Monthly Archives: July 2021

Before nineteen-hundred-and-sixty-two, Everyone bought it, and everyone knew What was inside and how it cooked, But no one cared about how it looked. Until one day it left the shelf Where you could find it by yourself, And jumped, transformed, … Continue reading →

Cammie was bored. The ten-hour car trip with her mother, grandmother and aunts was bad enough, but when they reached her great aunt’s house, there was literally nothing to do. No Wi-Fi, no TV, nothing. Her great aunt Gertrude recently … Continue reading →

Tap tap creeaakkkkk. I jumped. We all looked up, pausing from the task at hand. We were painting a room in a creepy old house on Tap Tap Creek. It was my uncle’s family homestead.  He and my aunt were … Continue reading →

There are many questions, but where are the answers? Why are we here? Why are we who we are? What is it all for?  While I do my routine spring cleaning I ask one more existential question. Why do we … Continue reading →

Maybe I should do it today. I’ve been thinking about upgrading my Very Smart Phone to the latest model, the Smartest Phone XR2500. After all, it’s been six years since my last upgrade which is 60 in human years. While … Continue reading →

I purchased a two-story Federalist-style house which included a room-sized attic. Its location, in the historic district of Salem, Massachusetts, was perfect. The elderly couple selling the home said it was constructed in 1792 and had belonged to their family … Continue reading →

The Whittington chimes haven’t sounded for years, the springs of the old clock completely unwound.  A tarnished key sits in one of the three sockets in the clock-face, and her brass-rimmed, round glass door hangs open forlornly.  She still shows … Continue reading →

Post: I saw a man-eating alligator at the club restaurant last night. Comment 1: Oh no, was anyone hurt? Comment 3: I knew it would happen eventually. There are alligators in all these ponds. Comment 4: I know someone who … Continue reading →

Strange voices echo disaster What in the world were they after Thirty-four bodies were buried alive as the jets make their strike from the sky War once again had arrived The General had chosen his side There was not a … Continue reading →

DO NOT BURN THE TOAST The toaster oven was an integral part of her life. Nary a day past when she didn’t make use of the appliance. One day she was extolling the praises of this modern cooking marvel to … Continue reading →

I’m writing this email to you kids from my cabana on South Beach. Well, I don’t have to tell you it’s very warm and sunny. After all, it’s the Sunshine State.  They just brought me my third Mai Tai. What … Continue reading →

Edwin hatted living under the new kink. The monark tweeted his subjects cruelly with know reguards for there wellbeing. The kink’s farther was a niece monark who luv’d his people and did all he cud to make there lives batter. … Continue reading →

Prompt –  A spelling, grammar, or autocorrect/spellcheck error that changes the meaning— “Good mourning,” the funeral erector sez.  “Pleas let me say first how sordid we are for you’re lost.” “Thank you,” I replies, shaking his handy.  “My father was … Continue reading →

Emma dreamed of visiting the Hardie Casino baths. Hardie’s two-story building with big arched Greek columns was the fanciest and the largest bathing casinos in Miami. Her mother, Carla, recently began working there as a sandwich maker, since their move … Continue reading →

CALVIN Calvin X. Winkler had been married three times. His first wife could not control a raging heroin addiction. She died of a bad dose that contained fentanyl! They were married only six months when she died. Calvin’s second wife, … Continue reading →

In the mountain pass, the helmeted shielded Valkyrie rides into night The noise of Rota’s spear grew loud, the coat of mail grew tight The unsaddled fiery white steed comes to collect the battle dead Choices made by the shielded … Continue reading →

Forty-ish and slightly stooped, Brownie steadied his box camera on the platform he built for it and adjusted the clip-on reflecting finder. He tapped the new accessory. It was a vast improvement over the V-shaped sighting lines on the original … Continue reading →

(This story wasn’t written for the club prompt but for the NYC Midnight contest. My assignment was, Historical Fiction, the location- Dry cleaners, and the item that had to be used in the story was orange juice. I thought I’d … Continue reading →

It was a really long flight, or several flights to be accurate. Yet, it will be worth it. I am getting on the final leg of my journey. The pilot has just walked into the terminal which is the size … Continue reading →

I started the company van the other day and was greeted by a bombastic baritone voice booming from the radio. I’m not sure who the speaker was because, to me, they all sound alike. It doesn’t matter if it’s politics … Continue reading →

1928 “You are sure this contraption will work?  It looks pretty complicated to me!”  The speaker bent over the weird-looking machine, one hand stroking his bushy mustache. “Purty sure, sir, yup,” the machine operator replied.  “Been workin’ with ‘er fer … Continue reading →

The beaming sun stretched its smile, enveloping the lake. Ripples danced across the surface in aimless joy. A slight breeze sweeps in tidying comfort. Two swans sing an operatic melody. Harmony abounds, extravagantly undisturbed. It was the perfect setting for … Continue reading →

Shhh. There’s a song in my head that I can’t quite hear. It goes dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah. Like water drops shooting out of a fountain. Maybe I think it sounds like water … Continue reading →

The world’s alarm clock works pretty much the same everywhere. Here on the African plains it has a special charm. The horizons are endless so the first sliver of light can be seen, unblocked by mountain ranges or skyscrapers. Sounds … Continue reading →

Setting: Ten friends attend a 30-year Yale University class reunion on the school campus. They haven’t seen or heard from each other since graduation due to a well-kept secret.  Secrets I walked into the teeming Schwarzman Center located on the … Continue reading →

The building was your typical late-1800s to early-1900s brick-on-stone, three-story city structure. It was really quite unremarkable except for the sign hanging over the doorway, swaying in the gentle breeze.  Again, the sign wasn’t all that special, but the weathered words skillfully hand-painted … Continue reading →

It was the last day of high school in the year 1971 in a small Midwestern town. Four best friends secretly buried time capsules under the tree in front of the high school to commemorate their time there and vowed … Continue reading →

Sitting at the virtual bridge table, Les dropped in with his partner to play a duplicate bridge tournament. I typed “Hi, long time no see” and he followed with a typed greeting. His partner typed “Who is this Lee fellow?”. … Continue reading →