Tag: Short Stories

A Look at Martin’s Choice

During college, I was in a sorority. In fact, I served as the president of my chapter in 1981. And while hazing never went as far as it does in Martin’s Choice, there was definitely some going on.

But in this story, a kegger spiked with nasty hazing goes very wrong, very quickly.

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

Background

Hazing is a very real problem in the fraternity/sorority (Greek) community. People have died, and some of that is due to the peer pressure/power imbalance inherent in a system with a rigid hierarchy. Plus, the pledges want very much to join and be accepted.

Some of the worst hazing happens when members leverage their positions and throw in malice to boot.

The prompt was just one word: keg.

The Plot of Martin’s Choice

During a fraternity keg party, true colors come out. The fraternity’s president, Ron, wants … something. But it’s clear that Ron won’t stop until he’s forced to.

A pledge named Dennis suffers the consequences of frat president Ron’s reckless power trip. Martin’s choice is to speak up and be ostracized, or stay quiet and watch what is starting to uncomfortably resemble an attempt at manslaughter.

Characters

The characters are Martin, Jules, Ron, and Dennis. There are some other fraternity members and there are a few police officers.

Memorable Quotes from Martin’ Choice

Eddie dropped the other side of the keg and shoved his way to the exit. One of his shoves connected with Stan, who lost his grip on Martin’s arm.

Martin turned to Al. “Either you let go of me, or you call nine one-one. Got it?”

The pledges and other fraternity brothers started to run for the exits. Phil looked back once.

Stan had been open-mouthed, but he snapped out of it. “Ron, they’re gonna get the cops in here.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ron’s left eye twitched. “We gotta hide this.”

“Not a chance.” Jules grabbed Ron by the collar as the wail of sirens started to fill the air.

Rating

The story has a T+ rating. There is nasty language and several horrible results come from nasty choices on a lot of people’s parts.

Takeaways

This was a nasty, difficult story, and it’s no wonder that I took a few years to finish it. Even now, I look at it and can see what an incredibly dark place it comes from. Nearly no one comes out of it well. And even then, ‘well’ is really just a relative term.

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Short Stories

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A Look at a Short Story, Unexpected Help

I really love World War II prison escape films. So, with Unexpected Help, I tried my hand at writing one. But this time, the time would be in the future and the captors wouldn’t be human.

I wrote this story during the third quarter of 2021. The original prompt was the word edge.

Background

The whole concept of escaping from an alien prison must have weighed on my mind a lot in 2021.

I wrote several stories with that as the premise, including not just this one, but also Stellar Stowaway, Breakout… and Then What?, Nuremberg Redux, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, and Escape from the Alien Mines all follow a somewhat similar plot.

Plot

A good ten thousand humans are taken prisoner on an alien world. When one of them, Rebecca Morrissey, is being tortured, she’s injected with something or other. The substance allows her to hear a certain alien’s thoughts.

And the first thing the alien Chadaricha tells her is that there is an underground, and they are trying to get her out.

But it’ll take a while.

Characters

The characters are POV character Rebecca Lee Morrissey, the only human in the story. The aliens are Chadaricha and Lodavinta. There are other aliens, but I don’t name them.

While these could be the Ziranqui, who have become a kind of catchall bad guy species in my writing, I’m happier for them not to be. After all, why can’t there be more than one villain species out there?

Unexpected Help with Memorable Quotes

Old World War II escape movies were my only frame of reference. Yet they were woefully inadequate when it came to trying to get out of a prison on an alien world. I couldn’t blend in with the natives. Not unless I somehow miraculously got taller, grayer, and added two fingers to each hand.

It was, perhaps, a few days later. The only way to even have a prayer of determining that time had elapsed was to count meals. But they were all over the place. If I had to judge time between meals by hunger, then time was elastic. But that explanation made a lot less sense than a more obvious one—that there were no rules as to when to feed me.

But ever since the aide had injected me, I had been given more. It wasn’t much more. Clearly, my benefactor or benefactors were trying to cover their tracks and making it so they could lean on plausible deniability if they needed to. Or maybe they had a lot of us to try to feed. Or they didn’t have much to give.

In the dark—for the room was never bright enough to read or do more than make out the barest minimum of shapes—I accepted whatever they gave me.

Rating

The story has a T+/M rating.

There are scenes of torture and violence. I am not kidding.

Takeaways for Unexpected Help

I think this one turned out better than some of the other alien prison escape stories I’ve written. There are characters and consequences, and it’s tough to tell how it’ll all work out in the end.

Let’s Look at Building Trust, a Short Story

This is another short story that I started up during a year when I was writing every day. The original prompt for Building Trust was the word fire.

I wrote two sections and then ran out of gas. But it’s a good thing I left it. This means that I started this story during the third quarter of 2021.

But I finally finished it during the fourth quarter of 2024.

Background

Like a lot of young girls, I was into horses when I was a tween. I took plenty of riding lessons and went to a horse camp when I was eleven. I’ve also been to places like Belmont race track and the track at New Orleans, which is apparently Fair Grounds.

I don’t think I had written a story about working with horses before, not even for the Real Hub of the Universe trilogy. So, it was a great, untried source for a plot.

Also, leaving it for a good three years meant I could remake it into something very new. I have no idea what I was originally planning, and probably didn’t have much of a plan at all.

Plot

Bethany has been running Shortman Stables for a while and the stables are going under financially. So, she takes a chance and buys an untamable filly named Running Wildfire.

To keep the stable going, she’ll lead trail rides or accept fees for her stud, Dark Materials to do his thing. She sells foals out of Rose Tattoo, Marylou Cha-Cha, and Basket Case. Plus, she has a track and sulkies that others can rent.

Er, did I mention that these are Standardbred horses? They’re the kind who pull a sulky (a small cart resembling a chariot) for racing.

Bethany works with Running Wildfire and slowly gets her accustomed to people again. Along the way, she learns the filly was abused.

As she gains the filly’s trust, Bethany hires a driver, Tanya. But Tanya comes with baggage of her own, and has a lot in common with Running Wildfire.

When Tanya’s ex-husband finds out where she lives, and wants his son back, things get dicey, and just when Running Wildfire is starting to show some real promise.

Characters

The human characters are Bethany Shortman (the POV character) and her brother Sean. We also see Sean’s wife Libby and their two kids, Sarah and Brian.

Bethany hires Tanya Matthewson-Wilson to be a driver, and there’s Tanya’s son Marcus and her ex-husband Troy. There are also Dave Derricko (a TV reporter) and an intern who’s working the camera for him named Tracy. Lots of T names there. Sorry!

There’s also Henry Williams (yes, Bethany calls him Hank), who owns horses in Houston, and Andy the postmaster and Ralph the sheriff. Plus there’s a groom named Ken.

Horse characters are Running Wildfire (AKA Cherry or Cherry Bomb), Dark Materials (Matty), Rose Tattoo (Rosie), Basket Case (Casey), Marylou Cha-Cha, and Smoky, a mule. I mention another dozen or so horses but never name them.

At Henry Williams’s farm, there’s Running Total, who is Running Wildfire’s dam (mother). And there are also the other fillies in the Oak Grove Open Trot race.

Building Trust with Memorable Quotes

{She} was … seventy-three to one. But she wasn’t the longest shot. … [N]umbers always change at a race, particularly as late bettors get their wagers in. Running Wildfire was elevated to fifty-eight to one for a while there, and then came back down to earth, ending up at sixty-seven to one when the betting windows closed.

With my bet for our gal to win, I could end up with a payout of a few hundred bucks. Or just be out a twenty. Either way, I was happy.

“And, they’re off! Motormouth Mabel starts off hugging the rail with jackrabbit Dancing Poodle hot on her heels. Cataclysm and Alison Wonder Girl are battling for third. Then rounding out the field it’s Pretty Portia; Trial of the Century; Running Wildfire; All or Nothing; Katy Bar the Door; Irish Colleen; Galloping Grace; Ravenswood, Marcia, Marcia, Marcia; Too Short a Season; Antagonist; Out of Joint; Sweet Sioux; and Book ‘em Danielle bringing up the rear.”

The middle of the pack wasn’t the greatest place for my gal to be. But it wasn’t horrible, either. The last four horses were far enough back that the chances of them catching up and passing the first three was virtually zero.

“Rounding the turn, Irish Colleen starts making her move as Dancing Poodle starts to tire. Cataclysm has pulled up to Motormouth Mabel and they’re duking it out. Alison Wonder Girl has faded. Trial of the Century is coming around and looking for an opening. Running Wildfire is on the outside, making a move and looking to stave off Irish Colleen. Ravenswood and Katy Bar the Door are still in contention as the others fade.”

I crossed my fingers and gritted my teeth. The top seven was respectable for a first outing. Don’t get greedy, Bethany.

Rating for Building Trust

The story has a T rating. I describe some violence to the horses but it’s not ‘on camera’ and there are threats to Bethany and Tanya. Sean is knocked out, and Troy gets hit with a tranquilizer dart in a rather, ahem, sensitive area.

Plus, I mention domestic violence although I don’t get into the specifics.

Takeaways

I really like how this one turned out. It was definitely promising, and the stuff I wrote in 2024 changed it from just a horse story to a tale of female empowerment.

Review – Will’s Dog

I wrote Will’s Dog as a kind of palate cleanser story. I had been writing a number of heavier stories. So, this one was lighter. My main idea was to add an unknown angle to the life of perhaps the greatest writer who has ever lived.

I wrote this story during first quarter 2018.

Background

I have written canine POV before, both for fan fiction and for a story called Cynthia for The Longest Night Watch.

This is such a fun point of view to write, because dogs are so familiar to us, yet so alien, all at the same time. Because dogs are so smell-driven, I feel that their internal monologues (as it were) would be full of smells, and their value judgments about these aromas.

Someone could have a ‘good’ smell because of an association with a beloved person. Or an association with someone who gives food to the dog. Things could have good smells because of being delicious (to a dog, that is) or fun or warm.

Plot for Will’s Dog

There’s not really too much of a plot. It’s more like a small slice of life, of a dog and his master, a writer.

Characters

The characters are really just the dog and his master. Who just so happens to be William Shakespeare.

I never named the dog. Sorry, puppy!

Memorable Quotes

The smells are good. My alpha master is busy but the smells are good. He is using that feather again – scratching, scratching, scratching, like so many fleas. He works on thin, flat things which smell like they used to be wood.

He drops one and it flutters to the floor like a white bird with only one wing. I go over to sniff it, but he tells me not to, and so I obey. I lay down on the small rug near the fire.

I watch him from this vantage point. There are mice in the cottage, but I don’t chase them. Such is a job for the cats, and they don’t like me muscling in on their turf and stealing their jobs. So I leave them to the mice, and the rats, which are mostly outside.

I can hear him swearing. Something must be unpleasant or wrong with the thin, flat things that were once wood. He approaches the fire with several in his hands. But he has done this before and, inevitably, he gets upset at the loss. He is my alpha master and my job is to save him from himself. So I get up and place my body between him and the thin, flat things, and the fire.

Rating for Will’s Dog

The story has a K rating. It’s a very family-friendly story.

Takeaways

I like the idea of a dog intervening and making sure that we don’t lose something as valuable and amazing as Hamlet.

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

If this story resonates with you, then check out my other articles about my shorter works.

Short Stories

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Review – You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It

The basic idea for You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like it came from an idea my father had. He wanted me to write a story about a machine undergoing a mutation, much like we (and animals, plants, bacteria, viruses, etc.) do.

The prompt was the word ‘Yikes’. The story is told from Katie’s point of view.

I wrote this story during second quarter 2021.

Background

Some of the idea for this story came from thinking about the film 2001 where Hal 9000 is not only sapient, but also homicidal. I decided my machine wouldn’t necessarily be hostile. But it would be supercilious and insistent that everything should be its way—or the highway.

Plot

A mysterious coffee maker arrives. Is it a wedding present? But there’s no card and no return address.

Characters

The characters are the couple, Katie and Paul, and Katie’s sister Marci and her husband Greg. Oh, and the coffee maker. Yes, the coffee maker is totally, 100%, a character.

Memorable Quotes

After I closed the fridge door, I turned around to find another message.

The supply of ginger ale is dangerously low. The local market has been alerted. Delivery will be at precisely eight o’clock in the morning, local time.

“But tomorrow’s Saturday. I don’t want to get up that early.” I paused. “And I can’t believe I’m explaining myself to a coffee maker.”

This is for the best. The clock radio has been alerted, and will wake you at precisely six thirty AM, local time.

“I don’t want to get up that early,” I repeated.

This is the optimal time for delivery. The clock radio will wake you at precisely six thirty AM, local time.

“I still don’t want to get up that early.”

The screen went dark.

“So now you’re not talking to me?” I stared at the black screen. “You are one weird piece of machinery.”

Rating for You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It

The story has a K+ rating. The coffee machine never really does anything violent, but its communications become more and more menacing and insistent.

Takeaways for You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It

I really love the idea of a semi-sapient machine getting it in its head (circuitry?) that it knows someone far better than they know themselves.

By the way, I know I saw a TV movie where a man was essentially imprisoned by a computer that thought it was doing the best thing for this man, and may have also been in love with him. But I can’t find it! I think it was from the 70s….?

And no, it’s not Demon Seed.

Not quite the same story, but similar enough that it may have been a bit of my unconscious inspiration. I just wish I could remember the name of that film—so frustrating!

Oh, and my dad loved the story.

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

If this story resonates with you, then check out my other articles about my shorter works.

Short Stories

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Review – Mike’s Grades

I wrote Mike’s Grades completely by the seat of my pants, but I still think it turned out pretty well. The original prompt was just the word ‘Question’.

I wrote this story during first quarter 2021.

Background

This story came from one idea. A tough kid, not so great student would take advantage of an open Q & A in class. Their question? Where do babies come from?.

Plot

When the teacher holds an open question and answer session, all of the students are invited to submit a question anonymously. Originally done to be disruptive, Mike just asks where babies come from. But he gets a lot more than he bargained for.

Because his teacher has just the book for him to not only read but write a long report on and present it. The book? Our Bodies, Ourselves..

Characters

The characters are Mike, his parents, his classmate Julie, and his teacher, Laura McDonald.

Memorable Quotes

“Mike! Supper!”

“Be right down!”

He shoved the book under his bed. The report was shaping up nicely. He didn’t think he had ever read anything so carefully or taken so many notes. It was … strange.

He washed his hands and face and got downstairs just as his father pulled out a whiskey bottle. “What took ya so long?”

“I was, I was studying.” For once, that was even true.

“You never studied a day in ya life,” his mother snarled.

“It’s a book report.”

“Oh? What kind of a loser book is it?” snapped his father between pulls from the bottle.

“It’s, it’s a book about, about the old west. Cowboys and Indians, that sorta stuff.”

“Oh,” his mother said. “Eat your peas.”

“Yes, Mom.” He would have to get his hands on a book with cowboys and Indians in it, just in case either of them pressed him for any more details. He’d have to go to the library, a place he rarely visited. Voluntary reading! As if things weren’t odd enough.

Rating for Mike’s Grades

The story has a K+ rating. Mike starts off reading something pretty risqué, and his parents are none too gentle with him.

Takeaways for Mike’s Grades

I really like the idea of redeeming Mike. He could have been (and pretty much was) just another nasty kid with a bad home life who wouldn’t make much of himself. This is how I originally wrote him, too.

But then I realized I kind of liked him.

And I also love that he’s being disciplined yet it has the very real chance to utterly change and make over his life.

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If this story resonates with you, then please check out my other articles about my shorter works.

Short Stories

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Review – Sarah’s Invention

I really love Sarah’s Invention, because its message is, in essence, that you can pull yourself out of poverty using just your ingenuity.

Because my father is an inventor, I know his experiences were in the back of my mind when I started to write this one.

I wrote this story during first quarter 2021.

Background

Sarah and her family are poor. Her mother and her brother both work several jobs. She’s just a nine year old kid in elementary school, so she’s not working. Yet.
Like a lot of kids, she mainly wants to use her after school time to play. And maybe do a bit of her homework. She is certainly not trying to change anyone’s life.

Plot

Alone in the family trailer after school, Sarah combines the contents of a few dozen different flavors of toothpaste and some coarse salt. When she brushes her teeth with her new concoction, it tastes horrible. But her teeth are the whitest they have ever been.

When her invention whitens her mother’s teeth, and it completely clears up the chewing tobacco stains on her brother’s teeth, Sarah’s mother LaToya decides they need to talk to someone about what to do next.

Characters

The characters are Sarah, her brother Randy, her mother, and the members of the law firm—Jenkins, Rollins, and Joan, a legal secretary.

Memorable Quotes {This Section is from the POV of Jenkins, a Lawyer}

It has been the weirdest day in the history of days, or at least it sure as hell feels like it.

I was having one of these days where I just have no idea how or if I’ll ever make it in the firm. You’re supposed to be a damned rainmaker, and bring business in. But it’s not exactly easy. I’ve been having a lot of those doubtful days lately.

Then in walks this woman—Joan said she didn’t have an appointment but hey I was free, so could I? Sure, what the hell.

Her name was LaToya Carling. And she had a tube of toothpaste with her. At least, that’s what she told me it was, but it was in one of those old guacamole tubes from the local fast food place.

She told me it could whiten teeth, and it had cured her toothache.

Now, I’m skeptical by nature, so I asked a bunch of questions. But at least I have the mental wherewithal to not laugh at the poor woman.

She said if someone brushed their teeth with it, that she could prove the stuff worked.

I called Joan back in, and she said she’d do it. She’s an older woman, with the weight of the world on her face and, a bit, on her teeth, which were dull.

And I said ‘were’ because I’ll be damned. The stuff worked as advertised. The moment Joan had rinsed her mouth, I swore her to secrecy. I would have to talk to old man Rollins. Mrs. Carling gave me the tube and I promised to have it analyzed.

It was maybe seven before Rollins could see me. Joan, God love her, stayed late. And we showed it to him. He was impressed.

It was his idea to see if the invention could be duplicated. It’s the only really good way to secure a patent. He was truly flabbergasted when I related what Mrs. Carling had told me: it was the work of her nine-year-old daughter.

The next few days were kind of a blur. I spent half my time working with Mrs. Carling to help her get the raw materials together for her daughter—and not to say why she was doing so.

The other half was divided between working with an analytical chemist, sending both Joan and Mrs. Carling to a dentist to be checked out, and discussing money with Rollins.

I even went to the trailer to watch the girl, Sarah, mix up the stuff again. This time, I tried it, and it worked like a charm. A little too well, I’d say. I look like a damned Osmond.

Rating for Sarah’s Invention

The story has a K rating.

Takeaways for Sarah’s Invention

Sarah is just a kid and has no idea what she is doing. She isn’t trying to invent anything. She really just wants to combine a bunch of different toothpaste types and flavors to see what they taste like.

I like to think that if something like this ever really happened, that lawyers like Jenkins and Rollins would have the wherewithal to not only help the family get the invention to market, but to also not exploit them.

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Short Stories

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So, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline is a short story I wrote to try to get into an anthology.

Review – Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline

Yes, it’s really about that Lizzie Borden, from Fall River, Massachusetts.

I wrote this story during third quarter 2024.

Background

The Lizzie Borden House and Riverdale Avenue Books teamed up to create an anthology all about Lizzie. One of the suggested genres was time travel. So, I took that and ran with it.

Plot

When temporal criminal Franklin Milhouse goes back to the 1890s to try to save the Bordens from their daughter’s axe, it’s not to help them out. Rather, it’s to get Lizzie’s father to slay Joseph Kennedy, the father of JFK. And by doing so, propelling Milhouse’s ancestor, Richard Nixon, to the White House in 1960 rather than 1968.

But this is going to mess up so much of the timeline that time traveler Julia Rosen has to go back and undo it all. For bad news for the elder Bordens is good news for the timeline.

Characters

The future characters are time traveler Julia Rosen, her boss Sylvia Kowalsky, and Chief Engineer Kevin. Plus temporal criminal Franklin Milhouse. Future robotic AI characters are Grant and Betsy.

The characters from the past are Lizzie Borden, Andrew Borden, Emma Borden, and Abby Borden. These were all very real people.

Memorable Quotes {Julia’s Cover Story is She’s a Maid Named Julia Doherty}

A younger woman, her hair coming undone, looked in on the kitchen. “Are you the new maid?”

“Yes,” I said, elbows deep in suds.

“Of course she is. You’re such an ignorant girl, Lizzie,” said Mrs. Borden. “And you! Those dishes had better sparkle when you’re through with them. Don’t be taking all day, either. Oh, and, Doherty, a broken plate means you’re fired.”

“I understand.” Yeah, it’s official. I hate her.

“Could you also clean the front steps, please?” Lizzie asked me. “The pigeons made a bit of a mess.”

“You’ll do that on your own time,” said Mrs. Borden.

“Which one of us will?” I asked.

“Doesn’t matter to me. But while you’re paid by me, you’re working for me.”

I turned to Lizzie. “Sorry, but you’re on your own.”

“Ah, well, it was just a thought.”

“See, that’s your problem,” scolded Mrs. Borden. “Always trying to think when you haven’t got half a brain in your head. Such a stupid girl, don’t you think, Doherty?”

Well, this is awkward. “I, er, well, you don’t pay me to provide my opinions, ma’am.”

Mrs. Borden raised a hand as if to strike me, but then laughed. “See, Lizzie? You pay attention and you’ll get things right from time to time. Oh, and Doherty, you missed a spot.”

“I’ll go over that part again carefully. Thank you for your instruction.” And kiss my future ass.

Rating for Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline

The story has a K rating. Even though Borden probably really was a murderer, there’s nothing really about it on screen.

Takeaways for Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline

I think it’s okay. I was under a time crunch, and that probably shows. Also, while rereading, I discovered an inconsistency. Oh, well.

Short Stories and Novellas

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

If this story resonates with you, then check out my other articles about my shorter works.

Short Stories

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