Short Fiction

And what will happen if the collective wisdom of the elders does not inform the sudden surge of Progress?

In the end, she had always known that he would ...

It's the booming 80s, and if you want to ride the boom to the good life, you have to make a few sacrifices ... it will all be worth it, won't it?

It's hell being in Hell, and even if you know what the hell it really is, how the hell do you get out of there?

If only the Powers That Be, who endow blessings and curses alike, would descend from their Jovian heights to give a guy a heads-up now and then ...

The message was clear and frequent -- someone had a greeting for Barney ...

The path to the future is paved with cryptic scrawls ...oops!

From the time he was a little boy, was there ever anything that could keep Jack Runner from flying too close to the sun?..

We believed there was no way they could break through; they believed there was no way they could not. And so we watched, waiting, holding on to one last thing ...

None of them had been written, but there were three stories that wanted told ...

With age, comes wisdom, they say. But if the passage of time makes us wise, should we worry about getting too smart for our own good?

It was elite, it was private, it was ... perhaps not quite enough of a good thing ...

Despite loving orchids, dry white wine, and Broadway show tunes, Pete McArdle is married and has three kids in college. When not drilling teeth, he enjoys torturing words, especially adverbs.

One city, two men, two different worlds about to intersect ...

Peter is a speculative fiction writer, most notably the author of the award winning supernatural thriller, "The Grandmaster." He is also the Founder and Managing Editor of Ex Machina Press, a publishing company based in Los Angeles, which was named 2007 PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR by the DIY Book Festival in Los Angeles. (Originally appeared 2009-12-21)

Teddy is a special boy and no one knows it better than Laiken St. James. When her parents try to keep them apart, Laiken leaves home to be with Teddy, but she never expected the consequences of Teddy's wrath. (Originally appeared 2009-10-19)

Was it that he took life too seriously? Or was he afraid that life wouldn't take him seriously at all? No matter -- sometimes you need another perspective, maybe even a sense of humor ... (Originally appeared 2009-10-26)

When Jonas Knutsson left junior high in 8th grade to pursue a career as a gentleman of leisure, said institution made a note of a great general improvement in morale and academic performance and has yet to request his return. He failed to win "The Prize for Gentlemanly Conduct" upon graduation from Junior College, was booted out of film school in Germany before commencing his studies, threatened with expulsion from both New York University and the University of Iceland and is currently barred from The Palooka Bar. (Originally appeared 2009-10-05)

The prose clutches, mashes, grabs Nigel by the lips and turns him inside out -- what more can the infamous Lucy Biatch do to him? (Originally appeared 2009-07-27)

Jim Wisneski is an author and poet living in the Lehigh Valley, PA with his wife, his almost one year old son, two cats, a fish, and a hermit crab. Updates and some of his short stories can be found at his site www.JimWisneski.com. (Originally appeared 2009-08-10)

Mary Andes grew up with the smells of Eucalyptus trees, watching surfers ride the Pacific waves at Hermosa and Redondo Beach, the roller bladers in costume at Venice Beach, the In-and-Out Burger joints, the stucco homes with red-tile roofs, and the old Mission churches with the euphoric music. She later moved to Seattle and therefore resided in constant dribble rain for 20 years. She now lives in Maryland and return to California every few years to recharge my soul and to soak in the healing rays. She is currently writing a children's book with the theme of finding the small joys in life to overcome adversity. (Originally appeared 2009-06-01)

Jonathan D. Scott is the owner of a small advertising and graphic design firm in the Southeast. He is married with two daughters and is a very ordinary person, or at least appears so to the casual observer. (Originally appeared 2009-05-18)

Suspicious of magic, the mercenary soldier Raka keeps his distance from its practitioners as much as possible. Until the feeble old shaman named Ol' Bob gives him a trinket in thanks for a good deed and his opinion begins to change... (Originally appeared 2008-12-29)

Only vanity could induce the world's most infamous paranoid to trust the world's most notorious liar... (Originally appeared 2008-12-15)

Just because you're little doesn't mean everyone is going to protect you, and maybe if you've been entrusted with an important task, you shouldn't let yourself get sidetracked into another ... (Originally appeared 2008-05-26)

There's an emptiness in Jack Runner that nothing can fill. What was taken away from him can never return, but that doesn't stop it from haunting him every day of his life. The only one who understands that is about to die ... (Originally appeared 2007-04-23)

Why did 'Lord' Patu wear a .44 magnum revolver around the house? Why because he loves moles, of course. And why is the front of his chair cut up? Well, it has to do with how he dresses. Does any of that matter if the beer is good? (Originally appeared 2006-03-27)

Just one trip and he'll be able to retire planetside forever, never to set foot in a ship or be forced to endure his crewmates again. But, as one young traveler learns, spacer is a state of mind. (Originally appeared 2005-01-23)

The clarity of the water is incredible, mezmerizing -- but within it, what can be seen of one's soul..?

It hurt, the sunrise. It burned neither his skin, nor his eyes. But it did hurt, the sunrise...