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Short Stories




The Rivals by Michael Harris Adrian Belfast, a young and aspiring author, chances upon the works of one Lucas Slaughter, a person... [5,415 words]
Aletha by Randall Barfield . [330 words]
The Loan by Jack Linton Jimmy Camp is about as down and out as he can get until he takes out a loan from Beze's Emporium. [6,026 words]
Burning Sulfur by Michael J Musto Man Kills and old friend. Story is about his actions he takes as the police arrive. The words in... [454 words]
Yonder Ridge by Ramon Collins The Indian Territory (Oklahoma) of the western U. S. in the late 1880s harbored survivors, both Wh... [553 words]
Will It Ever Stop Raining? by Neil Southern Nothing to do with the UK floods [119 words]
Whispers On The Wind. Hopes Quest by Jessi Whispers on the wind, tell stories of many. Heroes, villains, kings, peasants... [577 words]
Waiting For Thetake-Off by Pankaj M Prasad Neale Steade An experience of waiting to take off. [674 words]
Torture On The Tortuous Rode by James L Palagar A young boy encounters trouble after walking home from a trip to the hospital; a p... [4,679 words]
The Way Things Are by Corey Moon a story I wrote recently about how my life is at the moment, and how it was in the past. It ... [452 words]
The Wasp by Antoine Louis A Young Man's struggle against a Diverse Inhabitant of The Insect Population [1,424 words]
The Sun Dried Monogramed Towel by Natalie Pierpont Short story about two people, their relationship, and the beach. [136 words]
The Silk Pajama by Amit Shankar Saha - [1,866 words]
The Sadist's Pain by Matthew Kelly My very first effort. A little vignette into the life of an upper class sex worker. Set in To... [758 words]
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The Caregiver by Erasmus Lion A middle-aged man wakes up in a hospital room under peculiar circumstances to face his own death ... [2,402 words]
The 13th Victim by Heather Burke Sadie May is on the run but from what is the question. When she meets Slade a dark stranger wit... [1,974 words]
Take Care by Matt Lenox Taking care of a dog is not so easy? [2,134 words]
Soliloque by Abhijit Sarma Barua A raalisation of an well established man that it is no use to exhibit luxurious celebration, in view ... [2,702 words]
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Singing The Thirteen Year Old Blues....B.B King Ain;T Got Nothing On Me by Kelly Tagaban My youngest daughters journey from grad... [1,129 words]
Sacred Slaugher by Kobra An experiment consisting of poetry elements and a short story. I like the way it turned out. [343 words]
Roll Tide Roll by C L T Clement Le Tallec Steve's teacher offend's his passion for Bama Crimson Tide [255 words]
Return To The Wild by Matt Lenox Civilization takes a few steps back back for one, while it goes forward for the other. [1,037 words]
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Reasons To Be Beautiful by Reed Alexander "Most men live a life of quiet desparation". Most of us live in our own personal soap o... [6,094 words]
Rainbow -Between The Storm And The Sunshine by Jessi Big fat raindrops dripped off my nose. Ew. Well he got what he want... [660 words]
No Child Left Behind by Matt Lenox Lack of attention can be a dangerous aspect in certain situations! [3,747 words]
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Nathan's Last Call by Jake A Potter The title is still a work in progress but i have the main idea figured out i just need some ... [895 words]
Just A Ride by Natalie Pierpont A young girl tries to find herself through rediscovering her childhood. [781 words]
Judged For The Past Am I Cherokee.....I Sure Think So by Kelly Tagaban Delimas we sometimes face as a devided race. Being of Iri... [1,497 words]
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God Force Reverses Time by Michael Potter A short fable about the end of war. [842 words]
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For Louise by Kay Arnold For, and about, a wonderful loved woman [1,165 words]
Fireworks By The Water by Bk Kinsel - [116 words]
Confessions Of A Sad Mind by KumarR A love story. [1,361 words]
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Brief Encounter Of Love by J E T Riley True love and regret [751 words]
Angel Dolls by Chelsea Schneider - [454 words]
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The National Anthem by Deis Innovant The twelve-year olds of a Primary school are forced to sing their national anthem over and ... [901 words]
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Strong Enough For A Man
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Rochester Love Story by Hoffmeier A walk into the past [1,289 words]
Reverend Mattew by Bryan King Revised and edited. [1,229 words]
Reflections On A Sunrise by Gregory Novak A very old fable I stumbled across that I had written some years ago. I still reading ... [1,037 words]
Pop by Lukas The world goes pop. New Orleans, two possible affairs and a flight across continents brings everything to ... [888 words]
People Aren�T Built For These Lonely Times by Kay Arnold A young couple is drifting in space, drifting apart [1,354 words]
Narcissistic Fairy Folk by Jimmy Mason A tale of the darker nature of fairy folk [1,824 words]
Magnolia by Liilia Morrison A young woman finds out what a magnolia smells like [1,208 words]
Lucky Day by Kay Arnold Revenge- The only excuse for inventing a cell phone with a camera [1,225 words]
Kaveri - A Short Story by Suryaprabha Easwar Dedicated to The Girl Child of India [1,682 words]
Judgment Day In Eden Hills by Jimmy Mason Hell on earth, starting in a small town. [3,733 words]
It's About Time by Liilia Morrison Ups and downs in the world of quantum physics [1,475 words]
Iron Beak by Thomas Lee A crazy duck attacks a person and is sent to prison. Poor Emerald. Inspired by actual events. [2,442 words]
In Search Of The Missing Website by Rainier Wong Felecia was working on her client's website when it suddenly vanished. Joe and... [910 words]
I Think You'd Like Her by Gregory Novak A soliloquy of sorts, we find a young man reflecting on a love now lost. [1,440 words]
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Hells' Populous by Wanderer Bass This is chapter one of a comic idea that got turned into a story. It's about types of troops de... [439 words]
Guitar Man by Brian J Hankins A wonderful short story about Willie and his flattop guitar. [485 words]
From A Macaroni Of Doubt by Sean Joathan This is an excerpt from a novel. [3,455 words]
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Ephraim by Randall Barfield - [443 words]
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Djinn by Jay Phillips This story is, at least in my opinion, one of the best stories I have ever written. It is a new take on a... [1,427 words]
Curiosty by Kristopher K Starliper Alex regrets his curiosity. [209 words]
Chain Reaction by Aamanrah - [1,473 words]
Bloody Bones by Jay Phillips This story is a new take on many of the old legends which have been passed down to me through the ... [2,257 words]
And The Winner Is by Liilia Morrison A summer camp sports competition has a surprise ending [1,132 words]
A Trip To Grandmothers House by Brian J Hankins A cute story for the whole family. [1,017 words]
A Soldiers Recount by Corey Moon This is a made up story that is based off a battle in WWII. [1,829 words]
A Resubmission Of 'an Audience With The King' by Ann Gordon This is a piece of last years work which seems to been deleted of... [662 words]
20 Dollars To Fear by Jimmy Mason This story hold a special place in my heart. A story of a strange night in a bar [1,437 words]

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TITLE (EDIT)
Strong Enough For A Man
DESCRIPTION
Can life get worse when you smell armpits all day? It may when you have a pothead roommate and the untouchable girl.
[1,066 words]
TITLE KEYWORD
Drama
AUTHOR
Eric Bridges
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A wannabe writer who is young and in hopes that somebody will like his stories.
[June 2007]
Strong Enough For A Man
Eric Bridges

�What do you mean by bang her out? Is that your knock the woman out, drag her back to the cave by her hair love making? Not my style.�
His eyes unwrapped, focused, and then tightened.
�I�m sorry Bairn. I forgot your all about the feelings thing. I missed my homo lessons this morning, so excuse my ways. I�ll have more than my right hand to come home to tonight��
�I�m left handed. Gimme my weed.�
The door punctuated the existence of a fake relationship. It was time for Employee 855 to toil.
The mouth opened and I was the pill going in. The useless white lab coat held me close.
�Employee 855� Report to Room 62. You�re late.�
�I got a name; I don�t know what it is with you guys and numbers.�
A look of no concern greeted me. I did the white tile shuffle to Room 62. Blow the nose and enter the room. The tester and tested made a lot of no-noise. I showed the ready nod and commenced.
The tester said, �We will be testing multiple deodorants today. The standard protocol will be used, also including physical performance.�
The pasty residue roofed the armpit as the tested performed a rough rendition of spirit fingers. After application was done, I showed my shamelessness.
�Employee 855, your feedback please.�
My face moved in and I stared at the jungle of love that this man called his armpit. The nose pierced his hairy forest and took a big snuffle. Wiping my snout was the precursor to the response.
�The smell is crisp and clean but may have a little too much of a pine smell. It�s almost like Lysol. It may require a reduction in the fragrance.�
The tester condemned me from behind the clipboard. If I found a flaw it just meant more work for him. He said, �Lets not jump to any conclusions yet, not until after the physical test.�
His punch below the belt was devastating in our noiseless warfare. It was one thing to test smell a deodorant covered armpit but it was a whole new spectrum when the armpit was covered in sweat. The tester motioned for the tested to begin jogging on the treadmill. Each foot hit and created a much more stressful work environment. As sweat accumulated, I remembered my trainer Employee 712 trying to explain my everyday duties.
�Essentially, you bury your face in armpits all day and report which deodorant isn�t working. When I say you bury the face, I mean you really have to get a nose full of hair. I�ve done this for 17 years and stopped wearing deodorant after the first six months. You�ll get to that point someday. You might get lucky and run across somebody with a shaven pit but most of the time it will be pretty nasty. Be honest about your opinion and don�t piss off the testers. If you do they can make your unbearable work intolerable.�
It was all the training I was given. A rather useless tool for the job nobody wanted. The tester decided an hour of jogging would do the trick, and he called the tested back over.
�Employee 855, please give your feedback.� He was corking the wine of laughter that desperately wanted to be poured out and drank up. The oily massage I received on my nose was enjoyed by none and loved by all. Lunch time.
The cafeteria was senseless just like the rest of the building. Fluorescent lighting made the ceiling a checkerboard. She sat down.
�How is work today?�
I stammered, �Oh, you know the usual. Armpits and all.� I�m an idiot.
�Sorry to hear that. I�m hoping to go down to the lake this weekend� Um� Bairn you have something on your face.�
Swiping my face, she leaned over and plucked the object. Between her fingers was a chandelier of armpit hair. Disgusted with the work benefit and me, she quickly tossed it away.
�Ha, well that was gross. So what were you saying about the lake?� I was trying to make the hair become a skipped beat lost in a song. Her revulsion proved otherwise.
�Nothing. Well, I should get back to work. Talk to you later.�
I spluttered out to the back of her lab coat, �Your right. I should be getting back to work too.�
I finished the last six tedious hours of work and stringing hair out on the way home. The tope hallway making my lackluster welcome gave me another kick to the ribs.
�So did you do it today? Did you knock it off?�
�Leave it be Bryce. It wasn�t a good day.�
His laughter pounded the back of my head.
�Dude, you sniff armpits for a living, every single day is a bad one. I never even knew that was a job until I met you. As far as I see it you have one choice and it involves a gun barrel to the mouth. Get it over with now but lay some plastic down before you do so the carpet doesn�t get fucked up.�
Detestation festered. My toes turned to face him.
�The low that I have hit is my own doing. I keep waking up everyday thinking that my like sucks more than everybody else�s. I pick the armpit hair off my face; I wipe the gel from my nose, and wake up and do it all over again.� Voice was unwavering.
Bryce kept smiling that stupid smile. He was trying to make the situation weigh less. The bong was lifted, hoisted, shattered. His face drooped, eyebrows straightened along with his legs. Toes were stepping on toes.
�You say one more thing about my job, my life, or anything else it�s gonna get nasty. I don�t know a lot but I know you are going to sleep eventually, and that�s when you get the extra smile cut on your neck.� Shoulders were flexed.
Bryce stared me up and down. Ground was slipping from under him. After he snuck back to the couch, he lit up another bowl.
I realized while lying in bed that I might have to worry about Bryce taking initiative. How much worse could it really get? Other jobs existed but none had the attention giving face of her. The female persuasion is what kept me getting up every morning.

 

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COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 2007 Eric Bridges
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
June 2007
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
1532
 

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