Short Fiction
Short stories published in Piker Press, a weekly journal of arts and literature.
1,823 articles — page 60 of 61
Tod Ruckle is a lowly software testing engineer just trying (and failing) to make ends meet. So why is multi-gazillionare Polyimere Ransford Millennium calling him on the phone? To make the strangest wager Tod has ever bet on. Part 2 of 5.
While the darkness never goes away, for some like Jesse the full scope of the darkness is only now being realized. In the aftermath of the battle with Phoenix, Jesse learns many things that'll change his entire view of life.
Jesse has his hands full trying to babysit a man that hears the whispers of demons. One simple job given to him--keep Vince Raines in the motel--and still he manages to mess it up. Some days are just harder than others.
Another day, another patient. Dr. Roberts treats many patients, some with split personalities, some with bipolar disorders. A sadly delusional bunch, their versions of reality tend towards the unrealistic. Too bad they couldn't be more like superheroes.
The path through the darkness continues forward for Malcolm Xavier. As his path crosses that of Vince Raines, fallen psychic fraud turned true psychic, that search for a mysterious girl comes to a rapid conclusion.
Malcolm Xavier knows the darkness; he sees things most people never recover from and still he fights. The Order of Darius has never had a field agent like this one. Lucky for them, for the battle they wage is about to step into the light. 1 of 4.
A wedding provides some reminisces and reflections on the network of friends and family that evolved from a friendship that had started long before the mother of the bride was the bride's age. But the bride was still too young.
Just another day at the virtual office? A homicidal hacker seems to have found a way to kill his coworkers via the virtual reality network. Jim has two choices: rely on his exwife, or have his head blown off. Decisions, decisions. But where does virtual end and reality begin? Part 2 of 2.
A strange craving for peanut butter is a symptom of a sickness that runs deep beneath the surface of a house-wife looking to fill a void. A winner of the 4th of July Independent's Day writing contest.
In a world where nothing is as it appears to be, how can you tell when you're in danger? And who do you trust for the truth? Part one of two.
The worst nightmares aren't about monsters. When a motorcycle accident results in the loss of his arms, one man must ask the unthinkable of his family, rather than become a burden on his family. When morning comes, everything has profoundly changed for the better.
In the concluding installment, Vince Raines's empire of fraud has been exposed, his girlfriend has left him, and even his lawyers have abandoned him. The downward spiral couldn't possibly be any worse. Could it? Not everyone that the Spiritspeaker lied to takes the news well, and Vince is about to find out what his knew role in life will be.
In the world of phony psychics, Vince Raines is king. Or was. The once great Spiritspeaker discovers that his ex-lover's warning about bad karma might not be as ridiculous as he assumes. An assault by a teenage girl started a chain of events that'll change everything.
Life without Lacy buries Vince Raines, psychic phenom, under a mountain of work he'd all but forgotten about thanks to her. As he shuffles through the mail, he finds a mysterious letter and soon discovers it's not as bogus as he assumes. The path he's taken in life soon meets a roadblock he won't be able to pass.
Earth has been destroyed. Can a small band of renegade humans survive a genocide where the human race is the target?
Fugitive Osama Bin Laden may have been hiding in Bisbee, Arizona, a remote town close to the United States/Mexico border, but locals paint a different image of the man the rest of the world knows as a terrorist.
For Chris, sailing is a way of life. His next trip brings him on an adventure of the heart as well as the body as he sets sail with a stunning woman.
Sean is a newsman, a reporter for the network. He can't be going crazy. But how else do you explain what's happening to him?
Some of us are haunted by ghosts, shadows of the past that were once ourselves but have been deliberately left behind, sacrificed so that the living can rest in peace.
David is dead. Saam and Malcom are imprisoned. Who will thwart the council's evil scheme?
The price of defying evil is evil's wrath. Prince Saam has thwarted the Council of Nine, destroying one third of the body that would rule behind his throne. Is the young Prince ready for what his actions will bring?
Sixty bucks from selling most of their clothes, some ham sandwiches, and a hunting knife is all the girls have to see them safely to Florida. Their first ride calls them stupid little girls, but even at sixteen, sometimes you have to do what you have to do.
Nine dark figures manipulate the fate of the world from behind the scenes. The son of the late king holds some surprises of his own, however.
How we choose to act defines who we are. An old man in need of a drink. A journey that few men survive to stop a war. For Dobbins, helping his fellow man is the only choice.
A son returns to the village of his birth, a backwards people who eschew modern advances, in an effort to make a breakthrough in some important medical studies. His father warns him that Progress is an evil, destructive force. They've never agreed before, but could the events that follow change either party's mind?
Find some good deeds to perform, quick. Mr. Snood learns too late that even if you've never done anything really bad, a selfish life has distinct consequences in this short story about the afterlife.
A lonely grant writer finds everything she is looking for in the company of a restaurant owner and his young daughter. He's looking to move on after the death of his terminally ill wife. The problem? She hasn't died yet. Even with her blessing, it's a troubling situation. Part Two of a two part short story.
A lonely grant writer finds everything she is looking for in the company of a restaurant owner and his young daughter. He's looking to move on after the death of his terminally ill wife. The problem? She hasn't died yet. Even with her blessing, it's a troubling situation. Part One of a two part short story.