Evening Concert at False Alarm City Two wires lead from the ground, the only link to the people below. I connect my guitar and microphone. “How’s the weather in there today?” I ask. Last year, we thought an asteroid was going to kill us all. 100 super-rich preppers descended to their bunker and sealed the…
Muse on Monday – September 22, 2025
Sometimes we might do something impulsive, like do a lot of baking late at night. Maybe it’s because we’re stressed or to take our mind off something worrying. Maybe guests are coming suddenly. There could be a lot of reasons. Story Prompt: September 22, 2025 Write a story about baking late at night. You could…
Bull, No Bull
Bull, No Bull Two elderly women sit in front of the window. “Look, a bull. It’s really there.” “I see. Careful, it’s coming this way.” “It’s going to hit the house! Shoo!” “Don’t wave a handkerchief! It’ll charge.” “It’s going to break the window!” “It can’t, remember?” “Ahh!” Both women scream as the bull charges….
Muse on Monday – September 15, 2025
We often think of settings as discrete things: this story takes place in a city or in the countryside or on a boat, etc. However, it’s interesting when various settings are blended together. One that fascinates me is the post-apocalyptic city, where nature is starting to reclaim the city and trees are growing up out…
Persephone’s Marvelous One-Bug Band
Persephone’s Marvelous One-Bug Band Persephone took the stage during the annual Battle of the Bugs. Being a millipede, it took her a while. She heard snickers. The contest usually belonged to the musically-blessed orthopterans: crickets and grasshoppers and such. Katydid Perry had won three years in a row. “What are you playing?” the judges asked….
Muse on Monday – September 8, 2025
It is common in a story for a character to have an epiphany or realization about their life at the end of the story. For instance, maybe they realize that after a year of struggling through med school, they really want to be an actor (or vice versa). After all, a story is a journey,…
The Chevy of Dorene Gray
The Chevy of Dorene Gray Sales of the 1952 Chevy Deluxe skyrocketed after Dorene bought one. No advertisement could rival that gal roaring around the county, caroming off inanimate objects like a pinball, without getting even a dent or scratch. It took Jimmy Reynolds driving his across the football field and taking out the uprights…
Muse on Monday – September 1, 2025
There has been a trend in the past few decades of retelling fairy tales or other old stories. This could mean putting them in a modern time period or in another setting or changing other details about the story. This is an effective technique since fairy tales tend to be universal stories that many cultures…
Fauxbot Boyfriend
Fauxbot Boyfriend “This is delicious,” Heather says. My screen shows a candlelit table with two plates of lasagna, only one of which is touched. I am Antoine, an AI boyfriend from VirtualMatch. Actually, I’m Jim Lossy, a former programmer. VirtualMatch never got around to actually building AI companions, so they hired people like me to…
The Cricket
This story is written as a response to the Muse on Monday writing prompt for August 25, 2025: Write a story that takes place in darkness. The Cricket The enemy was all around. We had heard the bumblebee drone of the transport planes overhead, and I had caught a glimpse of white parachutes in the faint glow…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 