Short Story: 'Covenience Store'

Written By: Fred Mohle

Robert stared at his watch for a few seconds, 10:30 pm, almost time to go to work. Sitting on the couch in the living room of his small house, he took another hit off his bong and held it. It was going to be another long night at the Convenient Store he thought to himself. He let out the breath of smoke he was holding in his lungs and pulled his Dugout out of his pant’s pocket. He wanted to make sure it had enough smoke in it to last him through the night.

The Bud this week was really good. Randle, his dealer did an excellent job finding this stuff. Good, green, sweet Bud, lots of red hairs and sticky. You could easily smell the skunk odor it exuded when he opened his dugout. Robert took another long deep hit off his Bong, trying to get a good buzz going before he had to leave for work.

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Book Review: Apartment 14F. An Oriental Ghost Story.

Author: Christian Saunders

Author Website: Myspace.com/valleyboy74

Published: September 2009 by Damnation Books, LLC

Apartment 14F is an Oriental Novella surrounding (Jerry) the main character. He leaves his old life in London to teach in Beijing. Upon arrival, he discovers that the previous tenant in apartment 14F has disappeared.

All throughout making sense of things he starts having nightmares with a woman. He seeks the help of a well known psychic to help him understand the occurrences. He is warned that death, loneliness and fear follow him. He then discovers that the woman that follows him is a supernatural being ---a ghost that will lead the reader to wonder if it’s good or evil.

In this short story the author tries to illustrate what most humans are afraid of. We fear death and at times we are afraid of dying alone. Saunders also points out a belief of many, that when we die there is another side whether it’s good or bad. The author also does a great job in showcasing the Chinese culture, their beliefs and traditions.

The book is sort of parallel to Drag-me-to-hell,The Ring and or the Grudge. But, it definitely isn’t the same just a slight comparison. Apartment 14F is not by any means scary, but it has points where you will find your stomach feeling a little queasy. For example, while in his state of sleep, Jerry is dreaming with the woman and all of a sudden hes being chocked with long black hair. Another point in the story that we liked was when Jerry arrives at the psychic. she's an old blind woman that reminds us of the old lady from 'Drag Me to Hell' when she starts licking Jerry's hand. Overall, it’s a short story and every scene played out one after another not leaving room for much suspense. If you’re into Oriental Ghost stories give it a try, it won’t take up much time to finish it and you won’t be wasting your time if you read it.

To Read an Excerpt or to Purchase click here


About The Author:

Hailing from the ex-mining village of New Tredegar, south Wales, Christian Saunders began writing in 1997. His early fiction appeared in titles such as Asphalt Jungle, Raw Nerve, Roadworks and several anthologies. His first book, Into the Dragon's Lair – A Supernatural History of Wales was published in 2003, shortly before he moved to Southampton, England, to study at Solent University. After graduating with a BA in journalism he worked extensively in the freelance market, contributing features on a range of subjects to numerous international publications including Fortean Times, Bizarre, Urban Ink, Beyond, Enigma, Record Collector, Chat, Maxim and Nuts, and a regular column to the Western Mail newspaper.

Since his return to the fiction fold he has had a story run in Screams of Terror e-zine and another featured in the EA Poe-themed anthology Return of the Raven. In May 2009 he was inducted into the Writers of Wales Academi (http://www.academi.org/list-of-writers/i/134429/). He currently teaches English in China, whilst traveling the long road to enlightenment and still fostering ambitions to become a world-famous rock journalist...

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