TUPELO TWO STEP A wicked west wind – hot, dry, and uncompromising as an armadillo’s shell – skittered through the empty lot, stirring up sand and trash, its toothsome howl piggybacking the shriek and rumble of the afternoon train. From his screened-in porch across the street, Walter Dempsey watched the dust devil ballet…
PASSENGERS As I came through the door, a dark-haired man stepped over a pair of corpses and handed me his gun. In that moment, I realized every word Fabrizzio had fed me over the last year was a lie. I hadn’t been drafted into…
STEAMED (*Part Three) When Mallory stepped from behind the dressing screen, Sebastian would have been rendered instantly catatonic had it not been for the torrent of protests that erupted from his mouth like scalding lava spewing from a volcano in full bloom,…
Riveting Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination. ~ John Dewey ~ The horse’s hooves danced restlessly on the cobbles as her voice rose in a shrill crescendo. “No, Uncle Albert, I will not calm down. You…
JINK Manila folder stashed inside his jacket, Ralph Kirshaw ducked into the office, head down and shoulders hunched, as though a flock of crows was dive-bombing him. Davis looked up from his logbook. “You know they’ll dock my pay for letting you in here.”…
How To Write Your First Steampunk or Dieselpunk Story Most importantly, relax and have fun! This is not a history exam. This is creative imagination ON THE LOOSE! Steampunk and Dieselpunk are based on A WORLD THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN. These stories take…
SOMEWHERE UNDER A TAHITIAN SKY I lie on my tummy, head and shoulders hanging over the edge of the deck, peering into the lagoon below, leaving my skirt to the mercy of the island breeze fluttering through the bungalow. His scent rides the breeze so…
Welcome Aboard The Alternate Reality Train Hop Theme: Steampunk and Dieselpunk Dates: May 6-12, 2013 Word Count: 500-700 Words Entries: One entry per category per person Hop Hashtag: #DirtyGoggles Hosts: Jenn, Steven and Ruth Category Definintions STEAMPUNK Victorian Era – Britain /…
JACK-KNIFED He positioned himself at the wash basin so that he could see the still form on the floor as he scrubbed the blood and tissue from beneath his fingernails. The familiarity of this cleansing ritual soothed him and the rage began to…
AND THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN I’m not going to lie. It was pretty awesome to have our fifteen minutes of notoriety. The celebratory fireworks were phenomenal, the wine top-shelf, and the disco dance contest superfly. What topped it all, though, was knowing that…
PURLWISE Carly knew that wearing the flirty sundress and kicky stiletto heels in order to help boost Gram’s knitting club profits at the craft bazaar was a tad audacious but she hoped the club’s proceeds would outweigh the malicious canard or two customers might whisper about…
SWEET HARVEST He says, “You ever play that kids game Chutes and Ladders?” “Sure,” I say. “Why?” Eyes sparkling, he says, “Come out to the orchard with me.” “What for?” “Can you just play along? Please?” I follow him out of the house, into…
BOOKISH INTENTIONS Bought the books to justify the need for shelves. Needed shelves as a pretense to meet the good-looking contractor down the street. Wished I’d bought less interesting books because they got more face time out of him than I did. Sulked about…
ZOOM I make my living photographing things people want kept secret. Assets. Diversions. Relationships. My snapshots generally necessitate outside intervention. Divorce lawyers. Family therapists. Law officers. None of it adversely affected my life until my lens unintentionally focused on the window south of the mayor’s…
(via January Magazine: National Alfred Hitchcock Day Observed)
Industrial California Sunset. #StanislausCounty #LadyBullish
