This week’s flash fiction challenge on terrible minds was to write a story with the theme of either:

1. Doing a good thing sometimes means being evil
2. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions

I chose #1, combining it with an idea for a much longer story I have had in my mind. This is in a way, a prologue to that other story.

Hope you enjoy it.

Click here for the full challenge on terribleminds…

The Coral Castle
By Scott Mollon

The Coral Castle stood  tall at the center of  the atoll. Built from giant blocks of coral harvested from the great Dead Reef then dried and bleached until a brilliant white, and then finally stacked high on top of each other. A great hall ten stories tall and seven towers rising around it. Unlike it’s inland sisters, the castle did not have the luxury of sprawling across many acres. The atoll afforded little room even at its widest point at the middle of its sandy crescent, so architects were forced to build upwards, towards the sky. On sunny days, light reflecting off the castle could be seen from miles away, a lighthouse shining through the daylight.

Continue reading The Coral Castle →

This week’s challenge was to use one of ten titles suggested by flash fiction participants and chosen by Chuck.

Click here for the full challenge on terribleminds

Sincerely, Your Mortician
Title by AN
Story by Scott Mollon

He was there at the moment Daniel was born. Before the nurses finished clamping closed his umbilical cord and washing his mother’s fluids from his body, even before the boy’s mother, He was the first to lay his bone dry hands on Daniel. The first to bury his nose in the soft brown hair atop Daniel’s head and take a slow deep breathe in.

At age three, He hung over Daniel in a dead man float, as Daniel’s body betrayed him and sucked in lungfuls of chlorinated water at the bottom of his aunt’s backyard pool. He lay on his stomach in the puddles, chin resting on his crossed forearms, as the EMT breathed the water out of Daniel and the air back in.

Two summer’s later, Daniel surprised Him by taking his hand.
Let’s play ninjas, Daniel said.
It had rattled Him. He was sure this sort of thing was not supposed to happen. Daniel should not have been able to see Him. But it was also the greatest year and half He ever had.

Continue reading Sincerely, Your Mortician →

This week the challenge was to write about something that scares you. Hali-Environ Conglomerate scares the hell out of me.

Click here for the full challenge on terribleminds

Yearly Review
By Scott Mollon

“Hello! Welcome. Please take a seat.

“Thank you for being on time, despite our running late. This is a busy time of year. All of Management here at Hali-Environ Conglomerate is buried in work providing performance feedback to all three hundred thousand of our employees across all divisions. Of course, we take so much into account, including how well you are doing your job. But you know all this already, this being, what, your fifth year with us? Congratulations on the anniversary!

“Now to get down to brass tacks, and the info I am sure you can’t wait to hear.

“Your co-workers gave you glowing reviews. Each and every one of them said you are a joy to work with. You should be very proud of the relationships you have cultivated with your peers. Your manager also said equally great things about your work.

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