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Clever Fiction Short StoriesClever Fiction is a short story site designed to encourage writers to write and to entertain readers with shorts from new (or favorite) authors. Each week, a prompt is revealed and writers from all over the world submit stories between 250-2500 words using that prompt. Below you'll find a list of my stories as well as teasers to get you intrigued with my offerings. Enjoy!
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Unwilling Protector
Unwilling Protector is a short excerpt from one of my current WIPs involving Sable, heroine from Assassin's Keeper in the UNLOCKED anthology. The entirety is available at the Clever Fiction website. Here are the first two paragraphs, just to whet your appetite.
1798
In the dreary room of The King's Inn in Dover, Sable slept. Her wounds healed nicely, allowing her more freedom of movement and making her more dangerous with each passing day. Etienne watched her, his hawk eyes missing little. She'd not take him unaware again.
He fingered his swollen jaw. The little vixen had a bruising right hook. Who would have thought a girl of sixteen could actually injure a full-grown man?
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
1798
In the dreary room of The King's Inn in Dover, Sable slept. Her wounds healed nicely, allowing her more freedom of movement and making her more dangerous with each passing day. Etienne watched her, his hawk eyes missing little. She'd not take him unaware again.
He fingered his swollen jaw. The little vixen had a bruising right hook. Who would have thought a girl of sixteen could actually injure a full-grown man?
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
Crossing the Channel
The stars of Crossing the Channel are Etienne and Sable. You may remember them from my previous short, Unwilling Protector, or from my short story Assassin's Keeper from the UNLOCKED anthology. This is just another "chapter" in their story, one that, incidentally, takes place right before Unwilling Protector.
Somewhere between France and England, 1798
Sable's groan echoed through the cabin of the small sailing vessel. Rain pattered above, the boat rocking on the waves in a late summer squall. A single lantern shed its paltry light over the room, emphasizing the spartan appearance and bestowing a ghostly glow on the woman's face. The sickly-sweet smell of vomit filled the tiny space, causing her companion to grimace as he covered his nose with a scented handkerchief.
Etienne shot a concerned glance her way but did not move from his post at the porthole. Mal de mer was not something he'd anticipated; indeed, the idea had never crossed his mind. With all the things Sable had done, all the people she'd killed in the four years she'd been on the loose, the mutilation, blood, death—who would have ever guessed choppy seas would lay her low?
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
Somewhere between France and England, 1798
Sable's groan echoed through the cabin of the small sailing vessel. Rain pattered above, the boat rocking on the waves in a late summer squall. A single lantern shed its paltry light over the room, emphasizing the spartan appearance and bestowing a ghostly glow on the woman's face. The sickly-sweet smell of vomit filled the tiny space, causing her companion to grimace as he covered his nose with a scented handkerchief.
Etienne shot a concerned glance her way but did not move from his post at the porthole. Mal de mer was not something he'd anticipated; indeed, the idea had never crossed his mind. With all the things Sable had done, all the people she'd killed in the four years she'd been on the loose, the mutilation, blood, death—who would have ever guessed choppy seas would lay her low?
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
My Lady Coward
For those who have little to no experience with Regency-era fiction, this is a short little glimpse into one wife's mind. My Lady Coward is not connected to anything else I've written but may end up part of a longer short story at some point.
He'd had a mistress for years. She'd known it all along. Heart aching, she'd comforted herself with the thought that it was nothing more than a physical relationship, something he did to save face before his Society friends.
He'd lost so much respect when he'd married her. She was nothing more than the daughter of a Cit, a despised class of people who earned their money from trade rather than inheriting it as any decent sort would.
Lady Maria sighed and sipped her tea. Was marriage to a duke worth the heartache, the loss? With her marriage vows came the acquisition of a title and position in Society. Security. With her marriage vows came the loss of her friends, her family, and everything familiar and comfortable. Love.
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
He'd had a mistress for years. She'd known it all along. Heart aching, she'd comforted herself with the thought that it was nothing more than a physical relationship, something he did to save face before his Society friends.
He'd lost so much respect when he'd married her. She was nothing more than the daughter of a Cit, a despised class of people who earned their money from trade rather than inheriting it as any decent sort would.
Lady Maria sighed and sipped her tea. Was marriage to a duke worth the heartache, the loss? With her marriage vows came the acquisition of a title and position in Society. Security. With her marriage vows came the loss of her friends, her family, and everything familiar and comfortable. Love.
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
Chosen
Chosen was inspired by a dream my husband had. He gave me a rough breakdown of events and asked me to fill in the details. I did and below you'll find the result. Well, you'll find the first few paragraphs anyway. ;O)
Bill glanced behind him as he walked away. The mangled Cessna glared back at him. How had he survived such carnage? It was no wonder he alone survived.
Even as the thought crossed his mind, a piece of metal shifted, waves of desert heat shifting right along with it. A nondescript man crawled out, his brown hair matted with drying blood. He immediately turned back and reached for something in the wreckage. Bill watched him pull a woman out, her features obscured with blood and hair. Bill's feet were moving back to the plane before he'd made the decision to help.
“Hey! Is she OK? Let me help.”
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
Bill glanced behind him as he walked away. The mangled Cessna glared back at him. How had he survived such carnage? It was no wonder he alone survived.
Even as the thought crossed his mind, a piece of metal shifted, waves of desert heat shifting right along with it. A nondescript man crawled out, his brown hair matted with drying blood. He immediately turned back and reached for something in the wreckage. Bill watched him pull a woman out, her features obscured with blood and hair. Bill's feet were moving back to the plane before he'd made the decision to help.
“Hey! Is she OK? Let me help.”
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
My Lady Coward (Part 2)
Lady Maria returns to entertain readers with more of her cowardice. Don't get me wrong, she's a true lady. Enjoy!
Lady Maria waited in her bed, clothed in a diaphanous nightdress. A single candle, burning on the nightstand, kept the room from complete darkness.
It was the fourteenth consecutive night she'd waited thus, a book in hand so as to appear nonchalant, less like a young wife awaiting her husband's presence in her bed.
Would this be the night? She'd listened to rumor after rumor concerning her husband and where he preferred to spend his nights. She'd accepted it as life in high Society, the life of a real lady.
They'd consummated their marriage, of course. Her face warmed at the memory, a tiny smile touching her lips. Even now, weeks later, Maria could still feel Richard's caress, feel his fingers grazing her skin, his lips brushing her lips, her neck, her shoulder, her...
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
Lady Maria waited in her bed, clothed in a diaphanous nightdress. A single candle, burning on the nightstand, kept the room from complete darkness.
It was the fourteenth consecutive night she'd waited thus, a book in hand so as to appear nonchalant, less like a young wife awaiting her husband's presence in her bed.
Would this be the night? She'd listened to rumor after rumor concerning her husband and where he preferred to spend his nights. She'd accepted it as life in high Society, the life of a real lady.
They'd consummated their marriage, of course. Her face warmed at the memory, a tiny smile touching her lips. Even now, weeks later, Maria could still feel Richard's caress, feel his fingers grazing her skin, his lips brushing her lips, her neck, her shoulder, her...
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
My Lady Coward (Part 3)
They were married in October. No Society marriage ever took place in October. The weather had already turned cold, a harbinger of the no doubt difficult winter to come. Was it an omen, a sign of ill luck?
Shaking her head, Maria turned away from the window through which she'd been blindly staring, watching the servants load boxes and traveling cases into the carriage waiting out front. The soft rustling of her skirts made a strange counterpoint to the occasional crackle from the fire, a necessary luxury on such a chilly morning.
It was silly to believe in such superstitious nonsense. Her marriage was not doomed due to an October wedding or an early chill in the air. No, her marriage suffered the insurmountable odds of unequal birth.
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
Parts 4 & 5 can be found right here on this site, just click HERE.
Shaking her head, Maria turned away from the window through which she'd been blindly staring, watching the servants load boxes and traveling cases into the carriage waiting out front. The soft rustling of her skirts made a strange counterpoint to the occasional crackle from the fire, a necessary luxury on such a chilly morning.
It was silly to believe in such superstitious nonsense. Her marriage was not doomed due to an October wedding or an early chill in the air. No, her marriage suffered the insurmountable odds of unequal birth.
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
Parts 4 & 5 can be found right here on this site, just click HERE.
Sunset
This story is very different for me. It was a wonderful exercise for my writing muscles. The first person point-of-view and present tense were a bit of a challenge, but rewarding, I think. Enjoy!
What a delightful evening. The sun sinks its leisurely way beneath the horizon while crickets, frogs, and lightning bugs make their presences known in their varied and special ways. Pinks, yellows, and oranges paint the sky—nature's canvas.
I sit on the deck, a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other. The ice cream slowly melts as I stare straight ahead, watching the sun die its nightly death.
I love this time, a sort of limbo between day and night. It's a transitional period I envy. To become something completely opposite in the space of a few minutes, maybe an hour...what an amazing thing that is!
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
What a delightful evening. The sun sinks its leisurely way beneath the horizon while crickets, frogs, and lightning bugs make their presences known in their varied and special ways. Pinks, yellows, and oranges paint the sky—nature's canvas.
I sit on the deck, a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other. The ice cream slowly melts as I stare straight ahead, watching the sun die its nightly death.
I love this time, a sort of limbo between day and night. It's a transitional period I envy. To become something completely opposite in the space of a few minutes, maybe an hour...what an amazing thing that is!
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
My Lady Coward (Part 6)
A lady never interfered with a gentleman's pursuits. Not even if that gentleman was the lady's husband and the lady loved him more than life. Not even if that gentleman was about to get himself killed due to a stupid insult from an idiotic young man.
Lady Maria paced the drawing room floor, caring little that her actions were sure to wear an unlovely hole in the beautiful Aubusson carpet. Was pacing ladylike behavior? Maria shook her head. She didn't care. And she didn't care that her lack of concern was just as unladylike.
A January chill crept in around the window, making Maria shiver as she passed. Sunlight caught her eye and she paused, marveling at the early morning sun's audacity. How could it be so thoughtless as to shine in the blue, blue sky in such a cheerful manner? Surely everyone, even the sun, knew her husband would die this day?
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
Part 7 can be found right here on this site, just click HERE.
Lady Maria paced the drawing room floor, caring little that her actions were sure to wear an unlovely hole in the beautiful Aubusson carpet. Was pacing ladylike behavior? Maria shook her head. She didn't care. And she didn't care that her lack of concern was just as unladylike.
A January chill crept in around the window, making Maria shiver as she passed. Sunlight caught her eye and she paused, marveling at the early morning sun's audacity. How could it be so thoughtless as to shine in the blue, blue sky in such a cheerful manner? Surely everyone, even the sun, knew her husband would die this day?
To read the rest, please go to the Clever Fiction website. There are other stories there by other authors as well. Enjoy!
Part 7 can be found right here on this site, just click HERE.
