James Pyles's Blog, page 189

Fox Strikes a Bargain

The Fantastic Mr. Fox was pissed. It wasn’t supposed to work out this way. He and his mates were supposed to outwit those three dumb farmers and steal all the food, but when he was raiding Bean’s henhouse, the old boy got the upper hand and caught him in a box trap. Oh, it’s the […]

Waiting in Ancienne Medina

He was waiting on a side street in Ancienne Medina. He wanted to go to Rick’s Café but she had other ideas. Even Daniel had to admit that visiting the only Jewish Cemetery in the Arab world was a novelty. She wasn’t looking for novelty, though. She was looking for their older brother. Joel had […]

The Night They Burned “The Cat in the Hat”

The older couple held hands and cried at the book burning party. Like everyone else in town, they were compelled by government edict to attend and witness the “liberating” event. Only State approved books were allowed in schools anymore. The State had been collecting those publications deemed “racist,” “sexist,” and every other forbidden “ist” on […]

Walking on Fragile Ribbons of Time

Peridot, Arizona – Date Unknown Travis woke up with a tremendous headache. The light was dim. He was laying on his back in what felt like a conventional bed. Was he back home at the Project? He tried to get his eyes to focus. Dim light coming from his right. Shades pulled down over a […]

I See You: An Alternate Ending

Allan didn’t need the glasses to read and he didn’t even need them to survive, not anymore. He had written an app so that it accessed the camera on his phone, letting it perform the task of detecting his adversary automatically. He took a seat in the back of the coffee shop where he had […]

Where Did Our Home Go?

How’d we get here? One minute we were fighting an Imp horde and the next we landed here. The demons were experimenting with a portal stone. That’s it. We’re on Earth but it’s not home. I’ve gotten a day job so I can buy food. I push myself through the gap in the gates with the […]

I See You

Allan didn’t need the glasses to read but he did need them to survive. He took a seat in the back of the coffee shop where he had a clear view of everyone coming and going. He had ordered the establishment’s trademark latte more to blend in than because he liked it. To the world […]

Landon to the Rescue

The 30th Story in the Adventures of the Ambrosial Dragon: A Children’s Fantasy Series The living stuffed animals were beginning to stir. If Buddy didn’t do something soon, they’d wake up to find Landon gone. They’d go looking for him which would let Gramps and Daddy-o know Landon was gone, too. The Ambrosial Dragon had […]

Missing Her

His two grandkids laughed. Grandpa had given his coffee cup a face. “What should we name him, Shelley?” The four-year-old girl twisted her face in serious contemplation, but her six-year-old brother Riley was quicker to respond. “Harold. It looks like a kid in my class.” “What if it’s a girl coffee cup?” “How can that be, Shel? […]

Saving the Egg

The 29th Story in the Adventures of the Ambrosial Dragon: A Children’s Fantasy Series “How far do we have to walk, Gerlilanum?” To eight-year-old Landon, it seemed like he, the dragon, and the donkey had been walking for days, but it couldn’t have been more than a few hours…or could it? The old dragon was […]