by Michael Kingswood Harry loped along beside his best buddy John, the grass of the park where John liked to go running soft beneath Harry’s feet and the air rife with scents: clipped grass, John’s sweat, pollen, and despite the bright sun overhead, humidity like just before a good rain. Breathing easily through his mouth…
Tag: Short Story
The Battleship Frances
by Bluestem The room was empty save for the two of us. It looked as if it was just going to be Frances and me. It didn’t matter. I knew immediately upon meeting her that I could count on Frances. She’d sort things out. I knew she would. Not because she’d told me, but because…
Fences and Neighbors
by Michael Kingswood Jerome’s back ached. A constant state of things after years spent hunched over his fields, tending his plantings. But today it was worse. The lingering chill from a winter that refused to leave made his joints stiff, lending an extra bit of oomph to the complaints from his spine. He gritted his…
Case of the Missing Rocker
by Michael Kingswood “What’s with the hat?” Dominic was looking at a holopic that was hanging on one of the beige-painted walls of the waiting room he and his partner, Alex, had been pacing around in for the last fifteen minutes. The 3D image showed a slender yet muscular man, stripped to the waist and…
Popper’s
by Michael Kingswood It was nearing the end of David’s shift at Popper’s Books And Things. Even for a Tuesday, it had been a slow day. Maybe half a dozen people had actually bought something all day; not for the first time, he pondered whether working the counter at a small bookstore was the best…
Naughty and Nice – A Dustin Cofield Adventure
by Michael Kingswood Nora didn’t realize it, but this was going to be the best day of her life. I had it all planned out. Pick her up after work, and zip off to the airport for a spontaneous getaway. Paris – the city of lights. Every girl’s favorite destination. It was going to be…
Red Orchid
by Michael Kingswood George paused inside the doorway to the back patio of Gepetto’s and adjusted his tie. He had selected a light blue one with silver-white polka dots, to offset the charcoal grey of his suit. It was a good look, he knew, and he knew the tie accentuated his eyes nicely. He would…
Debts and Obligations
by Michael Kingswood A twig snapped beneath Ben’s boot and he froze in place, peering about and listening closely for signs that the unwelcome noise had alerted someone to his presence. The pine forest around him had thinned. Where just a few dozen paces back the trees had been dense enough that he could have…
The Memory Of Justice
by Michael Kingswood The world was a blur of shadows and splotches of color that swirled around as Jacob turned his head from side to side. After a while, its lack of cohesion just added to the ache in his temples, turning a dull throb into stabbing pain that made him grit his teeth to…
Utah State Route 159
by Bluestem Standing on the rock-strewn slopes of Wheeler Peak at 11,000 feet, the road we were to take was too small to see, but other roads, threadlike, rolled out into the basin and disappeared. Below were deep green circles that glowed against the native brown, nourished by the sweep of giant sprinklers that turned…