Michael Subjack's Blog - Posts Tagged "amazon"
Prime Day Sale
Midnight Deluxe is only $1.99 today (July 11th)!
And there's a print version forthcoming but if you want it cheap, today's the day.
Midnight Deluxe
And there's a print version forthcoming but if you want it cheap, today's the day.
Midnight Deluxe
Sharing (New Story)
Here's a new story I'll be publishing as a bonus with Lucifer's Folly, a story that will be available on Amazon soon(ish).
Enjoy!
Sharing
Meredith was thirsty. That wasn’t surprising, considering it was almost ninety degrees in the shade. And even if she was at a water park, the attractions did little to stave off the brutal and unrelenting heat. It had been twenty minutes since she had last been on a waterslide and her reddish-brown hair had dried into a crinkled, chlorinated mess. She wore an old One Direction t-shirt over her bathing suit and her white flip flops smacked against the hot pavement as she worked her way over to the snack bar.
Although the school had provided bagged lunches for her and her classmates, her mother had given her twenty dollars for snacks and a souvenir (“But don’t feel the need to spend it all!” her mother had admonished her before sending her off that morning). Meredith thought her mother would be pleased to know that she hadn’t spent any of it and the day was almost over.
The souvenirs were all crappy and only the boys seemed interested in the games. One of them involved testing your strength by hitting a mallet against a metal base. If you hit it hard enough, the light at the top of the tower attached to the base would ring and you’d win a prize. Meredith was amused to see that Davey Phillips, the scrawniest kid in her class, won on his first try while Matt Jacobs, a football player who liked to show off his biceps, lost immediately afterward. Matt smiled as his friends teased him but his face also turned beet-red, something Meredith had enjoyed seeing immensely. Matt had called her a hippo right before Christmas break and she had hated him ever since. She knew she was chubby; she didn’t a jerk like him pointing it out.
All in all, it had been a fun day but she was ready to go home. Her mother had insisted on sunblock and while Meredith had slathered herself with it, she already knew she was going to look like a lobster the next day. But she’d worry about that then. For now, she just wanted a Coke.
She reached the snack bar, where a pleasant-looking older woman was wiping down the stainless steel surface with a wet rag. She had brown, wrinkly skin that looked like it had seen too much sun but also a dazzling smile that displayed a set of big white teeth. She reminded Meredith of her Aunt Rhonda, a boisterous woman with a loud, booming laugh that always remembered to bring Meredith a Toblerone bar when she visited. Chocolate for an already chubby girl might seem like a bad idea but Meredith knew Aunt Rhonda would never judge her, she just knew Meredith liked Toblerone bars. It was one of the many things that made Rhonda her favorite aunt.
“What can I get you, sweetie?” the woman asked, slinging the wet rag over her shoulder.
“A Coke, please,” Meredith said, fishing the twenty out of the small change purse her mother had given her.
“Coming up,” the woman said, reaching into the cooler and drawing out a sweaty bottle of Coke, its red label shining brilliantly in the sunlight. Meredith was relieved the woman hadn’t asked if she wanted a Coke Zero instead but this lady was like Aunt Rhonda. She didn’t judge you because she was perfectly okay with you being yourself.
“Two sixty-nine,” the woman said, ringing it up on the register. Meredith gave her the twenty and kept her eye on the cold and frosty looking Coke. She couldn’t wait to crack it open.
The woman handed Meredith her change and gave her another grin, putting her large white teeth on display once more.
“Enjoy, honey!”
Meredith nodded and took the Coke and walked toward one of the tables with the blue and white umbrellas over them. She sat down and unscrewed the cap with a satisfying “hiss” as droplets of moisture sprayed her arms and hands. It felt wonderful. She was just about to take her first sip when she heard somebody call out to her.
“My name’s Gina,” the voice said in a way that suggested it was information Meredith had requested.
Meredith lowered the bottle and looked over to see a pretty girl about her own age with long blonde hair and tanned skin, a stark contrast from Meredith’s sunburnt and freckled fair skin.
“What did you say?” Meredith asked.
“My name,” the girl said, taking off her sunglasses to reveal striking blue eyes. “It’s Gina.”
“Oh,” Meredith said, not really sure how to respond.
Gina laughed and pointed at the bottle. Meredith turned it around and saw it had “Share a Coke with Gina” written across the label in a curvy, cheerful font.
“Oh,” Meredith said again, finally catching on.
Gina let out another laugh and held out her hand.
“So how about it?”
Meredith looked at the bottle again before looking back at Gina.
“Do you want some?” she asked the pretty girl.
“Yeah, it’s freaking hot out,” the girl said. “I’ve had like three bottles of water already.”
She kept her hand out expectantly and Meredith hesitated at first. Who was this girl? And did she always come up to random strangers and expect free stuff from them? Based on her designer swimsuit and expensive-looking sandals, Meredith guessed this wasn’t the sort of the girl who needed to beg for anything. But then she remembered how hot it was and that it was still important to share, even if you were in the sixth grade. Sensing no real harm in letting Gina have a little bit, Meredith gave the bottle to her. Gina grabbed it and took three quick sips. She fired off a short belch and giggled before handing the bottle back to Meredith.
“Thanks,” she said. “That tasted so good.”
Just as Meredith was about to engage her in conversation, a group of four other kids walked over. Like Gina, they all had tanned skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair. They almost looked like they had been made in a lab and that was when Meredith realized they were from Douglas Academy, a private school on the outskirts of Meredith’s town. It was where wealthy people from all over the world sent their kids. The more cynical townspeople referred to it as “Dickless Academy” and Meredith had occasionally seen some of the older kids at the mall. They were conspicuous by their uniforms, consisting of gray trousers for the boys and gray skirts and dark tights for the girls. If that didn’t make them stick out enough, they all wore bright red blazers with the Douglas Academy crest emblazoned on the lapel. Meredith found the idea of a fancy boarding school fascinating and had asked her mother what it would take for her to go there.
“A lot of money we don’t have,” her mother had replied shortly. And Meredith’s family was far from poor, so she couldn’t imagine the kind of money those people had. And yet here one of them was, drinking from her Coke like she didn’t have a dime to her name.
“Man, it’s hot as balls out here,” said one of Gina’s pretty friends, brushing his fingers through his wavy blonde hair. “You guys want anything to drink?”
“Well, hold on,” Gina said before turning back to Meredith. “Do you think my friends could get a sip of your Coke?”
All of the pretty people were staring at Meredith now. She could say no and find her classmates or she could share her drink and potentially make some new friends. Plus she really didn’t want these kids thinking less of her. What if she ran into them at the mall sometime?
“Sure,” she said, offering them her Coke. The boy grabbed it from her and took a huge gulp before passing it around to his friends. By the time it came back to Meredith, it was mostly gone, save for a tiny bit at the bottom that was likely just backwash.
“Thanks, kid,” Gina said before standing up and joining her friends. They walked away from Meredith, looking back once before letting out a brief burst of laughter. Meredith’s ears grew warm and she suddenly felt very foolish. Other than Gina, none of them had bothered to say thank you or even acknowledged her at all. Is that how rich kids from Douglas Academy treated people? If that was the case, Meredith definitely didn’t have any desire to go there and yet she also couldn’t help but think how much easier life would be if she did. Still thirsty and wanting to put this rather embarrassing incident behind her, Meredith stood up and walked back to the snack bar where the lady who reminded her of Aunt Rhonda was busy emptying an ice bucket into the metal cooler.
“Well, hello again,” the woman said, flashing Meredith her white teeth. “What can I get for you now?”
“Another Coke please,” Meredith said, feeling her face flush. She didn’t even have a sip of the last one but she still felt like a pig. But just like before, the woman seemed to pay this no mind, reaching into the cooler and pulling out another sweaty Coke.
“Hot one today, isn’t it?” she asked, ringing it up on the cash register.
Meredith nodded and paid the woman. As she headed back to her table, she checked the label and saw “Share a Coke with Andy” written on it. That was okay. Meredith didn’t know anybody named Andy except for…
“Do you think I could get some of that?”
Meredith turned around and saw Andy Kline standing behind her. He was wearing a Metallica t-shirt with holes in it and old gym shorts in lieu of swim trunks. Meredith knew that Andy’s family was very poor and that Andy often had trouble in school. He also smelled bad, which did little to improve his reputation. Although Meredith had tried to be nice to him in the past, he always seemed like he was on the verge of getting into a fight with someone, which happened more often than not. But that wasn’t the case now. At that moment, Andy Kline had a grin on his face that was hopeful and even a little desperate. Meredith could see the beads of sweat dripping from his dirty and badly cut hair. Poor Andy was just thirsty and probably didn’t have the money for his own Coke.
“Just one sip?” he said holding up his forefinger. Meredith noticed that the fingernail at the end was long and jagged and he also had an old Band Aid wrapped around the top knuckle.
“Um…” Meredith replied as she wrapped her hand tightly around the bottle, letting its coolness soak into her palm. “I don’t know, Andy.”
And she didn’t. The last time she had shared her Coke she didn’t even get to enjoy one sip of it. How was that fair? And while Andy was only one person, she also remembered watching her cousin gulp down an entire two-liter bottle of Mountain Dew at a picnic the previous summer. Boys were gross, especially when it came to junk food. Plus there was the issue of Andy’s teeth. There were yellow with flecks of brown on them. One of his front ones had even partially rotted away, making Andy’s mouth look like it belonged to an animal and not a little boy in the sixth grade.
“Please?” Andy asked, his tone whiny but also slightly petulant. Meredith didn’t like where this was going.
“Sorry, Andy, but it’s my only one,” she finally replied, feeling slightly guilty.
“Then you’re just a bitch!” Andy yelled at her. “I ain’t got no money for my own drink and I just wanted one sip and it’s really hot out. Thanks for nothin’, hippo!”
And then he stormed off, his ancient sneakers falling apart at the soles as he shoved past several other kids. Meredith watched his head angrily bob through the crowd before it disappeared into the arcade at the other end of the park.
She held up the Coke and looked at the words on the label again: “Share a Coke with Andy”. It seemed like good advice.
So why hadn’t she taken it?
She was back on the bus with her classmates a few minutes later. The Coke sat in her bag, unopened. She was seated next to her friend Betsy but didn’t talk much. Betsy asked her what was wrong at one point but Meredith didn’t really have an answer for her.
When they got back to the school, Meredith opted to walk home. It wasn’t far and the day had cooled down considerably. She was hoping the walk home would make her feel better about what happened.
But it didn’t.
When Meredith came home, she set the bottle of Coke down on the counter. She sat at the kitchen table and stared at it, still trying to make sense of the events of that day. She thought of Andy, who probably started the day angry and ended it even angrier. Then she thought of the kids from Douglas Academy who had started out the day without a care in the world and ended it with even less worry. And why should they? They went to a fancy school and still managed to get a free drink from somebody.
Since it was almost dinnertime, Meredith decided to take a shower and at least wash the chlorine out of her hair. The sticky, tangled mess on top of her head only served as a further reminder of the awkward incident that had gone down just a few hours earlier. She started to head for the bathroom and that's when her mother came in with an armful of groceries.
“Hey, baby, sorry I’m late,” she said kissing Meredith on the cheek before making a face. “Yeesh, you smell like that stinky water park. Why don’t you go take a shower before dinner?”
“I was going to,” Meredith replied, turning her eyes back to the Coke. Maybe her mother could help her out.
"Well, hop to it then," her mother said, motioning for Meredith to go. "And throw that wet towel and your bathing suit in with the laundry. I don't want them to collect any mildew."
“Mom?” Meredith asked as her mother began unpacking the groceries.
“What is it, baby?”
“You know how you always said it’s best to share and help people whenever we can?”
“Yeah?” her mother asked, waiting for her to go on.
“Well, what if you shared with people but they weren’t nice about it and just took advantage of you?”
“That happens,” her mom replied, putting a package of chicken in the fridge. “But more often than not, people appreciate it when you help them.”
“But what if you could have helped somebody but you didn’t because you were afraid they’d just take advantage of you like the other people did?”
“I don’t know,” her mother answered. “Did this person need help?”
“Yes,” Meredith said, feeling her face grow warm again.
“Then you should have helped them, baby,” her mother replied sternly. “Sometimes you’ll be taken advantage of and that’s unfortunate but you’ll just have to grin and bear it.”
And with that, her mother grabbed Meredith’s Coke off the counter and dumped the entire thing into the large green plastic cup that she normally reserved for her “special grape juice”.
Meredith watched speechless as her mother took two giant sips before letting out a huge belch.
“Okay?” her mother asked, putting her hand on Meredith’s shoulder. Meredith merely nodded in response and her mother left the room, sipping and relishing Meredith’s Coke.
Meredith walked over to the sink and stared down at the empty bottle as small brown droplets dripped down its side. If there was a lesson here, Meredith wasn’t entirely sure what it was but then she remembered school would be out soon and she had a whole summer to look forward to. Good things would happen and soon enough, this incident would likely be a distant memory. With all of that in mind, Meredith decided to take her mother’s advice and bear it.
But the grin could go fuck itself.
Enjoy!
Sharing
Meredith was thirsty. That wasn’t surprising, considering it was almost ninety degrees in the shade. And even if she was at a water park, the attractions did little to stave off the brutal and unrelenting heat. It had been twenty minutes since she had last been on a waterslide and her reddish-brown hair had dried into a crinkled, chlorinated mess. She wore an old One Direction t-shirt over her bathing suit and her white flip flops smacked against the hot pavement as she worked her way over to the snack bar.
Although the school had provided bagged lunches for her and her classmates, her mother had given her twenty dollars for snacks and a souvenir (“But don’t feel the need to spend it all!” her mother had admonished her before sending her off that morning). Meredith thought her mother would be pleased to know that she hadn’t spent any of it and the day was almost over.
The souvenirs were all crappy and only the boys seemed interested in the games. One of them involved testing your strength by hitting a mallet against a metal base. If you hit it hard enough, the light at the top of the tower attached to the base would ring and you’d win a prize. Meredith was amused to see that Davey Phillips, the scrawniest kid in her class, won on his first try while Matt Jacobs, a football player who liked to show off his biceps, lost immediately afterward. Matt smiled as his friends teased him but his face also turned beet-red, something Meredith had enjoyed seeing immensely. Matt had called her a hippo right before Christmas break and she had hated him ever since. She knew she was chubby; she didn’t a jerk like him pointing it out.
All in all, it had been a fun day but she was ready to go home. Her mother had insisted on sunblock and while Meredith had slathered herself with it, she already knew she was going to look like a lobster the next day. But she’d worry about that then. For now, she just wanted a Coke.
She reached the snack bar, where a pleasant-looking older woman was wiping down the stainless steel surface with a wet rag. She had brown, wrinkly skin that looked like it had seen too much sun but also a dazzling smile that displayed a set of big white teeth. She reminded Meredith of her Aunt Rhonda, a boisterous woman with a loud, booming laugh that always remembered to bring Meredith a Toblerone bar when she visited. Chocolate for an already chubby girl might seem like a bad idea but Meredith knew Aunt Rhonda would never judge her, she just knew Meredith liked Toblerone bars. It was one of the many things that made Rhonda her favorite aunt.
“What can I get you, sweetie?” the woman asked, slinging the wet rag over her shoulder.
“A Coke, please,” Meredith said, fishing the twenty out of the small change purse her mother had given her.
“Coming up,” the woman said, reaching into the cooler and drawing out a sweaty bottle of Coke, its red label shining brilliantly in the sunlight. Meredith was relieved the woman hadn’t asked if she wanted a Coke Zero instead but this lady was like Aunt Rhonda. She didn’t judge you because she was perfectly okay with you being yourself.
“Two sixty-nine,” the woman said, ringing it up on the register. Meredith gave her the twenty and kept her eye on the cold and frosty looking Coke. She couldn’t wait to crack it open.
The woman handed Meredith her change and gave her another grin, putting her large white teeth on display once more.
“Enjoy, honey!”
Meredith nodded and took the Coke and walked toward one of the tables with the blue and white umbrellas over them. She sat down and unscrewed the cap with a satisfying “hiss” as droplets of moisture sprayed her arms and hands. It felt wonderful. She was just about to take her first sip when she heard somebody call out to her.
“My name’s Gina,” the voice said in a way that suggested it was information Meredith had requested.
Meredith lowered the bottle and looked over to see a pretty girl about her own age with long blonde hair and tanned skin, a stark contrast from Meredith’s sunburnt and freckled fair skin.
“What did you say?” Meredith asked.
“My name,” the girl said, taking off her sunglasses to reveal striking blue eyes. “It’s Gina.”
“Oh,” Meredith said, not really sure how to respond.
Gina laughed and pointed at the bottle. Meredith turned it around and saw it had “Share a Coke with Gina” written across the label in a curvy, cheerful font.
“Oh,” Meredith said again, finally catching on.
Gina let out another laugh and held out her hand.
“So how about it?”
Meredith looked at the bottle again before looking back at Gina.
“Do you want some?” she asked the pretty girl.
“Yeah, it’s freaking hot out,” the girl said. “I’ve had like three bottles of water already.”
She kept her hand out expectantly and Meredith hesitated at first. Who was this girl? And did she always come up to random strangers and expect free stuff from them? Based on her designer swimsuit and expensive-looking sandals, Meredith guessed this wasn’t the sort of the girl who needed to beg for anything. But then she remembered how hot it was and that it was still important to share, even if you were in the sixth grade. Sensing no real harm in letting Gina have a little bit, Meredith gave the bottle to her. Gina grabbed it and took three quick sips. She fired off a short belch and giggled before handing the bottle back to Meredith.
“Thanks,” she said. “That tasted so good.”
Just as Meredith was about to engage her in conversation, a group of four other kids walked over. Like Gina, they all had tanned skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair. They almost looked like they had been made in a lab and that was when Meredith realized they were from Douglas Academy, a private school on the outskirts of Meredith’s town. It was where wealthy people from all over the world sent their kids. The more cynical townspeople referred to it as “Dickless Academy” and Meredith had occasionally seen some of the older kids at the mall. They were conspicuous by their uniforms, consisting of gray trousers for the boys and gray skirts and dark tights for the girls. If that didn’t make them stick out enough, they all wore bright red blazers with the Douglas Academy crest emblazoned on the lapel. Meredith found the idea of a fancy boarding school fascinating and had asked her mother what it would take for her to go there.
“A lot of money we don’t have,” her mother had replied shortly. And Meredith’s family was far from poor, so she couldn’t imagine the kind of money those people had. And yet here one of them was, drinking from her Coke like she didn’t have a dime to her name.
“Man, it’s hot as balls out here,” said one of Gina’s pretty friends, brushing his fingers through his wavy blonde hair. “You guys want anything to drink?”
“Well, hold on,” Gina said before turning back to Meredith. “Do you think my friends could get a sip of your Coke?”
All of the pretty people were staring at Meredith now. She could say no and find her classmates or she could share her drink and potentially make some new friends. Plus she really didn’t want these kids thinking less of her. What if she ran into them at the mall sometime?
“Sure,” she said, offering them her Coke. The boy grabbed it from her and took a huge gulp before passing it around to his friends. By the time it came back to Meredith, it was mostly gone, save for a tiny bit at the bottom that was likely just backwash.
“Thanks, kid,” Gina said before standing up and joining her friends. They walked away from Meredith, looking back once before letting out a brief burst of laughter. Meredith’s ears grew warm and she suddenly felt very foolish. Other than Gina, none of them had bothered to say thank you or even acknowledged her at all. Is that how rich kids from Douglas Academy treated people? If that was the case, Meredith definitely didn’t have any desire to go there and yet she also couldn’t help but think how much easier life would be if she did. Still thirsty and wanting to put this rather embarrassing incident behind her, Meredith stood up and walked back to the snack bar where the lady who reminded her of Aunt Rhonda was busy emptying an ice bucket into the metal cooler.
“Well, hello again,” the woman said, flashing Meredith her white teeth. “What can I get for you now?”
“Another Coke please,” Meredith said, feeling her face flush. She didn’t even have a sip of the last one but she still felt like a pig. But just like before, the woman seemed to pay this no mind, reaching into the cooler and pulling out another sweaty Coke.
“Hot one today, isn’t it?” she asked, ringing it up on the cash register.
Meredith nodded and paid the woman. As she headed back to her table, she checked the label and saw “Share a Coke with Andy” written on it. That was okay. Meredith didn’t know anybody named Andy except for…
“Do you think I could get some of that?”
Meredith turned around and saw Andy Kline standing behind her. He was wearing a Metallica t-shirt with holes in it and old gym shorts in lieu of swim trunks. Meredith knew that Andy’s family was very poor and that Andy often had trouble in school. He also smelled bad, which did little to improve his reputation. Although Meredith had tried to be nice to him in the past, he always seemed like he was on the verge of getting into a fight with someone, which happened more often than not. But that wasn’t the case now. At that moment, Andy Kline had a grin on his face that was hopeful and even a little desperate. Meredith could see the beads of sweat dripping from his dirty and badly cut hair. Poor Andy was just thirsty and probably didn’t have the money for his own Coke.
“Just one sip?” he said holding up his forefinger. Meredith noticed that the fingernail at the end was long and jagged and he also had an old Band Aid wrapped around the top knuckle.
“Um…” Meredith replied as she wrapped her hand tightly around the bottle, letting its coolness soak into her palm. “I don’t know, Andy.”
And she didn’t. The last time she had shared her Coke she didn’t even get to enjoy one sip of it. How was that fair? And while Andy was only one person, she also remembered watching her cousin gulp down an entire two-liter bottle of Mountain Dew at a picnic the previous summer. Boys were gross, especially when it came to junk food. Plus there was the issue of Andy’s teeth. There were yellow with flecks of brown on them. One of his front ones had even partially rotted away, making Andy’s mouth look like it belonged to an animal and not a little boy in the sixth grade.
“Please?” Andy asked, his tone whiny but also slightly petulant. Meredith didn’t like where this was going.
“Sorry, Andy, but it’s my only one,” she finally replied, feeling slightly guilty.
“Then you’re just a bitch!” Andy yelled at her. “I ain’t got no money for my own drink and I just wanted one sip and it’s really hot out. Thanks for nothin’, hippo!”
And then he stormed off, his ancient sneakers falling apart at the soles as he shoved past several other kids. Meredith watched his head angrily bob through the crowd before it disappeared into the arcade at the other end of the park.
She held up the Coke and looked at the words on the label again: “Share a Coke with Andy”. It seemed like good advice.
So why hadn’t she taken it?
She was back on the bus with her classmates a few minutes later. The Coke sat in her bag, unopened. She was seated next to her friend Betsy but didn’t talk much. Betsy asked her what was wrong at one point but Meredith didn’t really have an answer for her.
When they got back to the school, Meredith opted to walk home. It wasn’t far and the day had cooled down considerably. She was hoping the walk home would make her feel better about what happened.
But it didn’t.
When Meredith came home, she set the bottle of Coke down on the counter. She sat at the kitchen table and stared at it, still trying to make sense of the events of that day. She thought of Andy, who probably started the day angry and ended it even angrier. Then she thought of the kids from Douglas Academy who had started out the day without a care in the world and ended it with even less worry. And why should they? They went to a fancy school and still managed to get a free drink from somebody.
Since it was almost dinnertime, Meredith decided to take a shower and at least wash the chlorine out of her hair. The sticky, tangled mess on top of her head only served as a further reminder of the awkward incident that had gone down just a few hours earlier. She started to head for the bathroom and that's when her mother came in with an armful of groceries.
“Hey, baby, sorry I’m late,” she said kissing Meredith on the cheek before making a face. “Yeesh, you smell like that stinky water park. Why don’t you go take a shower before dinner?”
“I was going to,” Meredith replied, turning her eyes back to the Coke. Maybe her mother could help her out.
"Well, hop to it then," her mother said, motioning for Meredith to go. "And throw that wet towel and your bathing suit in with the laundry. I don't want them to collect any mildew."
“Mom?” Meredith asked as her mother began unpacking the groceries.
“What is it, baby?”
“You know how you always said it’s best to share and help people whenever we can?”
“Yeah?” her mother asked, waiting for her to go on.
“Well, what if you shared with people but they weren’t nice about it and just took advantage of you?”
“That happens,” her mom replied, putting a package of chicken in the fridge. “But more often than not, people appreciate it when you help them.”
“But what if you could have helped somebody but you didn’t because you were afraid they’d just take advantage of you like the other people did?”
“I don’t know,” her mother answered. “Did this person need help?”
“Yes,” Meredith said, feeling her face grow warm again.
“Then you should have helped them, baby,” her mother replied sternly. “Sometimes you’ll be taken advantage of and that’s unfortunate but you’ll just have to grin and bear it.”
And with that, her mother grabbed Meredith’s Coke off the counter and dumped the entire thing into the large green plastic cup that she normally reserved for her “special grape juice”.
Meredith watched speechless as her mother took two giant sips before letting out a huge belch.
“Okay?” her mother asked, putting her hand on Meredith’s shoulder. Meredith merely nodded in response and her mother left the room, sipping and relishing Meredith’s Coke.
Meredith walked over to the sink and stared down at the empty bottle as small brown droplets dripped down its side. If there was a lesson here, Meredith wasn’t entirely sure what it was but then she remembered school would be out soon and she had a whole summer to look forward to. Good things would happen and soon enough, this incident would likely be a distant memory. With all of that in mind, Meredith decided to take her mother’s advice and bear it.
But the grin could go fuck itself.
Midnight Deluxe (Print edition)
My short story collection Midnight Deluxe is now available as a paperback!
Get it here:
Midnight Deluxe (Paperback Edition)
Get it here:
Midnight Deluxe (Paperback Edition)
October (A new story every week)
Happy October!
In honor of the greatest holiday of the year, I'll be publishing a new story on Amazon at the beginning of each week for the entire month.
I'm kicking things off with Lucifer's Folly, a story about a deal with the Devil gone horribly wrong.
Enjoy!
Lucifer's Folly
In honor of the greatest holiday of the year, I'll be publishing a new story on Amazon at the beginning of each week for the entire month.
I'm kicking things off with Lucifer's Folly, a story about a deal with the Devil gone horribly wrong.
Enjoy!
Lucifer's Folly
Lost and Found: A Stone Canyon Story
For my second story this month, I've selected Lost and Found: A Stone Canyon Story.
Lost and Found acts as something of a prequel to Stone Canyon, a story I wrote about a year and a half ago. It deals with three friends who go on a camping trip in search of the elusive creature known as Bigfoot. Well, they find him and...
You can probably guess where it goes from there.
This story wasn't originally intended as a prequel. I've been fascinated with Bigfoot since my childhood but I think the idea of people encountering a big ape in the woods is fairly limited from a narrative standpoint. I had already told the story once and didn't see the need to recycle the concept again.
This story started out as The Creature of Gray Oaks and the basic idea was more or less the same. Two children are abducted and taken to a forest that's supposedly inhabited by a large lizard-like animal. The children have heard stories about it for their entire lives but don't know what to believe. When they arrive, it looks like all is lost but then the creature appears and eviscerates the children's abductor before disappearing back into the forest.
The story sounded a little thin and anemic to me. I considered abandoning it altogether before deciding it would actually work as a Stone Canyon story and feel fairly fresh to boot. I set in the early 90s to give the story a nostalgic feel while also adding to the mythology of Stone Canyon.
And I'm quite pleased with the results. See you next week for a robbery gone terribly wrong (complete with demon dogs and crazy old men).
Lost and Found: A Stone Canyon Story
Lost and Found acts as something of a prequel to Stone Canyon, a story I wrote about a year and a half ago. It deals with three friends who go on a camping trip in search of the elusive creature known as Bigfoot. Well, they find him and...
You can probably guess where it goes from there.
This story wasn't originally intended as a prequel. I've been fascinated with Bigfoot since my childhood but I think the idea of people encountering a big ape in the woods is fairly limited from a narrative standpoint. I had already told the story once and didn't see the need to recycle the concept again.
This story started out as The Creature of Gray Oaks and the basic idea was more or less the same. Two children are abducted and taken to a forest that's supposedly inhabited by a large lizard-like animal. The children have heard stories about it for their entire lives but don't know what to believe. When they arrive, it looks like all is lost but then the creature appears and eviscerates the children's abductor before disappearing back into the forest.
The story sounded a little thin and anemic to me. I considered abandoning it altogether before deciding it would actually work as a Stone Canyon story and feel fairly fresh to boot. I set in the early 90s to give the story a nostalgic feel while also adding to the mythology of Stone Canyon.
And I'm quite pleased with the results. See you next week for a robbery gone terribly wrong (complete with demon dogs and crazy old men).
Lost and Found: A Stone Canyon Story
Beware of Dog
For my third story this month, I've published Beware of Dog, a fun story that was mainly inspired by my love for Tales from the Crypt.
In this story, the blood is bright red and the humor coal black, which were two of things that made Tales from the Crypt work so well for me. I'm pleased I got to re-create that style and tone with Beware of Dog.
And what does the eponymous dog actually look like? Good question. I'll leave that to your imagination and if you have one, your DeviantArt page. Tumblr is also acceptable.
Enjoy!
Beware of Dog
In this story, the blood is bright red and the humor coal black, which were two of things that made Tales from the Crypt work so well for me. I'm pleased I got to re-create that style and tone with Beware of Dog.
And what does the eponymous dog actually look like? Good question. I'll leave that to your imagination and if you have one, your DeviantArt page. Tumblr is also acceptable.
Enjoy!
Beware of Dog
Halloween Ninety-Five
For my fourth story this month, I've decided to go with Halloween Ninety-Five. Like Lost and Found, it leans heavily on 90s nostalgia. I generally find nostalgia to be a cheap ploy to invoke an emotional response from your audience but it fits rather well with Halloween (and most other holidays), so it feels right here.
I was slightly older than the kids in the story, so my trick or treating days were behind me in 1995. However, I was still young enough to have that youthful sense of joy and wonder that the holiday brought for so many of us.
Now that I'm older, it's still my favorite holiday but it has a decidedly different feel. It isn't better or worse but it is different. And while we can't relive those glorious Halloween nights as adults, we still have our memories and stories like this to keep that spirit alive forever.
I hope you enjoy it. And may you always steer clear of hungry witches.
Halloween Ninety-Five
I was slightly older than the kids in the story, so my trick or treating days were behind me in 1995. However, I was still young enough to have that youthful sense of joy and wonder that the holiday brought for so many of us.
Now that I'm older, it's still my favorite holiday but it has a decidedly different feel. It isn't better or worse but it is different. And while we can't relive those glorious Halloween nights as adults, we still have our memories and stories like this to keep that spirit alive forever.
I hope you enjoy it. And may you always steer clear of hungry witches.
Halloween Ninety-Five
Drained
For my final story this glorious Halloween season, I've published Drained.
Like Stone Canyon and its prequel Lost and Found, Drained deals with a cryptid. This particular cryptid is known as the chupacabra ("goat sucker"), a lizard-like creature that primarily feeds on livestock. While it's been mainly sighted in South America, Central America, and the southwest portion of the United States, it's also been spotted as far north as Maine.
While I'm not quite as fascinated with the chupacabra as I am with Bigfoot, I thought its elusive and nocturnal nature would make for a fittingly tense and spooky story.
As always, my characters have problems beyond whatever evil forces they're fighting and poor, angry Jerry is no exception. Not everybody gets a happy ending in my stories but Jerry put himself on that path long before the events of Drained took place.
Enjoy the story and have a happy Halloween!
Drained
Like Stone Canyon and its prequel Lost and Found, Drained deals with a cryptid. This particular cryptid is known as the chupacabra ("goat sucker"), a lizard-like creature that primarily feeds on livestock. While it's been mainly sighted in South America, Central America, and the southwest portion of the United States, it's also been spotted as far north as Maine.
While I'm not quite as fascinated with the chupacabra as I am with Bigfoot, I thought its elusive and nocturnal nature would make for a fittingly tense and spooky story.
As always, my characters have problems beyond whatever evil forces they're fighting and poor, angry Jerry is no exception. Not everybody gets a happy ending in my stories but Jerry put himself on that path long before the events of Drained took place.
Enjoy the story and have a happy Halloween!
Drained
