Short Fiction

"Waiter, waiter, there's a fly in my soup! ... May I have a second serving, please?"

To tantalize our reading appetite, John Paulits shares with us an exerpt from his newest novel, "The Mystery of Charles Dickens."

Now there's a kid who knows how to take care of his toys!

It wasn't a dark and stormy night, but it went from odd to totally weird at record speed ...

Conclusion. Only the mummies stand in the way of Vlad's power-mad scheme -- can they hold him off long enough for the magical gate to close?

Kevin Keating currently teaches English at Baldwin-Wallace College near Cleveland, Ohio. His novel, "The Natural Order of Things," is scheduled for publication in November 2012 by Aqueous Books.

Time has passed for both Sonja and Edvard, in their vastly different states. But wait, something is not so different -- neither knows what their future will bring ...

Wanting everything you can get will get you into trouble as surely as will getting everything everything you want ... and maybe everything you deserve ...

Alas for the thoughtless stunts of youth, that leave us with unpayable debts in our hearts ...

Edvard's last memory was of his own death in battle, but Valhalla couldn't be farther away from what he wakes up to ...

Lovers walk together in the moonlight, but they have no idea what watches them from above ...

What price can you put on Wisdom?

The battle is to the death, but who watches the fallen to steal away the vision of Valhalla?

Really, you'd think H.W. Longfellow would have known better than to write something like that ...

Life is change, they say, but even a small change in life is like being swept downstream, and the banks of the river are never the same ...

When the lines between what is real and what isn't real begin to blur and tangle, the falling man may not know where to reach out his hand ...

This is NOT the way to get into the Guinness Book of World Records, dear readers...

The vampire has his own story, but what about that poor, displaced old troll?

There are times when your life just doesn't seem worth living, but the fact is, your life isn't only about you ...

In the face of injustice, one can only hope that someone, somewhere will take a stand against it ...

The long road to understanding begins with a single step -- sometimes even in the wrong direction.

Crazies are bound to destroy the world as we know it -- the apocalypse could be right around the corner ...

The results of his research where unbelievably hopeful ... but the secret of the success was too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands.

Who is going to listen to a goofy kid's advice? Youth has its limitations, but fortunately, Julie's determination is not one of them ...

Some times a family has to provide "tough love" for their wayward child ... even in the perfect zombie world.

Losing a friend is heart-breaking. Consolation only comes when you can accept the new horizon that friend must surely see ...

On the mountain, you have nothing but what you can carry -- that which is essential. Is the burden heavier going up the trail, or coming down?

He was a diabolical mastermind -- and only one person on earth could keep a close enough eye on him ...

Wait! It may be the season of Spring, but it's not too late for this character to look down and send you some ...

You can see it in their eyes -- that moment when the joy in the sky is no longer there ...