James Pyles's Blog, page 191

Eye of the Storm

Somewhere in that vast throng of revelers was Rachel Aiyana Zheutlin, a woman out of time. Gordon Ashe, Ross Murdock, and Travis Fox stood looking down at Jerusalem. King Solomon had dedicated the Temple of Hashem, God of the Hebrews two days ago, and from what Ashe recalled, blood ran exceedingly freely as 22,000 oxen […]

The Wrong Temple

“This isn’t how I remembered it, husband.” “I believe we’ve lost our way. Come.” “No!” She shook off her brother’s hand. “Something’s familiar here, yet alien. This can’t be my temple.” “It’s been thousands of years.” “Take your hands off of me, philanderer. Which slut were you with last night? Artemis? Circe? That whore Aphrodite?” […]

The Hiroshima Legacy: From Tales of the Yūrei

“Five minutes out from target, Colonel. Altitude three two three three three feet. Local time zero eight one zero.” “Acknowledged, Captain. Status of the package, Captain Parsons?” “Parsons here, Colonel. Package armed in flight. Lt. Jeppson took the final safeties off 25 minutes ago. We’re set down here.” “Acknowledged, Captain. We are a go for […]

Yūrei

Taketoki Washizu had been Captain of the freighter Tsukimi for almost a year. It had been a year to the day when the Tsukimi’s former master Noriyasu Odagura had perished at sea, swept from the desk of this very ship during a storm. The official board of inquiry determined his death to be a tragic […]

Day Three

The worms are back, eating me inside. I can feel them nibbling, inside my back, my right side, feasting on my flesh, my organs. They’re doing something to my skin. I itch all the time, especially when I’m trying to sleep. Sleep seems hopeless. I lie awake at night scratching and worrying and feeling myself […]

I’m Leaving You For 1966, Dear

“Where are you going, NaCumbea?” Martin Fields watched the woman he had fallen in love with put on her skin-tight temporal transfer suit. Both of them were reluctant time travelers, recruited by extra-dimensional beings for the purpose of correcting time anomalies in their little corner of time-space. She’d gone through hell and was just now […]

I Want To Make It With You

“It’s my year to choose our wedding anniversary theme so just put on a happy face.” “We weren’t married until 1980. How about a band from then?” “Hush. We met in high school in 1973. This was their big album that year.” “It ruined the senior prom.” Jean pressed “play” and the vintage CD stereo begin […]

The Incomplete Circle

Today Sanjay became a grandfather. He fondly recalled his own grandfather, who helped him understand we make our own joy rather than depending on possessions or people’s opinions. When his parents died, grandfather raised and comforted the boy. The old man died and Sanjay went to America taking his grandfather’s spirit with him. Otherwise, he […]

On a C-130 Flying into Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico National Guard C-130 was approaching Luis Muñoz Marín Airport carrying evacuees from St. Maarten in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. “Guys with swords just popped up in the hotel lobby, like Pirates of the Caribbean only more raw.” Gus Phillips had been vacationing in St. Maarten feeling lucky he was alive to […]

The Faith of Parents

“Thank God we stocked up on supplies before it got bad, Rick.” “Must be the frustrated Boy Scout in me. Never want to get caught with my shorts down.” Rick and Rachel Norman turned when they heard the giggling behind them. Their daughters, five-year-old Amie and her two-and-a-half-year-old sister Hannah were laughing. “Daddy’s shorts down,” […]