Jeremy Ray

This story was crafted around words sent by newsletter subscribers. See below the story for the full list of words and their synonyms. CONTENT WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT   “I mean you no harm.” Medusa freezes at the sound of the man’s mellifluous voice bouncing off her stone walls. Heretofore, the insufferable slayers have been assiduous with their surreptitious attacks. They might be stronger, but […]

Other dogs in the neighborhood bark as the couple walks by. Not Maybe; he waits for them and pushes his head through the fence, expecting pets. Instead, they run across the road, nearly getting hit by a garbage truck. Maybe doesn’t understand the backyard. No matter what he tries, no pets. He’s a good boy.

Paul slammed the manuscript down on Ilene’s glass table. “Hey pal! You know how much I paid for this?” The wealthy old actress inspected it for damage. In truth, she had paid nothing for it, but it was an expensive gift. “A year of my life, wasted,” said Paul. “Your family, where you grew up,

My father and I would go hunting for water puddles after a storm. He used to tell me that the reflections were Helens and her dads in other realities looking in on us. I’d make him take me to every last one to say hello. It rained at his funeral. I spent it chasing puddles.

Five-year-old Eli leaned against the dock. Walter hoped that a fish pulling on the line would coax his son over. No dice; little Eli watched in furrowed judgment. Walter had tried it all: baseball, camping, arcade-game playing. A father-son duo nearby laughed. Why can’t that be us? A week later, Walter gets his answer. He stumbles

She can’t stop crying as she watches her body floating on the lake. One morning swim alone, one cramp, and now it is all over. Dead at 22. She was going to make the world a better place. But now she is just a dead girl in a lake. ​ A hand squeezes her shoulder.

Her eyes twinkled and sparkled like stars, filled to the brim with love for him. Her mouth was covered by blankets, but he could tell from her eyes that she hid an ear-to-ear grin. The sex had been all that he expected. So where did his love go? ​ She propped herself up on her

They done a awful good job, I’ll give them that. The mashed potatoes and gravy are almost as good as Gamma’s. Fried chicken is better. Offer it to my visitor, but he don’t wanna partake. The butter makes the chicken come straight off the bone. Next, I eat blueberry pie and vanilla ice cream. Gamma

Hopper’s hand shook as he lifted the shot glass. Three months sober, the longest he’d gone. ​ Drink, the spirits inside him whispered. ​​ He closed his eyes and inhaled. The sweet fumes excited the spirits. ​ Drink! ​​ He brought it to his lips. ​​ The spirits waited expectantly— alcohol was their gateway. Nothing felt so good to

“Wow, what a view,” says the man dangling in Apexman’s arms. ​ The man smiles as they soar, unbecoming of a human who just jumped out of a 30-story building. ​​ “Would you mind going that direction? I’m supposed to be meeting a friend.” ​ Another fake jumper. Apexman has become an amusement ride. All the