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Short Stories




The Castle Of Dreams: by Nathaniel A Miller It uses the concept of the times, contemporary Fantasy and the use of a Elvish language u... [5,046 words]
The Daffodil by Vinod Sasidharan A fictious story about a young man.. [682 words]
The Mirage by Vinod Sasidharan A mystery love story of an young scientist working in kodaikanal ... Story Title : ... [3,052 words]
None1234 by Vinod Sasidharan none [1 words]
Ruins by Amit Shankar Saha - [1,644 words]
Nanotech by Susan Brassfield Cogan Alien technology is not for everyone! [971 words]
Carpet, 03.17 A.M. by Maurice Codourey From a series of stories about the town of zurich in the tradition of black humour. And horr... [673 words]
High Altitude by Tony James Sayers This one is an action thrilled, high octane story, yet to get off the ground. [1,715 words]
The Genome Paradox by Armand Waksberg A short story: What else is hidden in the Genome Code? [9,721 words]
Zen And Zoom by Kathy Lafollett When a husband and wife define their life, it's not always parallel, but it is entertaining! [2,437 words]
Wait ! by Buxton - [797 words]
Unwanted Company by Erasmus Flynt - [826 words]
Tribute To Abbie Angel by Allington Kinsley This short letter is for Abbie Angel, the teenager that I met two weeks ago in Toledo, O... [720 words]
Train Tracks by Hayley Burdett This is about a woman, remembering her childhood and coming back to the place where she's spent it... [132 words]
The Year Of The Cat
The Sudden Riot by Jannah Akira Are you dreaming? Wake up! [2,982 words]
The Massacre Of Sierra Madre by Kevin Myrick The beginning of a series I'm calling "The Sierra Madre Stories", this is the firs... [3,637 words]
The Man From Sierra Madre by Kevin Myrick The second in the "Sierra Madre Series" with more death and an interesting plot twist... [3,659 words]
The Death Of Smith And Jones In Sierra Madre by Kevin Myrick The next story in the "Sierra Madre Stories" series in which descr... [3,072 words]
The Bus Stop by Hayley Burdett - [209 words]
That Extra S - Mile …. by Partha Pratim Majumder - [1,421 words]
Punk Club Saturdays -- A Memoir by Hayley Burdett - [444 words]
Lost Girl by Abbie Angel A true story about a girl who ran away from home when she was 15 years old. It's about me. [1,526 words]
Lost Girl 3 by Abbie Angel Abbie Angel, 15, is still running. This might be my last entry for a while. [884 words]
Lost Girl 2 by Abbie Angel More of my story being lost in a mean world. [619 words]
Lost Chances by J Shartzer "Sounds to me like a cheezy teen sopa opera." "Lily! That's so mean!" [850 words]
Life Is Beautiful - by Vinod Sasidharan This makes u understand why life is beautiful .. [340 words]
In The Beginning by Kevin Myrick The followup to "The Last Two Minutes of an Insane Man's Life", which takes the reader back to... [1,225 words]
Imagine Alone by Mungo Faust - [471 words]
He Grows Up... by Partha Pratim Majumder The story of Monty rotates on the issues of growing up of a boy in the illusion of much hyped ad... [4,098 words]
From Darkness Into Light by Larry Samuel McCrea A first person POV that tells of one man's struggle in a world trapped between a heave... [1,344 words]
Friendship, Oblivion by Skyler Drevan Have you ever had a relationship like this? Have you ever had a friendship like this? I th... [373 words]
Foolish (2) by Malia Harrison A short story. [857 words]
Flourescent Lighting by Hayley Burdett A woman who's mother is stricken with alzhemier's and how she deals with the problem. [287 words]
Engineering An Engineer by Partha Pratim Majumder In the community of contractors enlisted with the government, a newsitem has spread li... [1,897 words]
Boundaries by Stormy It is only natural that we would seek out and discover the borders of our kingdom, for a kingdom it ... [1,178 words]
Blackout-Part One by E Rocco Caldwell A detective that suffers from alcoholic blackouts is hired to discover the affair of a client... [1,140 words]
Baby Shower by Maria Lapachet The Year of the Cat is writer Maria Lapachet’s first-ever collection of short fiction. The short st... [1,040 words]
Anastasia by Brotherman A love story, dedicated to my uncle.( im gonna work on it more, however) [3,561 words]
A Young Otters Dream by Mungo Faust Please forgive me this one, it is a bit silly but in my defence,I wrote it for my daughter... [556 words]
A Message From God by Abbie Angel From a runaway girl, inspiration from God? Possibly. [599 words]
Afterimage by J Shartzer An uncle's interesting occupation. [2,274 words]
Will Hunter Plays Golf by Higgins The game of a good golfer deteriorates. [997 words]
Waterworld by Bri Q Brisee The combination of muggy heat and absence of water were reaching unbearible levels in a dusty desert... [1,201 words]
Wanted - Unwanted by Partha Pratim Majumder - [1,891 words]
True Friends by Sapphire Lim About frenz. About frenz arguing and misunderstanding each other. [2,145 words]
Time Ripper by P J Lawton What if a serial killer could jump through time. Maybe he has! [1,459 words]
Thinking About My Father by Kevin Myrick A Sort of Essay/Short Story about the relationship with my father. [979 words]
The Watchers by P J Lawton A young man has a strange encounter and is orderd to keep quiet, after 50 years he finally decides... [1,874 words]
The Tornado Man by Seleta V Johnson A heartwarming tale about a child's faith in God. [1,060 words]
The Letter by Shelley J Alongi Instalment One. A plane crash, a letter, and twenty years of memory cause Alex, a deaf man, and Juli... [5,349 words]
The Great Galactic War by Josh Diodispazio It’s the year 2705 C.E more of the Universe has been charted there are 7 known quadrants... [2,506 words]
The Day The Irish Invaded Canada by Paul McCarthy A story of war, love, and intrigue - based on actual events (5.423 words) [5,418 words]
The Classic Good Guy by Lyss Von Puttkammer - [1,711 words]
That Really Burn’S My Biscuits- On Both Sides!!! by Seleta V Johnson A country girl’ s look at life [755 words]
Syberg by Lawrence Peters Part one of a science fiction story... [956 words]
Soul Trip by Evelyn Canarvon A fun look at life and what it might be all about. [2,166 words]
Sonnet 35 by Jannah Akira They move to a new house. Hoping to start a new beginning but instead they found that they are not al... [7,152 words]
Prince And The Porch Swing by Seleta V Johnson A heartwarming tale of a little girl and her dog.. [1,064 words]
Power To Live by Buxton - [82 words]
No Crib For His Bed by Seleta V Johnson A very touching and heartwarming story of God's love and miracles.. [847 words]
My God by Ryan Watts A short tale of how difficult it is to get rid of door-to-door salesmen, with an ending that will leave ... [3,894 words]
My Birthday Treat by Mungo Faust - [548 words]
Mums The Word by Alessandra Mace 16-year-old Sky is mortified when her careworker, Jack has to leave for the US for the birth of h... [3,830 words]
Man Undaunted by Matt Brown - [1,883 words]
Living And Leaving by Partha Pratim Majumder The place is a crematorium. The characters are three dead souls leaving the world in disgust... [859 words]
Last Two Minutes Of An Insane Man's Life by Kevin Myrick The story of a man who is insane and has his inner demons leave him af... [914 words]
Killing Rohan by John C Popiel A story of how a man's brother is killed and how he gets revenge. [1,969 words]
In The Womb Of A Bomb by Partha Pratim Majumder Humor sprouts from a real life situation , when at a far off place, a bomb was located in... [2,417 words]
Human Abstract by Skyler Drevan Unusual art exhibit. [4,254 words]
Home At Last by Krista Weiss A short story about a woman's strugle with the transition from single college girl to married moth... [1,281 words]
Future Shock by P J Lawton A young woman gets a glance into the future, can she change her destiny? [1,035 words]
For Love Of Maple Bars by Young Salinger-esque. [1,541 words]
Don't Let Your Horseshoe Hit The Plum Tree by Seleta V Johnson A funny little tale about a country teenager [854 words]
Dake by Jannah Akira It’s really hard to fall in love. When you fall in love, you’ll find it so hard to let go. When you have l... [7,220 words]
Cogito, Ergo Sum by Erasmus Flynt - [708 words]
Bird Of Prey by E Marc Coe - [2,585 words]
A Walk Through Town by Cristina Sanidad A story of magical realism. [1,132 words]
Time For A Killing by Gregory Jackson A story of a passion and psychological twist which takes place in a rural town. [2,331 words]
Transform by Reid Bryansmith - [4,892 words]
Trail Of Hope by Matthew Hooper - [1,216 words]
Tony Sayers Ideologies by Tony James Sayers This is an extremly good bit on philosophy, took me 6 years to do, and I'm damn proud of... [5,889 words]
To Whom Beauty Holds by Skyler Drevan All about Vanity. [2,545 words]
Theme Of Life by Okkida A short story. [3,072 words]
The Unfortunate Magician by R Campbell A magician learns the true power of magic, and that all is not what it seems. [4,782 words]
The Surprise by Shelley J Alongi This story was given as a speech at a Toastmasters meeting. A little girl, all grown up, reflects... [690 words]
The Mother Of All Birthdays by Skyler Drevan - [1,850 words]
The Earth Fights Back by Armand Waksberg What happens when the earth can't take it anymore. A short story. [2,142 words]
The Chronicles Of A Great Warrior by NeedhamT The twisting turning medieval based story of awesomeness! [3,269 words]
Strangers In The Mist by Nur Syafiqah A Jaaffar A thrilling piece. Hope somebody could review it. [1,667 words]
State Of Consciousness by Reid Bryansmith - [5,567 words]
Oil On My Mind by Charles Evans A story of greed and patience. The struggle to obtain what's yours against incredible odds. Da... [4,401 words]
Joe's Life by James Mudge Short story about Joe Warner's life. [1,239 words]
Forbidden Goddesses Part One by E Daugherty - [817 words]
Eighth Day by Erasmus Flynt - [1,423 words]
David's Life by James Mudge The story is about a boy named David. Davis is a very athletic person. [744 words]
An Error In Judgment by Valerie J Gawron A story that shows once again that all is not as it seems. [3,590 words]

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TITLE (EDIT)
The Year Of The Cat
DESCRIPTION

The Year of the Cat is writer Maria Lapachet’s first-ever collection of short fiction. The short stories of this book cover a wide range of themes and human emotions: infidelity, truth, alcoholism, self-sacrifice, redemption, envy, self-esteem issues, and also caring for the lives of other people. Whether it’s just an everyday-of-life type of situation, we can all relate to it.



[1,200 words]
TITLE KEYWORD
Literary Fiction
AUTHOR
Maria Lapachet
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in Spain, Maria lived in Ireland and England for short periods of time. She arrived in the U.S. and eventually settled in Long Island, New York, where she lives with her boyfriend.
She went to Cordoba University (Cordoba, Spain), Granada University (Granada, Spain), the O’Keeffe Memorial Institute (Newmarket, Ireland), and the Nottingham Technological Center (Nottingham, England). She is currently pursuing a degree in Management and Communication at Adelphi University (Garden City, New York).
She has written nearly forty books. Lapachet describes her own ordinary experience with a unique, funny, and true to life style.


[July 2004]
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (1)
Baby Shower (Short Stories) The Year of the Cat is writer Maria Lapachet’s first-ever collection of short fiction. The short stories of this book cover a wide range of themes and human emotions: infidelity, truth, alcoholism, se... [1,040 words] [Relationships]
The Year Of The Cat
Maria Lapachet

I was nine years old when my older sister died. My parents were selling the house. I can’t remember if we were moving to a new house because of my sister’s death or if that was already the new house after her death, and we were leaving because of the strange things that were happening there.
My seventeen-year-old sister, Dina, killed herself on December 22. She was my sister, my best friend, and the one who spent most of the time with me. Both of our parents were workaholic; I hardly saw them, but my sister was always there for me.
Dina played the piano—she had been classically trained but also played other styles—and many other instruments like the guitar. Her favorite food was steak and mushrooms. Her favorite song was “The Year of the Cat.” Her favorite color was violet. I never really paid much attention to all the things that are violet in the world, but now I do. I am really glad I got to know Dina, and I think of her every time I look at anything that is violet. Susan, my other sister, does the same. For years we’ve thought that it’s almost like she is sending all the violet to us.
I don’t know why or when Dina started having problems. My parents were never eager to talk about the subject. She had a lot of friends, siblings—and she had me—who loved her and her music. But she also had depression, and with time I’ve come to understand that nothing could keep her here.
She was on some drug, took herself off the medicine in the summer previous to her death because she was doing well, and, according to my mother, gradually slipped into massive depression. She went back to the psychiatrist in September after intense fights with my parents. She was put back on her medication, but wasn’t really responding to it as they expected. The psychiatrist wanted to change medication on her latest November appointment.
On December, her behavior turned more and more strange. She refused to eat with the rest of the family, she refused to go to school, and she would lock herself in her bedroom for days. What scared my mother the most was that she wasn’t attending to her music lessons. I was scared because she changed from a loving sister to a bitch. I begged her to just talk to someone at school if she couldn’t tell me what was wrong. But she didn’t.
On December 22, I woke up extremely happy knowing that it was my last day of school before the Christmas holidays. Like she had been doing for almost a month, Dina said she didn’t feel well and locked her door behind her. My mother urged her to get up and go to school, but before my sister even bothered to give an answer, she left telling us that she would see us later. My father hurried me up because he was dropping me off at school so we both said goodbye to Dina and left. I never saw her again. She hung herself in my parents’ bedroom.
The following summer, my siblings and I were sitting in the porch as we did every time a potential buyer came to see the house. Susan had been acting strangely for a while. She used to say Dina was in her window or that she was talking to her in the living room. My mother said that those stories helped Susan ease the pain. That day she started teasing my brother, Mike. Susan used to tell him that Dina came to play with her instead of him because she never loved him enough. Tired of hearing her stories, I went upstairs.
I heard footsteps behind me coming up the stairs. Thinking it was Susan who used to follow me around the house, I turned to look, but then they stopped. After turning back around, I heard them again only this time they came a little farther up the stairs. Once again, I turned around, expecting to see my sister, but once again, they stopped and I saw nothing. This happened several times, and finally I got the bright idea to let them come all the way up the stairs so that perhaps I could see whatever it was that was causing them.
I am not ashamed to admit that I was terrified thinking that it may have been something evil trying to get me. I listened as the footsteps came up the stairs, getting closer and closer, but just before they reached the top I turned around and I saw Dina.
I saw my dead sister! For a couple of months I couldn’t believe it. I though I was some kind of freak or was losing it. Still, the impression of having her there, just for a few minutes, was so strong that I couldn’t deny it happened. Later I read an article about a Latvian man who kept the body of his dead sister in his flat for six months so he could continue to celebrate holidays with her. I told to myself: “Damn! That’s insane!” and I knew I was no cuckoo.
Downstairs, my mother was saying goodbye to the buyers. Then she ran over me to see what I was up to. She saw me just sitting there Indian style, on the carpet, looking up, and smiling. She asked, “What is so funny, sweetie?” I told her I was laughing because I was talking with Dina, and I knew that was impossible. Then I started crying. My mother hugged me and told me it was okay to talk to dead people from time to time. Anticipating my fears, she told me I was not crazy; she said that I had nothing to worry about and assured me it was another way to let her go just like my younger sister claimed she saw Dina on her bedroom.
I told her that I was crying because I actually saw her. “Mom, I’m not crazy, Dina is here! She’s joking with me!” My mother thought I was joking. “She looks almost the same. She seems to be okay, but she has a bad cut on her neck.” My mother’s face instantly went from being happy to being tearful.
 She left, and when I turned around Dina had also left. I don’t remember what happened that night, but I believe it was my father who cooked the dinner. My mother didn’t come downstairs till the following night.
You see, my siblings and I did not go to Dina’s funeral. We were too young. We had no idea of the specifics of what had killed her except that she died at home. Later in life my mother told us the details of her illness and how she died. She also explained to us that my sister had a long laceration under her chin, and, when I said that, she knew my sister had been there.




If you are interested in getting a copy of The Year of the Cat
it is now available at: Xlibris, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.
You can also get The Year of the Cat from your local bookstore
with this ISBN # 1-4134-4928-X

 

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COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 2004 Maria Lapachet
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
July 2004
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
1939
 

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