Douglas pulled off the main highway and found a cozy place to park his eighteen-wheeler. It had been another long boring day, and he was not ready to turn in and say goodnight yet. After getting every thing ready, he sat at his computer and logged on, checked his e-mail, then went surfing. Douglas is around the age of 50. He works as a truck driver. He doe...
This story is based on the "3 lies and 1 truth" premise, where there are 4 outcomes. Three of these outcomes did not occur. They are from my own personal fantasies of what might have occurred. Only the Prologue and one of the outcomes are true. I leave it up to the reader to decide which outcome is the real description of events. Feel free to comment and vot...
Location: Ramez, Duchy of Atansha, Kingdom of Tildor Date: Feb 2048 Founded in the early summer of 2046, Ramez was a growing town on the eastern shores of the continent of Anzac. With just over a thousand people, Ramez was small, rough, and even a tad provincial. They called the main valley and surrounding lands Atansha, or Pleasant Home. Atansha was part...
"Mein Gott!" "Lord Kraus! Wilhelm, help me!" "Bernhardt, no!" Wilhelm Kraus spun in the saddle, trying to keep a grip on his man's hand. The vines that had encircled Bernhardt and his other men-at-arms were grotesque and clinging. Diseased-looking, green flesh with thorns as long as Wilhelm's little finger were twining swiftly around their limbs. He watch...
An historical mystery written by request of my editor. August 1098 "God's Wounds, it's hot!" The grizzled soldier removed his leather cap and mopped his brow with a filthy rag. His younger companion at the sentry post nodded by way of reply. Below their vantage point in the gatecastle, the city sprawled, baking in the heat, although it lacked an hour to...
I want to tell you a story about the Chinese Empress Wu Zetian, the greatest domme of the 7th Century. Wu was the only woman in history to become absolute ruler of the empire of China. I have depicted her and other real characters and settings as accurately as I could, from what little is known about this historical period. The poems are authentic, and so is...
/ /Author's Note: This story, Terrible Company, is sprawling sword-and-sorcery fantasy satire with a diverse cast of characters. Over its many chapters, those characters will have interactions (both with each other and others) that cross many of the lines that exist between Lit genres. I have come to believe that breaking the story into those different categ...
Note: First, thanks to donalde for beta-reading for me. Secondly, thank you all for continuing to follow the Sinclaire/Yancy and now Blackwell families. Also thank you for the comments and emails. They are very much appreciated. Kal ******* "What did you feel?" Nathan asked Louise as he sat down next to her. "That's just it." Louise said after a minute....
Rick swam slowly along about ten feet above the bottom. His eyes swept back and forth, searching for a tell-tale shape or gleam. He saw nothing. He looked at the gage on his wrist, he had plenty of air left. He had ten more kicks left before he made a right turn to a due south heading. Then he stopped. He heard the whine and thump of a boat approaching. Soun...
Heather and I drove anxiously toward town. It was nearly dark and the last bits of sunlight emitted a fading pink glow on the horizon. The 25-minute trip from our house to the bar was plagued by silence. Nerves and excitement played a role in that, but I guess it was starting to dawn on us that this may be the point of no return. See, this moment had been a...