True Love & Other Short Stories
from My Bloody Valentine: a PUNK NOIR Magazine series
Hey there my Punk Noir friend,
I hope you’re keeping well and warm.
This afternoon I’m working from home. Ella Fitzgerald is on the record player and today marks the third occasion of Punk Noir knocking on your front door, promising you contentment in this life as well as the next. Well, promising you happiness with these four bloody tales of love and romances in the least. A guarantee of happiness in the afterlife may be a bit of a stretch for us.
Anyway, a big thanks to the talented folks who wrote these chilling stories and a bigger thanks to you! Yeah, you, our brilliant reader.
Here. We. Go.
– Stephen J. Golds, editor-in-chief
True Love by Kaye George
We didn’t start off well, did we?
That first date, ugh. I held the door for you and you grabbed it saying you could open doors.
“Would you like me to order for you?”
“No,” you snarled. “I’m all grown up. I’ll order myself.”
Okay, a liberated woman.
We’re much better now. You’re completely liberated. No one can boss you around. Except me.
I liberated you from that frowning face, those sharp eyes, from everything that stood in my way. Your heart and your face, now pleasantly smiling, are preserved here, in these jars, on my night stand.
Bio
Kaye George, National Best-selling & Agatha-nominated mystery author.
Heart Failure by Keith Roysdon
“Oh, Bobby, this is so romantic,” Debbie said.
“You carved our initials in this tree.” She touched the spot where “B plus D” in a heart shape was chiseled into the wood.
Bobby smiled shyly and nodded.
Debbie examined it closely.
“But this carving looks so weathered,” she said. “And we’ve only been going out for a week.”
Bobby frowned and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
“Donna, Dayna and Danitra didn’t notice that,” Bobby said. “Dammit.”
He pulled out his knife and fell upon her.
Bio
Keith Roysdon is a Tennessee writer whose short fiction has been published by Punk Noir and other sites. His 1984-set YA crime novel That October will be published in 2025.
Squeeze by Jason Melvin
When it was Mr. Fluffles, it was easy to dismiss as an accident.
Melody was four years old, and mortality hadn’t touched home yet. We probably shouldn’t have bought a hamster, or any pet, for a four-year-old to take care of.
Shovel in hand, our twelve pounds, 8-year-old pug, Copper, dead at my feet. I look at Melody on the porch, watching me and can’t help but think that it is joy she is hiding behind those tears. Copper fought back, as evidenced from the scratch on her face.
“It was just a little squeeze, Daddy, I love him.”
Bio
Jason Melvin received a gimmicky T-shirt from his teenage daughter on Christmas with a picture of one large fist fist-bumping a much smaller fist. The caption read, “Behind every smart-ass daughter is a truly asshole Dad”.
It fit.
Agatha Christie Couldn’t Have Planned it Better by Laura Cooney
My mum always said it was weird to buy a man chocolates and as I stand at the doorstep holding this delicate package tied neatly with ribbon, I can hear her.
No matter, I think, placing the package on the step and boldly ringing the doorbell, retreating down the steps two at a time and narrowly avoiding the dog turd on the pavement as I walk off. I have no idea what type of chocolate he likes anyway, only that what he licks off of my thighs.
Valentine’s Day, let his wife open those, I want him all to myself.
Bio
Laura Cooney is a writer and spoken word poet from Edinburgh with work published both in print and online. Her second chapbook; No Trauma/No Drama was released in August 2024, courtesy of Backroom Poetry. Find her on all socials @lozzawriting and at www.lozzawriting.com. Laura is currently working on a noir, yet cosy, crime novella and is seeking representation. When she’s not writing, she’ll be found with her daughters, as close to the sea as possible, seeking shells. There will be ice-cream!
These stories appear as part of My Bloody Valentine, a PUNK NOIR Magazine series.
PUNK NOIR, the online literary and arts magazine that looks at the world at its most askew, casting a bloodshot eye over the written word, film, music, television and more.
Subscribe for a regular dose of hard-boiled flash fiction, straight to your inbox.