A note to schools and libraries:
I do not impose an expiry date on my work, and, whenever possible, I am happy to donate copies to at-risk and disadvantaged schools. Please contact me; I will be glad to help out. Teachers, be sure to check out my Resources Page to find out where you can get comprehensive lesson plans.
Jippā
(flash fiction)
Horror
Now available!
This short horror story is based on a nightmare I had some time back.
No one believed him that the monsters were real. His uncle grew frustrated and impatient with the nighttime fears the boy should long have outgrown. His aunt was more sympathetic and well-intentioned, but she dismissed them as being merely nightmares.
Only he knew that, at night, the truths always revealed themselves.
After the lights went out and all was dark, the silence of his room was broken by quiet scratching and moans. He covered his ears against the screeches, but they grew louder and louder until they filled the air, and he could feel them even in his lungs.
Then, when a scream threatened to burst forth from his throat, and he could bear it no longer, there was silence. Not one sound. It was the same disquieting nothingness of forest animals when they sensed a new predator.
The monsters were quiet, but he knew they were still there.
He uncapped his ears and glanced at his little sister, asleep in the bed next to his. Quiet and undisturbed, she’d slept through it all. He envied her peaceful slumber. She always looked like an angel.
Then, there was another noise. Whispers. “She’s coming,” they said. “She’s coming. She’s coming.”
Kindle – FREE!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C0HZ7GI/
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https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/299203
The Tangi Bridge
(flash fiction)
Historical Fiction
Now available!
A very short story!
This is the story of the night patrolman on the Tangi Bridge. It’s only about 850 words, but it has been lovingly crafted.
Fans of “The Lottery” and “The Lady and the Tiger” may enjoy this one as it raises questions about human nature and the merits of the individual versus those of society.
Comprehensive lesson plans are also available.
He didn’t always see them jump, but the sounds were unavoidable. Some screamed on the way down; some went in dignified silence. But their lives always ended the same – with a loud, sickening splash.
A few chose to go at it alone, but most were grateful for his presence in their final hours. Several talked at length of their lives, although many were content to simply sit quietly beside him until dawn. Then, after steadying their nerves, they launched themselves off the creaking, wooden bridge and into the water below.
He had been told never to watch, but he always did. How could he not? The least he could do, he felt, was to be with them in those final, fleeting moments so they knew that they hadn’t been alone, that someone would remember them.
Those who accepted the calling – really accepted it – went without fear. They were the fortunate ones, their calmness and serenity helping them recall what they had long been taught in school – how to hit the water at the ideal obliquity required for the fastest and least painful death.
The screamers were much harder to watch.
They frequently flailed on the way down, hitting the water, hard as stone, at an odd angle, crushing most of their structural bones. Survival instincts always kicked in, and they would splash around in a panic – helpless, thrashing sacks of broken limbs.
Whether they succumbed to the cold water or invisible injuries, eventually, they stilled, often floating in pools of dissipating wine as the impartial river swept their bodies out to sea.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BTHCEHU/ – FREE!
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/295404 – FREE!
Teacher Lingo: http://teacherlingo.com/resources/items/the-tangi-bridge-a-very-short-story.aspx – FREE!
Teachers Pay Teachers: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Tangi-Bridge-short-story – FREE!
The Executioner
Historical Fiction/Mystery/Horror
Coming Soon
A young journalist discovers more than he anticipated when he is sent to cover the county’s first electricide.
Soledad
Sci-Fi
Coming Soon
After a ship is damaged during its escape from Earth, only one of its passengers awakens from stasis…
The Mines
Young Adult/Sci-Fi/Horror
Coming Soon
A teenage girl, posing as a boy to avoid requisite sexual servitude, is sent to work in the most-feared of the five options offered to young men – The Mines, where a dark secret lurks in their depths.