Story Segment -- Impossible Things
In a smooth place in clean grass, I visualized what I needed. I took off my clothes and set them neatly to one side. The breeze around me was chill; it helped me to cool my emotions. From one pouch, I poured corn meal into a secure circle around...
The North Tower
I listened to my own words, having to fight the mad desire to laugh at how stupid it sounded. Detective Luton, in the study, with the Sword of Justice. To my own credit, I didn't say that out loud; to their credit, they didn't laugh at the stupid words...
Refills
I had not been to the coffeehouse in six years. It was somehow both familiar and unknown to me, which is not a feeling all that uncommon to anyone who's been away from a place for a while. The décor was much the same as I remembered. The business had...
Bear Before Blini
So it was that I found myself ensconced in the guest bedroom, seated in a comfortable chair, since sitting on the bed was just way too strange for me to handle. I had given a brief thought to being on the bed when Dmitri came in, patting the space...
Character Vignette -- Rainy Day Fund
What follows is one of my writing warm-up exercises, to write about a rainy day. To describe it, I put myself into a character and decided to find out just who he is. I think he's interesting enough to show up in another somewhere. I'm just not quite...
Character Vignette -- Once, With Another Woman...
What follows is one of my writing warm-up exercises, sparked the line in the title. The lady in question discovered something important about classical music... and other interpretive aspects of life... * * * My mother always said that I was a silly...
Companionship
“You’re still considering that offer.” Abram’s voice held neither question nor accusation, no judgment or suggestion; instead, it held the immense warmth and sensitivity that I have relied upon since we met. We sat on the couch in his living room,...
A Single Candle, Part 1
When the flickering light beneath the door had faded at last, he knew it was over. It had taken longer this time. The red panda, cautious but prepared, waited another pawful of seconds, just to make sure that no more flickers could be seen. Padding to...
Reunion, Part 2
I've said that I don't like hospitals, for more reasons than I really care to count. One thing that this particular hospital had that was far and away better than any other was a full-service café — not some thrown-together joint with stale doughnuts...
And The Waltz Goes On (2024)
There was a special buzz in The Menagerie that evening. I could feel it around the dining room tables as the various members of the family came in for “lunch," chatting happily as they enjoyed their meals, then went back to their particular jobs of...
Mantrin's Keep, Part 1
It’s one thing to be invited to dinner; it’s another to be taken to a tailor first. Abram smiled at me from his chair a short distance away from the low pedestal on which I stood, the better for the Eurasian badger we’d come to visit to take seemingly...
Identity Theft, Part 5
I sat, open-mawed and dumbfounded. “What are you trying to say?” Hunter gave me a smile that had little warmth in it. “I don’t say that Israeli currency means governmental involvement; however, if my hunch is correct, someone who favors Israeli...