PROSE
Read all about my brand new literary novelette AIRLOC HERE!!!
Here are a few short extracts from other published short stories, flash fiction and other prose pieces. I've experimented with many different genres, from literary and speculative fiction to dark fantasy, supernatural stories and horror. One of the things I most enjoy doing is translating my experience of other art forms, such as music, visual arts or theatre, into words. Some of these extracts reflect that process.
Here are a few short extracts from other published short stories, flash fiction and other prose pieces. I've experimented with many different genres, from literary and speculative fiction to dark fantasy, supernatural stories and horror. One of the things I most enjoy doing is translating my experience of other art forms, such as music, visual arts or theatre, into words. Some of these extracts reflect that process.
The First Time
Inspired by a musician friend's childhood memory, I wrote this odd little flash fiction about a boy and a piano. For ages I couldn't find the right home for it; after it went up HERE at The Cabinet Of Heed in October 2019 I got some really encouraging comments. Lesson: never give up on a piece you believe in.
"They are locked in stalemate, eyeing each other like a couple drawn together by some mysterious logic at a dance. He doesn’t trust himself to break the ice; she, the well-schooled piano, must not speak until spoken to. She stays demurely silent, burying the complex passion of which she is capable, hiding it in the stillness of ivory and wire."
"They are locked in stalemate, eyeing each other like a couple drawn together by some mysterious logic at a dance. He doesn’t trust himself to break the ice; she, the well-schooled piano, must not speak until spoken to. She stays demurely silent, burying the complex passion of which she is capable, hiding it in the stillness of ivory and wire."
Tattoo
When The London Reader published this in their October 2019 horror issue, they wrote: "in our increasingly digital world where every comment may outlive us, art and its permanence is the subject of O'Brien's engrossing minifiction 'Tattoo'. "
Quite right. However, there's always a price to pay. Find out what happens by downloading the issue HERE.
"As the woman etched the ink into his back, his heart beat faster. He had no choice but to trust her as the image, outlined in pain, soaked into his skin....he loved the ritual of its placement, its smooth warm canvas away from body hair and casual glances. He put on his shirt, and at work he stood tall and proud in his secret, knowing that he had captured perfection."
Quite right. However, there's always a price to pay. Find out what happens by downloading the issue HERE.
"As the woman etched the ink into his back, his heart beat faster. He had no choice but to trust her as the image, outlined in pain, soaked into his skin....he loved the ritual of its placement, its smooth warm canvas away from body hair and casual glances. He put on his shirt, and at work he stood tall and proud in his secret, knowing that he had captured perfection."
Broken English
This story of a woman on the edge appeared in January 2019 in Spelk, which publishes "short, sharp flash fiction" on the web. Read it in full HERE.
"She walks slowly downhill, pushing the rusty trolley she found on the verge. One wheel keeps drifting, pulling her into the gutter, too close to the cars which churn the rain and send spray onto her shoes. She calls to them as they pass, but the words in her head stutter and distort before she utters them, no meat between these brittle piecrusts of noise."
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