James Pyles's Blog, page 173

The Troublesome Princess

“I will not marry you, Prince Abo. Go away.” “You cannot stay in your tree forever, Princess Yasuko. You are of age now and our parents betrothed us to each other in our seventh year.” “I don’t care. You are a pig. I will stay in the Empress Tree until I die if you don’t […]

You’re Too Early

“Confess, Adolphus. We know you’re an anti-Semite. We know what horrors you are going to commit.” “Please, Fräulein. I’m blind. I’m supposed to be in hospital. Who are you? Where have you brought me? I’ve done nothing. I’m just a wounded soldier.” “Rivkah. Leave him in his cell. I need to speak with you.” She […]

Strange Vision

“Why is it so dark in here, Dr. Chandler? How am I supposed to know if the operation worked for not?” Ten-year-old Joey Wright was sitting in what felt like an eye doctor’s chair waiting for his new pair of glasses. There had been something wrong with his eyes and Dr. Chandler had to do […]

The Kugel

“I tell you Esther Cowell’s the quintessential Kugel, Avi, laughing and flirting with the Vichy like a woman of ill repute. Just look at those clothes, how the neckline dips. Is that the dress of a modest Jewish woman?” “Be reasonable, Moshe. There are so few of us who live on the island. Who does […]

Rube Goldberg Doesn’t Live Here

“What’s it do, Mikey?” “Beats me, Lynn.” The eight-year-old boy and his six-year-old sister stood contemplating the strange series of discs constructed in their Grandpa’s backyard. “I’ll take a picture and do an image search.” Moments later the boy’s handheld yielded a result. “I think it’s called a Rube Goldberg machine, a really complicated machine […]

The Raven Queen

The Raven Queen was ancient, perhaps as old as the Flood of Noah or even older. She had possessed many names and many guises over the long millennia depending on which people she chose to bless or curse, their languages, traditions, and the like. She had her favorite identities so when apart from the places […]

The Alternative Lens

The specially designed mannequin upon which the glasses were kept was distorted, being pushed partially out of reality. This was Silvia Mason’s goal. Her employer had paid millions for the world’s greatest thief to break into a classified government facility and steal the experimental Alternative Lens, but she was going to keep them for herself. Once […]

Double Take

“Who are you?” Kas hated that the first thought that popped into his head when he answered the door had to do with looking into a mirror. “May I come in?” The man looked exactly like Kas except for the clothes which were a hell of a lot more expensive than he could possibly afford. […]

I is an Illusion

Jonathan wandered through the ruins, awkwardly stepping over stone debris in what was left of a large city. It looked like Los Angeles but he wasn’t sure. The city was old. It reminded him of when he was a kid, but he didn’t know why. “What am I doing here? Where is everybody?” The air […]

The Burning

I had less than six hours to find them but that would be enough. Snow betrayed them. Their tracks were easily followed. They’d hoped anyone seeing them would assume they were made by early morning walkers, but in this kind of cold, any sane person would be still in bed or warming themselves around a wood stove or fireplace. […]