What is represented below is a small sampling of my fiction work. These are primarily older short stories or parts of larger works. Posting more of my work here for open consumption sadly reduces the possibility of my being able to have them accepted elsewhere for publication. Please read and enjoy, and if you’d like to read more of my work, consider supporting my (spectacularly cheap) Patreon for full of Faefyx Original stories with regular new additions.
The Something Missing – Part 1: An Old Friend (2021)
Alex Cartwright meets up with an old friend and finds themselves drawn back into a world they thought they had left behind.
Chuck had messaged me as I was pulling into town. He was taking a shower but would leave the door ajar, and I should just come on in when I got there. It felt a little strange, but there wasn’t room for me to argue on the matter.
When he had said that he was in a hotel a fairly traditional image had come to mind, and I was a little surprised when he provided a building number. The complex I found myself in was a maze to drive around, and I had to guess that this was one of those extended-stay places. Strange, given he said he was only planning to be here a few days. But maybe it was just the best deal at short notice. I eventually located the right building and pulled myself, my bag, and my coat out of the car. It was late March; crusted snow hung around in the shade up here. I found the door of the first-floor room and checked the room number against my phone. The door was standing slightly open, so it must be the right one. I checked the number again. Hesitantly, I pushed my way in.
This is the first part of an ongoing serial form story with many more parts available right now on Faefyx’s Fiction Patreon!
The Bard’s Tale – (2016)
Part of an in-progress interconnected short story collection Beyond the End – There are more Beyond the End stories available right now on Faefyx’s Fiction Patreon!
A stranger finds a curious kind of welcome and hears a foreboding story in a growing settlement.
The wind whipped a gust of sand across my face again. I could feel the coarse grains lash at my cheeks while others got caught in my stubble. I’d tied a makeshift scarf around my face some miles back, but it had slipped down and now hung loosely around my neck. I could pull it up, but it was caked in the smell of sweat and dirt, made my face too warm in the afternoon sun, and made my breathing heavy. It would just fall down again anyway.
In this empty waste, I found myself confronted with a road sign that had been left standing by some grace of…well, whatever. It announced a welcome, but the name of the town to which it welcomed me was broken off—it seemed fitting, given that the town itself was long gone now as well. But I didn’t need the name. I recognized the sign. If I went round to the back of it, I’d find my own initials etched there, along with those of a high school sweetheart’s who had probably gone the same way as the town and most of the rest of the population.
Afterthought – (2015)
A woman reflects on a traumatic event, too late to affect the outcome.
I’m not sure if I locked the door.
I was in such a rush out of the house that I don’t really remember. It would have been easy to forget. And we live in such a bad neighborhood—well, I think we do. Kevin says there’s nothing to worry about. But if I could just go back and check.
Although, if I could, there’s a lot of things I would like to do, things I wish I had done differently. I think I’d already started going over some of them as I drove away, pushing the gas pedal into the floorboard. I’d needed to get out of there, but once you’re on the road there’s only so much you can think about. The speed gave me some release.
The Weathered Man (2014)
The story of a man’s love and loss on the way to the end of the world.
Where once there had been lush forests, streams, and the constant chitter of wildlife, there was now only an empty expanse. The ground was laid bare, cracked and dusty, as an unrelenting sun burnt down.
The weathered man sat on a rock, surveying the scene, hands clasped tightly, elbows propped on knees. It felt like he’d been here a long time. He wasn’t even sure where here was anymore. This place felt like a whole other world to him now.
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