He was on the phone, waiting for her to hang-up. He stood there, feeling the breeze flip his tie up and down.
“You misinterpreted what I said” she told him, pinching her nose between her eyes.
He paused, ignoring the horns and sirens of the city.
“You said “I don’t need you”. How [...]

continue reading.....

“Is it done?” she asked, scooting her chair closer, leaning forward and squinting at the display.
“Yup.”
“Now what?” she asked, sitting back. Pinching her bottom lip, she waited.
“I don’t know.”
Both waited. They looked at the display and their eyes glazed the dots and spheres. Their eyes focused on [...]

continue reading.....

“If you can see through it, is is really beer?” John asks, holding his stout up to the light, pleased with its opacity.
“If you don’t need to chew it, it probably isn’t beer”, opines Steve, raising his own mug in toast.
“Pale yellow is a fine color for chamomile tea, but beer should be somewhere between [...]

continue reading.....

Flopsy the bunny in the field
Eating grass!
Eating grass!
Bob the hunter arrived
Shotgun blast!
Shotgun blast!
But Flopsy was trained
Ninja fast!
Ninja fast!
And drew his sword
Kicking ass!
Kicking ass!

continue reading.....

Dear “Happy”,
It has come to my attention that you posses the skills required for entering and exiting a well guarded establishment. Currently I have an opening for a member on a six man crew. I have reviewed your resume and previous employment positions as well as interviewing your coworkers.
Each have [...]

continue reading.....

He lay in the trunk blindfolded and bound. They’d been driving on what seemed to be some sort of highway judging by their apparent speed. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been in there. The last thing he remembered was the man in the top hat grinning down at him. He’d [...]

continue reading.....

“You’re late Murray” Joe whispered, seeing Murray flicking the switch on his sword. He paused, watching the flames dance on the blade.
Ignoring Joe, Murray took his position. “What’s the assignment?”
“We’re guarding this entrance. That’s it.” Joe was now arching his back, bringing his wings up high and extended. [...]

continue reading.....

This is the third Alain story. Click for the first and second episodes.
A slap in the face was Alain’s least favorite way to wake up. Especially when he was strapped down and couldn’t return the favor.
“Mr. Dupree, who are you working for?” Completely average – height, figure, looks. She’d never turn heads.
“You [...]

continue reading.....

This is the second Alain story. Click for the first and third episodes.
Alain woke the professor up. “Hiya, prof. What, precisely, are you doing for the Department of Defense?”
He blinked myopically up at Alain. “Who are you? Why am I in handcuffs? What’s…”
Alain hit him with the pistol. [...]

continue reading.....

“Thank you for coming with me,” Tyler said. He was looking at him with a sort of quiet smile and his face looked pale and cold but Tyler was not afraid and he realized that he was not either. The rain tinned against the metal of the car and the glass of the [...]

continue reading.....

This is the first Alain story. Click for the second and third episodes.
Technically, legally, the International Philosophy Purification Society did not exist. They didn’t have offices, a newsletter, or meetings.
They did have a grudge against academic philosophy, and they did have money. Alain Dupree had majored in philosophy, and remembered enough to [...]

continue reading.....

Ralph Rockem
ralph@rockemconsulting.no1
London, New York, Dubai
Objective: Seeking High Level Position in Global Enterprise Inclined on Authoritative Governance.
Experience: Four years as Second in Command of Worldwide Import and Export Service. Ability to Follow and Execute Orders without Question or Hesitation. Supervision Expertise in large projects involving Lasers, Data Acquisition, Information Extraction and [...]

continue reading.....

He sat down and put his hand on the child. He looked him in the eyes. The boy shifted, never seeing his grandfather filled such with love and fear.
“My child, I know your father loves you and you have not seen him much.” he began
“Grand Papa, what is it?” he wanted to ask, [...]

continue reading.....

Humphrey, a knight sans peur et sans reproche, halted his horse in the light rain and saluted. “Greetings, Godfrey, knight without virtue.”
Godfrey, a knight with many fears and much to reproach, laughed. “Your virtues might yet lead to your death.” He had seen Humphrey’s prowess on the field of battle, and knew [...]

continue reading.....

It began to rain harder and he turned on the wipers. The road before them shifted in and out of clarity with each pass of the blades. Tyler was still silent and he began to wonder where they were really going but some part of him didn’t care or knew that it didn’t [...]

continue reading.....

The girl materialized right in front of Tom as he hit the bottom step. He jumped, of course.
Short, cute, but a bit hippie-ish for him.
“Hey, man, got a light?”
He produced fire as Nick came down the steps to join them. He’d practiced that – one smooth motion, pulling out the Zippo, [...]

continue reading.....

          Three years he worked, and tonight he was about to finish. There was at no point he questioned himself. The hours went long some nights but the vision kept. The warhead was armed. Silently it too waited.
          As he climbed into his [...]

continue reading.....

From: Big Sister [mailto:bigsister@big.sister]
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 8:10 PM
To: Little Brother; Middle Sister; Dad
Subject: RE: mom’s b-day
A simple “Ok” would have been fine, but I did enjoy your response.
—–Original Message—–
- From: Little Brother [mailto:littlebrother@little.brother]
- Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 8:10 PM
- To: Big Sister; Middle Sister; Dad
- Subject: RE: Mom’s b-day
-
- Dearest Sister –
-
- [...]

continue reading.....

He sensed it before he understood. He sat, spooning his soup, he didn’t move. He waited, spoon holding the noodles in mid stir. He sat down. The other him.
“You are…” he began but paused.
“I am.” he answered.
There was a long pause. Both were going over each question and answer, neither [...]

continue reading.....

“I think she wants me.”
“Who? Where?”
“That checker back in the express lane – when she saw that I was getting tortillas she wanted to know if I was making burritos tonight.”
“Not sure if that counts as love, pal.”
“You didn’t see the way she said it – or hear the warmth in her voice when [...]

continue reading.....