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…
Tag: fiction
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…
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…
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…
Book, Possessed
Book, Possessed My partner Mickey and I were on our regular beat when we got called to a bakery around mid-morning. It was the one on 5th with the croissants the size of your head. We arrived to find a book lying on the ground and a small crowd around it like it was a…
Tete-a-Tetris
Tete-a-Tetris This is an odd story, I’ll admit, but I like to be experimental sometimes. I was wondering what it would be like to work inside a game of Tetris. By the way, for the word count, I counted each block image as a word. 🙂
Evening Concert at False Alarm City
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…
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….
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….
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…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 