James Pyles's Blog, page 211

The Fall of the Saints

The Milan Cathedral, a once majestic landmark, was in ruins. He never thought to visit this ancient structure, anathema to his own nature, an artifact to a once vast empire. He looked up at the Saint and the Priest. The Priest was struggling to keep the Saint integrated, but his powers were weakening, his prayers growing […]

Pointing Out the Road Homeward

Thursday, April 30, 1970, Kampala, Uganda. “Rabbi Sizomu, you have a year to get the Jews out of Kampala before Idi Amin gains power.” “How can you be so certain of this, my friend?” “Do you trust me?” Both men were standing on a lonely road, untamed brush to the right, a large hothouse farm […]

Choices

Tommy’s Dad always had to work on Saturdays, so Grandpa took him to his special Cub Scouting event. Last week, Grandpa and Tommy went to another Scouting Dad’s place to use power tools to make the Scout’s pinewood racing car. Today was the big day, race day! Tommy Sheridan had no idea that Grandpa used to smoke. […]

Violation

Yesterday, I wrote a short story called The Wolf’s Mate, a werewolf tale that’s actually a romance. Gwen is married to Larry and is pregnant. Larry is also a werewolf who even recognizes his “mate’s” scent while he is the wolf. I started thinking of different ways to spin the story, and the night Gwen […]

Family Monument

After five-year-old Barry and his Grandpa were done playing in the park, the little boy stood marveling at the giant, rusty wheel, while Grandpa went to get the picnic basket. Bubbe had made their favorite split pea soup and they sat eating and reading comic books in the wheel’s comforting shadow. Grandpa said it used […]

The Wolf’s Mate

He was loping at the edge of the Presidio Golf Course when he caught a familiar smell on the breeze. At first he thought it was prey, but he had no interest in prey, having eaten a rather large hare not half an hour before. She was maybe half a mile away as humans measure […]

To Fly Again

Every year, Norm would take a vacation from his job as an aeronautics engineer at Hughes Aircraft to go hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Norm liked to cut his own rough trails through the forest, which was why he was so surprised when he came across the old DeSoto. 1947 or 48 by the […]

The Old Astronaut

I finally made it. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Never thought I’d get the chance to visit. I always wanted to see all these exhibits. I spent my childhood, my whole life really, admiring astronauts and their accomplishments. I used to spend hours pretending I was wearing a spacesuit, just like the one […]

Robin at the Brazen Head

“I’m tellin’ ya mate, he would come in and drink right here. This is a really famous pub, oldest in Ireland.” The skeptical American tourist listened to his half-inebriated friend. “Sean, you’re one of my best friends, and I’m glad you’re showing me around Dublin on my visit, but you can’t be serious.” “Michael, you […]

Burning the Bridge to Heaven

The night fire on the beach burned bright and hot. I stared into its warmth and chaos for hours. It held the end of everything I was, everything I thought I’d ever be. I could still feel blood dripping down my back. I cut off my wings and incinerated them. I got the prompt for […]