Short Fiction

A ring around the moon is a sign to the weather-wise: a sign that says, "Get your old bones moving and get out while you can." At least that's what Aser is about to find out.

Life is like a pointless maze sometimes, and you have to wonder if breaking out of it will bring you freedom and beauty -- or will it bring you great danger? Staff Writer Lydia Manx treats us to a colorful little tale in a strange setting.

If your main concern is profits and not the health of your hired help, the neighborhood shaman is probably not the most auspicious person to ask for assistance -- unless you want what is really coming to you.

If only Wesley hadn't seen her turn into a mean drunk over brandy, Anne's life might have been very different. Funny how things like that happen ...

The co-workers leaning against the back of the building smoking, the office hens with their cheap and heavy perfume, the copy machine spewing wrinkled paper and toner dust, the supervisor who thinks that "managing" is done by "threatening workers" -- is that what you really want?

Kathryn Long has two published novels -- "Oklahoma's Gold" and "A Pleasant View" -- with a third, "Whips, Cuffs, and Little Brown Boxes", currently in "limbo" as it sits with a publisher. Besides writing, Kathryn spends a great deal of time at her day job as a language arts teacher. She is married and lives in northeastern Ohio.

Plague is walking infection, working for the ones who bring misery to the human race. Is his love for his sister enough to turn him from the path to Hell?

Who is that on the street corner? Is it someone we know? Is it someone w're going to meet? Oh, yes, we know that stranger. And soon, Death will be a stranger no longer ...

Little Jen was surely the perfect companion... (originally appeared in 2003)

Crouched in a concrete pipe, with metal-jacketed slugs being fired at the rate of about 300 rounds per minute is not the most comfortable place in the world ...

Don't you just hate it when the worker at the next desk flumps down with two boxes of tissues, throat lozenges, cough syrup, a bottle of aspirin, and a sore red nose and says, "Yuck, I can't remember when I've been this sick! I was up all night coughing my guts out!" Ooo, so does Aser.

Raka is learning a lot as he searches for Ol' Bob, not the least of which is that all his weaponry and money are gone ...

He knew the sound of the doorbell at that same time on certain days -- on the other side of the threshold was that which no man should have to face at the end of a busy day ...

Behind one door is someone who is always willing to lend an ear to matters of the heart or of hope, someone the entire family can count on to be present for advice or for company ...

Good table manners aren't just a formality -- bringing uncouth guests to a dinner date really annoys people.

If you hear it, but don't see it, is it really there? What if it's just too cunning to be caught?

The world has changed, and the dead are no longer "departed" ... do they live among us, or do we die among them ..?

When you reach a point where you have nothing left, which direction do you take as your life continues? And what, you may ask yourself, actually counts as "life?"

When family members visit, there's bound to be griping, gossip, and conversations about "what-is-your-hand-painted-on-so-you-can't-write-more-often?" But when the family member is also your boss, you know something's up, just like when you smell smoke, you know there's a fire somewhere ...

They told me it was the best thing I could possibly do for myself, and yet it took literally years before I could find the motivation to make the Big Step...

When betrayal and cruelty are the hands on the potter's wheel, the resulting vessel will take on a sadly distorted shape, and hold depths of pain. Poured out, the contents will drench all...

When you're behind the big desk, you call the shots. When you're in front of the big desk, there isn't much you can do but say, "Yes sir." On the other hand, who bothers to scrutinize the little guy?...

I suppose I should have been thankful for the holiday. Normally, people would have been driving to work, delivering supplies, and making all the noises that come with the start of the new day. Most of them would have wondered what this crazy woman was doing standing in the middle of a traffic circle wearing only a towel.

A prologue to all the Aser stories. The lands of Ur, the seven Clans, and a creation story about the origins of birds and their gifts.

It was too late. No matter what he did or where he tried to hide, Jack Runner had been infected with cooties. The three girls who had cornered him giggled and jeered, sing-songing, "You go - ott cooties!" over and over. Jack was horrified.

Tommy had eyes only for her, a passion, a partner ... a purpose...

Can you bring yourself to believe that the Universe is a place with order and purpose? That what seems cruel or unfair may be part of a greater plan? That misfortune and desperation may even be what draw you along to be where you actually need to be?

Ask a smartass Ur-Jennan a question and get an involuntary education. Aser expounds on the origin of silk.

It was the night Andrea spent all month dreading. The strange affliction overshadowed her with its power, and the consequences might follow her until the next full moon ...

A day a little different from any other; a day no different than any other. A day to reach out in kindness; a day to turn away from the darkness of the past. Each day is like that, making a decision to be as good as you know the rest of the world wants you to be ...