Fictional Works

As a reader, a chronic daydreamer, and a role player I have always had a fondness for the lands of make believe. Being a fiction writer has always been a goal of mine. Here are some scenes that I’ve been working on recently. I’m looking forward to seeing this area of my writing grow.

With that in mind the entries found on this page are where I would appreciate feedback the most

• DIG! - The shovel bit clumsily into the ground. He had started at just before sunset and now he was tired of digging, tired of trying to think of a way out of this. He had been dragged off the streets with a hood over his head late last night and brought to a cabin somewhere in…Read more DIG!
• The Scent of Cedar - “Cedar, you say?” The lean, pale figure asked, Jalen was tall and slim, dressed in green and gold; only his eyes betrayed the slightest hint of the weariness of his years. “And, your sure I am his grand-sire?” The  tattooed aesthetic nodded at him and passed his hand over the freshly raked patterns in the soil, indicating a…Read more The Scent of Cedar
• A Twinge of Envy - He really envied their lives sometimes. They were able to trust other people, even if for some of them it was only in a limited fashion; no matter what their sins they could go home to their loved ones, or have a night on the town with friends. He had forgotten what it was like…Read more A Twinge of Envy
• Accident at Second and Union - I was holding my daughter’s hand, waiting for the traffic lights to cycle, at the corner of Second Avenue and Union Street, downtown. It was a clear and all to sunny day, the reflecting light from the store windows making me squint and wish I was enough of a jerk to not have given my sunglasses…Read more Accident at Second and Union
• Street Credit - “Reputation, it’s all about reputation,” Mr. Davis began, “And that, my friend, is just a matter of perception. You can spend years and years trying to build a reputation but if no one buys into it you are screwed. That’s where we come in.” He took a long pull of his bourbon, draining. The ice…Read more Street Credit
• Smell the Witch - PREVIOUS He woke slowly, letting the pain going on inside his skull take its own sweet time to register. The aromas of cigarette smoke and scotch hung in the air, while the smell of sweat clung to the sheets of the empty bed.  I can still smell the witch, Jerry thought grimly as the perfumes of last night…Read more Smell the Witch
• Getting to Know Him - PREVIOUS Photos and scraps of paper peeked out from folders scattered across every surface of the small, dimly lit office. Jerry paced the room flipping through the file he was handed shortly after he arrived. “What am I supposed to do with this?” He asked the heavy-set man. “Peter Maslow, that’s our guy’s name. That’s…Read more Getting to Know Him
• Conversational Russian - PREVIOUS The door opened and Mr. Davis stepped into the apartment. In one hand was a plastic bag from the deli on the corner,  over his shoulder was the shabby, brown, leather briefcase he always carried when he left his office. He strode towards the kitchen and set the to go bag on the counter. After…Read more Conversational Russian
• The Toolkit - PREVIOUS The alarm clock went off and Davis snorted awake in his chair. A few moments of fumbling around managed to resolve the noise and he slid his feet off the crowded desk, taking a pile of papers with them. He stood and reached his arms out and upwards and then rotated them in a…Read more The Toolkit
• The Sorcerer’s Road - Gared surveyed his men, a hardened crew of robbers huddled around their small fires, counting their shares of the latest pickings. He had tracked down and hand-picked his men based on their reputations, each one of them experienced survivors of  broken bands of thieves and brigands. Unafraid, unbeaten, and most importantly unimprisioned. Free men could not…Read more The Sorcerer’s Road
• The Diner Scene - PREVIOUS Walking in the front door of Lily’s his eyes were assaulted by stainless steel, and boomerang patterned formica basking in the glare of fluorescent lights. Jerry squinted through his headache and fatigue to find his partner standing and waving at him from the far booth of crowded the diner.  He hurriedly walked toward him past…Read more The Diner Scene
• Eyes and the Mirror - PREVIOUS He stared through the smoke and noise at the blurred reflection in the mirror on the wall, the short distance between where he sat and where he looked seemed to shrink and grow as he thought, as he tried to remember. There was something in that gap, there had to be something. *** He was…Read more Eyes and the Mirror
• Interdepartmental Meeting - PREVIOUS Zoos, thought Janice, are testament to the fortitude of  human will. It is no small feat of courage to spend the day watching these magnificent beasts mope around the far corners of their little enclosures, trying to ignore all the noisy assholes with cameras, and not finish the afternoon by going home and hanging yourself. The…Read more Interdepartmental Meeting
• The Forgotten Barrow - When the summer came to a close on my sixteenth year it was decided that I was to leave the pastoral splendor of my family’s plantations to travel to the capital to attend the university there. It would seem that I had, unbeknownst to myself, exhausted the knowledge of what erudite citizenry could be found locally;…Read more The Forgotten Barrow
• Meesa and the Gremlin - Meesa knew that smell anywhere. That mixture of machine oil, curiosity and, corruption. It was a gremlin, a kind of gnome gone horribly wrong. They constantly take things apart to see how to make them break down more efficiently. This was going to be tricky. Anything that spends its afternoons contemplating the best way to blow…Read more Meesa and the Gremlin
• Memory Lapse - This is ninth in a collection of scenes that I lazily refer to as “The Untitled Thing”. If this is your first time reading the exchanges between Jerry and Mr. Davis, it would probably be best if you started at the beginning. If you think you might have missed an installment, the complete collection can be found here.…Read more Memory Lapse
• The Watchman - This is the tenth scene in the serial“The Untitled Thing.” The previous installment is here.  You can get up to date on the rest by checking out its index page. The door of the hotel room was open by muscular,  grey-faced man wearing  a black wife beater and an annoyed look. He stared for a hard moment at…Read more The Watchman
• The City of Berian - It was just before dusk as the sky ship swam lazily through the oppressive summer air towards our destination. The amber glow of the setting sun highlighted the needle like spires of the docks that rose even higher than the grand dome of the ancient cathedral, or the highest towers of the palace of Prince Ethaniel. This…Read more The City of Berian
• Making Connections - The rain was coming down hard as he ran from the cab to the awning over the bar, he tried shielding himself with a folded newspaper. It always seemed so much more effective when he saw it done in the movies. In real life not only did you still ended up with wet hair, only…Read more Making Connections
• Memory Lane - He pushed down on the pedals, and the cranks turned the gears went round and round. Forward through  the streets of the old neighborhood. Past the old house with the tall chain link fence, where the old man sat on his stoop all day, gospel music floating out through the front door;  where his nephew…Read more Memory Lane
• Little Boy’s Loss - It had been such a great day at the fair until now. Why did it have to happen, why him. They had done everything together, walked the midway, visited the livestock pavilion, gotten corn dogs and cotton candy, even the guess your weight booth. Then on the ferris wheel he made his mistake and it all slipped…Read more Little Boy’s Loss
• Late Delivery - I turned the letter over in my gloved hands before reading it one last time. It was a damned shame. If he had just waited one more day. He would have checked the mail one last time, everything would have been fine.  One more day and he would have gotten the news. He would know that she was coming back. He would know that…Read more Late Delivery
• The Thing In the Tunnels - It had been some weeks since my arrival in Berian, and thus far the majority of my time for this quarter was spent in my classes, quietly contemplating the various possibilities of sneaking out and exploring the wondrous city beyond the walls of the university. Despite my family’s relative affluence, we apparently had not been wealthy…Read more The Thing In the Tunnels
• In the Dark - “Are you sure it’s down here?” “Yes damn it, now be quiet.” He walked silently behind them through the cold murk, as they argued in whispers.  Walking in circles for hours. Blinding each other with flashlights. Pointing guns at the shadows as they rounded corners. Following every odd noise, spray of blood’ or smear of slime glistening along…Read more In the Dark
• Status Update - Ellis Durant entered the suite and walked along the only path not cluttered by the entropy that had taken over in the two weeks since he had last visited. He looked around at the empty take-out boxes, stacks of photographs and reports that he had sent over, the random placement of magazines most of them laying…Read more Status Update
• Professional Discourse - This week I am once again participating in Chuck Wendig’s flash fiction challenge. This time he has asked for us to write as profanely as possible. Well that’s not exactly what he asked for but that’s what he’s getting from me. Sufficed to say some people may wish to read something else.
• Day Planner - He sat slumped on the office couch, staring out at space, slightly trembling hands shaking lightly clasping at a half-drank Redbull. “Jerry? Jesus Jerry, you still with us?” “What?” He shook himself back to the world, “Yeah sorry Pete must’ve just drifted off for a minute.” “You look like shit man. You feeling ok? You…Read more Day Planner
• Coffee Talk - The cafe was situated on a quiet side street, away from the noise and smoke of heavy traffic. Its outdoor seating area was a large plaza surrounded by small little boutiques filled with mid-scale clothing and jewelry. There was of course a head shop operating under the label of a tobacconist. They weren’t fooling anyone, no…Read more Coffee Talk
• Iron Circle - It had been quiet day so far, he thought as he pulled up to the former pizza joint to see Aunt Bea. The old witch had opened the place years ago, no one knew back then.  Gray hair, flowing skirts, Lennon glasses, and healing crystals, everyone just pegged her as some aging flower child when she moved here. She made good…Read more Iron Circle
• The Stuff of Legend - He inhaled, taking in deep the lovely smells of the night. The earthy impending rain, the sweet blooming honeysuckle, the acrid smoke of the campfire, the sharp musk of her sweat. They all lolled around in his nose and mingled with the taste of rotted meat from his last meal , and the fresh bloody gore…Read more The Stuff of Legend
• Angel Tears - Down into the tunnels he went, amid the damp, fecal smell of the sewer drains. That’s where she lived. Where he kept her. It had been four years since he had found her. A beautiful, and broken thing. Fragile and, beaten and, violated. Yet, even in anguish, that voice was the most glorious song. He brought her here, to…Read more Angel Tears
• On That Hallowed Night - Based on a true story… Sheltered from street view and behind the gate leads a path. To the old water oak, that tonight displays the sign of the hanged man; upside down, arms spread, insisting a choice be made. The paving stones to the house or up the hill back to the world. Downward on…Read more On That Hallowed Night
• Portal Dread - He stared at the open door with sickening dread. Had he been robbed? Had the landlord shown up?  He nervously approached the yawning frame. No, he had been careless, left it open. Peering inside there was only darkness. He had let it out.  A wren lay, pristine and bloodless, one wing spread open across the threshold. A sign, he knew what it meant.  The…Read more Portal Dread
• Trash Day - They were lined up before dawn again at that old, white house today. The desperate ones, that didn’t ration themselves out quite right and wind up milling around the street waiting for the morning delivery. The sun’s come up on the avenue. Now some old addict walks, bent near sideways, holding broken glasses tight to his face. He’s looking…Read more Trash Day
• That Face - His eyes fluttered open and then immediately slammed shut again. Screwed tight against the light that screamed at him through the window. The damned nurse must have opened the blinds again. He fumbled for the button box that controlled them but came up empty. He must have knocked it off the bed in his sleep.…Read more That Face
• The Woman Downstairs - The woman downstairs was crying again. He was trying to nap, and she just kept crying.  Great sobbing breaths. all the time saying, “I’m sorry, I’m trying.” He tossed and turned, trying, like always, to ignore the pitiful sounds of her sadness. Pretending, once again, to not be home as her boyfriend stomped around screaming threats and abuses. Trying…Read more The Woman Downstairs
• The Last Drop. - For three days now, he awoke to find an empty coffee pot. For three days he had been forced to brew a fresh pot before being able to sit on the steps, gather his thoughts and become human again, in the perfect warmth of the morning sun. This particular morning he watched her pour it.…Read more The Last Drop.
• Thursday’s Plans - “What are your plans for Thursday?”, the same phone call every year. As if  he might not remember what day it was or forgotten their conversation about priorities, he clearly wasn’t one of hers. He had been cast aside. Left in need to satisfy the wants of other people. Now those wretches surround her. Each year…Read more Thursday’s Plans
• Rest Stop - Harper stalked away from the gas station leaving the others to fill the tanks. She just need a moment of calm quiet away from Josh and Erin’s constant nagging. It was obvious they didn’t want her along, and only took her because Aunt Bea insisted. Sometimes she hated that the old woman meddled so much…Read more Rest Stop
• Hounds - He was running. That’s all Josh knew. He was running away. Faster, he had to run faster. He had to escape the howls and barks running behind him. He had been traveling along the highway, trying to make it south before the weather changed. It hadn’t been a good couple of days. Most of them…Read more Hounds
• Prisoner - Gabriel paced the length of the dark cell. The same grim worry on his mind as the day he was first walked past the long hallway of doors. They always said that the innocent have nothing to fear but, that night, when they came bursting into his apartment, he had run. Everyone in the building…Read more Prisoner
• Night Watching - Delores lay in bed, listening to sounds of the sleeping house. She was thinking. Thinking about all the little ways that they controlled her. How their rules and expectations seemed so unfair. She was thinking it was time to do something about it. About how she had been planning this all day. She glanced over…Read more Night Watching
• The Damned Cat - How am I doing? I’ll tell you Marty, I’ve had a hell of a day already. Pulled myself outta bed to take the kiddo to school. I’m trying to get him up but he’s being an absolute ball buster this morning. You know I’ve had this god awful cold all week, so my head is just…Read more The Damned Cat
• Jelly or Jam? - Hey Marty, Lemme ask you something. Do you prefer jelly, or jam? I’ve always been a jelly guy myself. Not that I’ve eaten all that many peanut butter sandwiches lately. It’s just what we always kept around the house when I was growing up, so why change. You know what I’m saying? To be honest…Read more Jelly or Jam?
• Not Tonight, Honey - I should be cold, he thought lying there on the pavement as the rain fell lightly around him. Instead he felt a warmth creeping along his back as blood oozed from where the bullet had gone through him. He felt that he should be scared, he was. The terror of the moment had stricken him…Read more Not Tonight, Honey
• Lost Letter -   “Dammit!” he hissed, hopping on one foot, looking for what he banged his toe on. An old bottle lay there. Inside was a scrap of paper. He thought back to summer of his fifth grade year. Pirates were his fascination then. He’d read about marooned sailors sending messages off in bottles in hopes of…Read more Lost Letter
• The Porcelain Cat - It was recess. I was standing under the sycamore tree, feeling woozy. I’d spent too long hanging upside down on the monkey bars. I was just about sure I wasn’t going to ralph when she walked by. New kid, I didn’t know her name. Parents just moved here from out-of-state. Seemed a friendly, girl. Today…Read more The Porcelain Cat
• Shame About the Roses - Edna sat in her study listening to the wind howl. She peered out at the garden with disappointment. The flowers had just started to bloom when the weather suddenly changed. She watched with dismay as the snow and sleet beat down the plants. They had just gotten the levels in the soil right, and finally…Read more Shame About the Roses
• A Little Less Feeling - Xalthus looked down perturbedly from the branch he perched on. He stared at the smoking crater, and tried to figure out if his situation could be worse. When this got too depressing he instead considered ways his life could be improved. Maybe if he were some other animal? He had put some thought into this…Read more A Little Less Feeling
• Dream of Her - He dreamt of her last night. Her death, and then attending her funeral. Waking in tears. He didn’t cry when it happened. Not when his father could see. The sadness had belonged to the old man then, more than himself. It had been his turn to be strong. To soldier on. For his father. For…Read more Dream of Her