Category: Writing

A Look at The Future Has No Foundation

Much like a lot of other 2021 stories, I rattled off The Future Has No Foundation pretty quickly.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2021. There was no specific prompt word for it, so far as I can tell. It’s just kind of this odd idea I had for a story.

Background

I have written post-Apocalyptic stories before. But in this one, there is a separation of two different types of people. Yet it’s not as stark as in the science fiction classic, The Time Machine.

Plot for The Future Has no Foundation

Minao hunts and gathers. She’s an older woman, feeling the weight of the world. But her world is turned on its head when a young teenaged girl named Tisa sits down to share Minao’s fire with her.

Minao is shocked that Tisa doesn’t know any number of fundamental truths about the world, like how to gather acorns, or how to hunt. And when Tisa starts to describe an almost magical place called the inside, Minao cannot believe that it’s real.

Characters

The characters are Minao and Tisa, and Tisa’s parents, Aven and Dhabi.

Memorable Quotes

She was a little thing, most likely still a teenager. “May I share your fire?”

“Only if you don’t attack me,” I said.

“I won’t.” She looked down. “Is that a big problem around here?”

“Where have you been, that you don’t know this?” I asked.

“Uh, away.”

“I see.” Suspicion was growling in my heart. “Have you eaten?”

“Just a little.”

“Here, “I said, handing her some of the acorns, hot from the fire. And it was extraordinary.

I’ve been making fires and tending to them for so long that my hands are scarred, and the burning does not bother me. My hands are even rougher from digging in the dirt or pulling out splinters or the like. But her hands were smooth, and she dropped the acorns as she cried out, “They’re so hot!”

“And you expected any differently?”

“No, I don’t suppose I did.” To change the subject, I suspect, she added, “I am Tisa.”

“Minao. You’d better pick up your acorns, for when they cool down, a bold squirrel is likely to take them.”

Rating for The Future Has no Foundation

The story has a K rating.

Takeaways

I like to think that wisdom will still be respected, even if the world seems to have ended. Both sides have important pieces of the puzzle.

And I also like to think that people can slowly learn to trust each other again. I certainly hope so.

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Let’s Look at Courier to the Soviets

A Courier to the Soviets was the kind of short story I rattled off quickly in 2021, in response to a single prompt word—declaration.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2021.

Background

Upon looking at my prompt (I write these myself), I decided that the way I was going to interpret the word would be like a customs declaration. So, this would be as opposed to a declarative sentence or the like.

Plot for Courier to the Soviets

It’s 1961. Soviet operative Priscilla Hughes has a relatively easy job ferrying documents, money, secrets, microfilm, and other helpful articles from New York to Moscow.

A true believer in the other side, she has no qualms about spying for Khrushchev or batting her eyes at Castro. She has a routine, to fly from Idlewild to Madrid to East Berlin to Leningrad and then to Moscow. And then back again.

But things go south—literally—when she’s sent to Havana in mid-April of 1961.

Characters

The characters are Priscilla, her Parisian contact (Louvre Twelve), an unnamed contact in America, a supervisor (perhaps two; I don’t go into a lot of detail these these) to send her places, and a contact in Cuba.

Memorable Quotes

The fellow in front of her had his briefcase searched. An orange. A bottle of sangria. A pair of plastic castanets that were probably intended for a daughter or a niece.

The customs official took the alcohol and the orange and led the guy to the side.

Priscilla watched as he reached into his pocket, maybe for a few bills so he could get his bottle back.

“Miss Hughes?”

“Oh, yes. Here.” She put her train case on a table separating her from a customs agent.

“Just coming back from Madrid?”

“Yes. Spain’s a lovely country.” Which she had only seen from the airport, as she’d changed planes for the fourth time. Moscow to Leningrad. Leningrad to East Berlin. East Berlin to Madrid. Madrid to Idlewild.

“I gotta ask you, miss. Any fruits or vegetables to declare? Any liquor?”

“No, and no.”

He never opened the case, just returned it to her. She got her overnight case from Baggage Claim and hailed a taxi.

“Islip airport,” she said to the driver.

“One airport to another, eh? That’s gotta drag anyone down. But you look fresh as a daisy.”

No small talk. I’m not in the mood. She ignored the cabbie and just stared out the window as the cab pulled on to the Southern State Parkway.

With relatively light traffic, the cab made it to Islip in around 45 minutes. The cab got her to the departures area, the driver even carrying her luggage for her.

Once he was paid and gone, she took her stuff and walked to the arrivals area.

Rating for Courier to the Soviets

The story has a K+ rating. While nothing happens on screen, Priscilla is definitely thinking of seducing nearly any guy she sees.

Takeaways

I really enjoyed writing what was essentially an anti-hero character. I don’t honestly want readers to empathize with her, or root for her to win anything. But if they decide to, I won’t stop them.

I meant for Priscilla to be a kind of jetsetter character, almost like the kind of woman the very real Frank Abagnale, jr. would have met. But unlike Abagnale, she’s a traitor.

And, since her time coincides with that of MJ Tanner, she could conceivably run into the main character from The Duck in the Seat Cushion. But Priscilla would probably dismiss MJ outright, thinking she’s just some dumb hayseed.

And let’s face it: you underestimate MJ at your own peril.

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Let’s Look at A Touch of Gray Hair

A Touch of Gray Hair came about because I was entering a contest. And to this day, I think the prompts and sentences they gave were pretty terrible. Just awful, and without any real way to weave much of a story around them, truth be told.

At least, not a story that I have ever wanted to tell.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2019.

Background

I can’t honestly recall the name of the place? Zine? Whatever, which called for a submission like this. All I know is that they provided the first and last lines, maybe even the first and last paragraphs. Apart from that, you could do whatever you wanted.

I settled on a weird comedy. A very weird comedy. And, seeing as it was to take place in the Pacific Northwest, it had to have Bigfoot.

Yes, Bigfoot.

Plot for A Touch of Gray Hair

Angela and Dan are driving along a dusty highway where everything is a whole helluva lot of dull sameness. When they hear a chainsaw one day, Angela goes to investigate. And she hurries up when she realizes Dan has become as gray and dull as the rest of the landscape.

When she finds Bigfoot wielding the chainsaw, she faints. And when she comes to, she learns the creature’s name is Stuart. He’s lonely. And he bakes amazing cinnamon muffins. But she knows she’s not the woman for him.

Characters

The characters are Angela; Dan; Bigfoot (Stuart); and Stuart/Bigfoot’s love, Miss Muriel Hirsute. Mentioned but not seen are Big Hank (Angela’s estranged husband) and Little Hank (her and Big Hank’s son).

Memorable Quotes

She was on the downslide of her fifties, and the last time the world hadn’t looked like a soggy, limp dishrag had been when she was fourteen. She smiled wryly for a moment. Color. There had been a carnival in town once. The sights had been bright and dizzying. Now it seemed as if that had happened on another world.

Dan got out of the driver’s side and shut the door of the El Dorado. Even sounds were tamped down and muddied. A slam, instead, was a dull thud. Slaps were clunks. Gunshots were muffled reports. He pointed in the direction of the chainsaw sounds and looked at her quizzically.

She nodded and remarked about the chainsaw. Why did it sound so crisp? Nothing else had in decades. It made no sense. And things that made no sense were enough to make anyone nervous in these, the Dull Ages, her unofficial name for the past four plus decades of gray, clunking sameness.

Rating

The story has a K rating. Nothing untoward happens, although the story is still pretty damned weird. So, proceed at your own risk, I guess.

Takeaways from A Touch of Gray Hair

I was going, more or less, for madcap. But instead, the story is kinda blah, I will be the first to admit. There are a ton of holes in it, and odd stylistic choices. So, it’s no wonder that A Touch of Gray Hair didn’t win the contest.

In a lot of ways, it’s as gray as the vibe that I (or maybe the contest runners; I can’t recall any more) was going for. Ah well, they can’t all be gems.

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

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Short Stories

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A Review of What’s an Animal?

If global climate change really goes out of control, then there’s every possibility that, eventually, people in the future will be asking: what’s an animal? That is, if we were to survive such catastrophic upheavals in our world.

Chances are exceptionally good that we would not. And so, that makes this one a more farfetched story than a lot of the others I’ve written which take place here on Earth.

I wrote this story during the second quarter of 2024. That year, I was generally not using prompt words. So, this short tale has a somewhat different origin story.

Background

With no prompt word, this story, rather, is the result of a thought experiment.

What would happen if we were the only animals left? There would be plants but no critters. No beef, no bees, and no bears.

Among other things, human beings would have to pollinate plants, or we would have to program some sort of robotic or quasi-robotic help to do that task for us.

By itself, this would have to be an undertaking on a global scale. I cannot fathom any way that this would not be an exceptionally expensive undertaking.

As a result, this story doesn’t take place in our immediate future. It kind of can’t.

Plot for What’s an Animal?

A future post-climate change world is turned upside-down when, for the first time in decades, a young girl finds an actual living animal—an earthworm.

What does this discovery mean for humans? Does it foretell a better future? Or is it just a nasty reminder that we’ve messed up the planet beyond all recognition?

Characters

The characters are Cherish Wilton (she’s the POV character); her teacher Mrs. Alpert; her little sister Adore; their parents, Ted and Evelyn; Professor Linton; Marcia Lee, the innkeeper; Marcia’s three brothers; the mayor; and Premier Natasha Ivanova.

While Cherish and her family have the same last name as the family in Small Acts of Defiance, I don’t intend any relationship between them.

Memorable Quotes from What’s an Animal?

It was a small thing, barely the width of my palm. I set my tablet to filming mode and filmed it as it crept slowly along the forest floor. I heard more rustling behind me. I turned, and it was Adore. “Where were you?” she asked.

“I was here. Where were you?”

“Around. What do you have there?”

“Come and see. It’s magnificent!”

Adore came over and I showed her the tiny creature under the leaves. “It’s kind of ugly,” she said after a while.

“That’s not a very kind thing to say.”

“It’s not like it can hear or understand us. Er, can it?”

“I don’t know if it can hear at all,” I said. “And I’m sure it can’t understand us. Look at how it moves. It’s fascinating.”

“It doesn’t have any arms or legs,” said Adore. “Do you think maybe it used to, and it was in some horrible accident?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I think this is the way it’s supposed to be.”

Rating for What’s an Animal?

The story has a K rating. While there isn’t really much that’s untoward that happens herein, the mere thought of how we could get this way is more than a trifle upsetting.

As it should be.

Takeaways for What’s an Animal?

I like how the ending has the people working to try to take back the planet. That there’s this marvelous discovery, and it reminds them that nature is astounding and we need to protect it.

I just hope that, in real life, things never get as dire as they do here. And at the same time, if anything like this happens, I hope the government would not try to suppress the finding like they do here (oops, spoiler alert!).

Because people should know just how vital animals truly are to our existence, and that of our world. And we should never, ever take them for granted, or believe we can live without them.

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

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A Look at Small Acts of Defiance

Given when I first wrote Small Acts of Defiance, it was a response to the first Trump presidency. Now, in his second term, it’s come around again to being pretty dang relevant.

I like to think I’m nowhere near this prescient. In particular, that’s because I’ve got a lot of other short stories that are a lot less, shall we say, genteel, when it comes to our collective future.

I’m looking at you, Gentrification and What’s an Animal. But this one is bad enough, in terms of a minor prophesy of what, maybe, could happen to all of us.

I wrote this story during the second quarter of 2021.

Background

The idea behind this story was to turn the standard tale of illegal immigration on its head. For here, the small acts of defiance aren’t to get Mexican (or South American) people into the United States.

Rather, these acts are to get Americans to be able to cross the border into Canada.

Plot for Small Acts of Defiance

Susanna has always known that her parents were doing something odd with their time, and it always seemed to be vaguely illegal. At twelve years old, and already looking and acting more grownup than her years, her parents start to initiate her into the family ‘business’.

And what is that so-called ‘business’? It’s to help people to cross over the border.

Characters

The characters are Susanna, her younger brother Crenshaw, and their parents. Oh, and there is also a lawyer who I never name. I tell the story from Susanna’s point of view. She is a teenager throughout most of the story.

Memorable Quotes

We crossed when I was five. It was a simple thing then. You walk in, pretending like you belong. My father had a gift for mimicry so he could easily speak without an accent. He wore his most official-looking shirt, neatened up his moustache, and pretended to be hauling my mother and me in for some sort of questioning.

My mother was pregnant with my little brother then, but she wasn’t showing yet, so it didn’t look like she was trying to cross the border just to have him. Although that was their exact plan, of course—like countless others.

When I got older, my parents would disappear for days. My brother and I lived on the good graces and snacks of our next door neighbor. I learned how to make instant soup and grilled cheese sandwiches watching her.

We didn’t know what was going on, except we were sworn to secrecy for school. We had to say our neighbor was related. I wonder whatever happened to Aunt Jennie.

Rating for Small Acts of Defiance

The story has a K rating. The family’s fate isn’t so great, but at least it isn’t violent.

Takeaways

I’m not so sure how I feel about Susanna’s parents. Certainly, what they are doing is illegal. But is it the worst thing that a person could be doing with their time? Of course not.

And, in the meantime, out here in the real world, where a man who was legally in this country is ‘lost’ in an El Salvadorean prison, and the government says they can’t get him out because #reasons?

In this, the real world, a few small defiant acts may very well be the only thing we can do. And maybe, just maybe? It could turn out to be the very best thing that any of us can do.

And as for that throwaway line about “Aunt Jenny”, it should creep you out.

Heh, sorry not sorry, readers.

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Let’s Look at Back, Front, and Side Pages

When I first wrote Back, Front, and Side Pages, I hadn’t written about time traveler Sharon Ensley yet.

And the more I think about it, the more I realize that this might be a decent story to fold into her time/timeline. The traveler could even be someone else in the department—maybe even someone who leaves or even someone who loses their job. Hmm.

After all, she’s much more entrepreneurial than the rest of the department. Perhaps there’s even some corruption there.

I wrote this story during the first quarter of 2021.

Background

I came up with Back, Front, and Side Pages as a parody of the old Byrds hit, My Back Pages.

My Back Pages can, at times, feel like a time travel song.

I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now

So, while I realize that Bob Dylan was writing about disillusionment rather than time travel, I still think the song works, in a way.

And so, as a kind of thought experiment, I got to thinking about alternatives to back pages. Hence, front and side. And where do pages go? In a book, of course!

Plot for Back, Front, and Side Pages

Agents McAllister and Fernandez have on their hands what they believe is a harmless crackpot. After all, anyone who believes that time travel is real has got to be nuts, right?

Er, right?

As they play good cop/bad cop, the two officers debate about the reality of time travel. McAllister, who’s already playing the good cop, has an open mind about it. Yet Fernandez, in keeping with her role as the bad cop, dismisses it out of hand as being impossible.

But all is not it seems, as the woman in front of them tells them a few tantalizing details about an alternate universe, where Lincoln was never shot; the dodo never went extinct; and Lennon and McCartney wrote a song called Yesteryear, not Yesterday.

But at least their climate change is better.

Characters

The characters are time traveler Joli Parrish, cops Chuck McAllister and Mary Pat Fernandez, and another Joli Parrish who is native to Chuck and Mary Pat’s timeline.

Memorable Quotes from Back, Front, and Side Pages

Joli sighed again. This is way more than I would or should normally reveal. But getting out of the interrogation room is Job One. I can deal with any other fallout later. And maybe a kid’s explanation will suffice. She bit her lip before speaking. “Timelines are parallel. That is, they normally are. But my tech bends the lines, in a way. This allows for an intersection. But the intersection only goes so far. Can I borrow your notebook?”

“Sure,” said McAllister, handing it over.

“Let’s say page fourteen of this little notebook is the original timeline. The fourteenth page, even if the pages aren’t numbered. I bend the timeline, and it’s like dogearing page fourteen so it touches page fifteen. The lines intersect, and all of a sudden I’m on page fifteen. I can go back to page fourteen somewhat easily. And I can progress to page sixteen if I want to. But page two hundred and fifty is out of the question unless I step further and further along. I dogear page after page after page. If I go back or forward or sideways far enough, I’ll lose my place.”

“But can’t you, like, bookmark it, or something?” asked Fernandez.

“I thought you didn’t believe her, Mary Pat.”

“Let’s just say that me, I’m kinda intrigued. So, can you bookmark page fourteen?”

Rating

The story has a K rating. There’s no violence or bad language at all.

Takeaways

I like this explanation quite a bit. And since—maybe—Joli is corrupted, she may fit in well to explain some other issues with time travel I’ve got in my stories. But I don’t want her to be my only go-to villain.

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

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Let’s Go Back to Camp for a Review

I attended summer camp for several years when I was a tween and then a teenager, at three separate camps. These were fun and formative experiences. And, for the most part, they all took place during the same time this story is set in.

I wrote this short story during the second quarter of 2021.

Background

The most conventional of the three camps I attended was actually owned by my great-uncle. And so, a lot of what happens (such as the activities, and even the films), I lifted straight from Camp Ben-Ann in the 1970s.

Because this would not have worked with the horseback riding or wilderness camps I also attended as a teenager in the 1970s.

I also worked as a counselor for a more conventional place. But that was a day camp.

The prompt was the word: harmony.

Plot

Junior counselor Harmony is in charge of fourth grade girls, and is none too impressed. It’s the summer of 1978. She’s about 16 or 17, which means she was probably born in 1961 or 1962. Therefore, this makes her a member of the Generation Jones cohort.

Every bunk has to put on a skit for a talent show during Parents’ Weekend. With no real plan, Harmony ends up getting the girls to sing and dance to Night Fever from the hottest movie of the summer, Saturday Night Fever.

Just as she despairs of having any sort of a good time, she spots a cute guy in the audience. He turns out to be the older brother of Didi, the camper she dislikes the most.

Characters

The characters are Harmony, Didi, and Didi’s big brother Mickey. There are other people like the other girls in the bunk, Mickey and Didi’s parents, the director, and senior counselors. But I don’t give them any lines.

Memorable Quotes from Camp

I sat down on the grass with an ice cream cone—that was our big prize—and I was wearing my H shirt. I made it myself in Art. It’s all tie-dyed and stuff. One of a kind.

Voice behind me, some guy reading the back of my shirt which, just like the front, only has a big H on it.

He starts cycling through H names. I’ve heard this God knows how many times before.

Heather. Heidi. Holly. Hannah. Helene. Helen. Honey. Hope.

That he digs into the old, weird, and ugly H names for girls.

Henrietta. Hildegard. Harriet. Hortense. Hester. Hattie. Hedwig.

Then I guess he gave up, ‘cause I of course hadn’t turned around once.

Rating for Camp

The story has a K rating. There are only a few naughty words in there, and if you blink, you’ll miss them.

Takeaways

One of the things that really makes this story work for me is the fact that I remember someone had graffitied a bunk with the lyrics to the Elton John song, Harmony.

So, I guess Harmony and me are pretty good company, eh?

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

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

Short Stories

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

Let’s Look at Saddle Up, Bank Teller!

For Saddle Up, Bank Teller, the prompt was just one word: renegade.

And what better kind of renegade than someone who is essentially in a western?

But all is not as it seems.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2021. But I didn’t finish it under the fourth quarter of 2024.

Background

While a renegade is better defined as a person who betrays an organization or a country, I wanted this to be a story of someone who, yes, betrays an organization. But his reasons are spot on. So, he’s actually a good guy. Well…kinda.

This story essentially takes place after short stories like Aenor the Wanted and Viva André, but long before The Ides of the Secretarial Pool. Could all of these stories take place in the same universe, and the same timeline?

Maybe…?

In fact, this story could, conceivably, dovetail with Mina’s Mission. The two short stories are very close, when it comes to the years when they are set.

Plot for Saddle Up, Bank Teller!

When Dodge City bank teller Bruce Bergman is told to mischaracterize certain bank expenses, he knows there’s something unethical going on. But uncovering a conspiracy to commit fraud is just the beginning, as Bruce takes the money and flees to the New Mexico territory.

With the help of a sympathetic priest and an uncorrupted sheriff, can Bruce catch the bad guys without going to prison himself, or being caught on the wrong end of a pistol?

Characters

The characters are Bruce Bergman, Father Emil Alvarez, Carl Dempsey, John Corcoran, Fred Williams, and the sheriff, a man who Father Alvarez knows personally. But he just calls the man Raymond.

Oh, and just in case anyone’s wondering, yes, there were plenty of Jewish folks in the old west.

Memorable Quotes

Bruce made it to the mission after a few more days, just as the sun was setting. He got his horse to a stable and paid in advance and took the saddlebags.

Bruce walked back to the mission and the door opened for him. It was a priest, who had undoubtedly seen him arrive. “Come in, my child.”

“Thanks. I, I’m not a Catholic.”

“None of us are perfect.” The priest smiled. “What is your name?” He waved Bruce in and shut the door.

“Kenneth—Kenneth Delaney.” Delaney had been Bruce’s housemate at Harvard.

“I see. I am Father Alvarez. Why don’t you sit down?” He gestured at the closest pew.

“Well, I don’t want to disrupt things if you’re about to have services.”

“Not until tomorrow. How long have you been traveling, Mr. Delaney, is it?”

“Yes, Delaney. A few days. I know I must look a fright. I need a bath and a shave. My apologies for my appearance.”

Rating for Saddle Up, Bank Teller!

The story has a K rating. Despite the fact that everyone carries a gun—and is not afraid to use it—no one ever fires a shot.

Takeaways

While I am happy with how I ended this one, I still never really answered the question as to why Bruce took the money in the first place! Someone with his experience and education would undoubtedly know it wasn’t going to be a good look.

And even if he was relatively sheltered (the guy’s got a Harvard education, after all), he had to have realized there would be a lot of people, including officers of the law, who would shoot first, and ask questions later.

Having the goods on him wasn’t going to prevent someone from immediately assuming his guilt. To the contrary. Plus, of course, someone could have robbed him.

And so, even at the end, I don’t exonerate him. In fact, even the reader doesn’t really find out what happens to him. So, I think I’m okay with never answering what should really be the reader’s biggest and most nagging question.

So, is Bruce a good guy, or not? What do you think, gentle reader? And do you think it really matters in the end?

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

So, if this story resonates with you, then please check out some of my other blog posts about my shorter works.

Short Stories

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