The date was December 13, 2022. That’s important, as you’ll see. I was walking to work, the rain pattering in fitful drops, not enough for an umbrella, but just enough that your coat is wet through by the time you arrive. I reached the crosswalk on 38th and Maple and retreated under the canopy of…
Muse on Monday – April 10, 2023
Today is the last day of a 5-day weekend we got at work for Easter. The nice thing about vacations is that they are a change from the normal routine. This is why a lot of stories take place when people are on vacation since they are in new places and having new experiences. However,…
A Bunch of Triangles
A Bunch of Triangles “What were you thinking?” I blushed. “It was an art project, sir.” “Art? What about the Prime Directive? We do not interfere with cultures that haven’t made extraterrestrial contact.” “It was just a bunch of triangles . . .” “Yeah, 500-foot-tall triangles! That’s not going to go unnoticed!” “It was mostly…
Muse on Monday – April 3, 2023
Personally, I love the word “quirky”, maybe because it describes a lot of what I do. If you look up the word, it means doing something in a unique way. It’s often linked with humor. So how do you write something quirky? It could mean different things to different people, but I’ve always seen it…
The Devil Missed His Connecting Flight to Georgia
The Devil Missed His Connecting Flight to Georgia Harry was taking a walk when a morose imp approached him. “Hey,” it said listlessly. “You want to have a competition? If I win, I get your soul.” “What if I win?” Harry asked. “You get this aluminum kazoo. It’s a kazoo competition.” “Shouldn’t it at least…
Muse on Monday – March 20, 2023
It’s kind of amazing that if you have a full-time job you spend a lot of life doing that. At the same time, unless your friends or family happen to be in the same field or the same office, they know very little about what your actual day to day life is like. Work can…
Molly’s Cut
Molly’s Cut It took years to find the hidden alley where Molly’s shop lurked. She leered at me. “I sell one thing: time. One amount: forever.” I swallowed. “How much?” “Pay in kind, boy.” Her sapphire gaze wormed into mine. “Twenty years.” I coughed. She scoffed. “Fool! It’s water from an infinite well. I deserve…
Muse on Monday – March 13, 2023
In stories there are a lot of possible sources of conflict, from external sources like an enemy, a rival company, a personal rival, etc. or from internal sources, like doubt, past trauma, addiction and so on. For this prompt, let’s look only at physical danger, where possibly your life or someone else’s could be in…
The Origins of Brownyz
The Origins of Brownyz
Muse on Monday – February 27, 2023
I have always been fascinated with other worlds and the idea of being able to go to them, and a lot of my writing over the years has had that idea in it. You see this kind of story a lot in fiction as well, from the Chronicles of Narnia, to Alice in Wonderland, and…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 