Curveball Conspiracy
A sidestep removed from reality
Welcome!
Welcome to Curveball Conspiracy! This is a collaborative project where a photographer submits an image that serves as the inspiration for a story written by one our authors. The final product is a story that is a sidestep away from reality. This project is a bit of a reboot of the original Curveball Conspiracy, conceived [...]
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Fowl Play
She knows she is in trouble the moment she steps into the chicken yard. The bucket of feed hangs from her left arm, scoop in her right hand. But she never even gets a chance to scatter their morning meal. Normally, the birds are around her feet instantly, before she even gets the gate latched [...]
Misty Mountain Night
Stacie sat in the sunroom of her secluded mountain cabin in her old, worn out wing-backed chair with her legs tucked up under her, smoking what was left of Lee’s cigarettes and staring out at the mist. As the smoke she blew toward the ceiling swirled around the rafters and the unused fan, so the [...]
Moving On
I met Cassie on my first day at school. My mother had walked me to the gate and waved me in, shooing me away when I tried to cling to her legs, until I stood saucer eyed, thumb in mouth, amongst a gaggle of similarly bewildered children. A couple were already crying, tears and snot [...]
Flight 409
Seat 36A I can’t help but think of the Twilight Zone. You know – the episode with Captain Kirk before he was the Captain. I know that thing hanging from the engine isn’t a gremlin; but it has me worried. If we crash, death won’t be the worst thing that happens. I have a secret: [...]
Going the Cycle
Ethan and Heather watched as the two below approached from across the parking lot. The knoll they stood on was just high enough to allow them to monitor their progress in the deepening twilight. “What do you think this place is?” asked Heather. Ethan shrugged. They had both asked the question a hundred times. “It [...]
Room 1350
Janice had removed her silk jacket and thrown it onto the bed. She watched as it slid off the side and onto the floor, leaving behind a key. Her thoughts went immediately to the dance floor in the ballroom of the hotel. His mask, like everyone else’s, had hidden his features but not his dark [...]
Ten Miles from the Motorway
The perfume of shit and cum was almost too much for most of us to handle. Its impure taste could cloud the judgment of a wise turtle, and it left the rest of the zoo’s fluorescent pets anxiously waiting for a child’s finger to slip through the glass. We needed breathing air. A gust of [...]
Yellow Eyes
I knew the wife was one of them. Truth be told, I’d known for a while. I was in denial, you know? Stupid. I’m a light sleeper, see. Only takes one of the cat’s quiet little farts to have me wide awake and wrinkling my nose at the stinky little bugger. Been that way since [...]
The Complex
Miller met me at the station. I must confess that, despite the gravity of the day’s proceedings, I felt excited at the prospect of seeing the Complex at long last. My job today recognised years of good and loyal service and, should I acquit myself satisfactorily, would be the first of many at this higher [...]
Fin De Siècle
Some notice would have been nice. I mean, c’mon. You just don’t pull pilots out of airplanes, mid-flight, without letting everyone else in on it. You don’t pull drivers out of moving vehicles. I don’t care what the Bible says, you just don’t do that if you have people’s best interests in mind. All these [...]
Green Fingers
She had to pull in after seeing that sign. The entrance hall was in dire need of new flowers anyway, and something a bit more exotic always seemed to please her visitors. As she approached the entrance doors, they opened automatically, releasing the slightly sickly aroma of blossoming flowers. A handsome man wearing a leather [...]
Haunted and Hunted
I’m so tired, but I can’t fall asleep – not yet, anyway. Too risky. I need caffeine, so I head for the Starbucks on 57th Street near Carnegie Hall. I know that if I can stay awake until morning everything will be all right, because they only come out at night. The ghosts. A pile [...]
Heritage – Repaid
The gate preventing anyone but maintenance workers from reaching the bowels of the sewer system was frozen solid, having rusted in place long ago. Pudge pushed his way through, anyhow, the space being just wide enough to admit entry to his overweight frame. His unfortunate nickname was a testament to the difficulty of living with [...]
Zoltar
Zoltar the Magnificent scratched his nose with the edge of the L.A. Times Calendar section as he squatted on a cold toilet seat in his sequined turban, faded Valentine’s Day boxers around his ankles. “Zoltar!” It was Teresa again. “Zoltar! Get down here now!” “Yes, Teresa,” Zoltar sighed. He folded the paper and pulled up [...]
Pink Skates
He saw the pair of pink skates lying in his driveway as soon as he rounded the corner and, having no children of his own, assumed they belonged to the one next door. Chloe— he thought that was her name—had an irritating way of leaving toys behind. Once he had nearly run over her bike. [...]
Copyright
All Curveballs are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.