James Pyles's Blog, page 156

Duel at Orholt

There was the clatter of two pieces of wood rapidly striking each other, occasionally punctuated by a boy’s voice crying, “Ow!” It was after another day of hiking, another day in the wilderness, climbing steadily up from the seashore into low hills, heading back toward the Dark Hills which were in fact mountains. It was […]

Love Ain’t Nothing But Sex Misspelled

With apologizes to Harlan Ellison. Jeremy was her first real boyfriend. They’d been holding hands while walking to the bus stop after school for a month. Elisa knew her Mom and Dad wouldn’t let her date until she was 16, but that was almost a year away. What would it be like to kiss him? […]

Castaway on Piller Island

Nelson Lawrence Simon had been living the dream, sailing around the world in his 36 foot sloop until his rudder chain broke during a storm. The spare, which he thought he’d packed so carefully, had been exposed to four months of salt and moisture and had rusted. Current washed him up on the north shore […]

Everybody’s Got to Have a Hobby

He always took a photo at the end of each job as a keepsake. He’d taken out Frankie “the Weasel” Puleo, who WITSEC squirreled away out here renting cheap kayaks. It was just a job. Last month, it was a Federal Judge. Next time, it might be a State Senator or a rival drug dealer. […]

The Bunny in the Bow Tie

Ana kept chasing after the small dragon and then realized she was no longer in her room. In fact, she wasn’t sure she was even on Earth. It was early morning wherever she was, and the nine-year-old girl was freezing. She looked around and she seemed to be in the mountains. There were trees, bushes, […]

Prejudice of the Tolerant

Aaron and Esther Silverstein were walking hand-in-hand in the Musée des Beaux Arts in Montreal. It was only a five hour drive from Boston, and now that they were retired, the older couple had the time to take relaxing visits to all of the wonderful places that had always surrounded them through their long and […]

Flowers and Scars

“Aren’t they pretty, Eva?” She kept the name the nuns gave her. She had little in common with them, but they made occasional allies in her fight to take the children away from the depravity of the streets. “Of course they are, Malika. Where did you get them?” “The old man said he was closing […]

Whatever Happened to Eva?

Eva had lost count of how many men she’d slept with, but then this was never about keeping score. She rarely encountered Asmodius, her own seducer, the master incubus who launched her on this sad and lonely path of revenge, since she had fallen so deep into her own abyss, she required little encouragement to […]

The Downfall of Eva

The Sensualization of Eva was said to be from a Hellish source, her virtue up until that time being considered above reproach. But he was charming to the extreme, if insincere, resulting in that faraway look in her eyes, she being unable to resist his allure. She had come to the convent a charity case, […]

The Long Winter

“I can’t believe snow season’s extended into May. It’s incredible.” Dora had just finished her Junior year and would normally be cultivating her tan for the summer, but ski conditions at Snowbird were perfect. Her boyfriend Herb Klein graduated with a degree in History and had been accepted into Law school. “It’s amazing, like summer […]