Stories and Paintings
I opened my eyes to a vast, star-speckled sky. I don’t know how long I slept; it was still about eight o’clock at night, thanks to the proximal relativity disruptors. For a good minute my brain struggled to make sense of it all—I was lying on a mattress at the top of Budgie’s driveway,... Continue Reading →
Three hundred and fifty dollars. That’s what it cost to hire a small excavator for a day. Six months prior, Budgie had started digging what he planned to be a dam way over in the northwest corner of his property. It turned out the ground there was all rock, and in eight hours he... Continue Reading →
Roses have long been a symbol of love. With petals fine and delicate, the flowers die within weeks of blooming, days if cut at the stem, and mere minutes if you set fire to the bush. They speak of life’s brevity and deterioration. Traditionally, red is the most favoured colour, reminding us of... Continue Reading →
The soldiers cast lots for his tunic. They saw what the visionary fools of the last two hundred years refused to see. Try to unweave God from man, and man falls apart. Confiscate his soul and he will wither, or worse, go looking for it. Rather, I will give him someone to pray to,... Continue Reading →
Rory and I sat on the grass and he told me about some of the times Jimmy O’Shea tried to kill him—poison, sniper, pipe bomb, orchestrated seven-car pileup, wrecking ball through his house at two in the morning—I had no idea how constant and creative the attempts on his life had been. I could only... Continue Reading →
For the most part, it went smoother than I expected. Keeping in rough formation, we made our way about the yard in good time. We only had to stop twice for Nils to make some adjustments on the remote. Taking out the first gunman was unpleasant. It was short struggle but a violent one.... Continue Reading →
“We’ve got no weapons, right?” “Nothing. Unless you’ve got something hidden up your sleeve.” “Nope.” “Okay then.” “Jeez, it’s hot.” “Yeah, I’m bloody melting here.” “What do you reckon that thing is? Some kind of laser?” “Dunno. Maybe.” “Oi, pay attention. We’re supposed to be brainstorming.” “I thought you said we had all the... Continue Reading →
“Hands up,” said one of the men behind me. I put my hands up. “Now get up.” It was a bit awkward, but I got to my feet while keeping my hands raised. “All right,” said the man, turning me around. Both mercenaries had crew cuts, neck tattoos, square jaws and big machine guns.... Continue Reading →
Nils and I crept around behind the gigantic blade. I ran my fingers across its sleek surface and found it was somehow both hot and cold, but the hot and cold did not cancel each other out. The night had become disturbingly silent; either the two Rorys and Old Nils had defeated the heavily... Continue Reading →
Ronald Guitar was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1942. The youngest of seven children, Ronald stood out among his siblings as a gifted child, and one with a massive, pineapple-shaped birthmark on his left cheek. His father, Herman, was an angry tennis coach with long hair. His mother, Ethel, was a cake decorator... Continue Reading →
