Addressing the Elephant in the Room

Raph al Guul

He had been wondering about the elephant in the room for a couple of days now. One morning, it was suddenly standing there looking at him curiously. Most of the time, the elephant didn’t do anything but stand there, in the middle of the living room. Every now and then, it would wag its trunk a little bit and cause minor damage to furniture and interior design. No one knew where the elephant had come from, why it was here, or how long it will stay; but no one would have wanted it to be around. He had called the exterminator, but his call was dismissed as a prank. Not entirely surprising.

Type A

Raph al Guul

“You’re odd,” said the blue tetromino to the orange one.

Quiet, but Passionate

Raph al Guul

This is the story of me and my best friend. It is not a very sad story, really, but one that makes me very sad.

My friend and I were not related, not by blood. But we grew up together in the same family. I do not remember the time when she was born specifically, although I know that it must have been around the time I was four or five. I should probably have been looking out for her back then, be like a caring older brother. But I was a mischievous toddler and used to be rather mean to her. Tellingly, I do indeed remember some of those instances. The worst of them must have been the time me and my younger sister shoved her down the stairs just to see how she’d react. She couldn’t possibly have fought back at the time and fell victim to our merciless and cruel curiosity.

To the Stars

Raph al Guul

Far out there at the farthest edge of our galaxy, a man is reaching for a star. As he defies the laws of physics and in fact negates any rule of sane logic, we can’t help but wonder what drove him there. We probably all know, but we ask nonetheless.

Big Talk

Raph al Guul

“Hey, how are you doing?”

“Oh hi! Well, mostly just fine.

Tacky Fantasy

Raph al Guul

Some things are difficult to explain. So difficult, you’re tempted to fall into worn-out clichés or superficial flattery just because you can’t find the appropriate words to bring it to a point.

True Story, Bro (I Know We’re Not Related)

Raph al Guul

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coinc- okay, I couldn’t say that with a straight face…

Right now, out there somewhere, a teenage boy is staring at his high school crush’s Twitter feed. He does not have the courage to approach her in person and tell her about how she makes his entire body tingle just by smiling at him. However, he thinks that if he studies her from a distance for long enough, reading all of her little tweets over and over again, he will eventually learn how to go about it.

Déjà Vu

Raph al Guul

Stepping off the train at 18:16. Wearing my black hat with the slim leather hat band. On the phone with Danny, talking about sports. Cold weather, falling snow, already dark outside. And it hits me. I’ve been here before. This has happened before.

A Heavenly Christmas

Raph al Guul

Note that I am known for a rather negative attitude towards both Christmas and Christianity. The following story expresses these sentiments to some extent and if you fear that this might offend you, I suggest you do not read on. You have been warned.

It was a cold night on earth; snow was gently trickling from the sky. The world would have been a gleaming white beauty if it hadn’t been for time having already surpassed dusk. Even in the big cities, there was an air of calm and silence in the stone-empty streets. No cars, no crowds, not even a cat. Only silent snowflakes feebly floating in the darkness of the night. It was Christmas eve, the serenest of nights, the birth day of Christ, and a time of joy and love. That’s how it was on earth, anyway.

In heaven, on the other hand, things were quite different.

Dana’s Freedom

Friedrich Jo

She sits up with a start and looks around the twilit flat. There it is, right in the corner of the room. In the early hours of a beautiful November’s day, she can see its hideously distorted body pressed up against the wall. The Demon. Lurking in the corner of the dark, damp room and Dana cannot escape. She opens a window. All she had wanted was to be free.