Friday Flash Fiction: The Antenna

Allen hated heights. He had tried everything to pick up local channels with little success due to living in such a remotely rural area and now he was standing on his roof carefully fitting yet another television antenna together, sweat pouring down his face. “Honey,” he had told his wife.  “It’s a Saturday and I

Friday Flash Fiction: Siri 4

It had been a bad day for Talia. She sat in the driver’s seat of her Tesla 2, shooting down the interstate, her thumbs texting away on her polyclear phone, updating her status as “single” yet again.  The cars ahead of her began to slow, and even though the roads were now completely safe and

Friday Flash Fiction: The Package

Gordon never thought in his wildest nightmares that he would end up homeless.  However, as he shambled down Reno Avenue in Oklahoma City, the summer heat baking him, the thick humid air shortening his breath, he thought randomly about where this road might lead him.  He had spent the night under a bridge, his filthy

Friday Flash Fiction: The Question

On the third thursday of his physics class at the University of Oklahoma Andrew sat in complete silence as Dr. Parker explained yet another concept that was somehow beyond his reach. He knew that this would be one of those classes that would be difficult to maintain a moderate grade, a grade that would be

Friday Flash Fiction: Cell Phone

David’s vacation to Branson, Missouri with his family was turning out to be the most uneventful experience of his life.  Mostly it was because he was a thirty something in a resort town whose target audience was mostly retirees.  In the time-share condominium where he was staying with his wife, his three kids, his mother

Friday Flash Fiction: The Road from Peña Dura

His dark hair, as shaggy and unkempt as his grizzled beard, formed a ring around his beak-like nose and deep set eyes.  His clothes, tattered and worn from traveling for endless miles on foot, smelled of sweat and dirt and the darkness of Peña Dura.  He caught rides on oxcarts, sharing afternoons with chickens and

Friday Flash Fiction: Plywood Box

The following flash fiction story was inspired by something I actually saw in the real world that started my imagination to humming.  While walking to the Metro library to record our latest podcast, I happened upon a plywood box on the sidewalk with the curious words “Please don’t let out the snakes.  MGMT” written on

Friday Flash Fiction: The Room

His eyes flicked open and he rose shakily to his feet, wiping some substance from his face that felt like grease from his cheek with the back of his hand.  He almost slipped on the slick floor, and in the dim light he could see his reflection faintly staring up at him from beneath his

Work In Progress: Need Some Critique

I’m a few chapters in to my science fiction novella tentatively titled The Painful Best and I thought I would post the first chapter just to get some reaction from my readers.  What I mainly want to know is: (1) Does it grab your attention and (2) Does it leave you wanting to read more?  Any other

The U.S. of After Chapter 56

Morax I perched on the top rail of the control tower.  This dead president boat once served a mighty nation that fell into our hands.  The ship was ours now.  Americans didn’t need what Americans couldn’t maintain. Long way down was the ocean. It was wide and rolling along as we sailed the path to