I didn’t create any guidelines to follow for 2019, other than to post one story each month. Here they are:
Traitor Fairy
January 2019 Short Story She believed in me in a way no one else ever has and no one else ever will, and I betrayed her. The worst part is she doesn’t know. She still thinks I remained neutral. I don’t have the heart to tell her I chose a side. My mother and father…
Practical Joke
February 2019 short story Today… It began as a practical joke. But by the end of the day, nobody was laughing. It seemed innocent enough at first, because Jerry and I have a history of playing practical jokes on one another. He was the one to start the whole thing, if I’m not mistaken. He…
Galaxy S Class Cruiser
March 2019 Short Story Harry shuffled the deck of cards and pushed it across the table. “Deal,” he said. “One more hand,” I agreed. It was a way to pass the time. More importantly, it was a way to avoid talking about the fact we were in a holding cell – again. When we started…
Protest
April 2019 Short Story of the Month The soldiers were tense, waiting for something to happen – like it was a matter of when, not if. For our part, we did our best to steer clear of them, avoiding the main square, where a group of protestors were on their 80th hour of shouting at…
Dig Site
May 2019 short story Today He sprinted away, not daring to look back, his footsteps echoing down the hallway like distant gunshots. He just had to get to the back stairway and up to his office on the second floor, where like a fool, he’d left the artifact sitting. Two weeks ago The dig was…
Thick as Thieves
June 2019 short story (Really late, but here it is.) We took turns guarding the door, neither of us sleeping very much. Ricky looked nervous, and suddenly I felt bad about getting him involved. I shouldn’t have asked him to tag along. His mother would flay me if she found out. I didn’t have a…
Death Valley Trial
July’s Short Story (Finally done) The desert is an unforgiving place. This one is called Death Valley for a reason. Every living thing there has to fight for survival. And we would have to fight, too, or else everything they’d said about us would be true. I was tired of hearing, “You don’t belong here,”…
Fortuitous Robbery
August’s Short Story I asked her if she was joking. Her frown told me she wasn’t. “Every last penny, gone,” she said. “And that’s not the worst of it,” she continued, leaning across the table. “They completely destroyed our security system.” “Why would they do that?” I asked. “No idea,” she said. “Well, I would…
Hidden in the Ice
September’s Short Story of the Month The lake was as still and shiny as glass, as if he could step on it and walk all the way across. It was one of those days when anything seems possible, and he stood there, breathing deep and imagining the feeling of soaring over the cool lake and…
Secrets and Money
October 2019 short story of the month “Deal?” he said, extending his hand toward me. I hesitated then reached out. Frank thought he had the upper hand, and in a sense he did. What he didn’t know was that I’d promised him something that wasn’t mine to give. I left his office feeling a mix…
Wounded
November 2019 Short Story of the Month Present Day Even after a long day at work, my mother’s hands worked tirelessly: chopping vegetables for dinner, stitching our clothes, whatever needed doing. I loved her hands and admired them. I wanted to be strong like her. But at the time, I couldn’t be. I would have,…
The Truth
December 2019 short story of the month Sometimes kids are the only ones willing to say what’s really on their minds, and our family needed a little dose of honesty. We almost never said something straight out. My step-mother was the worst. All she would do was pretend like nothing happened. And she expected all…
Still Working on My Novel 