James Pyles's Blog, page 218
January 26, 2017
Man Out of Time
When the pilot and his wife ran from my shadowy, fluid form, leavingme standing in the NASA control center in the Mojave Desert, they placed a lit road flare just outside the door to keepme from following them. They knewI was a being out of time, a man trapped in an endless limbo only they […]
January 25, 2017
Traveling the Road Back
William Shaw was pulling the modified 1902 Cadillac Runabout behind his SUV to an abandoned country road where he would be unobserved. He’d purchased it from an elderly widow, her husband’s pride and joy, but the old man lacked stamina and finances to restore this beauty. Shaw unloaded the Cadillac at his destination. Appropriately costumed, […]
January 24, 2017
The Last Lunch at Nanking’s
Joel had been bringing his son Chris to the Nanking’s on Balboa since he was seven. They had father-son talks over dumpling soup or dry-fried chicken. Tommy Woo, the owner, was like an uncle to the boy. Joel and Chris eventually became a fixture at Nanking’s. Chris was 30 now and engaged. This was their […]
January 22, 2017
Another Chance
Jeff and MaryEdge were getting a divorce and they didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Mary’s parents suggested that they try marital counseling, but Mary was tired of Jeff’s drinking and Jeff was tired of Mary not getting a job to help with the family finances. They’d had it with each other and they […]
Finding Love Again
The so-called Country Hotel was located in the center of town. Dreary, gray, depressing place, but it’s where Janice said to meet. He’d been in worse. Dean checked in and took his luggage to his room on the fifth floor. Janice made the reservation, so she’d know where to find him. He didn’t unpack, just […]
January 21, 2017
Burning the Ghetto
“First they lock us up in this filth, then they try to burn us out! Rabbi, what can we do?” Natan Ganz was panicking along with most of the other Jewish inhabitants of Rome’s Ghetto. They were trapped. In truth, they’d been trapped for over 240 years, ever since the then Pope ordered the Jewish […]
The Landing
“I made it.” 18-year-old Mathias Rust had just landed his Cessna 172 on Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge by St. Basil’s Cathedral near Red Square. He’d flown through some of the most heavily guarded airspace in the world and wasn’t shot down by Soviet Interceptors. Mathias got out of his aircraft and was nervously greeted by passersby. […]
January 20, 2017
Never Bother Sally When She’s Eating
Sally used a rock to crack it open and get at the yummy, gooey center. She took her spoon out of her rucksack, licked off the leftovers from last meal, and dug in. “Mmmm. Still warm.” The sunhad just set as she pulled her already dead prey into the ravine. Sally liked privacy when she […]
The Running Man
The explosion was centered near the southern shore of Groom Lake, Nevada, in what used to be a large military base known euphemistically as Area 51. It took out almost all of Southern Nevada along with parts of eastern California, as well as western Utah and Arizona. Hundreds of millions died and yet there was […]
January 18, 2017
Night Reflections
The night smelled of the autumn rain that had just ended, but Dawn still clung to her umbrella. Stephen came up from behind and they watched their reflection in the pond. Their’s was an eternal love story, though a cursed one. After all, Stephen had made Dawn a vampire nearly a century ago. Now, it […]
