Greening the Earth

Amos and I sat at The Bar on Sunset drinking Ice Bombs. The atmosphere was lugubrious, if it’s possible to have an atmosphere with only two souls left alive in Hollywood. “Explain to me again how a superior galactic government could order the death of almost seven billion humans,” I said. Amos shrugged. “It happens,” [...]

Trust

Peter woke with sun in his eyes. A bird sang. He stretched and sat up. A breeze stirred the branches around him. The air was warm and the leaves a deep green. Peter swung his legs over the edge of the platform he had built high in the tree and sat there listening to the [...]

Warriors

My dad was a software engineer. My mom taught fourth grade. They were an easygoing pair. They laughed a lot. I rarely saw either of them get upset. They were content with our life. Not ambitious. Just content. My brother and I didn’t give them a hard time growing up. To us, they seemed like [...]

Muscle Memory

Chase Jackson opened his eyes. A doctor was standing over him. “Where am I?” “In a special clinic,” the doctor said. Jackson heard large fans. The sound seemed to be echoing down a long metal hall. Jackson tasted nutmeg. “Who am I?” “It won’t help if I tell you,” the doctor said. “We’ve temporarily masked [...]

Brotherly Love

Rain ran down the window like water in a car wash. I was sitting at my desk in the gloom, working my way through a deck of Luckies. The door to the office opened and my brother walked in. “What do you want?” I said. He gave me the big phony grin. “I’ve got a [...]

Stopover

“Hi. You beat me here. Have you ordered?” “Just coffee.” “Miss… Another coffee, please?” “How long will you be in town?” “I’m just passing through. I stopped for gas. I decided to drive for a change, instead of flying. See the country and take some time to think.” “Sure.” “I wasn’t going to stop.” “Looks [...]

Digging a Hole

John was told by his parents, from the beginning, that he could become whatever he wanted to become. He could do whatever he made up his mind to do. As a young man, he took this seriously. At Trinity Prep, he thought that he might like to become a professional athlete. He made the varsity [...]

Goodbye and Good Riddance

I’ve made a comfortable living as a writer. I sold my first piece forty years ago and I’ve done fine ever since. I was living in the mountains when I received my first acceptance. Of course, everything was done by mail in those days. Mail and fax. I lived ten miles from the nearest store [...]

Writing Your Own Story

Welcome, Reader. Prepared to do a little work? Don’t worry, it will feel just like reading a story, not writing one. You probably think that I’m writing this, which you are reading. Well, I am, but not for long. Let me explain. I have decoded the deep ur-language of the human brain. What does this [...]

Fourth Wall

Journal Entry #1 I am beginning this journal in order to capture and preserve my thoughts, my questions, and, most importantly, my doubts. I would rather talk to someone else about these matters, but I am alone. Therefore, I must talk to myself. I’ve spent years searching for the truth. Years of meditation, of planning, [...]