A lot of interesting stuff happens on the border between two things. That’s because there is inherent tension between the stuff on one side and the stuff on the other. Borders could either be in time or space. We are coming up on a border in time between 2025 and 2026, although this is arbitrary…
Just Trying to Help
Just Trying to Help I was sitting incognito on the beach when a cry went up from a woman holding a distraught baby. “Help, he’s lost his stuffie.” Nobody cared. I went over, keeping my sun hat low. “What happened?” “It’s his favorite toy, an alligator. He’ll be crushed.” Fine, I’d help. I took off…
Muse on Monday – December 15, 2025
Don’t you love Christmas? What, you don’t? A lot of us have a love-hate relationship with the holidays: love, because it is supposed to be a great time of celebration with family and friends; hate, because it is often filled with stress over expectations and sadness that things aren’t the way they should be. With…
Muse on Monday – December 8, 2025
For most of my life, I haven’t really known my neighbors. We might say hi in passing but nothing more. I do know the neighbors on both sides of us where we are currently and we get along well, so that’s a blessing. Bad neighbors, on the other hand, are a nightmare since there is…
The Restaurant on Top of the World
The Restaurant on Top of the World On aesthetic grounds, I was sad there was a restaurant on the summit of Mount Fuji. Spoiling nature and all that. Practically, I was overjoyed to sit down in the warmth after climbing seven hours. “How do you get the food up here?” I asked. “My daughter carries…
Muse on Monday – December 1, 2025
For this week’s story prompt, I have a dilemma situation where there isn’t necessarily a right answer. Story Prompt: December 1, 2025 You find a baby alone at a bus stop. There are a lot of factors that could change the situation. For example, what time of day/year is it? What is the weather? Who…
Muse on Monday – November 24, 2025
Sometimes I like to write a story that is all dialogue. It’s very in-the-moment, but obviously it can be challenging since there is no exposition or description to help explain things. And you can’t have more than two characters or you’ll lose track of who is speaking. Another interesting challenge is to write a story…
Flower Flirt
Flower Flirt Everything online is AI now. You can’t find love in that environment. You need old school. Very old school. A 3D-printed bouquet of flowers arrives at my door, each petal perfectly recreated in polymer. I open my FlowerFlirt app and scan it. -Pink Rose: 10”, 4 leaves, 8 thorns -Peony: 9.5”, no leaves…
Muse on Monday – November 17, 2025
You could consider this a silly prompt, although in the end, the tone of any story is totally up to you. Any prompt can lead to a funny, sad, scary or heartwarming story. You can even make it realistic if you put your mind to it. Story Prompt: November 17, 2025 Write a story where…
It’s Not the End of the World
It’s Not the End of the World The pool water felt cool, the soft lapping probably the last sound I’d ever hear. It was okay. I’d had a good run. We all had. The horizon blossomed as a second sun seemed to descend. If the estimates were right, the shock wave would hit in ten…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 