by Michael Kingswood Some folks call dead bodies stiffs. And boy, they ain’t kidding. Couldn’t tell you what happened before then or how I got there. But when I opened my eyes on the cold stainless steel of the medical examiner’s exam table and looked up at the bright fluorescent lights shining down on me,…
Category: Fiction
O’Bannon’s Talisman
by Michael Kingswood Humidity made Carl O’Bannon’s shirt cling to his torso, almost completely soaked despite not being out and about all that long. He felt like he was sweating a river, though in reality it wasn’t all that hot out. It was like an ocean itself was condensing on top of him, and he…
Bridge Mending
by Michael Kingswood I’m not a super sentimental guy, but there are times when even I look back on past events through the lens of nostalgia and pine for those long-gone, supposedly simpler times. Never thought an elf would do the same. When they gave the Big Guy the finger over working conditions and left…
Candlemass
by Michael Kingswood Ray knew he was in trouble the instant the lights came on. It wasn’t the two grim faces staring at him, round cheeks and narrowed eyes so similar the two men had to be brothers. No, it was what Ray saw past them that clinched it. A broad window through which he…
Miss Melody And The Spruce Trail
by Michael Kingswood It wasn’t every day that you rounded a bend in a hiking trail and found a cafe there, waiting for you. At first, Jeff thought he was seeing things. He blinked, then rubbed his eyes. But when he opened them it was still there. Right there at the side of the creek…
Suspended Sentence – Part 5
by Silent Draco Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 0607, 21 Jun 45, Base Gold Four, American Zone of Occupation “More coffee, sirs?” asked the mess attendant. “May as well,” sighed Sellers, “it’s not like either of us will be sleeping for…
Suspended Sentence – Part 4
by Silent Draco Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 2225, 20 Jun 45, near Eisenach Johannes babbled about travel west to find his Unkel and Tante, and something about Uma, only to get backhanded to the ground. Sobbing, he looked around in confusion. “Enough!” shouted Novoshenko, “no…
Drilling For Gold
by Michael Kingswood Autonomous Drilling Unit Seven detected an overspeed condition on one of its drill motor drivetrains. Motor number six was approaching the upper limit of its allowed operational speed band, and the monitoring speed sensor flashed an alert. This prompted a series of diagnostic algorithms, which ADU-7 performed in the background while it…
Suspended Sentence – Part 3
by Silent Draco Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 2050, 20 Jun 45, Base Gold Four, American Zone of Occupation “Colonel Sellers, pleasure to see you and colleague again!” boomed Colonel Novoshenko. His face grew long as he added, “But news with ill wind have you? Comrade Lieutenant Simirov, your radio said,…
Heaven’s Gate
by Michael Kingswood The central marketplace in Theomor, the capital city of Heaven’s Gate, extended for a kilometer in every direction, and housed merchants of all kinds, and without much in the way of rhyme or reason that Manolo could figure out. A sparkling clean, brightly lit, three-story store decorated in the latest modern flash…