All posts by Tim

DEVON CAREY: Emily

Amusing, Submissions, Touching, , ,

In the beginning, Emily was born a hunger baby, who ate anything and everything—even non-edible treats like small plastic toys.

Halfway through her life she owned a restaurant—became rich, got married, enjoyed outdoor activities—and traveled the world.

In the end, she ate all her money and died.

Devon Carey joined the National Guard in September, 2010, and is getting deployed to Kuwait in 2013. He is going to wait until after his deployment before he makes the decision to go Active duty. Right now, he writes and reads a lot, and works out on his spare time.

K BOND: Defeated

Amusing, Submissions, ,

I fell to my knees, drained, ravenous, and blistered. I kissed the car door’s flat surface and nuzzled the chrome handles.

A mere two hours driving time took more than two weeks to hike.  The Appalachian Trail had not made a man out of me; it whipped my metrosexual hiney.

K. Bond holds a BBA and draws on experience in business writing to entertain readers. Her writing appears in Residential Aliens and Johnny America, among other places.

NEWS: Guest Week, April 2 – 6

News,

This coming week I’ll be posting five stories from guest writers, and won’t be writing any stories myself. Why? Because my wife is due to give birth on April 3!

We can’t pinpoint exactly when she’ll go into labour, of course, but it’s likely to be some time next week. I have lots of great submissions waiting to be shared, so I thought this would be a good time to get some more of them out there, and save myself a little bit of time and work at the same time so I don’t have to worry about keeping up with things whenever Larissa feels the baby start to worm its way out. (That’s how giving birth works, right?)

Enjoy the great lineup of submissions next week! I know I’ve enjoyed reading and vetting them.

The Earth in Her Movements

Artistic, Touching, , , , ,

Their emotions raged like wildfires. Their passions rumbled like earthquakes. Their fears echoed like windblown whispers through the valleys.

They whirled in their orbits, teasing each other, admiring one another’s moons, coming close and then dancing away, all the while singing to themselves, “She loves me; she loves me not.”

Modern-Day Beverly Hillbillies

Amusing, , , , ,

He called me at work. “The house is flooding!” he said, then laughed.

I rushed home, panicking. He was wading knee-deep through black sludge in the living room. “It’s crude oil!” he said. “It’s coming in through the bathtub! We’re rich!”

In retrospect, I shouldn’t have lit that celebratory cigarette.

This story was based on the prompt “it’s crude” at TypeTrigger.

Remember Your Training

Amusing, , , ,

Josh Bonner, junior agent, answered his phone. “Yes, Director?”

“Where are the Apple and the Banana?”

“I’m at the grocery store right now, picking them up, sir. Is Golden Delicious okay?”

“You’re where!? They’re waiting at the Safe House, agent!”

Oh dear. Josh had forgotten about the code words again.

Strange Tastes

Amusing, Odd, , ,

She invited me in after our third date.

What I found in her refrigerator was shocking. The shelves were packed with yogurt, cheese, sour cream, and, maybe worst of all, two cartons of chocolate milk!

“Betsy, what is this?” I cried. “Explain!”

She hung her head, sighed, and said, “Moo…”

GEORGE S KARAGIANNIS: Shifting the Goalposts

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

When I visited my blind brother, he was sharpening his shooting skills. He was so embarrassed; he couldn’t hit a thing.

I pulled my pen out and placed it in his sweaty palm. I said, “Take this pen, brother, so that you may draw targets around the holes you make.”

George S. Karagiannis was born in Thessaloniki, Greece and is currently a PhD student at the University of Toronto in Canada. He enjoys writing science-fiction (in an non-professional level, so far) in the subgenres of hard science fiction, bizzarro and apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic settings.

The Italian Mouse

Amusing, Touching, , , , , ,

“Please, Clarissa,” pleaded Sergio, “don’t leave me! I’ll make you better spaghetti, better pizza, better wine!”

“Always food with you,” said Clarissa wearily. “Always wine… Don’t you understand me? What I really want are children… and pets!”

Sergio bought her a mouse. She kept it, and got rid of him.

I’m Glad You’re the Special One

Amusing, Odd, , ,

“You have an ability that nobody else has. Don’t you think that’s at least a little bit awesome?”

“No, not really.”

“But your ability is so cool!”

“Really? Do you actually wish you could do what I can do?”

“…No. I guess not. But I’m glad you can do it!”

This is how I think most people would react to the special abilities people have in my web serial, Special People. It’s kind of like having a friend with an “awesome” moustache: it’s cool that they have it, but I’d never grow one like that myself.

This story was based on the prompt “nobody has” at TypeTrigger.