Short Fiction
Short stories published in Piker Press, a weekly journal of arts and literature.
1,823 articles — page 51 of 61
If you look in your mirror, do you actually see yourself? Or do you see something that you think you have to see?
An Aser story. Drinking extra beer and crying outrage, Aser and Danner show Margot the troll what being a hedge shaman with a mission is all about.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is a Masters of Divinity Student at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School for Christian Education. He has written religious reflection articles for The Presbyterian Outlook, as well as satire for The Happy Woman Magazine and The Wittenburg Door. He currently lives in Richmond, Virginia with his wife, Ginny, and his dog, Nikki Giovanni.
Cloudraft the Wizard gets on Aser's last nerve and everyone runs right out of sympathy for his plight.
The Seraphim Twins, Kaine and Jynx, have been joined by Iai, who has professed his mission to protect Kaine. But the danger is growing, and Kaine is less worried about himself than about his twin and the girl Kumiko ...
Office politics in action on the trail with an eight-foot troll, a talking dog, and two educated baboons.
A golfer gives up his favorite game, Lady Seaguard no longer gossips and complains, and deception is daily routine. What the heck is that all about?
Pavelle Wesser's writing has appeared in various webzines and paper magazines, including: "AlienSkin," "DemonMinds," "the Short Humour Site," "Flashshot," "MicroHorror," and "Twisted Tongue." She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children.
Jack Runner hates Valentine's Day with a passion. Even more so this year, when he finds someone who has a passion for him.
There are layers to every story, and the richness and fascination only get better when you start to hear about what happens on each layer ...
Death and pain have followed the Seraphim Twins for so long that there is nothing else for them to remember. They can only have faith that they know how to defeat the demon sent to kill them, but the price of victory may cost them more than they possess ...
Looking back through your years, examining the relationships you had -- how many can you remember, and how many would you rather forget?
Vampire writer Lydia Manx offers her readers a twisted valentine ...
Winter needs some kind of break from its cold and dismal days. After weeks and weeks of staring at the cold walls and hearing people cough, a little warm breeze and an unexpected smile can make a young woman's heart remember Spring ...
"Five score years ago," he said, "a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity..."
Vampires with grand social ambitions definitely do not like to be taken by surprise, especially when they've been working hard on the campaign trail...
Ace Piker Press reporter Dan Mulhollen tells how he saved the face of America in the 2008 presidential primaries.
No matter what turn fortune should take, no matter how successful one's enterprises should become, family is of utmost importance, and one's grandfather should always be honoured and cared for ...
The deserts of Phoenix have become a nightmare of monsters, and death seems to wait around every corner, and on every horizon.
Crossing the deserts of Phoenix, the keening wind is the only constant. It shifts the sands and changes the landmarks; it swallows whole towns and uncovers things that should never have come to light. The heat of the day makes traveling nearly impossible, but now something stange, something unnatural, walks out of the night ...
All right, that was a fine story, but where do you find the proof?
He inventoried his armament. He had the courage; he had the determination. He had the vision of his destination, and he knew he had the strength to succeed. His equipment was sound, his supplies were adequate. He was prepared, he was chosen, and he needed nothing more to set out on the journey ...
Well, he caught the little man fair and square, and he got his boat back, and carried a pot of gold to make him rich ...
At the end of the rainbow, Johnny finds a pot of gold, all right -- stashed in with pieces of old boats and dirty leprechaun laundry.
One thing marks all the spaces between the stars: silence. Be there joy, or despair, elation or loss, the vacuum of space marks each emotion, each triumph, each death in utter quietude. This is the life the spacers know, and strangely, crave. Most of the time the stars welcome those silent travelers, but there comes a different kind of explorer, and there is only one place left for that kind...
Sometimes it's not what you GET for Christmas, it's what you get taken away from you that makes the season bright ...
"And they all lived happily ever after..." Now just how does that work?
Leprechauns and mushrooms and bears, oh my! Let's throw in some fish tacos and some more beer while we're at it ...
Conclusion. Kara discovers the gruesome history of the house she lives in, and events finally convince her father that Kara was, after all, telling the truth.
Kaine has amazing powers of recovery, but there is only so much strength left in him, especially when the visions that engulf him are so painful that his heart can hardly bear them. And there's no time to stop and ponder them with the Pale Traveler still out there somewhere, hungry for his life ...