Short Fiction, Poetry and Classic Book Reviews
A river flowing, rushing by, As I stood on its bank and watched, The waters rage while in my mind, One daring hope fought fears of loss. And there around me riverside, A crowd of faces just like mine, Too jealous to enjoy our sleep, Too safe to spend our borrowed time. But... Continue Reading →
Six years in prison had changed Ray Stencil. For one thing, he had grown a moustache. (One does what one must to survive in jail.) Now, released back into society, he felt like a fish out of water, or a small fish in a big pond, or a lonely grouper swimming among sharks. Perhaps the... Continue Reading →
Josef K., a promising young banker, is arrested for an unstated crime. He is left to conduct his life and business as usual, except that now he may be summoned or charged at any time. Josef appears before a court and makes an impassioned speech in his defence, but is left none the wiser as... Continue Reading →
All I used to know about this novel was that Mark David Chapman had it with him when he shot John Lennon. Fearing the book contained some bewitching influence, for years I resisted the curiosity to read it, lest I, too, be brainwashed into murdering an overrated music star. Then recently I watched a television... Continue Reading →
There were no holds barred in the first debate between Todd Alderman and Inzamam Guevara. Alderman grilled Guevara about certain recent remarks he made. He was quoted as saying: "Anyone who supports Todd Alderman is sub-human. I would have no qualms literally incinerating such vermin. I mean that." Guevara insisted the comments were taken out... Continue Reading →
The two presidential candidates were now chosen: in the red corner was Todd Alderman, and in the blue corner was Inzamam "Hotsauce" Guevara. The battle began. With both men drawing from seemingly bottomless campaign funds, voters were bombarded with advertising. Guevara introduced America to what he called "Cool Socialism", running television ads featuring big-name celebrities... Continue Reading →
The third Democratic debate was a sellout—thanks to Inzamam Guevara. The person formerly known as Martin Guest had only revealed his new identity the previous day, yet he was already a superstar. His Twitter handle, @hotsauceguevara, had attracted seventy-three million followers overnight. He had also been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Aside from its political... Continue Reading →
For ten days no one saw or heard from Martin Guest. They were ten days Layla Jackson used to her advantage. Riding the momentum from her crushing victory in the second debate, she appeared everywhere—television, radio, billboards, Twitter—promoting her "Enviro-Socialist" agenda. With a focus on equal distribution of wealth, equal distribution of climate, and equal... Continue Reading →
With Aurora Beedler out of the equation, Layla Jackson took over as front runner in the race for the Democratic nomination. She was always going to be hard to beat: a bright, African American-Latina woman, she was a media darling. Martin Guest on the other hand had an uphill battle. Despite his best efforts to... Continue Reading →