short stories 2 | John Derossett Publishing

Through the Seasons

Maya sat by the window, staring out at the rain tapping rhythmically against the glass. Her thoughts drifted, as they often did, to Lucas. It had been six months since they’d last spoken, but she could still feel his presence everywhere. It was as if he had woven himself into the fabric of her life, even though he was no longer a part of it. They had met one summer, a time when the world seemed alive with possibility. She had been working at a small café near the harbor, spending her days serving iced coffees to tourists and locals alike. One afternoon,…

Echoes of the Deep

The first time the sound was heard, most of the townspeople dismissed it. The wind, they thought, or perhaps a large cargo ship docking further along the coast. But by the third night, even the skeptics couldn’t ignore the eerie, mournful wails that seemed to emanate from the depths of the ocean. The small coastal town of Brinecliff had always been quiet, a sleepy place where time seemed to pass more slowly, nestled between jagged cliffs and the churning waters of the Atlantic. Most of its residents were fishermen, their lives and livelihoods tied to the sea. But now, that same sea had…

The Last Leaf on Maple Street

Edith Miller sat by the large bay window in her living room, her hands cradling a warm cup of tea. Outside, the branches of the great maple tree stretched toward the sky like a skeletal hand, each twig trembling in the wind. It was late autumn, and nearly all the leaves had fallen, leaving behind bare limbs that swayed gently in the cold November breeze. But one leaf remained, clinging to its branch with a kind of determined fragility that caught Edith’s eye. It was a lone flash of yellow in a sea of dull gray. For years, that tree had been her…

Changes – again

There’s so much I want to do. I like writing the reviews. I like writing my stories too, but the website was getting so filled up, one was getting lost in the other. So, I decided to buy the .net version of my domain. On this website (.com), I am going to publish my stories. On the other website (.net) I am going to publish my reviews and such. Whatever is already on that website though is going to stay there, except my poems, which I will bring back over here. Everyone that knows me, knows that I like to write about crime.…