I’ll be traveling for the next few weeks, but that doesn’t mean the stories stop coming or that the muses stop musing. This week’s story prompt is the first line of a story. The rest of the story is up to you. Story Prompt: September 12, 2022 I heard from my friend that the blue…
Author: David Stewart
I am a writer of anything quirky and weird. I love most genres of fiction and in each there are stories that I would consider "my kind of story".
Like a Boat Town Commute
Like a Boat Town Commute I strained at the oars of my dinghy. 7:55am. The school had drifted during the night, and I could just see its flag out beyond the diner. I passed merchants paddling out to create the day’s floating market. A few shouted encouragement. I rounded the church and spotted the school…
The Incognito Me
The Incognito Me I am beginning to like the smell of chlorine. Before this trip, the only picture it brought to mind was scrubbing floors or the stinging smell of hospital corridors. But now it smells like leisure: of early morning swims in the pool before practice or warm afternoons sitting by the water before…
Reading to Mrs. Smith
Reading to Mrs. Smith It was my first day and I didn’t want to be late. I was seventeen and volunteering to read to shut-ins in their homes. I felt every bump of the rough pavement up into my nerve-jangled stomach as I drove my mom’s car along Cedar Road, looking for number 460. The…
Muse on Monday – September 5, 2022
No matter where you live or what your life is like, there is always beauty that pops up. Admittedly, if you live in a Swiss mountain valley, there might be more than if you live in a sewer, but there is nowhere without any beautify if you have the eyes to see it. This is…
The B.U.G. (Big Unfriendly Giant)
The B.U.G. (Big Unfriendly Giant) Bus ticket to Mount Crius Park: $15.60 Snacks for six-hour hike where I found the BUG: $6.35. Search and rescue efforts after he took me to his cave: $38,500. Collect call to my parents at rest stop after escaping: $2.36. Cost of his following me home: Rest stop shelter:…
Savanna Classroom
Savanna Classroom It was hot and the class was restless. It consisted of 8 young red-billed oxpeckers perched along the neck of Giraffe 216 and a yellow-billed oxpecker lower down on the flanks who was a recent transfer student. The teacher was droning on about air currents and thermals. “What’s your next class?” Mbaya whispered…
Muse on Monday – August 29, 2022
Would you want to know everything? It would simplify some things and massively complicate other things. And you’d always know how a book ended before you read it, so that would be annoying. Much of the conflict in stories is based on a lack of key knowledge: for instance, romantic comedies often hinge on a…
To Serve Man (and Woman)
To Serve Man (and Woman) The book was called To Serve Man. It was a cookbook. We told our Yrganian hosts that humans was preferable, but even aliens like obscure cultural references. The Yrganians were hospitable, but since most of their food would kill us instantly, they meticulously compiled a list of non-lethal foods and…
Muse on Monday – August 22, 2022
I don’t know about you, but this past week was a long week for me. I work in a university, and we have hundreds of new students arriving and getting ready to start classes. It’s hard to find time to eat sometimes, let alone write stories. Sometimes when you are busy and tired it is…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 