The mouse sat with the candle light filling his eyes. The light flickered in syncopation opposite his heartbeat with a fast shadow or a flash of color. He drew closer to the sound of laughter. He could be patient. If he sat still enough, and long enough, their eating and laughter would end. Nothing would disrupt his patience. He had to believe it. His wait could last a while. A wooden spoon, dipped in tomato…
He stuck his head out again and a smell of dried wildflowers and iron filled his nose. The wind telegraphed the rain and brought a few drops to the pavement. They dropped and evaporated.
In an instant, large drops fell on the windshield. A slow splat of drops hit in front of him and to the side. Each drop the size of silver dollars. A few more rain drops fell and then a torrent of rain.
A loud sneeze sent a nose full of snot onto the steering wheel and the windshield. James pushed the phone away from the explosion and the rain of mucus. “Are you gonna be all right?” Sally snickered through the phone. “Damn ragweed.” James looked around for a tissue. He also tried not to run his hand through the sticky mess on his steering wheel. “I’m blowing my nose or snorting up salt water.” He dug…
Years ago in the American southwest, there was an apprentice rainmaker. He learned everything he could from his mentor, a Great Chief, who could taste the wind, read the sky, and cause it to rain in the very spot he picked. This Great Chief was known throughout the four corners for his rainmaking and he was often called upon by farmers and ranchers when their crops or their cattle were suffering. They would send a…
A few of the residents believed they lived in a haunted house. To the ghosts, it seemed unlikely anyone believed. They bumped into the living without the slightest notice. Sometimes they made a sudden movement to remind each other they were still around. They bounced among the residents coloring happy memories or darkening deep regrets. Never had they sparked passion in the hearts of the living. The ghosts wished people believed. Tommy woke from…