fiction

8 Days before Christmas

/ Karina Pinella / 7 Comments

(A Christmas Tale Countdown series, Part 6; see Part 5)

Gold rings

Silas woke up feeling depressed over not having seen Elizabeth for the last three days. He thought he would give her something different for a change. She might be tiring of eating so much fowl. He didn’t want to fatten her up either.  Still, he wanted her to think of him. He was glad he was able to write the poem before the rules were made. Surely, she would gather the words sounded like him. He had recited poetry he had written to her quite a few times before. He sighed and went to the market to look for what might catch his eyes.
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10 Days before Christmas

/ Karina Pinella / 12 Comments

(A Christmas Tale Countdown series, Part 4; see Part 3)

French hens

The three friends met at The Bedfordshire Inn to talk about the last two days. Silas and Ebenezer wanted to know what Elizabeth thought about her gifts.

“She is mostly pleased, but surprised. Naturally, she wanted to know who they were from, but I said that for now the gentleman in question prefers to remain anonymous and would reveal himself in time. However, she did mention that the first gift had included a poem that made her think it was someone she knows.”
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11 Days before Christmas

/ Karina Pinella / 5 Comments

(A Christmas Tale Countdown series, Part 3; see Part 2)

doves

Ebenezer lived with his great-Aunt Maisey, who professed every day she would leave everything to Ebenezer if he continued to mind her. He liked the old biddy enough but wished she wasn’t so robust. He wouldn’t mind if she were feeble and in bed most of the time. Instead, she tended to flit about and meddle in everyone’s business, as she was now doing in his. The two of them were in the drawing-room drinking tea together, although his mind was on Elizabeth.

“Darling boy, how preoccupied you look today. What is on your mind, sweet son?”
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A Visitor

/ Karina Pinella / 9 Comments

Her eyes open, slowly focusing at the rail on the side of her bed. She struggles to breathe, a flash of anger courses through her as she tries to inhale what little air she can get into her terminally ill lung. A tear slides by the side of her eye, as she prays silently for mercy. She rolls onto her back and stares unseeingly up the ceiling. Her thoughts jumble. Instantly, she has a lucid thought, “I had a good, long life.” Continue reading →

Stuck

/ Karina Pinella / 1 Comment

Stubborn Sally persists in pouting her smiling lips and continues taking selfies. She parties hard although she doesn’t work as hard. She likes it soft and simple. Nothing wrong with that, but she lets her student debt get in the way of other people, namely Mr. and Mrs. Sally’s parents. Continue reading →

Thief

/ Karina Pinella / 8 Comments

He padded into her life as if he belonged there. They immediately hit it off and were dancing, singing, drinking, and eating together. Day in and day out, they were in constant contact. They became as one. They tangoed with each other’s friends, but always together. Cymbals clashed along the way. A bit discordant, but they were able to smooth it out. As they continued along, little things popped up here and there like pimples. Unpleasant but manageable until . . . Continue reading →

Ahead on a Stick

/ Karina Pinella / Leave a comment

It’s not just an ordinary day in the ‘hood. Today is the First Annual Race-o-Rama on Washington St., in a neighborhood of single, and mostly, multifamily homes. Their peeling paint and chipped shingles, a consequence of the past rough winter and general lack of funds, do not faze the merriment of the ragtag bunch. The kids range in age from nine to fourteen. There are about a dozen of them, half in the audience, while the others are getting ready to motor up in their unique makeshift racers.

Image by Freedigitalphotos.net

Image courtesy of Vlado from Freedigitalphotos.net

Lamont “LeMans” revs up his mini-roadster, powered by his short legs. Ramon “The Main Rain Man” can barely keep still, poised to pedal his trike. “Cuz” Chondelle is riding high on his pogo stick. Their older siblings are lined alongside them; one on a bike, another on a unicycle and a third on a skateboard. They all eye the finish line ahead.

“You getting this on tape, Clarice?” Delroy asks. “It’s for pos-ter-ee-tee.” He calls out to the girl holding up a smartphone with a cracked screen.

“You been reading again, Del-boy?” Royale chortles.

Delroy shoots him an “eat my shorts” look and hunches down to get set as Sharlayne primes the group, “When you see my gun go off, that means go.” She is holding up an orange-colored water blaster, which she squirts at the group.

The kids watching laugh as the group, poised to race, are momentarily startled as water sprays them. “You’re supposed to aim it up in the air, wonder brain,” Royale yells as he wipes off the water from his face. He gets soaked the most because he is the closest to Sharlayne.

“Well, you sure aren’t ‘cuz you’re still crying about a little water. Get going.”

Now Lamont is head to head with Ramon, while Delroy whizzes past them. But Chondelle surprises all as he overtakes them.

“Whoa, there goes Chondelle almost lick the dust, but now he’s ahead on a stick . . . yeah . . .” one of the kids watching starts to rap out a song in honor of the frontrunner. Suddenly, two cars seeming to race with each other careen by them. A gun shot in the air. Chondelle in the lead crashes to the ground. The kids scream as the two cars speed away, long gone.

It turns out to be just another ordinary day in the ‘hood.

©2015 Karina Pinella

Memory Man by David Baldacci (a book review)

/ Karina Pinella / 2 Comments

This book has the makings of a new book series. The hero is Amos Decker, a middle-aged, 6’5”, 350-lb., former police detective whose mind is like a DVR. A football accident that happened during his first college football game as a freshman resulted in giving him more than a concussion. His brain somehow got knocked in the right places to give him the ability to recall all his memories at will. His size is metaphorical of the heaviness of life events that will follow later. One of such events is the inexplicable murders of his wife, daughter, and brother-in-law. The murders go unsolved and his life spirals down until many years later he is roused from his lackluster existence. Continue reading →

In the Flesh

/ Karina Pinella / 2 Comments
Image by FreeImages.com/sardinelly

Image by FreeImages.com/sardinelly

A short stack of dried human skin trimmed into 8 ½” x 11” pages sat on the desk as Walter Penn pondered on his next flesh fiction. He considered the title, Flayed Minion, in memory of the owner who was formerly bound by the parchment on which he will now scribe with maroon lettering. His ink flowed through a special pen cartridge connected to a tube attached to a hypodermic needle full of citric acid solution, mixed with blood from an unwilling human aorta donor. Continue reading →