Short Fiction

Jack Runner has a talent that the government wants hidden. The drugs he must take and the computer inside his head pretty much take care of that. But he has another talent, too ... but no government can stop him from finding trouble.

When you have someone willing to not only sell off the home planet, but also make family reunions into something even more than normally feared, you know hanging's too good for him ...

The dinner was heavenly, the location full of meaning, and the time was just right for that special gesture, those long-awaited words ...

Phillip Donnelly grew up in Dublin and currently lives in Vietnam. He has also lived in Barcelona, China, Moscow, Bangkok, Paris and elsewhere. He hopes to move to another planet at the earliest opportunity.

It started out as a simple camping trip ...

Now what do you have to live with, and what do you have to live without?

Barry Kirwan works in air traffic and nuclear power safety, and found non-fiction a lot easier to get published than fiction, but finally has his science fiction novel (The Eden Paradox) coming out as an ebook in Feb 2011 with publisher Ampichellis. This short story summarises what he wishes he'd known when starting out in fiction...

Madeleine has spurned Warren, but will she find someone her intellectual equal?

The lads are getting impatient, but Warren's story about misuse of medication is only getting to the good part ...

If you've listened to Warren Borman tell a story before, you know what to expect ... well, at least you think you do ...

It was a battle, and it was love ...

He was a "go get it" kind of guy, and nothing would stand in his way to get what he wanted ...

Money is hard to come by when the recession comes home with you at the end of your job, but you better dole out the remaining pennies you have wisely ...

What keeps the bricks and stones in place isn't just mortar; what makes the lights shine and the machinery hum isn't just electricity. What will you see if you choose to look more closely?

Science and reason can explain much, but which perceives clearly, the mind or the heart, when something has no reason at all?

The wedding is soon, and Henry is anxious about getting married. Diego is about to put a stop to that!

A. Frank Bower took early retirement from mental health work in 2006 to write, study writing and spend time with his wife Carol. He workshopped with Dan Pope and Sari Rosenblatt at CT Wesleyan, but credits his local writers group Poplar Writers -- Geof Fowler, Carol Parker and Lynn Wilcox -- with helping him most. He has published 16 short stories, 4 memoirs and 4 poems to date.

Tense and in Tacoma, both Jack and Beth have only one question in mind ...

From darkness to darkness, one melody, one strange word follows ...

Family can be trying even during the best of times, but this one is pulled in so many directions that it's very hard for them all to pull together ...

The kitchen crew are out of their depth when it comes to water flooding the big room -- and they don't know all the secrets the kitchen hides, either ...

You have it all, you can get it all, you know it all -- it's about success, in life, in society, in marriage, in work ... in getting out of the office ...

Ben wrote his first poems in Texas where he grew up. He then moved to Berkeley, Boston, Philadelphia and finally Northeast Ohio. Ben's writings fall into three genres: love, nature, and giving voice to his search for his place in the world. The Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a source for his inspiration for poetry, prose and life.

Is it what you learn from a teacher of writing, or does the class show you what you need to learn about yourself?

The usually happy Henry is feeling somewhat worried about his future ...

"Political correctitude," they decided, "means that the pursuit of happiness is mandatory and literal." ... And the only Right you have had better be the far one!

The stage door was almost perfectly an entrance for the doors Lauren found shut in her personal life ...

Laughter, they say, is the best medicine. Will it bring success in business as well? Warren Borman knows the truth ...

Shakespeare has been fired, but the kitchen is not at all the same without him -- in fact it's rather empty ...

If you cannot have freedom, is death better? If you cannot love, should the world change?