James Pyles's Blog, page 142
June 27, 2018
Where the Ghosts Come From
“Let me out, do you hear? Let me out!” Olsen Hoyt pressed his intangible form against a non-existent boundary between the neither-world and the real one. “Why did you do this to me? I didn’t do anything wrong!” Pressing his non-face against the nothing holding him, he wept nullified tears. Their plan was to leave […]
Yesterday
Santiago set his guitar on its stand, and then closed the cover on “the Beatles complete easy guitar” book. This small upstairs room was his refuge, someplace where he could visit his youth. Aging fingers would never be as nimble again, nor his voice as clear. He whispered, “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far […]
June 26, 2018
The Last American Flag
Alex and Ginnie brought their heavily armed team up to the top of Crystal Peak. They didn’t have much time and had no hope at all. When they placed the flag here six months ago, they knew they were breaking the law, but America had been founded by a courageous group of law breakers. This […]
June 25, 2018
Can There Be Intersectionality Between Masculinity and Feminism?
I find myself writing more frequently about social issues on this blog for whatever reason. I probably shouldn’t, especially since I’m white, male, straight, cisgender, old, conservative (relative to liberal states – in relation to Idaho, I’m probably a moderate), and religious. In other words, based on that collection of labels, I’m a pretty terrible […]
Wanderjahr Interrupted
Chi Crain was temporarily marooned on Niophus halfway into his wanderjahr through the outer rim systems. Middle-aged and an apparent wastrel, he mused to himself that the Anonymous Saloon on the outskirts of Wastacarro City wasn’t such a bad place to hang out. He still hoped the repairs on his ship would be done soon. […]
June 24, 2018
When Hell Boils Over
Stop! If you haven’t done so already, read The Quest to Save Landon first. Landon’s soul shot straight up from the pits of Hell as fast as he could go, but Hell was a lot more confusing than he realized. There were all kinds of tunnels and passageways all over the place. Which one led […]
June 23, 2018
The Beelzebub
Lethargy had come upon five-year-old Zooey so suddenly that she was hardly able to stand, and the mouse Sapplehenning was unconscious and barely breathing. Mandy was holding her sister close to her, as the elves of Direhaven finished constructing the enormous flatbed cart with which they would transport the disabled dragon Shay. “I must say Jake, that your dreams are very creative, […]
One Child’s Life
The strangers with her on the rooftop paused in unison. Before Rahab laid them under stalks of flax in order to hide them from the soldiers of the King, she said, “I know that Hashem has given you the Land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants […]
Who Murdered the Lady in the Lake?
Simon sighed as he read of Gordon Park’s suicide in Garth Prison. He’d been convicted of murdering his wife Carol Ann six years ago, but continued to declare his innocence, claiming that she left him for another man. The last threat to exposing Simon died with Park. “Poor Carol Ann. You shouldn’t have kept trying […]
A Very Nice Rejection
This is what I came home to after a long and miserable work week yesterday. Oy. On the other hand, it’s very polite and didn’t actually say my writing sucked, plus the editor was encouraging in inviting me to submit to them again. I realized that all of the stories that have been rejected (three […]
