Collected here are selected pieces that were written for various flash fiction writing challenges, or excerpts, where noted, from larger pieces that were never completed.
Harbinger: Prologue
With weathered, calloused hands, he removed a collection of small pieces, carved from bone and inscribed with various markings. They were yellowed and smoothed over from years of use, the symbols only faint depressions on the surfaces. They were sacred to him, had talked to him most of his life. The ritual was consoling, but the story the bones told this night was one that gave no comfort…
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Trail of the Harbinger
Bill found Chilton in the back room that served as a library, nose deep in large, leather-bound volumes. He walked up to the table until his shadow fell across the page Chilton was reading. He didn’t look up. “Yes?”
Bill hooked his thumb back to the door behind him. “Lynda said to come unearth you so we can pack. The plane’ll be waiting for us by five.”
“Mexico isn’t going anywhere,” Chilton said….
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Miracle
He dimly realized he was already standing on the sill, no memory of bracing himself on the frame as he stepped up into the opening. He was still in his house slippers and bathrobe. The absurdity of the moment wasn’t yet reaching his brain. There were no thoughts about events leading to this point, no ruminations about regret, hindsight, or anything else that common sense might play across the mind of a person about to meet his maker…
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Captive
I felt a wet prickle, like limb numbness, and caught a ghost of movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head and was startled to see my own right hand lifting up in front of my face. With an odd fascination I watched as it slowly turned over and back, each finger flexing and curling as if testing the range of motion…
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