Author: singram1028

Searchlight Needles

Joanna’s eyes slipped shut, and her chin dipped for just a second. She snapped her eyes open and jerked the steering wheel, causing the rental car to swerve dangerously on the wet mountain highway. “Not today, Mister,” she shouted. That had been one of Jill’s expressions, but who the man was Jill could never say.… Continue reading Searchlight Needles

How to Haunt Your Loved Ones

Hello! Welcome to the afterlife! What’s that? This isn’t what you were expecting? Yeah, we get that a lot here. No pearly gates, no streets of gold, no many named Peter with a list checking to see if you’re supposed to even be here? We’re still scratching our heads on that last one. What a… Continue reading How to Haunt Your Loved Ones

The Past Office

For fifteen years the letter sat beneath the antiquated mail sorter. A clumsy man named Clyde, who would retire three months later (and be buried fourteen days after that), had dropped it and it slid several feet beneath the bulky contraption with the silly name. He thought briefly about retrieving it, but his sciatica was… Continue reading The Past Office

The Low Probability Bike

I remember the first time Beckett showed me the prototype. I met him in the parking lot of a Starbucks on Parker. He unloaded the garish thing from the bed of his truck, and I helped him lower it to the pavement. A couple entering Starbucks pointed and laughed at us before the door closed… Continue reading The Low Probability Bike

Stella’s New Family

Sometimes, your family finds you. The tide is turning. I never remember if it is in or out. But the ocean noises change when the tide turns. I can’t remember who taught me that. Maybe my grandmother? I was named after my other grandmother, Stella. She had had six boys and never knew how to… Continue reading Stella’s New Family

One Day (a poem)

One day I will let go.     One day I might try again. These days,     These days, I sit and wait,     I self-medicate,     Do what I can to distract myself from the pain. Someday.     Someday I might try.     I might stop waiting,         For cessation,         For distraction,     Telling… Continue reading One Day (a poem)

Wormhole

The exterminator wipes his brow, pockets his grease-stained handkerchief, and checks his tablet again. “Yeah. We don’t see a lot of these. If I’m honest, they told us about these in class, but I swore the instructor was pulling our legs. Pranking us. You know? That it was a joke to see which of us… Continue reading Wormhole

Bohío

His thick fingers shake with nerves and are damp with sweat. It takes the shorter man two attempts to pry open the tiny tin lid. The three of them peer in at the contents. The pills seem too small. Are they supposed to be that small? Rick wonders idly. There are three in the tin,… Continue reading Bohío

I Published Five Books!

I’d intended “The Man in the Tree” to be my fifth book published. It was an accidental mouse click that lead to it being the first. Buy it here. Mr. Bojangles is a collection of all the stories created during my first 30-day flash challenge in August 2021. Buy it here. This is probably my… Continue reading I Published Five Books!

Hexagram 57, Wind over Wind

June 2022 Flash Challenge, Day 29 As the doctor retraced the spots, the man remembered the trails and how simple life could be there. He’d blown through a lot of savings, planned his hike endlessly, then hiked an anemic 500 miles before calling it quits. The actual number was closer to 380. The last 120… Continue reading Hexagram 57, Wind over Wind