James Pyles's Blog, page 145
June 3, 2018
Worthy
“Raise your words, not your voice. It is the rain that grows flowers, not thunder.” –Rumi It wasn’t Santiago’s blindness that had caused him to neglect his gardening tools, because after all, he did not need to see in order to tend the heucheras, campanulas, and sedum sunsparklers. It was the machine took up all of his […]
The State of Dying
“This is the perfect place.” “But it’s just a burned up building, Grandpa.” “Exactly, Amy. Bring your brothers and sisters. Tell them to have their squirt guns fully loaded. We’re going to have a supersoaker blast playing “spy” in here.” The eight-year-old grinned as she ran back next door to his house. His neighbor’s wrecked […]
June 2, 2018
Victory and Judgment
Stop! Don’t read this unless you’ve first read The Runaway Stuffed Rabbit, The Battle for the Holy Grail Moose Milk, and then Fierce Combat in Moose Valley. Ana was still hanging on to the barely conscious dragon Merlyn and his companion Alfred, the bunny in the bow tie, using her amulet of flight to keep […]
Reimagining the King of Israel
Sing and be glad, O daughter of Zion, for behold! – I come and I will dwell among you – the words of Hashem. Many nations will attach themselves to Hashem on that day, and they shall become a people unto Me, but I will dwell among you – then you will realize that Hashem, […]
The Battle of Kings
It is said that the enmity between the Katoch and Sikh Kings perished with them, but such fierceness does not die with flesh. The Kangra Valley holds wondrous beauty and great mystery, and future historians would never be sure why the Temples of Masrur so resembled Elephanta Caves near Mumbai, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and […]
June 1, 2018
Death by Airship
“Grandfathers are just antique little boys.” –Unknown They got a lot farther than Keisha thought they would. Adrenaline and panic drove her and young Josiah up the first quarter of the trail, but after that, fatigue started to set in. Then fear rose again as they encountered the first unconscious mech man about halfway up. […]
Be Careful What You Tweet
Warning: This is a commentary, not a piece of fiction. If you came here for the fiction, this brief essay may not be for you. I’ve been thinking a lot about the Roseanne Barr major twitter gaffe that got her show cancelled, the whole Colin Kaepernick “taking the knee” protests, and how ABC and the […]
May 31, 2018
Conflagration
After Dani attached the leather leg band containing the message to her brother Aidan, Zooey whispered into the crow’s ear and released him into the air. The ebony bird took wing and flew up and northward, disappearing into the midnight blue sky. Sapplehenning finally poked his head above Zooey’s shirt collar. He had refused to […]
When Jimmy Was Five
When Jimmy was five, he got in the car with Mom and Dad and they went for a ride. Jimmy was worried when they drove through the little town with all the broken buildings. Little boys and girls like him had no pants on and were going wee-wee in the ditch. Why didn’t their Moms […]
May 30, 2018
One Last Hill
The hill seemed to get steeper everyday, but then, it really wasn’t the hill, it was him. He was getting older, always older, each and every day. He couldn’t remember the last time he could actually ride his bicycle up the hill on his way home. Was it last year? No, maybe it was five […]
