James Pyles's Blog, page 149
May 15, 2018
Flight Girl in Dieselworld
“Do you think you can fly it, Keisha?” “I’m not sure. I trained in a Cessna 152, not some World War Two wannabe.” The sixteen-year-old was once again in a different universe, the one she had saved last year, only for her friend Josiah Covington, twenty years had passed. She remembered him as a shy, […]
May 14, 2018
Prelude to Piracy
“My grandfather was a wonderful role model. Through him I got to know the gentle side of men.” –Sarah Long Keisha’s body jerked as she woke up. She remembered falling, but everything was dark and still around her. No, not everything. “Miss Davis, you’re going to be fine. You just had a frightful dream, is […]
The Highjump Mystery
December 30, 1946 – Antarctica “George 1 calling Little America base, come in Little America, over.” The radio receiver aboard the US Navy Martin PBM-5 Mariner flying somewhere near Thurston Island emitted harsh static but no message of hope. “Nothing doing, Lieutenant.” Radioman James Robbins turned to Bill Kearns, the aircraft’s co-pilot. I can’t raise […]
May 13, 2018
The Runaway Stuffed Rabbit
“What in the name of a bunch of deleted, censored, and just plain bad words happened to me?” The scream came out of Landon’s room, but the nine-year-old was at school at the moment, so the only ones to hear him were the boy’s nearly three-year-old sister Dani, his Grandpa, and of course, Buddy the […]
The Elephants of Yesterday
“Which end is the face?” The class started giggling at Dao’s remark, and Gima laughed so loud that their teacher Mr. Ji scowled at her. “That’s her tail, but you’re right, it could be her trunk.” “What are they called again?” Merilyn looked down at the small sign next to the reconstructions. “Elephant. That’s a […]
May 12, 2018
The Seedy Profiler
It was in the days of cedars when Cedric the seeder spread his precious gift as if in a daze. Just kidding. Winter hadn’t been kind to his lawn, and Bill was using a hand seeder to spread some “love” on some of the barer patches. He didn’t want to get it too close to the […]
The Missing Manuscript Affair
Only about a dozen or so people knew that Olivia Lewis, the woman discovered drowned in a fast-flowing stream near Bethesda after a storm, was a retired SIS operative. She never carried a gun, for her talents were in finding the right approach to a target and then getting them to tell her anything she […]
May 11, 2018
The Pirate Anne Bonny
The crash of wave and snap of sail sung to her, and Anne Bonny was never more alive than when she was at sea. Now that she and Calico Jack Rackham were wedded, aboard the stolen and former Royal Navy frigate “William,” she, Rackham, and her closest companion Mary Read had recruited a new crew […]
May 10, 2018
The Fallen
Jake saw Dani standing in a gorge between two cliffs holding Witherbrand in her hand. Her blade was covered with blood and she was surrounded by bodies. “Dani, what happened?” The seven-year-old looked around but couldn’t see his brother or sisters, that is, until he looked closer at the dead people on the ground. “Dani?” […]
Darfur Misspelled
Ali Garang Salah stared into the black mirror and saw his past. He was only five years old the first time he was raped. They murdered his Father right before his eyes, then raped and murdered his Mother and three sisters. The Sudanese soldier took a liking to little Ali, or so he said, and […]
