Short Fiction

Ah, the terrible twos. A headstrong boy doodles on the walls of the house, while his concerned father tries to discipline him. Is he being too harsh? A neighbor thinks so, causing Dad to say, "If you can't beat em, join em" in this Edgar Allen Poe-esque tale of child rearing.

The death of an unknown jazz legend passes as unnoticed as the man's tremendous talent, mourned only by a musician and the muse of modern sound.

A tale to inspire a New Year's Resolution or two: He's got a full-time job and a few simple pleasures, but his wife constantly nags him. "You watch too much TV. You drink too much beer. You need to clean out that garage." You know, when you're right, you're right.

A brief journey into one man's relationship with literature.

From the day she was offered a full time secretary to the director of the residency training program in psychiatry, this temp understood that a lot of the strangest cases to come through the office weren't necessarily patients.

Rosalyn suffers from bad dreams. "Night terrors" is the clinic term. But that's okay; Spike, her new puppy, will protect her from the ghosts that torment her every night as she tries to sleep.

What was supposed to be a simple discussion about her performance in class has become an issue of far less ethical "performances" of another kind entirely. But this isn't a case of trying to earn an easy A; there's something almost supernatural about the way Naomi can't resist her professor's advances... Part 2 of 2.

Naomi Langer is running into problems in her classes, but her professor is very understanding. Very friendly. Very passionate. But a spur-of-the-moment tryst that should have provided Naomi with a quick answer gives her nothing but questions. Runner up in the Piker Press Ghost Story Contest. Part 1 of 2.

She so rarely gives what is wanted or expected, yet what she gives is always needed and intriguing. She's his other side, the wicked to his good. And tonight, as they stand together looking over the railing of the bridge, she's about to make him one very special last gift.

Professional dare devil Ax Roberts finds himself bound to his bed, but this isn't just another stunt. It's a wake up call. Of sorts.

A large, vacant, vintage manor decked out for Halloween makes the perfect "Haunted House", but maybe this one was decorated a little too well.

When it comes to paranormal experiences, sometimes it's the things we <i>hear</i> that frighten us the most. This tale of Electrical Voice Phenomena brings a whole new meaning to "the ghost in the machine". Runner-up for the Piker Press Ghost Story contest.

The winner of the 2004 Piker Press Ghost Story contest. Let the secretary welcome you to the Institute for the Sexual Study of Metaphysical Beings. Ghost busting will never be the same.

What was supposed to be fun evening at the club has turned into an involuntary adventure at what it's like to be dead. After a run-in with vampires, spirit mediums and vengeful dead, this ghost is about to learn that the underbelly of the city just gets seamier when you cross over to the other side.

It's the story of a murder story, gruesome, sordid and inexplicably based in Des Moines. Again. An entry in the "Write Fiction Like Cheryl" contest, wherein the goal was to write a tale like assistant editor Cheryl Haimann would if Cheryl ever wrote fiction. Which she doesn't. And after reading this selection, we may just know why.

Cover story.

A "Write Fiction Like Cheryl" runner-up. Gangs, drugs, slipping grades, arguments -- being a single mother has enough worries without your teen-aged son disappearing.

A "Write Fiction Like Cheryl" runner up. Mislabeled barrels of cooking sherry filled with chalk. Scraps of poetry. And someone willing to kill to keep a secret. Margo and NAFTA Agent Hertz are close to solving something big. Part 2 of 2.

Private investigator Margo Embargo is called down to the Des Moine airport to investigate a strange... well, it's not a crime to ship barrels of cooking sherry. ...or is it? A "Write Fiction Like Cheryl" entry. Part 1 of 2.

Is it science? Is it magic? For Kavi, still brooding over a lost love, finding a strange woman on his porch turns out to be justice. A "Write Fiction Like Cheryl" entry.

The winning entry from the "Write Fiction Like Cheryl" contest. A winter's day is the setting for a secret admirer, an old friend, a sweet romance, and a touch of poetry.

Is it worth leaving a steady job to work for a man who foolishly believes you can see the future? That's quite a gamble, especially when recent evidence indicates the whole thing is just a freakish coincidence. Or is it? Part 5 of 5.

The wealthiest man in the world thinks Tod Ruckle is a "business precognitive" and wants to hire him on the spot. For Tod, it's like having his very own fairy godfather. There's just one little decision neither of them quite understand... <small>Part 4 of 5. Sci-Fi</small>

What does multi-billionaire Polyimere Millenium want with lowly software tester Tod Ruckle? He thinks Tod is a business precognitive. Meaning when it comes to business decisions, Tod can do no wrong. Too bad it doesn't spill over into Tod's personal life. Part 3 of 5.

From the first moment two sets of eyes meet and a romance is kindled, it begins to grow. A lover's kiss sparks Frannie's memory, isolated moments in time telling the story of love's evolution, through times both good and bad.

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.

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.

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.

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.