James Pyles's Blog, page 219
January 18, 2017
The Corridor
Ken Watanabe wasn’t shown the entrance off the courtyard when he took over Santa Fe’s historic Museum. The ex-Curator gave him the keys. The door had been locked since 1943. No one knew why. There was no eastern door inside, but it was apparent on the outer wall. Hesitantly, he used his key, opened the […]
January 17, 2017
You Are Not Expected To Understand This
/* *You are not expected *to understand this. */ Glenn laughed out loud in spite of the enormity of the problem facing him. “You are not expected to understand this.” It was probably the single most famous code comment in the history of UNIX and maybe the history of all Operating System programming. It first […]
The Barbie Syndrome
She was forced to walk on all fours thanks to her oversized head, it being two inches larger than it was before the surgery. To make matters worse, her head was sitting on a neck twice as long and six inches thinner than the one she had before. “Dr. Brennan, I can’t lift my head.” […]
January 16, 2017
The Nurturing Tree
Savannah hated to see the old tree taken down, but the thunderstorm three nights ago had broken its trunk, and it was a danger to her home and family. She’d lived in the same house across from the park since she was a little girl. She had fond memories of climbing in that tree. She […]
The Demon’s Cup
Buck was a strange old man, but he had the best collection of vintage science fiction and horror paperbacks and comics in Las Vegas. Every Saturday, I ride my Schwinn Sting-Ray to “The Fantasy Express” looking for rare or out-of-print books. I’m only twelve, so my budget is small, but one of the things about […]
Integratron Investigation
George Van Tassel started constructing the Integratron the year I was born. He claimed aliens from Venus gave him the plans, which doesn’t seem likely given Venus’ harsh environment. Surface temperature in excess of 800 degrees, and atmospheric pressure 90 times that of Earth’s at sea level. Not a likely place to find life. The […]
January 13, 2017
Leigh
Her hands, so petite, so delicate, in those lacy coverings, yes he would miss her hands. They were on their bed together kneeling, he was holding her gently from behind. His eyes were hot with tears. “Don’t be sad, Gerald. You will be fine when I’m gone.” “I don’t want you to go, Leigh.” “We […]
January 12, 2017
An Alien Walks Into A Bar
Frank Lyman was working on his third Vodka Collins when the alien came through the door. Frank had been stopping by Murphy’s Bar every Friday night after work for nearly ten years, and this was the first time he thought the booze was spiked. All of the regulars at the bar, plus Murphy serving drinks […]
The Magic Boat Ride
Landon knew the boat was magic the minute he saw it. The 10-year-old boy and his 4 1/2-year-old sister Dani were vacationing with their Dad and his latest girlfriend at a beach house in California. “C’mon, Dani. Let’s have an adventure.” He took his sister’s hand and helped her follow him into the boat. “What […]
Over the Edge
“Come to the edge, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. Morons!” Twenty-three year old Zandar let his legs dangle over the building’s ledge and took in the view of downtown Vancouver. It was magnificent. It was the main reason he let his group of stoner friends lure him up here. But now they were […]
