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Submitted to Contest #221
“A Walk in the Hereafter” (A Ghost Story) It’s taking a lot longer than I thought it would. Of course, there’s no guidebook for dead people, at least as far as I know. After three months I’m still trying to get used to being dead. Even using that word is hard to adapt to. When death comes, people usually use terms like “He passed away” or “She’s in a better place”. It makes them feel better but the person is still dead and words can’t change that. I guess it’s just a way that people try to adjust to the whole situation. And one of the bigg...
Submitted to Contest #110
“The Reckoning” The Trailside Diner looked like so many small, nondescript cafes that dot the highways all over the country; white clapboard siding, an asphalt shingle roof and a tired old neon sign that was barely bright enough to read. Mark was only a few steps inside the entrance when a sturdily built red haired woman with a black apron wrapped around ample hips walked up to him. “Mornin’, hon, you can sit anywhere you’d like.” “I’m meeting someone here”, he replied, just as a man in a suede jacket, waving at him, caught his attention. “O...
Submitted to Contest #95
“Just Trying to Help” The Tuesday crowd at Rocco’s was smaller than usual and Manny wondered why. While other bars relied on drink specials and gimmicks to attract customers Rocco’s simply gave the patrons good service and a good pour. There was a regular mix of young and old, blue collar and white. Maybe it was old school but it was also a comfortable place to hang out. He was just finishing his beer when a man came in and sat down on the barstool beside him. “Oh, I’m sorry, that seat is taken.” The man turned toward Manny. “Yeah, I just ...
Submitted to Contest #92
“Off the Grid” THURSDAY JULY 15th The only indication that there had been a power failure was the sound of the emergency generator kicking on, the soft hum of its engine audible even through the back wall of the house.. When Brad looked at the clock on the nightstand it was blinking at twelve o’clock so he knew something was wrong. Groping in the dim light of one small lamp he found his cellphone. It read 3:20 AM. There had been warnings of planned local brownouts and blackouts due to problems with the electrical grid but he’d expected the...
Submitted to Contest #85
“The Burgh” That’s the thing about Pittsburgh, it seems like the last place anyone would build a city. It’s three rivers flowing through steep hills and deep ravines and surrounded by even higher hills. Any sizable tracts of level ground are scattered among steep terrain and along the edges of the rivers. Whoever that first person was who stood there, looked around and thought it could ever be anything more than a small military outpost must have been a true visionary. I thought about that as I drove from the airport in a stripped down Niss...
Submitted to Contest #82
“The Blue Book” It had been six months since Andy had been built. He hated it when people used that term but it was an accurate way to describe his situation. After four years of secret research and experiments a small, privately-owned medical research lab called Life Tech had created a human-like android. Andy’s formal name was Andrew and it seemed strange to him that the brilliant people who’d built him couldn’t come up with a more creative name than Andrew the android. But he had more important things to deal with. He was setting out on a...
Submitted to Contest #78
“Navigator” “Geez, Charlie, when I told you to find us a car I meant something that would get us there and back not a piece of crap like this. Where’d you find it?” “I got it at the Circle K. The guy left it running when he went into the store and I was standing right there and I figured it was easier than trying to hot-wire another car. I’m not so good with wires. I was scared shitless but I just jumped in and beat it out of there fast.” “This job needs to go like clockwork or Manny will never give me more work. Without the money I make o...
Submitted to Contest #77
“The Valentine Cabin” It sounded like a good idea at the time. A week at Aspen Ridge Ski Lodge would have cost an arm and a leg but when Alex searched VRBO online and found a quaint little cabin in the same area he jumped at the chance to rent it. The website photos showed a rustic wood cabin in a forest clearing and the captions used words like cozy and captivating. It had a big, beautiful stone fireplace, wood-faced walls and floors and a beamed ceiling. There was a great room, small kitchenette, bathroom and a bedroom with a canopy bed....
Submitted to Contest #76
“The Secret” SUNDAY 11:14 PM “You know, Larry, that’s pretty damn good work if I do say so myself.” “Yeah, I suppose so but I don’t think we should be standing out in the open patting ourselves on the back like this. We got everything back in the truck so let’s get outta here.” “I know, but it just looks so damn good. An expensive billboard like that finally sayin’ what it shoulda’ said in the first place.” “Warren, your politics got you in trouble before and if we don’t get our asses moving they will again. “Hey, get behind the truck. A ...
Submitted to Contest #72
“Hiding in the Family Tree” It had been about three years since I’d tried what thousands of other curious people had; I’d bought a home DNA kit and traced my family’s history. It was just an effort to satisfy my curiosity and find out more about my roots than I’d been told growing up. A couple of my friends tried it and said it was an amazing experience to learn details of ancestors they never knew existed. My own experience was less satisfying. My report went back four generations, to Ireland and America, and the maps and fami...
Submitted to Contest #71
“Conversation Starter” Maybe it was from watching too many episodes of CSI on television or all of the crime and detective movies he’d seen, but the crime scene that Aaron had walked through that Monday morning was disappointing. There was no dead body, no signs of a struggle and no missing cash. The only indications that a crime had been committed at all was the rear door that had been pried open and kicked in and a safe in the office, its door also pried open. It had only been two months since he’d passed his detective exam. It was the r...
Submitted to Contest #68
“Keep this to Yourself” Most people deal with it at some point in their lives and usually more than once. It’s one of those times when someone walks up to you, glances around and then leans in and says something like, “Hey, I just heard something and you can’t tell a soul.” Some people react with the thought, “Why in hell do you want to tell me something that has to be kept secret?” Of course there are others who react with “Oh my God, what is it? Tell me!” It’s like you’re being handed a box that might contain a firecracker or it might co...
Submitted to Contest #65
“A Walk in the Hereafter” It’s taking a lot longer than I thought it would. Of course, there’s no guidebook for dead people, at least as far as I know. After three months I’m still trying to get used to being dead. Even using that word is hard to adapt to. When death comes, people use terms like “He passed away” or “He’s in a better place”. It makes them feel better but the person is still dead and words can’t change that. It’s just how people adjust to the whole situation. And one of the biggest things I’m trying to adjust to is that sinc...
Submitted to Contest #64
“The Family Business” The moment he’d first laid eyes on the house John knew it would be perfect for them. Having grown up in England he’d always loved the Italianate style homes along the coast and this one was a perfect example; two and a half stories with painted siding, shutters flanking tall, narrow windows, and his favorite feature, a low-pitched roof with a railed widow’s walk. As a boy he’d been told the widow’s walk was a place for a woman to sit and watch the sea, waiting for her husband’s ship to come into view and return safely...
Submitted to Contest #63
“There’s Change in the Air” To most people the beautiful colors of the autumn foliage are best viewed from a forest path or the shores of a mountain lake. But they’re wrong, flat wrong. The best view of autumn leaves is from the top of a tree or the edge of someone’s chimney. Of course you have to be a bird to pull that off because branches are small and roofs are steep. But Chip was a bird so it was no problem. He knew you couldn’t see true autumnal beauty until you could look straight down through all the leaves and all the branches to d...
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