All Stories
Every story published in Close To The Bone Magazine
The complete Close To The Bone Magazine archive from 2011. Search by date or explore the latest published fiction below.
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Doyle’s Revenge
Doyle always sits at the far corner facing the entrance, affording him a view of the day drinkers perched along the dark walnut bar, the traffic in and out, plus a wide, clean space to set his paper and mug of coffee. Sometimes he works on the crossword until the...
Lewis Lassater – Minor Vampire
Lewis Lassater was ten years old when he died, which is an awkward age to be a vampire undead. Old enough to recognize irony, too young to be taken seriously by immortals who had seen empires rise, fall, and be replaced by chain restaurants. +++++He lived in the...
Extra Credit
Rachel stood in front of the classroom trying to explain Greek mythology to a group of high school sophomores. Some of them were interested. Some of them were asleep. She noticed only Todd was continuously engaged. +++++She heard the other boys tease Todd from time to...
Chattering Teeth
What was it? What could it be? The small package was addressed to the occupant, so I suspected the contents had something to do with the advertising gimmicks that most of us received throughout the year. Pure Kitch. A pocket calendar, personally engraved pencils, a...
Beacon City – The Alleyway
Hovering in the darkness, I focused on controlling my breath, keeping it shallow yet steady. My heart raced with the nearby shuffling of feet, but there I remained; still, undetectable. The footsteps edged closer, then gradually faded along the cobbles, carrying my...
The Killing Brothers
“Who do you think was our best kill this year?” +++++Oscar didn’t respond at first. Littleform often asked this question and they always disagreed. They were fifth-generation, enhanced Attack Brothers with a skill package that would allow them to kill any species,...
Every Star Goes Out
Brody was late coming home, so Charlie sat in the bow-window and waited for him. Brody’s supper was ready and she had borrowed some preserves from Mrs Webly, next door, to make a pie. It seemed like a good idea, considering. If she could find the right words to...
Winter Doldrums
The air was foggy, so much so I was barely able to see my hand before my eyes. The mist surrounding me was dense and the heat added to my pleasurable experience. I took the highest seat, my favorite and I was alone. The solitude was thoroughly enjoyable, something I...
She Takes Your Voice First
She takes your voice first. It was the kids that slowed us down. There were eight of us: four adults and four children. Four little shits who should never have been brought to this Godforsaken river in the first place. The children proved early that they couldn’t...
Just Like Old Times
The sound of the lawn mower caught Ethel’s attention as she was having her morning coffee. She looked out the front bay window, squinting her eyes to try and make out the fellow cutting her grass. He couldn’t be her son- this fellow was tall and string bean lean,...
Last Call at the Warman
The door opens without a sound and closes behind the man with a definitive click. He seems surprised and checks to make sure it hasn’t locked. I watch from my post in the corner. With care, he folds his sheer scarf and sets it on the empty barstool beside him. Taking...
Knock, Knock
The crying, wailing from next door woke him from a deep slumber. What is that? Someone was in distress. Shaking off his stupor, he glanced around the small room. It was dark, so dark he could not even see his hand before his face. Before he could figure out where he...
The Coming Out
“That dress is kinda tight.” +++++Greg watched as Tasha, his wife of nine years, studied herself in the full-length mirror. His tone was sour, his expression sullen. +++++Tasha, on the other hand, was almost giddy, as she turned this way and that, seeing how her new...
Bumble Bee
I can hear the fluorescent lights and smell the carpet. I am wearing clothes that I bought that morning at a Goodwill. Buy a suit, my counselor had said, when I asked what business casual meant. The clothes feel stiff and they smell like somebody else. There are no...
The Matinee
Saturday matinees were the best by far, especially the horror films. And the Rialto never disappointed. That was largely because of its atmospherics. It exuded spookiness and the live organ music accompanying the films added to its macabre nature. The place was...
A Reaping
Sandra sat in the corner booth in front of the large picture window of the Three Bean Mocha shop, sipping her simple coffee. It was bitter, and she had not yet gotten used to the taste of straight coffee. But she believed she no longer needed the fancy drinks of years...
The Getaway Driver
The Audi sat silently, poised for action. Inside, she shuffled on her seat, hitching her skirt back. Now her legs had more room to quickly hit the pedals and accelerate away. It wasn’t a long skirt, and it wasn't practical for driving. However, it had a particular...
The Itching Seeds
Valentine’s Day in Georgia is a snot-yellow drizzle, a hospital ward where the patients have already given up. Outside, brown kudzu swallows the town—snaking over abandoned hulls, collapsing porches, and telephone poles. It’s an inheritance that inches inward, never...
Mendota State
No football, no cheerleaders, and no marching bands here. No, Mendota State was not collegiate in the slightest. It was the oldest psychiatric hospital in Wisconsin and held many criminally insane patients during its long existence. Some gained notoriety for their...
As He Tells His Story
As He Tells the Story By Kiki Pepper, Staff Writer Thursday, March 27, 2025 STROUDSBURG — As he tells the story, convicted killer and Stroudsburg native Brian Esposito first remembers experiencing abuse from his father at the age of seven. +++++“He might have been...
The Shadowman
The backlot was empty as the man snuck up on the Joey in the dimming light. He had been planning this for some time, carefully gauging his chances of pulling off the crime without getting caught. The clown was caught up in his own thoughts about the show currently...
The Intellectual Theft
Abdul never stole a penny as far as it came to monetary gains. But when Balraj, his nephew, told him that Aapa-Bi had an iron box filled to its capacity with Urdu novels and magazines, he immediately asked Balraj to steal a couple of books only to return them later to...
Potato Chips
His desk phone rings. “Ron Moquin, how can I help you?” +++++“It’s me, Kennedy. I’m up here in God’s country.” +++++Rick’s car is still parked in the McKeever driveway. He looks out his window at the torched home boarded up with sheets of plywood. He wipes soot from...
Old Man Jim
(1) Leelie Park was a seven acre recreation zone built around the time Martin was born. It was used by parents, joggers, and the elderly, and by night, an increasing number of addicts and high-schoolers, who Martin did his best to avoid when getting back home from...
Lunch Rush
Blood had once again soaked through the bandage on Dan's severed index finger. He was never so sure he could commit a robbery until that very moment, but just to be safe he thumbed through his tightly wound roll of bills one last time in the event it asexually...
Surface Tension
The water is wrong. Not just the temperature, though the cold gnaws at me, it's the thickness, the weight of it. It's like the neon from the signs overhead - pink, cyan, green - has bled into it, tainted it and made it viscous and dense. The others don't seem to...
A Mad Tea Party
Simon Rory was a creature of extraordinary habit. At twenty, he lived with his mother in Dean Village, a stone’s throw from Edinburgh. Aileen owned a canary-yellow townhome with a rust-coloured shingled roof, and a tiny plot of emerald, green grass out front. Its...
Good News, Mom
Finally! I was doing it. I was dining in the dark, an experience designed to enhance your senses as you enjoyed a meal in a pitch-black restaurant. I wouldn’t even see my hands in front of me. I would not only be able to hear everything, but blocking out the world...
Hell’s Coming With Me
I hadn’t even realized he was alive when I rucked him back to the station. Dead of winter, covered in snow and blue as the ocean. Cold to the touch, then all of a sudden he’s wiggling on my back, grunting curses and throwing up red. Damn near dropped him, the only...
Six Shots for a Sharpshooter
Mee-Maw’s bones spoke to her. She blamed that on the mountain dust caked over them. They told her rain was coming, that they were fixing for a long winter, and that Brandy’s story was a load of bunkum. +++++The cops had their own reasons for suspecting her. Mee-Maw...
Good to Know Your Roots
Monica felt the familiar signs of panic rise through her system. Stomach knotted, breath short, heartrate elevated. Cold sweat and the recurrent thought that she was making a stupid mistake. +++++It wasn’t too late to turn back. I don’t have to go down there, she...
The Messenger
He watches the SWAT team surround the body-stacked headquarters of ALTAR Artificial Intelligence and listens to the police officer’s earlier bull-horned surrender commands. He made his surprising decision to survive as he surveyed his handiwork in the company’s...
The Milk Jug
Timothy Sullivan navigates the abandoned house with his cell phone’s flashlight. It’s a lot larger than he thought from casing it in daylight. Soon enough he finds the living room, completely empty but for a chair and tall stool. In the chair sits Bobby Quinn, wrists...
A Gumshoe of Eastern Market
The rat-faced gent in the corner twitched as he fiddled with his phone. Off-duty bellboy, by the look of him, but not one of the good joints, but one of the older hoteliers that had seen better days and were riding on lost reputations, peddling to old budget tourists...
Jackpot
Are you reading this because I’m dead? If I don’t write it, will I live? I know people do this kind of thing in books and movies but I feel like an idiot. I guess, if I am dead, it doesn’t matter. +++++Phillip, Jonathon and I buy - bought? - a lottery ticket together...
Connection
I hate this app. I know everyone on here says that, but I really do. And yet here you are. Yeah well, I’ve never been the best at meeting people in real life. Is this not real life too? Depends. Depends on what? What you’re looking for. There’s a lot of people looking...
The Final Adjustment
The knife had been at M's spine for less than five minutes when the knock came. +++++M's hand froze mid-reach for the doorknob. The blade pressed harder. +++++"Who is that?" Her voice was soft, worse than if she'd shouted. +++++"Neighbor. She brings me food...
Swan Song
The call came in at 1:24 p.m. I heard Ahnah answer, “Iqaluit Constabulary,” but my attention was focused on the Keurig coffee maker I had brought with me from Humboldt, Saskatchewan. This was only the third day the city’s new police force was officially up and...
Michael Agar
The street was dark and silent as Michael Agar passed through Grandview residential toward his destination. It was almost 3AM, but Michael was undertaking this journey because he received a telephone call from Don Morton saying a new shipment just arrived and did he...
Among a Thousand Lakes
Dr. Clifford Jephcott lounged, his bald head supported by the forgiving bow of the packraft as it meandered to the end of its tether. The anchor tugged faintly, tilting Cliff’s head to one side. A hand slung lazily over the maroon tube, fingers caressing the water’s...
Towhee
He was an Eastern Towhee, or, for those who prefer the pretentious Latin affectations, a Pipilo erythrophthalmus. They are often difficult to spot, or at least to get a good lengthy look at. They tend to avoid humans, for good reasons. They live in the shrubs and in...
Sankofa
Sean showed up for his arraignment in a gray suit he'd purchased for a friend's wedding two years earlier. He owned better-looking suits, but Mike Teresi deemed them too flashy, and naturally, Sean deferred. Even people who despised Teresi acknowledged his...
Blood Stained Cigarette
Nothing makes this job more exciting than standing in an alleyway downtown at one in the morning, looking at a dead body in the pouring rain. After working in this field for as long as I have, I can see where I get my dark sense of humor from. What’s worse than...
The Pretense of Caring
Susan was startled when the man in the plaid shirt appeared. +++++She was lingering by the bookstore where she and Jeff used to browse the titles, sharing a passion with the look and feel of second-hand books, something not everyone could understand. But suddenly at...
Cradling the Damned
The sun is setting on this muggy day. I’m slipping on moss-covered rocks, staggering up the hill to my grandfather’s cabin–my inheritance from the grumpy old hermit. His will might have read, “I bequeath to my granddaughter… this wreckage of a place.” But after the...
Two Grifters
The man who yanked the door open was clearly not happy. Walking across the room he pushed three chairs noisily out of his way. By the time he got to the bar Glory Dey had set down the vodka bottle he had been opening and braced himself for an assault. Whether it was...
God’s Got Nothing To Do With It
Luke Pines waits in the chill November night next to some dumpsters in the alley behind Noir for his customer to emerge from the back of the restaurant. He knows the place well despite never setting foot inside. +++++Noir is one of those obnoxiously trendy joints with...
Petor
When I got home that night, Skeeba was crying, huddled on the floor in the middle of the living room. She stopped when she saw me. +++++“What’s happened?” I asked. +++++“Petor. There was a sweep.” +++++“Yes, there was a sweep. But that was hours ago. During school....
Pray for Rain
I spy him with my evil eye. His gut protruding, a hideous appendage earned from his insatiable appetite for the un-fine things in life. Clad in a discount-rack suit, a victim of poor taste and poorer judgement, a head full of shine all the Rave in the world and six...
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Mayford, Texas, was a rural community situated in the central part of the state. The town of five thousand had one consolidated K-12 school, a volunteer fire department, a Sheriff’s substation, a few gas stations, a bar, a convenience store, and a junkyard. +++++The...
My Hero
“Kill him.” +++++“What??” +++++“You heard me.” +++++“Just like that?” +++++“Just like that.” +++++Tobias wasn’t a murderer. Wasn’t even much of a man. But Audrey had a way of making him feel like something. Whole. Virile. Even dangerous. +++++He had the old gun in a...
The Case of the Missing Butt Cheek
When the case of the missing butt cheek came knocking, I was digging into some leftover chicken cacciatore. Sinatra at the Sands was blasting so I didn’t hear the knocks. +++++“Giuseppe Antonio Luigi Fettuccini!” Ma yelled from the foyer. “There’s a nice lady here...
The Great SantaCon Vintage Armored Truck Robbery
Adesh, SheRa and Drizz rattled along the northbound R underground. Their car was empty, except for an old, blind black man shredding Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower” on an old, beat-up Ibanez electric guitar while singing the words to “Rudolph the Red Nose...
The Dealer
Slow and easy, that was Edie’s mantra. They were in the Armadale Hotel, upstairs in the Band Room, in December of 1982. Paul Kelly and The Dots were playing. Jay and Edie stood there side by side. It was a warm night. There was no air con. The smell of sweat and beer...
End Note
The note won’t tell you about the straw pointing straight up or the snow falling, in clumps, outside the window. The plastic cup of ice water, full on his bedside table. Untouched, the way all those expensive radiation treatments didn’t touch the cancer in his lungs...
We Planned the Last Party
It was the third weekend in August. The night before they found Jamie's little car flung into the ditch off Highway 2. Before she was ripped up, dolled, wrapped in dressings, and buried two weeks later. +++++It smelled like rain that night. The mud was thick as pig...
The Earth is Going to Die
“The earth is going to die,” Granny Geraldine Hoskins Moffitt predicted. At seventy-two years of age, she ought to know. The youngest oldster in her bridge group, she monopolized the conversation. “I won’t be around to see it or experience it,” she told Cranston...
There goes the neighbourhood
"So, there we were," Pat Mulroney was saying, "with an eight-foot bull shark thrashing around on the aft deck. The charter is still wearing the fighting harness and he's whipping at the shark with the rod which is only making the shark madder. He's yelling at me to do...
A Penance for Perdition
It was a city that flourished and a city that festered. Its dominion rose and its rot deepened, growth and gangrene pacing each other. +++++Above all, it was a city that yearned to recover, to heal, but it first needed to repent, and it did not know how. The forsaken...
Observe the blind sons of Ulster
‘Catholics living in protestant housing estates are all stuck in the same bog,’ my Da said as he gazed out through the net curtains in our front room. ‘There’s an order to things around here son, and the majority of people in this town want you to know your place in...
The Axeman’s Encore
Inspired by true events Buchenwald. April 11, 1945. The images of the survivors—more bone than flesh—were seared into Jimmy Armstead’s mind and heart. Shadows followed him now, even in daylight. His mother and grandmother Mémé, the two women who’d raised him after his...
Gettin’ Interesting
Carl and I both work for Boss Hodges in Birmingham, Alabama. Carl’s been with him for a long time, over ten years, going back to at least 1920. Me? I’m a newcomer. For me it’s been less than a year. +++++Mrs. Rose, my landlady, trudged upstairs. I could hear the...
The Dead Wake
Meg’s flip flops smack against the tiles as she charges through the lobby. The hotel receptionist is poised at the breakfast buffet sign, a gazelle in a snug waistcoat. She smirks at Meg with a sideways glance. Oh sure, there’s the urge to shove her, but Meg rises...
Lucky
Sam knew that he was going to be assassinated. The only uncertainty would be in the time and manner of his end. Would he open his fridge door to be blown across his kitchen to leave a broken corpse covered in yoghurt and out of date cottage cheese? Would he be driving...
The Side Gig
"You know what we ought to do?" Pat Mulroney asked. +++++"There's many things we could do but what is it we ought to do?" replied Glory Dey with a touch of sarcasm in his voice. +++++Pat pushed his breakfast plate aside, a half slice of toast left uneaten and said,...
Last Laugh
I blame the third of the four snot-faced brats spawned by my sister-in-law and the Spaniard. The third was particularly snot-faced. +++++The Spaniard sat at the pew’s end. Then Janet sat nursing brat number four. And then brats number one, two and three sat in a line....
The Story of Lara Gerding
Face of Life Peeled Back The summer nights were circus-like—loud, bright, and just a little unreal. Lara laughed into the crimson dusk, the color blooming on her cheeks, and a hunger for agency, though neither she nor the others knew how quickly that glow would fade....
Girl from Here
I should have turned left there. +++++“You should have turned left there, dumbass,” Sandra shrieks at me. +++++Sandra is my self-appointed navigator, my self-appointed personal improvement consultant, my self-appointed critic of just about everything I do. +++++She’s...
Lucky
Colton Booker placed a large bet at the roulette table. He’d won before, making his winners unimaginable - and that was why he was being watched by not only the cameras mounted above, but also Eldorado’s security team. Even though both men were dressed as vacationers,...
A Missing Peace
The Catskills—I remember laughing at the name when I was a little girl. Jamie and I had been working on our map of the United States—the massive puzzle we had spent the whole first week of summer putting together—when I heard the name for the first time. It was humid...
LUCKY 37
Killing time in a stolen Geo Metro, Roach wonders if anybody will even miss it. The front seat is as comfortable as a root canal. Heater’s busted too, and that relentless January air cuts right through the tin foil cage without sympathy. +++++Hell, he and Denny did...
Betty and Ethel in ‘The Curious Suicide’
A figure laid on the floor. I saw it through the frosted glass leading into my office. For a moment I thought Ethel had gotten herself drunk and passed out, before remembering she never touched the stuff. I took a deep breath and turned the handle. The body of a young...