Friday Flash: Blind Date Night Out

The strikingly beautiful brunette grinned at her reflection in the magic mirror.  The low cut black dress was flattering without being too revealing; she adjusted her sheer shawl over bare white shoulders and quickly headed out the door. She saw her target waiting in the downstairs bar, a glass of fine whisky in his hand …

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Friday Flash: Capital Crimes

The following story also appears in my short story collection, An Optimist’s Journal of the End of Days and Other Stories, published via Venetian Spider Press. What is the meaning of this? You are here, Mister E, due to the nature of certain letters that have come into our possession. I’ve told you thugs before, …

Friday Flash: Sea Life

The following story also appears in my short story collection, An Optimist’s Journal of the End of Days and Other Stories, published via Venetian Spider Press. The blue dress uniforms co-opted from the Navy were itchy. The sailors imprisoned within them were tired and hot and couldn't wait for the ceremony to be over. The …

Friday Flash: Pest Control

The following story also appears in my short story collection, An Optimist’s Journal of the End of Days and Other Stories, published via Venetian Spider Press. Luckily, Katie Kuttler found the stray fairy before her father did. He kept an industrial size can of Fairy-Be-Gone next to the comfortable, threadbare recliner in the family room. …

Friday Flash: Flash Drive

Melvin regretted that his black-rimmed bifocals did not have the micro-camera, rear-viewing mirrors, or other standard equipment that other spies seemed to carry. As he walked to his '99 VW Bug, he had to rely on the reflection in the car's window to spot the thug sneaking up on him. He unhooked his keychain and …

Friday Flash: New Genesis

On the first day, they programmed the terraforming equipment. On the second, they did routine maintenance, then removed the genetically enhanced lifeforms from the ship's stasis chambers. On the third day, the new species were released onto the surface of the newly habitable world. On the fourth day, the terraforming equipment malfunctioned, causing massive flooding …

Friday Flash: Tempting Fate

The following story also appears in my short story collection, An Optimist’s Journal of the End of Days and Other Stories, published via Venetian Spider Press. Clotho inhaled, enjoying the heady aroma of roasted beans and caffeine that permeated the small coffee shop. The temptation to step inside and grab a cup was irresistable. She …

Friday Flash: Hot Librarian

The following story also appears in my short story collection, An Optimist’s Journal of the End of Days and Other Stories, published via Venetian Spider Press. One hundred feet was all that separated them. Kenny surveyed the otherworldly creature: long glossy hair, sparkling eyes, gleaming teeth. Sweating a river, he swallowed, felt his heart beating …

Friday Flash: For Appearance’s Sake

Sitting in the car, stuck behind the wheel, the couple stared into seeming nothingness and sighed. Or they would have sighed if they had actually had breath. What they did was the non-corporeal equivalent of breathing. Their spirit-bodies made the appropriate noises, the sucking in and exhaling whoosh sounds one would expect, and their non-corporeal …

Friday Flash: Ziggy and Helga

The door wouldn't open. The yawning void of space beyond its metal barrier was nothing compared to the look on Helga's face as she wielded the torn box he’d given her. Bits of red cellophane still clung by small pieces of tape on its cardboard surface. Lightning flashed in the depths of her eyes, her …