Month: April 2026

It is Time to Look at The Playback

So, one thing about The Playback is it is the kind of story I rarely write any more. While I love lyrics and they can often inspire, this one seems a little too on the nose.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2017. It was originally for a third Stardust, Always anthology to fight cancer. However, that book never materialized.

Welcome to Developmental Hell.

Background

I am pretty sure that I was thinking about the old Crash Test Dummies song, Afternoons and Coffeespoons when I first wrote this one.

In particular, there is a line:
Maybe if I could do a play-by-playback
I could change the test results that I will get back

And so, I realized, there was the potential for almost a time travel story in that little piece of the lyrics.

Plot

On her death bed, the narrator speaks to a doctor about a wish to save her nephew. According to the narrator, this conversation has occurred several times before. Why?

Because the narrator has perfected a form of time travel, and has been working through numerous iterations to save her nephew. The nephew has a glioblastoma. This nasty form of cancer figures in another of my stories.

But to reveal too much would go heavily into spoiler territory.

Characters

The characters are the narrator and her doctor, and the people in the narrator’s life who she mentions. But she is the only one who does any talking.

Memorable Quotes

I know you think I’m on my deathbed, Doctor, but I’m not. I mean, I am, but I can fix this. I’ll start from the beginning.

Yes, yes, I know I sound like any of however many other crazy, sick old ladies in this hospital. I get that – I do! But I also know that, underneath your lab coat, you’re wearing a blue blouse with a red ink stain.

Don’t look so shocked. And don’t try to tell yourself you showed it to me. I mean, you did. But not today. Not in this version of today.

Yes, I mean version. Because, you see, I can play back my life.

Genre and Overall Mood for The Playbook

This story is in the science fiction genre. The mood is somewhat neutral, as you cannot tell if it is going to be positive in the end.

Rating for The Playback

The story has a K rating.

Takeaways from The Playback

I really like the idea behind this one. It is simple and straightforward.

However, there are definitely a few flaws with this one. One is that it ends on a cliffhanger and with no real resolution. Most likely, I was trying to add a Twilight Zone vibe to the story.

But it does not truly succeed in that area. Rather, the attempt just falls flat.

Another flaw (which may not really be a flaw, as I think about it) is that the method of time travel is extremely basic. Still, that could be an advantage here.

Since the narrator tries to get the doctor to help her, the only way that can make any sense at all is to have the method be exceptionally easy.

This way, the narrator can comfortably ask the doctor to learn the technique. It also works well in the context of a short story. In a far longer piece, the methodology of time travel could have become a lot more complex.

Although for the doctor to be able to realistically learn the method in less than an hour, it does make sense for it to be a ridiculously simply matter to learn.

Argh, I am so conflicted!

So, imagine how my readers must feel. Hmm.

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

If this story resonates with you, then I hope you will check out some of my other blog posts about my shorter works.

And finally, for a complete list of my shorter works, please be sure to check out the Hub Page—Short Stories.

It is Time to Unveil The Bride

While I have written about some weddings before, I do not think I have concentrated quite so closely on the bride until this short story. Also, this story is a part of the Real Hub universe.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2018.

Background

As I was writing The Real Hub of the Universe, I got to thinking about Shannon Duffy’s subject immediately before Ceilidh. And then I got to thinking about his wife, and her point of view. I felt Blima deserved to have a say.

Plot

In a nineteenth century shtetl in Europe, a teenaged bride gets ready for her wedding day. And night.

She has met the groom maybe one or two times before. This was typical for the time.

But what is different here is that the groom has a friend who will insert themselves into just about every aspect of the marriage. Then again, how many people have an alien shapeshifter for a companion?

As for the casual homophobia, it was unfortunately very typical for the time.

Characters

The characters are Blima Shapiro, her younger sister Chana, and their brother, Yussele.

Memorable Quotes from The Bride

“Blima, do you think he’s handsome?”

“I don’t know. He’s a boy – I mean, man. They are all the same, more or less.”

Chana snipped a loose thread from her sister’s simple gown. “Papa isn’t just some man, the same as all the rest.”

“That’s because he’s Papa,” Blima said. She looked at her light brown hair in an old mirror that was a little wavy and distorted. “I won’t get used to not looking like myself anymore. A sheitl! They all look so horribly ugly: dark brown, straight, in a tight bun. I suppose women all look the same as well – at least, married women do.”

“But you’ll take it off at home,” Chana pointed out. “And you can take it off when it’s just us girls. Aunt Rachel does.”

“Yes, I know. This whole process is so wretched! I don’t even know why Mama and Papa chose him in particular. They’re all the same. Did they close their eyes and point, or something? I do not see the specific appeal of Herschel Taub.”

“Don’t forget his friend, Levi Alschuler.”

“And him!” Blima looked at herself in the mirror again. “I don’t want to be married to either of them.”

“Do you think they…?” Chana’s voice trailed off.

Blima emitted a standard exasperated teenaged sigh. “If they do, then that nonsense stops tonight.”

Genre and Overall Mood of The Bride

The genre is historical fiction. The mood is neutral to slightly positive. I have no doubt that a lot of girls in Blima’s position would have been scared, angry, confused, or worried. But Blima is none of those things. Rather, she is just resigned to her fate.

In keeping with the custom of the time, she would have no say in the matter and no real incentive to do anything about the situation beyond perhaps protecting her family, assuming that she could. And that would only be if she was caught in an abusive situation.

However (spoiler alert), Herschel is a decent person who never hurts her. And so, because she cares for him at least minimally, she wants to have him to herself. This means she shuts Shannon (Levi) out a lot of the time. This includes when Herschel is dying from a stroke.

Rating

The story has a K rating.

Takeaways from The Bride

It was a tough time for young girls. They had very few choices in life, very little agency. The differences between the Shapiro sisters and, say, Kitty and Mink from Mettle or even Nell from that story are striking.

Even Ceilidh has more of a say in her fate. And that is saying a lot.

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

If this story resonates with you, then I hope you will check out some of my other blog posts about my shorter works.

And finally, for a complete list of my shorter works, please be sure to check out the Hub Page—Short Stories.

It is Time for a Review of Miss Milky Way

Here she comes, Miss Milky Way…

Okay, maybe not that, exactly.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2018. But I do not believe there was any sort of prompt for it.

Background

The whole idea of an alien civilization requiring us to somehow pass a kind of test is not new to me. In that way, the plot of this one is rather similar to A Show for the Galaxy.

I suppose it comes from the standard nightmare of being suddenly thrust into a situation where you are taking a test with no preparation. But here, naturally, the stakes are even higher.

Plot

If beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, then what happens if that eye just so happens to belong to a sapient non-human species?

With a lot of the usual weirdness that goes on in beauty pageants, there’s only one small problem in the contest to crown a new Miss Milky Way. It’s really tiny.

I probably shouldn’t even bother mentioning it.

What is it?

The losers will have their home planets destroyed.

Not even the runner-up to Miss Milky Way will be able to save her planet.

Characters

The characters are Earth competitor Kristi Smithers; Baenifa, who has glittery scales; Divix, who has lobster-like claws; Baenifa, who has glittery scales; Hruvna, who has numerous feather-like skin tags; and Kyiya, a jellyfish with a methane tank which she breathes from.

Then there are a number of contests who I do not name. One is composed entirely of vapor; another looks like a wolf on two legs; a third looks like a large eggplant with feet. Plus, there are a number of other contestants from other worlds in our galaxy.

Memorable Quotes from Miss Milky Way

“They’re all beautiful, ladies and gentlemen and intersex and non-gendered beings. Let’s all give them a round of applause!”

Applause was a relative term. Sometimes it was like human clapping. At other times, it was like whale songs or clicking or humming. Some of it was silent, and achieved by waiting. Such were the many ways the attendees at the first-ever Interstellar Pageant – at least it was the first one where Earth had sent a contestant – showed their appreciation.

The pride of Bayonne, Kristi Smithers, took it all in, smiling her best pageant smile, the one she had used since she was a child going to toddler pageants and sweeping those awards. Victory was all but assured. The Solar System pageant had been a piece of cake – as if she ever ate cake. This level would be no different.

Smile! Genre and Overall Mood for Miss Milky Way

The genre is science fiction. The mood runs the gamut from silly and cheerful to tense to defiant.

Rating for Miss Milky Way

The story has a K+ rating. A lot of this story is lighthearted and kind of silly. But the consequences of losing the pageant are rather frightening, and they are very, very final.

Takeaways

I like Kristi, who has spunk and heart and is a lot like the USO kick line character in Guilty of Imperfection, Jennifer Wesley. But unlike Jennifer, Kristi has a chance to stop things early.

And the best part about how Kristi can turn the tables is by scrapping the idea of a competition completely. So, the key to victory is to cooperate with the competition.

For the glittering prize of becoming the most beautiful woman in the galaxy pales in the face of potentially saving billions of lives. Kristi will take that tradeoff any day of the week.

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

If this story resonates with you, then I hope you will check out some of my other blog posts about my shorter works.

And finally, for a complete list of my shorter works, please be sure to check out the Hub Page—Short Stories.