James Pyles's Blog, page 182
November 12, 2017
Audrey of the Sewers
“Hey, kid.” Twelve-year-old Jeff Edwards was crossing the street when he heard it. “Down here.” He looked down at the sewer drain. “Come a little closer.” “What the…?” “Wait! It’s not what you think.” Jeff stopped. The drain was securely grated so he figured nothing could get out. Then he felt something. A little vine […]
November 11, 2017
The Acropolis by Night
“You know we could be shot for this Manolis.” “You’re worried about a Nazi bullet, Stefanos? How about we don’t fall first and break our necks.” “I’d rather break my neck than hide like a coward from those bastards even one more day.” The two teens faced the dangers of climbing to the uppermost point […]
November 10, 2017
Far Too Late
“God knows I never meant to hurt you…I never meant take it that far…” He was the perfect man for her but she was born far too late. Alec Bristol (born Archibald Leech) died of a stroke when he was 82 years old. Throughout his entire film career, he was the quintessential leading man, suave, […]
November 9, 2017
The Man in the Dark
Autumn 2017 – London “Here’s what we’ve got from your video and description of the suspect. Amanda Thomas, 48 years old, born Zuhal Amanda Clarke, Father George Sanford Clarke, British, a nationally syndicated columnist and novelist, Mother Aliya Fowler, moderately successful painter of mixed English-Arab descent.” Mikiko expected to be debriefed or briefed or whatever in […]
November 8, 2017
First Flight
The Present – Salerno, Italy The young Japanese woman looked as if she were just another curious spectator in the crowd watching the corpses being offloaded from the vessel sent to retrieve them from the Mediterranean Sea. Mikiko Jahn felt the tears welling up behind her eyes and almost overwhelming grief and anger like a […]
Murder at 900 North Michigan
Mikiko left her room at the Four Seasons reluctantly ready to kill the assassin-for-hire called Sandman. MI6 learned his condo was on the 29th floor. Her contact arranged the Glock. She’d never met Sandman, but she knew his victim’s scent from last month’s encounter. Mikiko barely survived a nuclear accident six years ago and […]
November 7, 2017
The Sculptor with a Long Memory
“Dragons? Why?” “A lad back at the shop makes them. Pretty good advertising, eh?” Norstar Recyclers Director Paul Sweet was showing off the artwork to his neighbor Quentin Choi. “I guess so, Paul. Seems bit fanciful. What else does he do?” “Specializes in extinct beasts. Working on a Stegodon right now. Says it reminds him […]
November 6, 2017
The Swimmer
The Present – The Sea of Japan off the Coast of North Korea Without actually taking on the characteristics of a sea mammal, Mikiko’s body had adapted to become the most efficient human swimming machine possible. The British Naval Submarine Wilson could only travel undetected to within eight kilometers of North Korea’s eastern coast. It was […]
November 5, 2017
The Search for Armageddon
“It’s just a camera. Where’s the special device you told me about?” “It’s quite special Mikiko, if you’ll allow me to explain.” Everyone called Desmond Llewelyn an “old curmudgeon,” but the Japanese agent found him endearing, sort of how she remembered Sofu. For the past year, he’d been outfitting her for missions assigned by their two governments. “It’s a sophisticated sensor […]
November 4, 2017
Restoring a Lost Eden (Expanded)
It was dark but they still had to be careful. Ever since the anti-Fascists took over the country, Germans were being rounded up, incarcerated, and brutally interrogated for information related to the Nazis. The woman looked to be thirty to thirty-five years old and about six months pregnant which was obvious even through the overcoat she was wearing. She […]
