James Pyles's Blog, page 228
November 5, 2016
Expendable
Decades of dispute between the two empires of Queen Rhoda and King Jon finally erupted into open warfare. Each ruler wanted to reign as supreme leader over the people of the Great Continent. They didn’t particularly care how they achieved their goal or how many had to suffer and die in the service of their […]
November 4, 2016
The Hopelessness of this Year’s Presidential Election
I voted early. I just couldn’t see waiting when I knew how I was going to vote, or rather who I was going to vote against. I’ve been voting since the mid 1970s and I’ve never seen a Presidential race this bizarre. Let’s cut to the chase. I believe Hillary Clinton is one of the […]
November 3, 2016
Entering the Slow Dark
“Why am I so tired? Where am I? Is this my bedroom? Everything’s all gray.” Rand Chambers found himself in an indeterminate environment. He was lying down and covered up like he was in bed, but this was different. He could neither fall asleep nor wake up andwas suspended in a state somewhere in between. […]
November 2, 2016
Leaving Mother
“But we don’t want to leave you, Mother. We love you.” Shawna was the leader of the people from the NorAm Contingent. There were four Contingents on the generation ship, NorAm, SouAm, EurAsia, MedAfrica. When their ancestors left a dying Earth some two-hundred years ago, it was with the single hope that their descendents wouldperpetuate […]
November 1, 2016
The Last Woman
Harvey couldn’t believe how easily he’d lured his latest victim out of that seedy bar and into an even more seedymotel room across the street. She was a beauty, a bit of a rarity in the places where he normally sought his prey. The news media called him a serial killer. Seven women between the […]
October 31, 2016
Redemption: A Halloween Tale
Brent hated Halloween. He’d hated it for the past twenty years, and he had a very good reason to. Twenty years ago tonight she had died and it was all his fault. Twenty years ago tonight, Brent took his eight-year old daughter Evelyn out trick or treating. His wife Marie stayed home to give out […]
October 30, 2016
One Night Out a Year
Halloween was the one night of the year when Gary felt completely at home in a crowd. He had just gotten off the BART train at Civic Center and made it on the MUNI heading toward Castro Station. They had the best Halloween parties in the Castro. Of course, the whole city of San Francisco […]
October 29, 2016
The Apostle is Unhappy About How the Church Misrepresents Him
Ed Tillman noticed the diminutive, middle-eastern gentleman enter the sanctuary and take a seat in the back right before Pastor Taylor began his sermon. Ed was seated in the back as well, but not by design. He’d been waiting for his friend Phil to show up, but he hadn’t been coming to Ed’s church lately. […]
October 26, 2016
The Shadow Meeting
From the Life and Curse of Sean Becker “My name is Sean Becker and I’m a vampire. There, I said it out loud like I’m at some sort of Vampire’s Anonymous meeting. Satisfied?” They met for the second time in a ground floorapartment in an abandoned tenement slated to be torn down. It was the […]
October 25, 2016
Even Coffee Doesn’t Help
Sean was working on his third cup of coffee sitting at the counter in the town’s onlyall-night diner. He thought it would help kill the taste, but so far nothing really helped. “Want a refill?” The waitress looked tired and bored. The only other patrons in this dump were a couple of truckers pulling an […]
