When his best friend David abandons their weekly poker game, only to return reeking of swamp water and talking about changing careers, it is up to Mike Adams to find out what happened to him.When his best friend David abandons their weekly poker game, only to return reeking of swamp water and talking about changing careers, it is up to Mike Adams to find out what happened to him.This is a novelette that is one-part mystery, one-part drama, exploring the tension between unlikely friends during their topsy-turvy times at college. It is a companion story to the separately released collection entitled The Young Mike Adams.

A quick action tale of a soldier defending the fictional island of Namalsk from the zombies invading from the south. Focus on the details of battle.A children's fable. The local farming community is focused on this year's village fete vegetable competition and Mr Plum, the farmer, thinks he is in with a good chance to win. But his prize parsnip has other ideas. Is the grass really greener on the other side of the fence, or will the parsnip learn that it's important to be grateful for who you are.

Every Halloween Bobby Jenkins and his best friend, Nathan, would fill their pockets full of rocks and go down to Coffin Lake and toss them at the crows that flocked there each year. But this year, Nathan is gone… and so are the crows. And Bobby Jenkins is about to find out what happens when “little birds” get BIG revenge!This 1,944-word middle grade short story is 11 pages long.This is an introduction to the 'Darkest Night Collection'. It is a short story following the life of Delcaos, a twisted and cruel vampire who believes himself godlike and has little respect for anyone other than himself.Delcaos tells us himself about how he became a vampire, sired by a foul creature but one that gave him great strength. We learn about a devastating event that he caused himself andhow his ego drove him to create Lucretia, his 'dark child'.But how long can that ego last? How long can one even so powerful as he go on believing himself to be a God without there being consequences?Delcaos is forced to learn that no matter how strong you are, there is always something out there willing to stop you.

Vaslus is a doomed world orbiting an unstable star. To preserve their civilisation the Vaslusians are embarking on the greatest colonisation scheme ever imagined. In the first of this short story series follow Jump Master Tanlen and his new apprentice as they embark on a jump to bring colonists to a new world only to find more than anyone had bargained for waiting at the other end.Vaslus is a doomed world orbiting an unstable star. It could be weeks or it could be centuries away but their world will eventually succumb to its unpredictable solar prominences. To preserve their civilisation the Vaslusians are embarking on the greatest colonisation scheme ever imagined. In the first of this short story series follow Jump Master Tanlen and his new apprentice Relv as they embark on a jump to bring colonists to a new world only to find more than anyone had bargained for waiting at the other end.

Because we have so few Americans today who understand the military, I think it is imperative for those of us who do to point out a truth that is anything but official, i. e., the president that says we have turned a corner in Afghanisnam. What "corner" is he talking about. He using information given him by a military that is "can do" regardless of the reality.Will Coy Bedlam survive his stay in Sullen?Painfully he raised his head, looking out into a dreary drizzling environment, seeing his headlights purposefully reflecting off a roadside sign, with a name of a town called Sullen. Today’s population is 169.“What does that mean?” He growled, “Today’s population is 169.” Then he asked, “Where the hell is Sullen?” forcing himself to move, he dragged a map from his glove box, “I’ve never heard of it before…” And strangely it didn’t appear on the map either.

It’s fast, it’s gory, and it’s a struggle to survive. When zombies overrun the town of Calvert Falls in Southern Maine, a small band of survivors has to fight their way out. But it’s more than just teeth and cannibalistic appetites they have to worry about…. A zombie thriller novella that won’t let you go until it’s done with you.I pray that this message is heard. Excuse me if my speech is hard to decipher. My name is John Laman. I am a thirty-three year old scientist, and a convicted criminal. But I am innocent of the crimes that they say I committed. I know it sounds like an especially bad cliché, but it is the truth. I am telling you this now while I still can, because in a matter of minutes my mind will be elsewhere...Dr. John Laman is the inventor of The Bubble, the most sophisticated criminal rehabilitation technology ever invented. Never, in his wildest nightmares, did he dream he would be its first prisoner.Inside The Bubble is a short story of 3000 words, from the author of the bestselling Emma Holden suspense mystery trilogy and standalone mystery, Someone to Save You.

About the book:"Once She Saw...A Blind Man" is the first installment of the Ms Araminta Cozy Mystery series written by rising author Deborah Diaz. The story revolves around the protagonist Miss Araminta and the surprising turn of events that take place after she witnessed a theft. Beautifully written, "Once She Saw...A Blind Man" is filled with moments of joy, happiness, sadness and despair.About the book:"Once She Saw...A Blind Man" is the first installment of the Ms Araminta Cozy Mystery series written by rising author Deborah Diaz. The story revolves around the protagonist Miss Araminta and the surprising turn of events that take place after she witnessed a theft. Beautifully written, "Once She Saw...A Blind Man" is filled with moments of joy, happiness, sadness and despair. Each character in the book has an interesting back-story that makes them come to life. Sometimes things are not exactly what they seem. Only those who have the heart to dig deeper uncover the truth. And sometimes that one deed saves the lives of many! That is what we come to learn from "Once She Saw...A Blind Man". Order your copy to find out more!Summary of the book:"Once She Saw...A Blind Man" opens with the image of a quiet suburb in Nashville, Tennessee. Miss Araminta, the 67 year old retired insurance agent, is one of the residents of the Melrose suburbia. Though it was not the fanciest of neighborhoods, it had everything the people needed within walking distance. After losing her husband— the only man she had ever loved—in the Vietnam War, Ms. Araminta resolved to live alone. She now owns a small business of selling crocheted dish towels, stoles, mufflers, lap robes and so on. As a respected member of the church, she also does a lot of volunteer work and helps out people in need. One morning while she was on her way to the grocery store, Miss Araminta spotted a seemingly well-to-do woman stealing change from Bill, the blind beggar that the local community knows and loves. Seeing someone steal from this helpless man left Miss Araminta shocked. But she knew she had to help the poor man and seek justice. As she proceeded to find more information about the thief, she discovered something she never guessed. Who is this woman? Why was she stealing from the blind beggar? Will Miss Araminta be able do right by Bill? Order your copy to find out!

A follow-up collection of poems continuing upon themes dealt with in "Before Dark, and After"--but concentrating more on the element of water than fire.Imagine being born in captivity with a crippling disability. Your life is in the hands of alien creatures that provide sustenance and affection. How much does your happiness mean?***WARNING*** Despite the title, this is a very sad story. Do not read if you do not want to cry.Please also note that Happy is a short story, approximately 7 pages in length and just over 2,100 words.This short story was written to bring awareness and inspiration. You can support this work by donating to your local no kill shelter.

The legend of the true California bandit the world came to know as the fictional character of Zorro. Salomon rode the California hills as a ranchero, and then as a scout for the Mexican Army. He returned home to a land overrun with gold seekers. Brutal circumstances lead Salomon to become one of the most legendary bandits California has ever seen. An adventure of love, revenge, and redemption.Before the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill brought tens of thousands of prospectors to California, the land was sparsely populated by Californios up from Mexico. It was untamed land. The wild West. Salomon Pico was one of these Californios, the cousin of Pio Pico, the last governor of Alta California, before it became a US territory after the Mexican-American War. Salomon rode the California hills as a ranchero, and then as a scout for the Mexican Army under Captain Andres Pico. These glittering hills would eventually be named for Salomon, although, the reasons for which are bloody. He returned home to a land overrun with gold seekers. Brutal circumstances lead Salomon to become one of the most legendary bandits California has ever seen. The life of Salomon Pico became the basis for the fictional character the world knows as Zorro.

Lenny takes an instant dislike to the woman his mother hires to teach him piano. But he realizes the situation is far, far worse when a piano arrives and the strangest things happen…"Midterms" was my entry in NPR’s Round Nine of their occasional feature, “Three Minute Fiction,” in which they invite listeners to submit an original, unpublished story of 600 or fewer words which fulfills a condition set by that Round’s author-judge. In this case, each story had to “reference a U.S. President, real or fictional.” Inasmuch as the day before the September 23 submission deadline was the 150th anniversary of one of our history’s most momentous—and politically shrewd—decisions, I felt dutybound to indulge that reality. My conceit: What if that “game-changer” presented itself in an electoral environment like today’s?

Gowan is a normal, practical pixie, living an idyllic pixie life. All of that comes to an end one hot, summer day when the Queen of the fairies comes to collect a tithe to Hell and she wants a pixie....A little prequel to Helwyn, the first book in the songs of the Helwyn series. A story about Nate Arbinger's pixie and how it became a friend to the Helwyn.Author's Note: The Pixie Gowan is a tiny tale that explores the origins of Gowan, Nate Arbinger's pixie and companion-at-arms in the novel, Helwyn.From the moment of conception, Gowan was a lively character, trying to hog scenes, stealing dialogue, flitting about the pages of Helwyn demanding to be seen. It was a challenge to contain this little pixie and let Molly and Nate's story be told. I thought once Helwyn was finished and the next book started, that Gowan would settle down, but no, it clamored loudly in my head, buzzing around, insistent that I give the pixie its due and dedicate a story to the ball of energy that is Gowan. As a writer, I know that when a character demands attention as Gowan did, that you had better give it to them. So here, Gowan, here it is–your story in all its glory, where you came from, and how you became the companion to a Helwyn.Kate

An abandoned lab facility reveals evidence of a man-made biological weapon--a flesh eating parasite. The parasite has inhabited a pack of wild dingoes and threatens to destroy the Australian population unless a young married couple and their guide can find and destroy the infected animals.Kobi and Derrick Reed are on their honeymoon in Australia and have hired a guide, Dane, to help them explore the Northern Territory. While hiking one afternoon, they find what appears to be an abandoned lab facility partially buried below ground. After investigating the facility, they discover that they are not alone. There is another person there rummaging through the rubble frantically searching for something. His name is Dr. Trevor Tomblin, and he tells them a story that is quite unbelievable. The “normal” scientists were working on a government funded medical research project and using dingoes as their test subjects. A disgruntled scientist was secretly developing and mutating a flesh-eating parasite which he was planning to release on the population of Australia. He secretly infects the dingoes, as well as, the lab employees with the parasite, hoping to witness its power. Trevor is the only person that doesn’t get infected. The dingoes escape into the Northern Territory and are now free to infect the country. This is a nasty parasite that consumes the flesh and continues to spread in search of its next victim. Follow Kobi, Derrick, and Dane as they agree to help the Center for Disease Control (CDC) track down and destroy the infected dingoes. The hunt is dangerous, exciting, and turns to tragedy as one of the CDC members becomes infected with the parasite. The hunt continues toward Perth where an infected body has been buried, and threatens to infect the surrounding countryside and underground water system. On the way back to Darwin, the CDC plane crashes in the Outback, where their survival skills are tested in a harsh and unforgiving environment.

A collection of poems from my teenage years. Themes include love, drugs, depression, dreams, spirituality, and nature.A collection of poems from my teenage years. Themes include love, drugs, depression, dreams, spirituality, and nature. Teenagers, tweens, and anyone with a yearning to know the meaning of life and love will relate!

There's a crisis in Pea City! The King has run out of snacks for his pet bear, Fluffy. In this easy reader chapter book, you'll experience a fun tale that integrates important lessons on cyber attacks. Parents and teachers will find this story a joy for children to simply read for pleasure or to use as a tool to teach about computing safety and information protection.There's a crisis in Pea City! The King has run out of snacks for his pet bear, Fluffy. Cy has to make an urgent delivery of Bear Snacks, but then there's a misunderstanding leading the King to take special actions to protect Pea City's Book of Super Secrets. In this easy reader chapter book, you'll experience a fun tale that integrates important lessons on cyber attacks. Parents and teachers will find this story a joy for children to simply read for pleasure or to use as a tool to teach about computing safety and information protection. The story is supplemented with useful facts explained in a simple manner.

To be Exemplian is an honor.The privilege: You never die.The burden: You never die.As the Protectors and Guides of human energy—souls—across all worlds, Exemplians are responsible to ensure life flows effortlessly throughout the universe. The task is dangerous, at times deadly, but death doesn't matter in Exemplar.To be Exemplian is an honor.The privilege: You never die.The burden: You never die.As the Protectors and Guides of human energy—souls—across all worlds, Exemplians are responsible to ensure life flows effortlessly throughout the universe. The task is dangerous, at times deadly, but death doesn't matter in Exemplar.For Exemplians, death is easy. Rebirth is harder.Tarek Montigue, an Exemplian Protector, has recently experienced his first rebirth. Scientists have turned back time, strengthened his body. Physically, he's fit to serve, able to live another cycle as a privileged drone in Exemplar.But the misery that comes from rebirth is as dark and deep as rumors claim.As he tries to cope, news has spread that a new energy, a new life, is born. The new life? A Guide. And every Guide needs a Protector. When Tarek is deemed the perfect match for Lena, the new energy, the honor begins to heal him.An honor that could possibly destroy him, too.The Energy Series: Now complete!Tainted EnergyLost EnergyFractured EnergyEnergy Reborn

I am the self-appointed representative of the New Hope wing of the Democratic Party. You may call me a nut, a dreamer, or a socialist, but I can offer the young people in America—to me that means anyone under fifty—new hope.Dorian Evergreen de Bernard Viallet est un nouveau recueil de nouvelles de l’auteur et le titre éponyme du premier texte de l’ouvrage.Neuf autres nouvelles le suivent. On y retrouve à chaque fois l’humour de Bernard Viallet et son esprit malicieux qui ne se laisse pas faire par le monde moderne et le critique efficacement dans une dérision jubilatoire.L’anticipation et le fantastique sont souvent représentés dans ces textes, aussi bien dans Dorian Evergreen dont le nom, on le devine, dévoile un clin d’œil au célèbre portrait de Dorian Gray d’Oscar Wilde, que dans les Thanatophores ou SOS MACHOS, qui évoquent respectivement le contrôle des naissances et l’euthanasie.Bernard Viallet se moque allègrement des contradictions de notre époque et nous entraîne à rire avec lui de celles-ci.Ces nouvelles, toujours très bien écrites, se dévorent copieusement. Elles se révèlent également éclectiques, lorsque l’auteur nous conte les aventures d’une vieille péripatéticienne en fin de carrière enlevée par un ancien client amoureux sous les yeux de son antique proxénète, où lorsqu’il dépeint l’univers glauque de deux « pointeurs » violeurs et assassins d’enfants pas du tout pénitents.Certains de ces écrits sont consultables sur le site de l’auteur.On ne peut que recommander la lecture de ces nouvelles très fraîches, à l’humour bien placé, qui affirment encore un peu plus le talent de leur auteur.

Antonie Marais and Paul Visser meet each other during a sports contest where they become rivals because of an incident. Antonie vows to himself to take revenge on Paul, but never could have imagined that Paul will save his life one day. A true reflection on what police members of South Africa are subjected to on a daily basis.This fictional story focuses on two young boys who grow up in police homes with both their fathers serving the South African Police Service. Antonie Marais is Otto en Trudie’s only child but he is exposed to the constant trauma caused by the absence of his father due to his father’s working commitments. This results in Antonie developing an intense grudge against the SAPS and he blames them for his loneliness. Paul Visser is the youngest son of Lourens and Tersia and one of a twin. His admiration for his father and the SAPS is so big that he constantly spends time with his father at work but not only that, he vows to himself to become a policeman, just like his father.It is during an ordinary school rugby match where these two boys’ paths cross and where an intense rivalry develops as a result of an incident on the rugby field. Antonie swears revenge should his paths ever cross with Paul’s, unaware what fate life held in store for him.This fictional story was written by a young policewoman who has a big heart for police members. She had the unfortunate loss of a family member as a result of cancer and did a lot of research about leukaemia with the writing of this book. The events occurring at police stations and what happens during the execution of a police officer’s duties are real and a true reflection – guaranteed to keep the reader captured from beginning to the end.

Modern-day Daniel is forced to go back to the early 1900s. Then he must assume the identities of six very different individuals in different decades and in different geographic locations in the world in order to work his way back to his own starting time and place.Time. Most would admit they find it at least somewhat intriguing. And many would confess they are utterly fascinated by it. You have probably been at a gathering of friends and heard someone pose questions like, “Where would you go, or whom would you want to meet, if you could go back in time?”Interesting questions, indeed. But, what if they were not questions? Or, even options? What if you were forced to go back in time? And, what if you didn’t get to choose where you would go, or whom you would meet?One evening, Daniel finds himself in that very predicament when he discovers his only option for continued existence is to walk through Sarah’s kitchen door and go back in time.For Daniel, time is no longer an option. In order to find his way home, he must first temporarily assume the identities of six very different people in different geographic locations in the world while traveling forward in time through the twentieth century. Join Daniel in his rare opportunity to experience life as a young Austrian man at the turn of the 20th Century, a teenage Polish servant girl in the 1930s, an Arab orphan boy in Syria in the 1940s, a blind middle-aged black man in the 1950s African Congo, a young battered mother of two in 1960s USA, and an elderly Southeast Asian farm woman in the 1970s. His life, and yours, will never be the same.And, of course, there are a few love stories that tie the entire adventure together.

We're ending the year strong with a surprisingly wide variety of story types. But they all center around some significant, and usually life-changing realizations about life, no matter how fantastical it is. And that's why we love science fiction and fantasy: Even though the narrative elements aren't real in our lives, the sentiments, interactions, and life lessons are.We're ending the year strong with a surprisingly wide variety of story types. But they all center around some significant, and usually life-changing realizations about life, no matter how fantastical it is. And that's why we love science fiction and fantasy: Even though the narrative elements aren't real in our lives, the sentiments, interactions, and life lessons are. It gives us a window in to the human soul, even when the window is decidedly non-human.Fiction Vortex publishes science fiction and fantasy stories every month. Check out FictionVortex.com for more great stories.

This compilation of short stories and art pieces was created by the Literary Journal Club from John C. Kimball High School. Besides including works from members of the club, it also features winning pieces from monthly writing contests held at the school.For a drunk named Holiday the End of the World might just be the worst hangover he's ever had. Or, the beginning of one last post-apocalyptic binge. The end of the civilization is only the beginning as an odd band of survivors pull together to construct a modern-day castle amid the burning ruins of suburbia lost. As undead hordes and strange otherworldly monsters ravage what’s left of civilization, things begin to go from worse to weird as each survivor’s dark past unfolds, revealing that reality might be more than anyone ever thought, and that an ancient force from the outer dark has finally arrived to conquer. Stephen King’s The Stand meets Lost in an epic confrontation between good and evil that spans history, time, and space.

A rebellious yet calm woman with a mysterious past follows the subliminal controlling nine to five routine until one day.It’s the spring of 1987 and Syd Siegfried has won a mysterious atlas that will take him on an incredible journey—but what starts as an exciting trek through Philadelphia suddenly becomes a perilous adventure into the wildest unknown. With the help of his plucky daughter and an eccentric group of misfits, Syd will need to follow the clues and solve the atlas in order to get home – but when they uncover a shocking secret, nothing can prepare them for what comes next…