Short Fiction, Poetry and Classic Book Reviews
"I count myself privileged to have introduced my best mate Phil and his new bride Stephanie nearly three years ago. Steph and I actually met while working together at IBM. I was there briefly as a lawnmowing consultant, and she had just been promoted to Chief Coroner in the laptops department. She was a real... Continue Reading →
The baseball world is today mourning the loss of Joseph "Raging Joe" Williams. The former Atlanta Braves star died peacefully in his home yesterday, aged seventy-three. He is survived by his wife, Marsha. In today's sporting landscape, where loyalty is traded for multi-million-dollar paychecks, where political activism grabs more headlines than on-field performance, and where... Continue Reading →
It was a hot August night in Osaka. Mossy, myself and the rest of the band were back at the hotel room. Normally after a gig the room would be an orgy of drinking, feasting, dancing, sword fights, amateur dental surgery, impromptu taxidermy and half-naked circus folk, more often than not resulting in the arrest... Continue Reading →
It was my first overseas trip on official duty. I had been called up at the last minute to act as the Prime Minister's key adviser in Western Africa. In Senegal, after a warm welcome and sightseeing tour, things cooled at the negotiating table. Both leaders, usually calm under pressure, began shouting and slamming their... Continue Reading →
Advertising was in my blood. A rare strain of zombie virus was too, but mostly advertising. I remember it was a Wednesday—the usual mayhem—I had deadlines to meet, clients to schmooze, and anti-human-flesh-eating-urge medication to take—and in walked Martin Milford, president of Milford's Mayonnaise. He had come to hear our pitch for his company's latest... Continue Reading →
Deep in the enchanted forest, nestled in the shimmering glade, was an elf village. Happily, and unbeknown to nearly all the other woodland creatures, the elves went about their daily business. In the morning they picked baskets full of melodious merryberries, then washed them in the sparkling harmony stream. The elves laid the glistening berries... Continue Reading →
Todd Steinbelch dragged his foot up and over the seven hundred and fifty-fifth—and final—step leading to the Tibetan monastery. He dropped the knapsack from his shoulder and collapsed on the pavement, lying there undisturbed, just like those ancient stones. After catching his breath, Todd sat and viewed the centuries-old spiritual haven; the sight flooded him... Continue Reading →
It was a bright, frosty morning. The sun decorated the hills with streaming golden beams, while birds sang their chorus of chirps and whistles. In the emerald glen a pair of furry brown antennae popped up from the grass, followed by a twitching nose. A look left, then right, and the hare darted off for... Continue Reading →
Long, swelling waves marched in, sparkling in the sunlight. The steady, breath-like ebb and flow, crash and release upon the shore brought a soothing counterweight to the fisherman's enraged cursing. Standing on the rocks, he hurled his tackle box in disgust, and watched it splash and vanish, an insignificant blip in the ocean. Never again... Continue Reading →