THE LAST THING I NEED IS ANOTHER INTERN "You've gotta be kidding me. No! I put up with that for four months last year." My voice was somewhat stern, almost belligerent as the words spilled out of my mouth. Without even realizing it, I had slammed my hand down on the top of the desk. It's not the way most people would talk to their direct report on the job s...
Unwelcome Philip Johnson Prologue Good and bad things often come into our lives without warning, and that's how it was with Ben Whitehead. A simple impulsive notion to alter his homeward travels just so he could spend a short time dwelling on a place and time from his childhood. All so innocent and understandable. Something that many might consider doing,...
A BLUE CHRISTMAS In July ChloeTzang created an event "In a Sunburned Country" and invited writers to write a story based in Australia timed to coincide with the Melbourne Cup, which is about as important to Aussies as New Year's Eve is to Scots, St Patrick's Day ... etc etc. This is my rather irreverent but affectionate offering in my attempt at narrating...
Greater New York Jinro could see cranes dancing in the imperial garden at Kyoto. Their antics, wings flapping, necks dipping and gyrating, were graceful, choreographed by evolution over thousands of years. The vision was faded like an old photo or distant memory. He'd left Japan with to live with his American father when he was 9, and filled his head with t...
Author's Notes: 'Satyr Play 2' is a continuation of my surprisingly well-received first attempt to dabble in the realm of magic. Obviously, I learned nothing from the first as, in this story, I continue to ride roughshod over preconceived notions and the 'established guidelines' of the genre. Mea Culpa. Minimal effort is made in this tale to explain the ba...
CHAPTER 1: WINGED TERROR The morning mist hung low over the valley, the obscuring haze blanketing the forests and fields below, reflecting the vibrant reds and oranges of the rising sun. The shepherd shielded his eyes for a moment as he looked out over the vista, the chill wind whipping at his long beard and tugging at his cloak. He wrapped the garment aro...
Another MIKE CLAYMORE MYSTERY: Marcel A novel by David Horton Copyright 2020 Chapter 1 It's Friday, January 2nd,1998 and the Claymore household is quite still after the panic of the New Years Eve party of Wednesday last. Guests at their home included Trudy and all her kids. It was not the ideal way to settle into a new home but all in all, it had g...
Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved Prologue In the forty-second year after the second Fall of Man, the first of the great contests was held. Born of necessity to a world only a fragment of its former self, it was a desperate ploy to stop the continuing unnamed conflicts by the man who would become the first new king. Despite being born after the fall, Ger...
BOOK I: Brothers and Siblings =====Chapter 1===== It was the most stressful part of the academic year; the final exam period approached and semester projects were due. The timing made it easier to accept everything with equanimity. --- The University required students to have a faculty advisor after choosing a major. Having enjoyed his class, I asked Pro...
Chapter 1 Trissieal flapped her long white feathered wings, gliding over the beautiful white puffy clouds below. There was nothing but clouds for several miles. There were other Angels like her flying over the clouds of Paradise and many of them greeted her, bowing their heads to their Queen. Also, walking atop the solid clouds were the guards of Paradise,...