Shallow Waters Vol.5: Shallow Waters, #5

By Mark Allan Gunnells

Shallow Waters – where the unearthed and the unearthly intertwine, beckoning readers to discover the unknown.

With 23 tales that navigate the eerie crossroads of horror, dark fiction, and the forbidden shadows of life and death, Shallow Waters Vol. 5 invites readers to explore the macabre mysteries that lurk beneath the surface of reality.

Shallow Waters stands as the monthly flash fiction contest of award-winning Crystal Lake Entertainment, a destination where authors submit their most chilling tales, and the finest are featured on Crystal Lake's Patreon page for patrons to vote. These anthologies encapsulate not just the winning tales but the most thrilling finalists. Find more volumes and participate in future challenges with Crystal Lake Entertainment on Patreon.

Volume Five is a harrowing journey through horror on the road, enigmatic graveyards, karma's relentless pursuit, the scars of war, and the sinister shades of Halloween.

These horror stories will give you a glimpse into a realm where humanity intersects with the supernatural, where everyday landscapes hide sinister secrets, and the shadows whisper stories of the unknown.

In This Volume…

• Traverse through mixed realms where the contents of a travel bag have their own life.
• Encounter ancient Navajo legends arising in the deserts of New Mexico, revealing the true cruelty of Man.
• Delve into the lives of a cemetery caretaker with a secret gift, and a dead body harboring the hopes of a second chance.
• Experience the struggle of a seasoned soldier in the war of love, making the most of his final battle, and much more.

Immerse yourself in the enigma, embrace the unknown, and unlock the doors to the forbidden with Shallow Waters Vol.5.

Proudly brought to you by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths

• Language: English
• Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
• Release date: Apr 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9798223193746

Book preview

Shallow Waters

A Flash Fiction Anthology Vol. 5

Compiled and Edited by Joe Mynhardt

Published by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from The Darkest Depths

Website: www.crystallakepub.com/

Copyright 2020 Crystal Lake Publishing

Join the Crystal Lake community today

on our newsletter and Patreon!

Download our latest catalog here.

All Rights Reserved

Cover art:

Ben Baldwin – http://www.benbaldwin.co.uk

Proofread by:

James Tucker

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the authors’ imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Dedicated to Lawrence ‘The Voice’ Santoro

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction by Joe Mynhardt

Driving On by Guy Medley (winner)

Dichotomy by Jason Parent

Babysitting for Writers by Kevin David Anderson (winner)

The Good Samaritan by L.F. Falconer

Of Debris and Duty by John Boden

The Visitors by Mark Allan Gunnells

Twenty Reasons to Stay and One to Leave by Richard Thomas

The Knights of Cold Days by Dave Jeffery

Travel Bag by Bryan Miller

In the Desert, In the Night by Pedro Iniguez

Grievance by Christine Lajewski

Fuel for My Fire by Linsey Knerl

The Dead Lands by Anthony D Redden

Welcome to GothMart by David Bernard

The Mascot by Jennifer K Carstens (winner)

Wasteland by Sheldon Woodbury

All’s Fair by Michelle Mellon

Stay Away by Michael Patrick Hicks

The Road Home by Rand Eastwood

Midnight Dark by James Dorr

The Wind Stakes Its Claim by Kris Kinsella

The Forest of Skin by Esteban Vargas

Second Chance by Alex Ebenstein (winner)

INTRODUCTION

Welcome back to Shallow Waters! Can you believe it’s already the fifth volume in our series of flash fiction anthologies?

For those not familiar with the series, Crystal Lake Publishing has an amazing (and exclusive) behind the scenes community of readers and authors on Patreon, where we host a flash fiction writing challenge every month (along with many other projects, including our Still Water Bay dark fiction series).

We post the Shallow Waters flash fiction challenge on social media and in our newsletter every month, and give authors a few days to write and submit the story within the parameters of the challenge (word count, theme, or perhaps a prompt). I’ll personally choose the best stories and post them on our Patreon page for our patrons to enjoy. I post one story a day, and at the end of the challenge, patrons vote for a winner. The winner gets a cash prize, an author spotlight in our newsletter (and on our Patreon page), and publication in a future Shallow Waters anthology. The great part is that the best of the rest—stories that got a lot of votes but didn’t win—are also invited to join our series of flash fiction anthologies. So you’ll always be reading the very best of the best. Plus a few stories from Crystal Lake authors, of course.

The winners in this specific volume were Guy Medley, Jennifer K Carstens, Kevin David Anderson, and Alex Ebenstein.

The challenges represented in this volume include themes of Karma, Travel Horror, War, and Graveyard Stories.

It’s a great way to reward our patrons with even more great perks, but it constantly proves to be a great source of inspiration and motivation for authors who rise to the challenge. It also brings a lot of new traffic to our Patreon page, which is constantly improving to offer readers and/or writers great perks.

So if you’re an author or reader, or just a fan of the genre and independent publishing, be sure to check out our tiers on Patreon. It’s a great place to go behind the scenes of the company while supporting authors, the small press, and this genre we all love so much.

For those not familiar with Patreon, it’s a monthly subscription-based site where you can follow creators in exchange for behind the scenes access, sneak peeks, and perks associated with the tier you pay for. There are a lot of amazing creators there. Just be sure to look for a tier that best fits your needs and wallet.

So welcome once again to Shallow Waters.

Welcome to Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

Joe Mynhardt

20 March, 2020

Driving On

Guy Medley

The man drove because there was nothing left to do now but drive. So, he drove. Next to him the woman sat in perfect silence, her face ruddy and sullen, tear-streaked, not so much as a plastic smile upon her trembling lips, afraid perhaps of what remained behind—of what lay yet ahead. The little girl in the back seat cried, the same as she had been since the trip began an eternity ago. Beside the girl, peacefully asleep in a bundled jacket despite the storm raging all around him, a baby boy. The man envied the baby the most, admired his lack of understanding.

He drove on, the apocalyptic fires consuming the world in the rear view, chasing them down like an out of control eighteen wheeler. There was no stopping for bathroom or burger breaks―for anything. How far could they make it? How long did they have left until the flames overtook them, swallowing them up whole? Before the car died―ran out of fuel, blew a tire, failed a curve―before it was finally just all over?

At first, he tried comforting the woman, the children, even himself, with rosy promises of ‘It’ll be okay’ and ‘We’re going to make it.’ But, eventually even he gave in to numbed silence, unable to admit to himself that they weren’t going to be okay―that they were never going to make it.

Maybe it didn’t matter anymore that they couldn’t