Table Of ContentLong Live the New Flesh
YEAR ONE
Stories Edited by:
William Pauley III
and
Suzie Bradshaw
Anthology Formatted by:
Brian Barnett
i
“Blink”, by William Pauley III originally published by Flashes in
the Dark 12/01/2009
“Fears of a Clown”, by Graeme Reynolds originally published by
Flashes in the Dark 08/04/2009
“Foul-Mouthed Teenage Zombies”, by Suzie Bradshaw originally
published by MicroHorror 08/05/2009
“Jared’s Gift”, by Mark Anthony Crittenden originally published in
Champagne Shivers, 2009 Issue.
“The Lump”, by William Pauley III originally published by
MicroHorror 04/20/2009
“Two’s Company”, by Graeme Reynolds originally published by Flashes
in the Dark 06/11/2010
All other stories are copyrighted by their respective authors and
reprinted here with their permission © 2010
The stories herein are works of fiction. All the characters and
events portrayed in these stories are either fictitious or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is
purely coincidental.
ii
Contents
The Lump by William Pauley III
1
The Woman Without the Red Dress by Michael A. Kechula
4
The Girl Who Followed Bees by Christie Isler
8
The Wooden Door by Michael A. Kechula
13
Grub by Angel Zapata
17
Heartless by Donna Jean Lyons
19
Kids in a Candy Store by Spencer Wendleton
24
Fun and Games by Brian Barnett
29
Penelope’s Good Day by Suzie Bradshaw
32
Aloisius Cottonbottom’s Surefire Image Reconstructive
Services by Steve Lowe
37
iii
Submissions by Sean Monaghan
42
Illusion by Michael A. Kechula
49
Figure Ate by Stephanie Barnett
54
The Man Who Held Hands by Brian Barnett
56
Rigged by Jodi MacArthur
57
Midnight Stroll by Joshua Day
61
Evolution by Angel Zapata
66
Demons and Acid Don’t Mix by Laura Eno
69
Distractions by Suzie Bradshaw
72
The Penguins Revolt! By Brian Barnett
78
The Car Park by Dan Powell
83
iv
Foul-Mouthed Teenage Zombies by Suzie Bradshaw
87
Superstition by Robert C. Eccles
89
Oh My God by Chad Case
91
Two’s Company by Graeme Reynolds
94
Melissa in a Jug by A.J. Brown
98
Forbidden Desire in a Cave by Annemarie Bogart
103
Hunting J.K. by Kevin Shamel
108
What Comes Next by Andrew Kaspereen
112
Cheeto Monkey by Chris Bowsman
116
The Pull Out Method by Dustin Reade
119
Bloodline by Sheldon Lee Compton
124
v
Mangeni’s Lullaby by Eugene Gramelis
127
The Neuron Thieves by Sean Monaghan
129
Adventures of My Little Carnivorous Pony
by Jodi MacArthur
134
Accused by Chris Reed
136
Anything More Than Two by Lee Hughes
141
Guide Number 3 by Sean Monaghan
145
Fears of a Clown by Graeme Reynolds
151
Searching for Storms by Tania Luna
156
Teeth by Chris Bowsman
159
Feeding Time by Richard Godwin
161
Jared’s Gift by Mark Anthony Crittenden
167
vi
The Grump by John Harrower
172
Septic Infusion by Bryan Lindenberger
174
In Case of Armageddon by Magen Toole
177
Mr. Fantastic by Garrett Ashley
181
Cleveland Cassidy’s Dick by Nathaniel Tower
184
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One by Jimmy Callaway
189
Blink by William Pauley III
193
Author Bios
197
vii
The Lump
by
William Pauley III
Published on The New Flesh 08/11/2009
I had a migraine that day. A terrible,
terrible migraine. My brain was a ticking
time bomb that would never explode. It just
kept ticking and ticking and ticking.
Tick, tick, tick.
The origin of the pain seemed to be the
five sections of vertebrae that lay between
my neck and shoulders. I took a hot shower
thinking somehow it could stop the pain. I
lay in the tub and let the water pour down
on me from above, soaking into and pruning
my skin. I was an old man then, so I don’t
know what that makes me now.
Then the pain kicked and ripped apart
my brain. I felt the prying fingers of a
fucking ape! The bastard was spreading apart
the deep folds of my brain looking for
mites, lice or any other vermin that may be
living down inside. Pain radiated from the
bones in my neck like a thousand volts of
electricity! I reacted quickly and took a
1
hold of my head with both hands. I twisted
my skull with a violent rage! I was going to
kill that fucking ape! But then I heard it.
POP!
I heard the terrible sound of vertebrae
slipping, shifting, snapping. Then the world
went dark.
Blindness wasn’t the only thing that
furious pop brought me that day, it also
paralyzed my entire body. Every nerve inside
of me shut off, like I had blown a goddamn
fuse. From that day on I’ve been nothing but
a lump.
A Spanish woman named Penelope takes
care of me. She was sent by the goddamn
government to spy on me! I didn’t file my
taxes for the year 1978 and they’ve been
following me ever since. She steals from me!
I can hear her quietly going through my
things and the jingle-jangle of her over-
sized purse as she scrambles for the door.
That whore! She feeds me too much! I am a
fat bloated pig now because of her! Every
bit of 500 pounds! She’s trying to kill me!
In the twenty years that I’ve been this
fucking lump of flesh and bone, I have
nearly forgotten the beauty of the world.
Colors have faded from memory; I can only
truly remember the colors purple and red.
Penelope may as well be tooth or nail, I
would never know the difference.
Sometimes she leaves me here alone when
she thinks I am asleep. When the house is
empty, I can hear for miles. I can hear
children playing at a playground a block
away. I can hear neighbors walking their
dogs. But today there is none of that.
2
It’s storming. I’m not talking about a
little rain, I’m talking about the types of
storms that hurricanes are made of!
Thunder booms and shakes the foundation
of my home. For a split second the vib-
rations allow me to move again! The thunder
sends a shock so powerful through my body
that my muscles actually contract! I wait
for the next crack of the whip. The next
booming thunder is twice as effective as the
one before! My neck slings forward like a
catapult, landing face first on my pillowy
chest.
With all of the excitement of moving, I
hardly notice my breathing is limited, suck-
ing in tufts of skin more than air. A third
cracking thunder hurls my body forward and
sends me tumbling to the floor below, my
neck folding under.
In these last few seconds of life I am
happy, finally remembering all the colors of
the world.
3
