Tag Archive: fiction

My story “14 Seconds” has now been published in Electric Spec

Science fiction stories that start right in the middle of a disaster are something of a cliché, but a cliché I long wanted to try my hand at writing. One morning while work was slow, I finally did. The short story “14 Seconds” was the result. I like this person and enjoyed discovering her. As an added bonus, it also has a cameo from my dearly departed pal, Frodo. Immortalizing him in fiction feels nice. Please visit Electric Spec to read my little foray into outer space, or better yet, use the direct link above. It’s a quick read, but a good one, I think. Enjoy.

My latest flash fiction has been published in 365 Tomorrows

For those who enjoy brief blasts of flash fiction, please enjoy my new work, “The Girl and the Dog,” now published in the excellent online magazine, 365 Tomorrows. It’s a (very) short piece, a scene more than a story, that puts you into a post-apocalyptic world. I hope you enjoy it. PS – The art at right is sourced on Pinterest via Deviant art (which is down for me right now, so I can’t confirm if it’s from this artist or this artist. I will update this as soon as I have confirmed credits and info.)

A Butt for the Holidays: A Christmas Fable

The air tastes like electricity. Stairs are no obstacle; I take them four at a time. If Mom saw, she would be furious. Dad would pretend to be furious, too, but he’d secretly be proud of my stair-leaping prowess. I am the best Stair Jumper in the house. Downstairs, the scene couldn’t be more perfect. Pine needles. Tin ornaments. Bulbs straining to give off light without catching fire. Dozens of neatly-wrapped gifts. Except Debra is there, too. She’s up. She’s awake. Debra. The girl who eats salt in the morning and spits it at people the rest of the day. The girl who chews gerbils. The girl whose eyes melt happiness. The worst sister. Debra. “You slept late.” She’s nuts. It’s 5:37am. Not even Dad…
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A Dream of Impossible People 007 (FICTION)

read part 1 – read part 6 Mortar shells. The chatter of gunfire. Pine branches whipped against my face, sugar sand kicking up behind me and bullets ripping through the foliage. The shouts came from behind, from left, from right. In this place of peace, there was only chaos. “Go, go, go!” And I ran, ran, ran. No, this wasn’t right. This wasn’t what this place was. I stopped running and the air stilled. I heard only the echo of gunfire now, from some far off time or place. Explosions like a whisper from yesterday. But there was no pursuit. No figures on a rise. No young soldiers with weapons of wood and imagination. There were only tires in the water that had been there…
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A Dream of Impossible People 006 (FICTION)

read part 1 – read part 5 A bottle of whiskey lay half-open on a counter somewhere, the counter in a void of gray mist. In the next room, a body swollen with gas, three days dead. Bruises kissed its waist. More bottles lay nearby. Further into the void, a hole in the Earth, endless, covered with rotting wood boards. One false step … A garbage bag filled with chemicals. Pine needles on fire. A kick in the night followed by tears. A groped breast in the back of an old car. A night in a basement filled with vomit. All of these things were true. He shook his head, willed the void away, willed the truth away, but the room and the stool and…
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