Lakeside Doomsday Cult
I step through the door clearly marked FIRE EXIT and the cold December air wraps around me like an icy blanket.
Short stories
Original short stories about the end of the world.
The Sea Lords Script
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: After nearly a decade of analysis, the Linguistics Department of Gabonium University cracked the enigma that is the Sea Lords Script and presents this report to the Most Exalted One, ruler of the Nobel Empire of the Last Peoples.
Body Parts Jewelry Store Man
“I’ll take five diamond earrings,” the lady from the fourth encampment north said. “Five pairs of diamond earrings?” I asked. “Yes, five pairs, and I want them all fingertip.” “Comin’ right up, ma’am, five pairs of fingertip diamond earrings.
Fourteenth Birthday Chat
“Hear that si–” …lence, boy? That’s right, the generator’s down.
The Poppies' Secret
“Ada, will you sit down?”
Teacup Werewolves
“What you have to understand is this: Some wolves are smaller than you.” He paused. “Some are bigger.”
The Chosen Ones
As we wake up, our first glance is towards the giant floor to ceiling window. We anxiously rake the blackness until we spot it, still there, hanging on.
Assyria the Beautiful
There is a Rand McNally Histomap taped to the front of my closet, a map of human history that spans nearly floor to ceiling.
Hey, Are You Awake?
I’ve been pregnant less than a week when the earthquake hits.
Digging
Fire took out the whole damn block down to the foundations, but not our place. Nope. Of course not. I couldn’t be that lucky, could I?
The Supermarket
Anders is crying.
Happy New Year
Michael grinned widely to see the little girl in the pink puffa jacket, bouncing as she ran towards him, probably more vertical motion than forward movement.
Ground Zero
Dawn. Huntington. The high pitch squawk of a large crow interrupts the still air, as it picks at rubbish strewn over the pavements. A few moments later, the bird takes flight, flapping its wings in exaggerated fashion.
The Old People's Pied Piper
Three days after he had disappeared we still believed we would find grandpa. His small apartment in the retirement home became our temporary headquarters. We took shifts, the grandchildren, children, daughters and sons-in-law. Three or four of us each time.
The Green Priest
Halvar sheltered under the branches of an old willow tree, hidden from sight by a thick curtain of fronds that trailed the river’s surface.
Vodka and Coke
‘Ah, Doug,’ the Hawaiian said, shaking his head as he unbuttoned the tobacco leather sheath that held the knife at his waist, ‘This is going to sting.’
Mirage
My child’s hand pulls me toward the horizon, points. I pause and stare.
Dance up the Sun
I got out of bed, and shivered. Edith said it was the middle of April, and even I remembered April being warmer than this. The clock had run down in the night, even though I’d wound it up at bedtime.