got out of it. Robert often went behind mother’s back and encouraged me to talk to him about what happened. If I didn’t want to talk about it, he would invite me to his room to play video games to help me decompress instead. I loved Rob...

He woke to a phone call. Blindly, he reached for his phone, slapping his glasses into the floor in the process.     "Hello..?" He answered, groggily.     "Hey, it's Catherine from the office. We found a bunny abandoned in another apartment. Would you like to take him in?"      He was wide awake now.       "Oh. Um, certainly. Let me get ready, and I'll come to the office to get him."     "Wonderful. Thank you so much. I didn't want to have to call animal control to come and get him."     Ten minutes later had Rena walking down to the office. He entered apprehensively, not used to just being able to walk in at the drop of a hat, but the receptionist welcomed him excitedly.     "Hey, thanks for coming. The bunny is over here." She led him to a cage that was far too small for the bunny inside, with far too little hay for the little guy, and the wrong type of water dispenser.     "Thank you for cal...

He stands at the cash register, bored out of his mind. The 3rd shift is really the slowest out of the three shifts he's worked at this convenience store. He's already cleaned the store twice, the coffee pots three times, and counted the cigarettes four times, all out of pure boredom.  Just as he decided to go out onto the floor again, this time to zone and front-face the store for the second time, someone came in, walking right up to the register. "Hi!" He put on his best customer service smile. "Welcome! What can I do for you?" He moved to the side so the customer could see the cigarettes, in case that's what he was looking for. A gun is placed on the counter. "I want all the money in the register." His blood ran cold. He began shaking.  He swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes, sir." His life was not worth the measly hundred he had in his register. He opened the register, keeping an eye on the gun and the man as he pulled out the cash. Af...

With my hands held behind my back and a knee keeping my on the ground, there isn't much I can do about the gun pointed to my head. The man in front of me reads from a book in a language he made up, one hand holding the book, the other holding the gun steadily between my eyes. I want to beg him to please don't kill me. Please don't pull the trigger. Please, just let me prove that I can still be useful. But my voice won't work. I'm not sure if it's because of his conditioning, or out of anxiety, but I can't speak to save my life. Literally. I can't believe I'm dying at 14. The book slams closed. The prayers over. He looks at me, nothing but hatred in his eyes. "May your next life treat you better than this one did."  He pulls back the hammer. "I'll find you again once you've reincarnated." His grip tightens. My mother and sister look away. I take a deep breath, squeezing my eyes shut. The door opens. "Hey! Is Lee home?...

Knock... knock... knock... The little girl looked up from her book. Had that knock come from the window?  She looked outside. There wasn't anyone there.  She opened the window and looked from side to side. Still nothing. Just the smell of sulfur. Confused, she shrugged and closed the window back, going to finish her book. The next day, her father seemed... off. Irritable, even.  The trend continued for about a week, with her father just getting angrier and angrier, until he finally snapped and back-handed her mother. They fought while the girl hid in her room, crying harder with every glass breaking, and every scream or shout. She woke up the next morning to a hole in the master bedroom, but her mother otherwise unharmed.  Knock... knock... knock... Her head whipped to the window. There was the face of a small boy, around her age, staring back at her. He waved. She shook her head. Knock... knock... knock... He rapped on the window. She shook her head firmly. She'd ju...

  The way the blood dripped from its gaping maul made my skin crawl. I hated hearing the gurgling cries as it limped about, dragging its hind paws behind it. I hid behind a large desk as it shambled past, sniffing around, I suppose for me, but the blood must have been clogging its nose because it didn’t stop where I was, which was good because with the blood pounding in my ears, I couldn’t think straight. I grabbed my gun, the weapon I’d already tried to off it with, took aim, and as it turned its head to round the corner, I took another shot. This round went right into its eye. It howled in pain and turned around to run back in my direction. I skirted around the desk and made a beeline for the door. My shoulder rammed into it, but it didn’t budge. I rammed the door a couple more times, trying the handle, but it was locked. Panicking, I shot the window out and dove through it. 3 of my 5 bullets were wasted. My ankle was twisted. My heart felt like it was about to explode. But I w...

      As the police officer uncovered the body, she knew this was no ordinary murder. The way the body looked drawn up and dry like it'd been weeks since the date of death, despite the body being only a day old told her it had to be some sicko at the least, but more likely, some supernatural entity had killed this young man.     She recovered the body, deciding that forensics could handle the body, and she could give her two cents if asked. She wasn't a detective, after all.     However, she could still investigate the murder. That was her job as a police officer, after all.      She wrote her report, then went back to the station. At the station, she started her research. She looked up anything she could think of that could have done this to the victim.     She researched all manner of cannibalistic monsters. She was there for so long, the shift change happened around her, catching her off guard

       The four kids huddled around the small flame of the candle, hoping their bodies would be enough to shield the tiny flame from the massive winds.      "So." One of them, a small boy with mousey brown hair and eyes to match, started. "We know that all of us see the monster differently."     "Yes." The kid next to him, a smaller girl with wide, blue eyes and blonde pigtails agreed. "I've never seen a snake so big!"     "Right." A second boy with curly, ginger hair and blue eyes responded. "And I saw a big, big dog."     "The first boy spoke again to bring up, "I saw my doctor with a needle bigger than his arm."     The ginger boy looked at the last child, a girl with short, brown hair and green eyes. "What did you see, Adeline," he asked her.     She looked up from where she had been playing with a bug, trying to get it to crawl onto a stick she'd found nearby. "Oh, I-I haven't see...

 The abandoned child I'd taken in earlier that day slept peacefully in my lap. The voice of the god who gave me immortality wiggles its way into my head.  "This will hurt." I take a deep breath. "I know." I know just how much it'll hurt to watch this kid grow up, fall in love, get his heart broken, make friends and lose them, become an adult, and old man, and eventually die. It's going to hurt to watch all of his achievements and failures. All of his best and worst days.  The early days are going to hurt a lot too, as I help him overcome his traumas, as I teach him there is love in the world and I hold some of that love and am willing to share it with him. Holding him after nightmares, sitting with him as he breaks down over triggers I don't fully understand, showing him all for patience and softness I can as he struggles to understand I'm not going to hurt him. "Why do you keep doing this? It always hurts you." "I want to help......

  The screeching of tires filled the air, shattering the calm that had previously enveloped the house. An ear-piercing scream was next, rattling the windows. Sticky wetness splattered against her skin and clothes.  This was probably the first time in her life she would ever be grateful she couldn’t see. It was the first time she wished she was deaf too, so she wouldn’t have to hear his nauseating scream-crying. A gasp escaped her lips as she woke. “Fuck…” she ran her fingers through her hair, sitting up, the silk blankets falling around her waist. Breathing out, she lowered her hand back to the bed. She swung her legs over the edge, slipping her feet into her slippers. She entered the kitchen and maneuvered to the coffee pot, but when she went to grab the pot, her hand only grabbed air. “Greg, you mother fucker!”  “Whu- Yeah?” Greg’s confused voice sounded from the couch. “Where is the coffee pot?” “Oh shit.” The rustling of jeans being put on while a grown man wa...

 Daisy Bell, the youngest calf of Marigold, wasn't scared of adventure. She loved doing new things, going to new places, and talking to new animals around the farm. All of which was really easy since she was only a week old. Today, something new was happening! The sky was leaking. It was cold and left water everywhere. "That's rain, Daisy Bell," Marigold told her when she asked. "Rain?" She flicked her ear as the water gathered there, making It feel heavy and tickling the inside a bit. "Yep! Water is falling from the clouds!" Daisy Bell couldn't contain her excitement and she ran off to play in the rain, jumping in puddles, running into walls to get more water to fall, and slipping in the mud, squealing with delight the entire time. She followed a family of ducks to the pond, careful not to go in herself. She ran through the large grass, getting all the water on her coat. She rolled around in the mud, having fun and getting dirty, and then she ...

     Khūvī sits in utter dismay at the blood that drips from the walls of the room. He goes to sit on the throne, but it's made of bones with the flesh still on the bones. Freight takes hold of his heart as he shakes and falls against a nearby wall to slide into a sitting position. Tears fill his red eyes, and his long, black hair leaves blood streaks against the wall as he moves the blood around just by sitting.     Khūvī is now the Blood God of New. Not that he wants to be. He never asked for this. All he did was help the Blood God of Old. He'd seen an older man who was drowning in his delusions, and he'd offered a cup of coffee and a sandwich, and now Khūvī had this burden on him.     He curls into his knees and sobs. He doesn't want to cry. But he can't help it as all this death and destruction surrounds him. He can tell the walls were once white. He can tell the throne has been built, it didn't just appear there.     "What causes th...

The fire bathed his face in an uncomfortable heat. The closer the fire spread, the warmer he became.     Yet he could not move. He was stunned into paralysis by what he had just summoned. Before him sat the single most handsome man he had ever seen.     "Greetings. My name is Hades." The handsome man grinned, showing off his pearly white teeth, which were noticeably sharper than any human's Dan had ever seen before.     "Hi, I'm horny- I mean I'm Dan." Dan's face flushed a deep red at the embarrassment that washed over him.     Hades laughed a deep, rumbling laugh. A full, happy laugh. One that comes from the gut. Like Santa Clause. Except it wasn't a 'ho ho ho', it was a deeper, more gravely laugh.     "Did you summon me just to satisfy you, human?" At least Hades sounded amused by this whole situation. Dan had gotten lucky.     "Yes- I-I-I mean no! I didn't even mean to summon anything- er- anyone. I just found this o...

 I've been backpacking across Ireland for the last two weeks during summer vacation at Uni and I'm finally in Blarney. I decided to go to a pub here to shake off the blues from all the rain that's been pouring down on me for the last week, and I find myself smiling and laughing slightly as the rainbow that stretches way above my head looks like it ends right at Muskerry Arms.  "Pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Maybe I'll find a leprechaun with a fortune here." I joke to myself as I walk in.  I grab a pint and go to check out the ambiance, walking around until I find a rowdy group of drunken Blarneymen playing a round of poker. "Evenin' gents, can I join?" My proper English accent sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm sure they'll think I'm easy picking. "Aye lassie, we'll deal ya in!" One man says. The rest of the table cheers as I sit down, swiping up my delt hand. They play a mean game. They didn't underestimate ...

       As he opened the car door, there was a loud crash from the back passenger seat. Looking over told him that his daughter had dropped her metal water bottle.      "Cherish..." He sighs. He's not upset in any way, he's just relieved that she's unhurt.      "Sorry, dad!" Cherish picks her bottle back up. Her older brother gets out of the front passenger seat, rolling his eyes as he shoves his earbuds further into his ears.     Robby looks between his son, Justice, and his daughter, Cherish. His heart is filled with love for both of them as Justice finds amusement in bothering Cherish.     "Are you two kids ready for hiking?" Robby asks, gathering the kids' attention.     "Can I walk in the woods instead of the trail?" Justice asks.     "Just stay in my line of sight." Robby nods.     "Sweet!" Justice does his tiny 'happy dance', amusing Robby and making Cherish giggle.     Ro...

  The dream of every musician is to be able to get so into your music that you jump into the crowd and let them carry you over their heads. Jennifer was one such musician, but the way the crowd was carrying her right now wasn’t what she had been dreaming about since girlhood. No. The terror-filled screams as the crowd trampled over each other to get to the exit, shouldering past each other, wanting to be the first one out, the one to live, wasn’t welcoming like the gleeful screams of an adoring crowd of fans. A fire had broken out backstage, and no one had noticed due to everyone thinking the smoke was just a part of the show. That, and the reason the fire had started in the first place was because the special effects director had passed out, hitting his head against a machine, the machine had broken and caught fire, and the rest of the crew hadn’t been able to notice until it was too late and emergency evacuation was the only option. Jennifer felt like she was fighting against the...

 Ken awakes as a groggy mess. He's had that exact same dream again. The one where the woman whom he doesn't know bleeds to death in his arms, and as she's choking on her own blood, she begs him to not blame himself. He's never understood why he has this dream so often, but it's a little concerning.  He considers bringing it up to his therapist as he stumbles from his room to the bathroom to get his day started. Once he's able to shake the cobwebs of his nightmare off his brain and get some caffeine in his system, he's on his way to work.  Halfway through his shift at the café he's pretty much forgotten his dream and he's gotten into a groove of busting tables, taking orders, and making drinks when a new face walks in. Only, it's not entirely new to him.  She's the woman from his dreams. It's nice to see her not covered in blood. She gives him the same look of bewilderment and slight freight he's sure he has to be giving to her. As she...

 The way the setting summer sun frames her pink hair makes the way she tosses her head back to laugh at my terrible pun seem that much more beautiful. A soft breeze blows over the pond and tousles her hair gently, bringing the scent of honeysuckles with it. "You know," She says, her voice still light with laughter, "I don't understand why you stay by yourself so much. You're so kind and funny." I want to tell her that I'm only like this to her. I want to tell her that I cherish her and I love her, and her patience in getting to know me and allowing me to open up on my own terms made me love her all the more. I want to tell her that I feel trapped and claustrophobic when I'm around too many people. I want to tell her that I stutter over the simplest of words when I have to go to a fast food chain and order a burger, and the anxiety gets so much worse when I'm around people I want to impress. I want to tell her I'm not confident enough speaking...

       Maybe this had been a bad idea. Maybe all of this had been a mistake. Maybe she wouldn't be able to make it out of this. Maybe... maybe she was going to die.       That thought scared her. It shook her to the core. But not as much as the sound of The Creature walking past her hiding place.       She hadn't had any time to mourn her friends as they were mauled in front of her, and she wouldn't have any time to mourn herself, either.       She couldn't bear her morbid curiosity any longer, and so she looked out from her hiding place. She saw there a creature of inhuman proportions, with a distended, undulating stomach; the sight of which made her skin crawl. Knowing what, or rather who was digested within filled her with dread. The Creature's powerful muscles pulled its skeleton along with rapid, disjointed movements that showed no regard for discomfort or its anatomy. Only hunger could be seen in the e...

He sped down the highway, weaving dangerously between the other cars on the road. If he didn't make it home in time, he would miss his kids waking up on Christmas morning.  While Terry was grateful his job had allowed him to go to home for Christmas, his flight had been so delayed he'd almost feared he wouldn't make it at all. His exit was coming up, and he pulled off, knowing he had to be more careful now. The snow was more packed on these roads than they had been on the highway. He pulled into his driveway, turned the car off, gathered the presents he'd bought for his family, and snuck inside. The family dog and his wife greeted him as he walked in.  Stephanie took the gifts from him to place them around the tree while he made coffee for the two adults, and cocoa for the twins he was about to give the best wake-up call ever. He handed Stephanie her cup, kissed her with all the passion he'd been unable to give her while away for work, then the two of them walked in...