Sergeant Johnson didn’t fear combat drops anymore. He pressed the button and entered freefall. Ten jumps, and him the last survivor of his class. Groundside, everything was blood and lead, but in freefall there was…freedom. The retros fired, his capsule released him, and the parachute would have taken over. If, this time, he wore one.
Category Archives: Genres
Fish Magic
Double Nickels
This is my first article as a Fictorian, and it’s a stretch for me. People who know me are aware that I tend to be, shall we say, overly appreciative of sesquipedalian verbage. To be concise, it’s hard for me to be concise.
Writing a short story in itself is a challenge for me. Shrinking one down to 55 words is more like an inquisition.
But it was fun. Here are two attempts to pull this challenge off. Hope you like them. Or one of them at least:
The Fish
A gentle tug, then a yank.
Startled from a daydream, reflex takes over, and I knock over my beer as I jerk back on the pole.
“You got one?” Bob asks, jealousy in his tone.
I crank the reel. Nothing. It got away.
“No,” I reply. “But I had one.”
“Sure you did.” Bob smirks.
Alchemy
The alchemist toils behind his table.
Glass against glass, the gurgle of tinctures and potions. The power comes as much from the delicate twist and shake of the decanter, as from the elixir contained within.
I wait, licking my lips in anticipation as the concoction bubbles.
The alchemist presents it.
Ah… bourbon and coke.
Magic.
Cinnamon Toast on Mars
This was so much fun! I’ve written flash fiction before but never at precisely 55 words.
I must admit, I was daunted, But, I was determined to do it. Why?
Because I remember Kevin J. Anderson saying that when he started out in his writing career, he never turned down an assignment. Now, I live by those words, even when starting a task I’m not sure about. As writers, we have the best job in the world, one which feeds our imagination and intellect, and keeps us as amazed as a kid pressing her face against the candy store window. Research, thought, and writing the article or prose – that must always be our mantra.
So, here is my first ever double nickel:
“Cinnamon toast on Mars, that’s my third wish.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I always wanted to experience Martian Bob’s café.”
The genie waved his arms and cinnamon toast smells envelope me.
“Cinnamon toast for table three,” someone says.
Frescoes swirl on walls and ceiling, and windows flash Martian vistas.
“Your order, ma’am.”
Spikey blue tendrils grab me.
Now, my writing friends, it’s your turn!
The Travels of Leonard Arrington
A guest post by Joshua Bennett.
The travels of Leonard Arrington.
A pentalogy.
Invigorating baths!
Fourteen hours to Addis. Another three to Tanzania with a squawking chicken in 2b. Leonard wanted a bath.
His company had arranged a swanky tourist hut, including a jacuzzi filled with steaming water.
He lowered himself in, sighing. Pressed the “jets” button. Porcelain nest disturbed, a thousand winged ants shot into the water. Leonard shrieked.
Lively conversation!
“You can’t stay on a stranger’s couch in Norway,” mother had said. “What if they’re crazy? Axe-murderers?”
At least there won’t be ants, Leonard thought, knocking on their door.
A young couple answered. They smiled, took his bags. “Welcome! How was your trip? Did you know 9/11 was an inside job?”
Dammit, Mom!
Authentic accommodations!
“And then, we will ride horseback to the Colombian coast and sleep beneath the stars.”
Leonard frowned. “I don’t like bugs.”
“Use mosquito spray,” Maria said helpfully.
Leonard used three cans of Deet to arrive in Tayrona unbitten. There was no Deet left for sleeping beneath the stars.
“You have Dengue Fever,” Maria said helpfully.
Friendly locals!
The theater was packed with Londoners and foreigners alike. What luck, Leonard thought. Stageside at the Globe!
The costumes were wonderfully gaudy, the action hammed up, Romeo and Juliet convincingly in love.
Leonard swelled, overwhelmed by the richness, the goodness of humanity. He didn’t complain a bit when someone slipped his passport from his pocket.
An experience that will forever change you!
It was a magical wedding. Leonard and Summer were enraptured. Next, a honeymoon in St. Lucia!
The red bumps mysteriously appeared after a day lying on the beach. Thin white lines squiggled underneath the skin between. Summer had two. Leonard had one hundred twenty seven across his back.
WebMD had a diagnosis:
Subcutaneous.
Parasitic.
Worms.
Guest Writer Bio:
Author Joshua David Bennett may have drawn all of these stories from his own painful and invasive experiences. His first novel, Seacaster, is a Caribbean-Aztec fantasy that tells the story of a young man at war with the magic coursing through his veins. Joshua lives in Colorado with his subcutaneous worms, wife and son.
Author Joshua David Bennett may have drawn all of these stories from his own painful and invasive experiences. His first novel, Seacaster, is a Caribbean-Aztec fantasy that tells the story of a young man at war with the magic coursing through his veins. Joshua lives in Colorado with his subcutaneous worms, wife and son.