by Sally Hanan (Author), Fire Drinkers Publishing (Publisher), Virtual Voice (Narrator) An audiobook (This is the first audiobook I’ve listened to, where the Narrator is “Computer-generated” and not an actual human reader. I was surprisingly impressed. It was hard to catch any “weirdness” at all.) In the opening of this collection of VERY short stories (750 words or fewer) by…
A super, short story-a-day challenge in February? Well… probably not, but I might try to write a few. #1. A forbidden flash bulb pops, blinding the old lawman. He slaps his right thigh, reaching for the revolver. Gone. The hand turns claw-like as his eyes drill the offender. His chin dips, and the Stetson shadows…
by Jackie One day, in the Costco Pharmacy Department, I saw this little stuffed bear peeking out of a cellophane window in a printed cardboard box. It looked lonesome but patient. From reading the back of the box, I learned that the bear’s soft-looking, round body was stuffed with tiny beads that could be…
PIT PONY by Joyce Barkhouse & THE MEMORY CHAIR by Susan White, PIT PONY is set on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia in a coal-mining town in the early 1900s before automation. The men in families were miners and “owed their souls to the Company Store.” Coal mining was a brutal job, especially…
A Short Story by Jackie Houchin I’m standing on the edge of a lookout point on the rim of the Grand Canyon. It’s just before dawn. I can see the sky in the east becoming less black. I’ll have to do it soon. I don’t want to be a spectacle for curious eyes. I just…
First, it was downpouring outside, so the floor was wet and muddy from previous customers. It also had a wet-wool smell, either from customers’ drenched coats or that mongrel dog who snuck inside to snatch a low-lying bag of chips before being driven out again. Poor thing. Several florescent lighting tubes were out by the…
By Jackie Houchin One thousand words, what a little thing. A one and three zeroes. Anyone could do that, right? Why I could talk that in about 10 minutes. How fast are my fingers on the keys? Well, I do think faster than I can type….acurately, that is. Well, here goes. One thousand words, and…
A Story of Enduring Love, by Jackie Houchin Fifty years is a long time to love a woman, Abe admitted as he leaned out his window and breathed in the fresh spring air. A lot can happen in that time to cool a man’s passion and make him look for something new. But his love,…
by Lottie Morgan (Author) A Story review by Jackie Houchin THE CHEMIST OF ESCONDIDA is the second in the current Spies of Escondida series by Lottie Morgan. It features Bria, the Elite Squad’s new Chemist. She has taken off two years to earn PHD’s in the field and is now ready to be useful. We see…
Words and Reviews 