NathanAnthonyBarstad

Category: Prose

  • untitled 7

    The day had begun like any other with the sun hung in the sky like the gold medallion of an Olympic medalist. She was still in bed, laying there like a bump on a log, not so much because she literally was a bump on a log but because the author of the story thought…

  • untitled 6

    I was in the throes of despair, having had hardly any return on my educational investment: a four-year degree amounted to a piece of paper not worthy of wiping the shit off my ass. Thousands of dollars wasted, down the drain. Years of my life never to be recouped. Memories I couldn’t remember because I…

  • untitled 5

    “You should never write about yourself.” “You should publish on only these three platforms.” “Your writing is not about you.” “You need to publish once a day.” “You shouldn’t publish every day.” “You should not try to make money from writing.” “If you want to make money from writing, try these tried and true tips.”…

  • untitled 4

    Never wanted to come here. Never knew I’d end up here. But always knew I didn’t want to be here, even before I got myself here. And now there’s no way out. I’m about as stuck as a light pole grafted into a tree, its thick flesh of bark wrapping around the cold, iron rod…

  • untitled 3

    Some might call it premonition. Others, foresight. Still, others might call it a miraculous blessing. I call it a curse. What came over me, I do not know, except that I had been sleeping, only to be awakened by some homeless man, ratty and ragged, rummaging through my coat pockets. I had been very tired,…

  • untitled 2

    “I leave you with God now.” The bullet made a low pop, as it lodged into the forehead of its intended victim. Walking away, leaving the body on the edge of the wharf, the tall figure dressed in black from head to toe stole away into the shadows of the night. There was no small…

  • untitled 1

    The rain fell across his face, washing away the agony of disgrace and sorrow that had only been pouring out a moment ago. The torrent had come upon him so suddenly that he did not know what had come over him, except that he was in the cafe one moment and then outside in the…