James Pyles's Blog, page 146
June 6, 2018
Anticipating the Anthology “To Be Men”
I’ve become aware of a book soon to be made available through Superversive Press called To Be Men: Stories Celebrating Masculinity. It’s an anthology and actually the sort of project I’d have loved to contribute to. The theme is based on a premise currently popular in speculative fiction and in certain social perspectives, that traditional masculinity […]
A Glitch in Time
This was fantastic. He never thought he’d see Lennon, McCartney, and Starr perform together again. They certainly showed their age, their voices not quite as vibrant as he remembered from childhood, but they were legends. Oswaldo Gantz watched his grandchildren holding up their smartphones to take photos just like all of the other kids around […]
Moshe Visits the Met
Moshe Katz was in New York visiting his Tante and Feter, and they made the San Francisco Private Detective play tourist, including a visit to the Met’s Diamond Jubilee. Then things got ridiculous. He’d heard of Marian Anderson, but who the hell were Judy Collins, Yo-Yo Ma, and Itzhak Perlman? “Alright, Mr. Watson, I’m going to […]
June 5, 2018
Subterranean Hideaway
“Grandpas bring a little wisdom, happiness, warmth, and love to every life they touch” –Anonymous Keisha could hear the two Spads veer off to either side just after the machine gun clatter stopped. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she’d bent forward in her chair as far as she could, covering her head with her […]
Oozing
Shame oozed from her pores and covered her in syrup that smelled like sex. No matter how much she washed, it just kept coming, so she sat. It had happened in the kitchen and Lela thanked whatever powers there may be that no one was home besides the cat. But the cat was bad enough […]
Return to Delhi
The Airbus A320 Neo landed back in Delhi after one of its two engines stalled in midflight to Ranchi. Passengers and crew were safely returned to the ground, but not allowed to approach the terminal. Investigators ordered the passengers to be deplaned and escorted to a quarantine area. Captain Laghari was justifiably incensed as federal […]
June 4, 2018
Cheating on the Bechdel Test
“She’s right Monet, Mum, but an expert at oblivescence. Can’t even remember my cell number to call me.” “Stop trying to be epigrammatic, Jilly. Just say that the little tart can’t be bothered with you after your one night stand.” Jilly and her Mum Sophia were having their weekly chat over tea at Starbucks on Conduit […]
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 […]
