Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales

Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales

Home
Short Stories
Archive
About
Who's That on TV?
A woman with her hair dyed half blond half blood, she shuts the kitchen door and says, “They can hear us.” With one finger tapping her nose she says…
Dec 5, 2022 • 
Benjamin Allen
4

Share this post

Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Who's That on TV?
A Lizard With No Tail
The black mole growing in her head. The idea that the more birthdays you collect, the more likely life will hide behind a corner, stick a leg out and…
Jul 9, 2023 • 
Benjamin Allen
3

Share this post

Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
A Lizard With No Tail
6
8 Pool Ball
Anything oily or creamy on my body makes me wanna rip my skin off. Even now I’m growing older with no moisturiser in my bathroom cabinet. I like my skin…
Nov 6, 2022 • 
Benjamin Allen
3

Share this post

Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
8 Pool Ball
Hello, Who’s This?
If we were friends when we were kids, you probably received one of those phone calls. The landline phone rang, you picked up and couldn’t hear a thing…
Feb 20, 2022 • 
Benjamin Allen
2

Share this post

Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Hello, Who’s This?
2
How Not to Swallow a Cricket
The swimming pool has this little robot that, doesn’t matter how much pizza you had the night before, the wee guy will never fat-shame you.
Jul 7, 2024 • 
Benjamin Allen
2

Share this post

Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
How Not to Swallow a Cricket
2
Airport Cinderella
Essay My wife stands by the airport security check leaning over a queue of trays rolling in front of her.
Jun 14, 2024 • 
Benjamin Allen
2

Share this post

Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Airport Cinderella
2
A Few Words About Breasts
Abi is on antibiotics because the doctor dropped her skull on the floor. The doctor said, “Sorry.“ He said it slipped off his hand during surgery.
Jul 21, 2024 • 
Benjamin Allen
1

Share this post

Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
A Few Words About Breasts
Give Me Vitamin C
The delivery guy will drop forty-seven oranges and twenty-five clementines by the front door. He’ll step back a few meters and I’ll drag everything…
Feb 16, 2022 • 
Benjamin Allen
1

Share this post

Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Give Me Vitamin C
New Year’s Eve 20-Something
Injuries aside, my life was going as scheduled. Everything was great. Until it was not.
Dec 30, 2021 • 
Benjamin Allen
1

Share this post

Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
New Year’s Eve 20-Something
Pins and Needles
There’s always a sense of relief in hospitals. No matter how miserable you are feeling, two seats away there’s always someone who looks much worse.
Dec 31, 2021 • 
Benjamin Allen
1

Share this post

Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Pins and Needles
1
One of Those Persons Who Should Never Die
My mother and her brothers, they all stay in touch with the usual phone call on Christmas making sure no one is dying or checking if anyone got married.
Jan 2, 2022 • 
Benjamin Allen
1

Share this post

Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
One of Those Persons Who Should Never Die
The Window, the Slot Machine, My Uncle and the German I Can’t Speak
After all the times I’ve been in Germany, I could never learn a single word except for that one sentence.
Dec 28, 2021 • 
Benjamin Allen
1

Share this post

Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
Benjamin Allen's Modern Tales
The Window, the Slot Machine, My Uncle and the German I Can’t Speak
© 2025 Benjamin Allen
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share