Categotry Archives: Fiction
Suzie’s House 163 : Friends, Plus a Little
As heartbreaking as her problems with Gene might be, her problems with Ben frightened her more. She hurried down the hall to Ben’s room. Sure enough, his door was closed. If she’d heard the tinkle of laughter, she would have felt better. But no. Not a sound. Suzie raised a hand to knock, then let it fall, then raised again, then let it drop again. She’d always respected Ben’s privacy. Even when he was quit young, she’d shown the courtesy […]
Tick Tock
Time melts tick tick tick away. Urgent tick tick taking with it last chances to hug, to love, to write. tick tick tick I see the sands of my life flowing down tick and yet tick tick tick I sit and stare doing nothing with this moment for fear tick tick of the next. This is another tribute to The Walking Man, whose poetry often inspires me. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story […]
Suzie’s House 162: A Suggestion
Suzie marched upstairs, telling herself to stay calm. It wasn’t such a big deal. So far as she knew, neither boy had done anything yet. With any luck, it would stay that way for years, possibly even forever. And birds never had to land. She hurried. Her phone conversation with Drew hadn’t seemed long, but to her amazement the boys could get into trouble even faster.
Candles on Shore
Beautiful moon hidden from the wooded path can not light the way. Shade trees cast midnight shadows. Dark water moving slow like molasses in the night, sluggish and dark where daylight had shown clear but deep. Wading across seems longer now. So easy to be turned around, lost, Until a friend arrives with a candle. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Click on the badge to go to the […]
Suzie’s House 161: Fine. Really. Totally Fine.
“Quiet!” Suzie snapped at the boys, one hand covering the receiver on the phone. “It’s Drew.” Gene, Ben, and Lisa stopped arguing over the last slice of pizza and looked to the corner of the kitchen where Suzie had the house line mounted to the wall. She put her back to them and hunched over the phone. “Where are you? Who is that woman talking in the background?”
Mama Earth
While she slept we plundered. Clever children, we thought. We are getting away with murder. She stirred in her sleep, sending up earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, and drought. Did the dinosaurs know this fear? or even those before, that she didn’t bother to record? Mama Earth can take care of herself. It is only we who will die. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Click on the badge to go […]
Suzie’s House 160: Old Times
Drew took the joint from Dave. “This isn’t going to mess me up like crack, is it?” “No. No, man. I’ve been doing it for weeks now, and I’m fine.” Dave spread his arms in a look-me-over-for-yourself gesture. Drew made an effort to ignore the trash and grime on the floor of the van all around the man, the stench, and all the little signs of paranoia that crept into Dave’s comments in the chatroom for RamirezRules.
After the Affair
She rose from the ashes of her dismay a phoenix made new for a life far above her original dreams taking to the air in a fiery show of determined self confidence. She will not be laughed at anymore. She will leave behind all the ants who thought to take away her best parts and make them their own. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Click on the badge […]
Suzie’s House 159: The Snitch
“You The Man?” the snitch asked seconds after he and Drew met in the back of the WalliMart parking lot. “No! No, I’m not The Man,” Drew said with a spoof of the very real panic he felt. Among these people “The Man” meant law enforcement, especially under cover cops. “I don’t men The Man, the man. I mean are you Cool Dude from RamirezRules?” “Oh. That man. Yeah, that’s me.” Drew tried a sappy smile, and guessed he pulled […]
20 Years Later
If I hadn’t done it, I could be a grandmother now, she thought. That family over there – grandmother, son, and grandson; I could have had that. Or maybe it would have been a girl. No. I’m sure that lump of protoplasm would have been a boy. A son. He might have made me proud, if I hadn’t done it. The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Click on the […]
Suzie’s House 158: Hairy Considerations
The day before a meet always made Drew nervous. Up until a couple of years ago, the cases he handled involved sexual predators. He would pretend to be a sweet, teenage girl, set up a meet, then turn up as the clean cut FBI agent he really was. This was different. He stood in front of his bathroom mirror and rubbed the stubble on his chin, then fingered the four inches of hair hanging down over his forehead. Would it […]
Suzie’s House 157: A Beautiful Spanish Hussy
Maria Sanchez lay in wait for him in the hall. As Drew came out of the Special Agent in Charge’s office after an upbraiding, Maria fell in step beside him. “He was completely unreasonable, right? I told you he wouldn’t have anything good to say.” Drew refrained from agreeing. It didn’t matter if the SAC was reasonable or not, only that he complete the current assignment and get back to Suzie as quickly as he could. Hopefully long before Suzie […]
Tossing and Turning
He groaned, rolled over, punched the pillow. Shouldn’t have yelled at the boss. Should tell his wife, no more paycheck. Unable to sleep, he sat up. “Everything all right?” His wife reached out in the dark. Couldn’t let her down. Have to get a new job in the morning. “Yeah,” he lied. “Everything’s fine.” Think you can write a story in 55 words? Go visit the G-man to see those who did.
Suzie’s House 156: Drew in New Mexico
This meeting could go either way. Drew stared out the window of the local FBI headquarters. Local for New Mexico, that is. The skies in Albuquerque were a darker blue than those in Wisconsin, and the heat waves something he wouldn’t expect there. Not to mention all the earth tone buildings – sandy beige, rust, and gunpowder blue done in stucco or adobe, the wilting cactus and white chip gravel in place of Wisconsin’s emerald green lawns, the lilt of […]
Shikigami Paper Doll
Paper man Made by a child Found on the floor Wadded up Thrown away When no one is looking Unfolds himself Runs across carpet To a neglected door Slipping through When the child Works her magic Wiggles a finger Calls him back To play Slave The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in 55 words. Click on the emblem to go to G-man’s site and hook up with other people who did this.
