A Conversation “WouldyouliketobuyamagazinesubscriptionsoIcangoto football camp? “Slow down. What are you doing?” “Selling magazines to go to camp.” “What camp?” “Football camp. I can go to football camp and get this cool radio if I sell enough subscriptions.” “I played football as a kid. We would just play in the mud.” “I don’t like mud.” [bctt tweet=”I don’t like mud.”] “Mud makes football. You have to become one with the field.” “We have a lot of…
He brought out the candy and tore the top edge exposing the chocolate. She longed for it. He snapped off the end and brought it to his mouth. He felt eyes on him and looked directly at the girl. She sat across from him on the upper deck. She smiled, and turned away. [bctt tweet=”Miss, can I give your daughter some of my chocolate?”] He moved the chocolate with his tongue and let the richness…
“You’ll never get me to tell you where the jewels are,” the child said. She leaned back and smirked. So starts my short story A Diamond in Her Eye about a precocious little girl who also happens to be a jewel thief. How, you might ask? She is a shape-shifter. The story came about after one of those police procedurals on television where the detectives lean on the accused. I thought the twist of having…
The Coin Castle King All the discarded neon from the hotels, motels, clubs, and casinos of Las Vegas ended up in the boneyard. Once shiny and bright, signs now waited here to die. Tucked behind a sign company, the boneyard only took visitors by appointment. It made a kitschy place to meet. Todd preferred this spot to any other place in Las Vegas. It wrapped up all of the glitter, glamour, and glitz into one…
From his knapsack, Xabier retrieved a crust of sourdough bread and a jar of jelly made from some red berries that reminded him of pomegranate seeds. The jelly reminded him of the taste of Earth apples. He thought about his mother making jelly. Long dead, he presumed. He didn’t understand the reason why, but when he signed up for this job he was told time took on a different meaning here. Although he aged barely…
A Conversation “That’s interesting.” “What is?” “This video on stem cells.” “How so?” “It says we can convert fat cells into stem cells and rebuild our bodies.” “Figures.” “You sound like you already knew this.” “No. But it all makes sense now.” [bctt tweet=”The plan for world domination. It all started in the 50s with Americans eating too much.”] “How so?” “The plan for world domination. It all started in the 50s with Americans eating…
Tin, ting, tin, tang rang the bells of Cantata Nº 208. The boy rubbed sleep from his eyes and covered them to block the dancing sunlight streaming through a slit. He slipped on boots, a filter, and gloves. The red sun inched across the sky and it would be half a Earth-month before nightfall. Without the chimes, he might have missed feeding time. Small frame, calloused hands, a full head of sandy-brown hair, he looked…
Neon Boneyard Cindy slept in a grey REO Speedwagon shirt on the overstuffed couch in Wallace’s office. A gauze bandage covered the hole in her arm and she crammed her bare toes into the cushion for comfort. The day had been a lot of trouble. Wallace gave her the t-shirt and some jeans from a bag his daughter stashed under his desk. Laying on the couch, Wallace realized how much Cindy reminded him of his…
He Like a Good Steak Todd Loudin owned a lot of places and people in Sin City. The people owed him favors; the places owed him nothing. The people sometimes ended up hurt; the places were infamous. He liked a good steak and no place proved better than the Silver Steer. Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack ate here, the King of Rock and Roll held court, and Natalie Wood bought her own velvet touch.…
We scurry across the avenues Sometimes we ride on ocean cruises We sing at festivals Ruining our hearing with high decibels Anything to escape reality choices Our spirit and body rejoices! The natural and manmade spectacles Our summertime travel. From Iceland to Zimbabwe oohs We delight in discovering new hues Our pictures and mementos release chemicals To remind of us of the sights, wonders, and smells! On the projector screen we peruse Our summertime travel.…