www.storymania.com
Storymania Logo

 

 

Short Stories




Journey To The Planet Merridion by Michael Harris This is my third tale in what I'm calling "The Adrian and Lucalan Saga," unless... [8,445 words]
After Sex And Love What Then. by Terry Collett - [692 words]
The Moon Inside by Soron - [1,422 words]
Pt.2 Of Barbie Beaten By Brats! (The Rest Told By Strawberry Shortcake) by Dream Rinsed observations of childplay from a twiste... [175 words]
Mayster's Broad. by Terry Collett - [514 words]
Barbie Beaten By Brats! (As Told By Rainbow Brite) Pt1 by Dream Rinsed observations of childplay from a twisted point of view. [172 words]
Asylum Blues. by Terry Collett - [578 words]
Speed Trap by Matthew Lett Ever imagine getting stopped by the Highway Patrol in the middle of nowhere, for basically nothing? ... [7,283 words]
Dexter's Destiny by Matthew Lett One man's terrifying road to redemption, and beyond! [4,977 words]
At Clarence's by Randall Barfield - [290 words]
Victorian Winters by Joel Ficelle This story continues on from Victorian Summer, Return to the City and The Ruby Necklace. It c... [15,734 words]
Victorian Summer by Joel Ficelle This story continues on from The Ruby Necklace and Return to the City. It could be called The ... [20,604 words]
The Ruby Necklace by Joel Ficelle Story set in Victotian times [9,707 words]
The Cookery Class by Joel Ficelle Erotic Story based on Nude Cooking. Man meets girl in a class and they pursue affair. [5,535 words]
Return To The City by Joel Ficelle Story set in Victorian times Story continues on from another story: The Ruby Necklace. [12,666 words]
No Happily Ever After by Adria Steuer Everybody makes mistakes. That's what our parents tell us. But sometimes that lesson is... [1,192 words]
A Tale Of A Squire by Terence Boydon A short tale about a squire and love. [1,065 words]
A Strawberry Short Story by Terence Boydon A short story between a girl and a boy. May be your typical, you judge it. ;) [3,506 words]
The Diary by Raine Lariza It is a story of a girl and her mysterious diary.. Why it is a mysterious one? Find out why.. [839 words]
Victory In The Mist Of Defeat by Bridgett Nesbit A young pastor along with other concerned community leaders and pastors hold a me... [882 words]
Towards Far Far Away by Abhijit Sarma Barua It is about a man, who has lost almost all of his human emotions due to some incidents, oc... [2,250 words]
Opening Up Her Home And Heart by Bridgett Nesbit Anna Howard could shoulder her own pain; living with lupus for over ten years but... [831 words]
Monolog Monkey by Michael Potter A young man deals with being laid off. [5,501 words]
How To Teach The Law Of Attraction by Jack Jakuper - [332 words]
Helle ... Hello .... by Abhijit Sarma Barua A boy was in love with an younger girl, whom he admired very mach and most interestingly h... [1,915 words]
Child Of God by Bridgett Nesbit Tamara Stevens's husband had forgotten how long they'd known one another and rumors of Pastors inf... [16,631 words]
A Visit by Randall Barfield - [245 words]
War Memories 2 by E M K S Moresteel The continuation of war memories 1. Moore and steel find a deadly hidden secret. [897 words]
Rosemary by Lilli Brachman - [1,310 words]
Bikers Gone Wild by Brayden Dent A short, funny story of me learning a lesson the hard way on my rusty, trusty bike a few years... [221 words]
War Memories 1 by E M K S Moresteel The adventures of Sgt. Moore, and General Steel as they fight they're way through this fictional... [801 words]
The Bloodless War by S Michael Downs IN THE BLOODLESS WAR THE CASUALTIES ARE VOLUNTEERS. IT TAKES INDIFFERENCE TO SURVIVE IN THE W... [613 words]
She Only Got Flowers From Him Once. by Emory L Griffin Pretty serious read and I believe it's some good stuff. It's a different di... [539 words]
Lose Or Win, It's All The Same In The End. by Emory L Griffin post-apocalyptic America story. It's short, so do me a favor and rea... [269 words]
Answer To A Not-So-General Question by Jennifer Hendershot A story about love lost and closure. [1,771 words]
1 To 3 Turns by Emory L Griffin inspired by Bruce Coville's the monster's ring. It is a little more dark, and slightly more ominou... [1,254 words]
The Merchantilers by Bo Turner A story of how illiterate African Americans were treated even unto the mid 1900s. [560 words]
The Locker Room Secret by Latina Torrence - [1,006 words]
The Goodbye by Randall Barfield My 2nd attempt at a 'western'. It won a cherry at abctales.com (shoebox) [752 words]
The Doctor Is In. by Emory L Griffin short horror story [538 words]
Spf-1000 (Vampires Are Real And They Have Sunscreen!) by Nick Molinari Molinari A man gets converted to a Vampire and discovers an underg... [1,413 words]
Past Five by Brian Mey a short story by brianmey [3,116 words]
Out Of Ink, Out Of Time by T J Rintoull Tongue-in cheek short story about office work and accidents of quantum physics. [627 words]
Nightmare (On 7th Ave) by Mary Anne Caudill I thought that sleep would help me escape the chaos in my life, but no such luck [1,499 words]
Moving In by Emory L Griffin An homage to "The new house" by Randall Barfield. I hope I did it justice. [598 words]
Little Lord Faunty by Jerry Vilhotti Trying to find a place not too crowded .... [1,185 words]
Life After Death? by Emory L Griffin thought provoking short. [681 words]
Giving, An American Tradition by Emory L Griffin - [749 words]
Epistle To Faeries Past by T J Rintoull A letter to a ghost of the past. [814 words]
Dreams Of A Blacken Heart by Latina Torrence - [538 words]
Don't Tell Anyone by Randall Barfield - [258 words]
Dear Detective Lovett by Randall Barfield - [646 words]
Ain't Love Grand? by Emory L Griffin short horror story,in my opinion, my best. [876 words]
Zimbabwe by J L Watts A fictional account of the emotions of a victim of land reform in Zimbabwe. [401 words]
The Elephant In The Room by Emory L Griffin short horror story [852 words]
Paradise by Calliope Irja Pearl Nelson You can't outgrow anything, least of all yourself. [464 words]
Marsten by Randall Barfield - [408 words]
Her By Stephen Knight by Shinning Knight Short story [2,287 words]
Her By Stephen C Knight by Stephen C Knight story [2,637 words]
Bon Appetit by Emory L Griffin A chilling meal for three. [821 words]
The Spiders And Johnny Bailes by Phil Neale For a lonely boy, the spider seemed to be his only friend, especially when it sp... [2,933 words]
The Scam Artist by Thomas Cherian It is a story about people who live of by tricking or scaming other human beings. [1,264 words]
Return Mail(Mail Part 2) by Emory L Griffin - [318 words]
Philomena D. Gavod - Madness by Philomena D Gavod I have mentioned before that i am a huge Phantom of the Opera fan. This short stor... [874 words]
My Lady In White by Emory L Griffin different direction than my other stories. [768 words]
Mail by Emory L Griffin a man receives a horrifying letter. [382 words]
Alice In Alaska by Journey Two Alice is bored, she decides to answer an advertisement in a newspaper, "Alaskan men looking for... [339 words]
A Visit Home by Journey Two A story about an Alaskan Yupik Eskimo woman who travels to her home town on Thanksgiving to visit ... [339 words]
A Kid Named Eddie by Emory L Griffin Tale of a twisted boy. [716 words]
Paranoia(Have I Told You This?) by Emory L Griffin Insight into a man slowly losing his mind due to paranoia. [396 words]
The Stone In The Sword by Matthew James Parsons The story of Larmandi, a humble son of a blacksmith who is called on a journey to find a... [9,970 words]
The Lily Painting by M Schied A modern, artistic retelling of Beauty and the Beast. [1,525 words]
Paper Cranes
Death's Embrace by Emory L Griffin An old woman is paid a visit from death. [597 words]
Cindy's Fall by Randall Barfield - [526 words]
Black Star by Matthew James Parsons The story of Black Star, an orphan and a thief living in a turbulent time in the recently liberated ... [7,624 words]
Angels Without Wings Can Still Win by Randy Sumner A Sci-Fi short story that I wrote [3,645 words]
The True Stones by Matthew James Parsons The story of Desti and Regalius and their role in the conflict regarding the unimaginably power... [8,543 words]
Tight Jeans 3 by Randall Barfield ... but she was no rose... That's a joke... [228 words]
The Secret's In The Scream, Not The Sauce by Nigel N Samtin A short sory about my first experiences with roller coasters [1,755 words]
The Chesterfield by Deborah Jones I wrote this short story in honor of my Grandfather [1,406 words]
The Car Accident: A Man And His Death by Robert J Parker Joseph Valentine A journey through a dying man's mind. For dreamers, thinkers,and people t... [1,752 words]
The Caligate Murder by Danielle Anne Evans The Caligate Murder; The short story- ... [3,175 words]
Frost by Bernadette On this day, a young girl, 14, discovers that the meaning of Christmas has been ruined! [1,649 words]
Dosvadonya Darling by Joel Weiss A crime story that takes place in Las Vegas [1,914 words]
Them by Ian Quill A short story about governmental control and religion. [2,992 words]
The Last Ballet by Simon Nguyen A true artist does not care about money or fame; it�s the opportunity to perform the art one so... [631 words]
It Started With A Dream. by Corrina Robertson - [610 words]
Garage Talk by Cesar Merano When there is nothing to do on Friday night, three friends, Tom, Neil, and Barry, contemplate on wh... [1,547 words]

Go to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 [9] 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
TITLE (EDIT)
Paper Cranes
DESCRIPTION
A short story depicting love, loss, and regret.
[1,082 words]
TITLE KEYWORD
Relationships
AUTHOR
Meruthiel
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Meruthiel(not real name) is a 15 year old who has random bouts of inspiration, and appreciates any kind of feedback about her work and ways in which she can improve.
[January 2009]
AUTHOR'S E-MAIL ADDRESS
[email protected]
Paper Cranes
Meruthiel

Paper cranes.

I received paper cranes from you every birthday. I always wondered why. When I was 5, you gave me 154. On my seventh birthday, I received 169 more. I never thanked you, never acknowledged your paper cranes. What kind of present were paper cranes? I was materialistic. I was unappreciative. I was selfish. Upon turning 13, I had 556 paper cranes. For some reason, I don't know why, I kept your paper cranes. Put them in a box and hid it at the bottom of my cupboard. I never touched that box except when I added to my stash of paper cranes, and even then I just stuffed them in. I kept the lid locked, for fear my friends would think I was silly. For fear you would think I actually loved the paper cranes you gave me.

For fear you would think I loved you.

I was afraid of you, ever since I was a child. You were so disconnected from us, so aloof, so mysterious. I could not understand you. I could not understand your thoughts. You never showed warmth or love towards me, never took me in your arms, never comforted me or told me bedtime stories. It was as though you built a bridge between you and me, and stayed on the other side. Maybe the distance between us was because I never tried to cross. I did not know what to make of you, and you never did me any harm. You were just there, an ornament in the background. Background, that was what you were. As time went by, I took your presence for granted. Most often I ignored you altogether. You did not matter to me. That was what I thought.

634, 765, 872.

I had 872 paper cranes by the time I was 19. You were old now, old and shriveled like a dry prune. Pink gums showing from the lack of teeth, hunched over and bent like a tree stump. I was disapproving of you and your mannerisms. Old, traditional. I looked down on you. And yet I always counted the paper cranes you gave me, eagerly waiting to see how many I would get. Why? I have no idea. I was 20 when you gave me my 999th paper crane. 999. I was very puzzled. Did you miscount the paper cranes? Why 999? I had assumed you would be folding 1000 paper cranes. There was significance in that number, although I could not recall what at the time.

Your health was deteriorating by now, and I hardly saw you at all. But I waited. I waited for that last crane. A year past, and my birthday came. I went to you again, expecting a paper crane. But you shook your head. Wait, you said. You told me to wait. I shrugged and was about to walk away, but then you called me back. Asked me what the paper cranes you had given me all these years had meant to me. I told you I didn't know. I told you I didn't care. You nodded. Thinking you were satisfied, I turned away. I didn't look back.

I wanted you to think I didn't care.

A month later, you had an accident, and we sent you to the hospital. I knew this was almost the end, and decided to relent a little on my cold facade. I looked through your room, the one room I never touched. I didn't know what I was looking for, but when I saw the book, I knew I had found it. Leafing through the sheets, I arrived at the page on how to fold paper cranes. I saw you had scribbled untidily at the bottom of the page, in your illegible handwriting. 1000 paper cranes=1 wish granted. I was even more confused when I saw this. Wish? You had a wish? What was it? I had to find out.

Quickly, I snatched a piece of paper from your table and roughly folded a paper crane. When I got to the hospital, I went to your bedside and sat beside you. You slowly turned to look at me, with two rusty orbs. I was afraid of that gaze. Steeling my resolve, I gingerly held out the paper crane I had folded to you, asking what it was you had wished for. Surprise, yes I think it was, flitted across your face and you just smiled at me. Painfully, you held out your hand and I dropped the paper crane into it. You brought the crane close to you and cradled it in both hands. Feeling very awkward, I excused myself, going to get some water to drink. When I arrived back, you beckoned me to come closer, and gave the paper crane I had folded back to me. I was bewildered now, and a little hurt. You didn't want my gift? Not wanting to be in the room with you any longer, I ran out, went back home.

You left us that night. I felt nothing.

I sat staring at the paper crane you had given back to me, still not understanding. It was then that I realized the crane in front of me was different from the one I had folded. It was more exquisite, made by an experienced hand. An indescribable emotion clenched my heart as I clutched the paper crane. I brought it to my room and opened my cupboard, taking out that locked box. 1000. At last, I had 1000 paper cranes. As I examined the last crane, it came to my attention that it was not as well made, the edges not tucked in tight and snugly. Something struck me then and I fumbled with the crane, unfolding it and smoothing out the paper, turning it over. And I saw them. Scrawled in the same untidy writing in the center of the paper were the words

'I love you.'

Disbelief crept over me, and silence sang a solemn song. I hurriedly grabbed one of the paper cranes in my box, and then another one, and a third. Unfolded them. And there they were. The same three words. All along you had expressed your love to me through the paper cranes, and I had never known. Even as I sat in my room, regret pinching at me with cold fingers, it was too late. You were already gone.

You said you loved me 1000 times.

And I told you I didn't care.

������
      

 

READER'S REVIEWS (2)
DISCLAIMER: STORYMANIA DOES NOT PROVIDE AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REVIEWS. ALL REVIEWS ARE PROVIDED BY NON-ASSOCIATED VISITORS, REGARDLESS OF THE WAY THEY CALL THEMSELVES.

"I liked it! The end was sad, and I think a lot of people can relate (I'm imagining it as a father-daughter relationship; don't know if that's what you intended). I also like the part where you describe the eyes as "rusty orbs." I think you show lots of potential for your young age!" -- Elizabeth Flores, Ohio, USA.
"Wow the end struck hard. Makes one think of what they have before they lose it. Makes one realize appreciate all they can have with a person and not take that person for granted. " -- Camille, Lawrenceville, GA, USA.

TO DELETE UNWANTED REVIEWS CLICK HERE! (SELECT "MANAGE TITLE REVIEWS" ACTION)

Submit Your Review for Paper Cranes
Required fields are marked with (*).
Your e-mail address will not be displayed.

Your Name*     E-mail*

City     State/Province     Country

Your Review (please be constructive!)*


Please Enter Code*:

Submit Your Rating for Paper Cranes

Worst     1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10     Best

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 2009 Meruthiel
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
January 2009
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
1848
 

Copyright © 1998-2001 Storymania Technologies Limited. All Rights Reserved.