Stephen L. Thompson's Blog, page 45
June 19, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #10 – “For Want of a Pen”
FOR WANT OF A PEN
“David, open up!” Sarah pounded on his door a few more times, then paused to listen. When she didn’t hear anything, she pounded some more.
A door opening behind her made her turn around. Across the hall an older woman was peaking around her door. “Is there a problem?” she asked.
“Hi, I’m Sarah Walsh, David’s sister. I haven’t heard from him for several days, and I’m starting to get a bit worried.”
“He mentioned he had a sister,” the woman said.
“That would be me.” Sarah pointed a...
June 16, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #09 – “Heartbeat of the Night”
HEARTBEAT OF THE NIGHT
“Daddy?”
A small hand on his shoulder woke Mike. He half-opened his eyes and said, “Hmm?”
His seven year old daughter Cindy whispered, “I hear something outside.”
This brought Mike fully awake. He sat up in his sleeping bag and fully opened his eyes. It didn’t matter because it was pitch black and he couldn’t see through the plastic tent side anyway.
He expected to hear something scratching, or perhaps snuffling, but when he stopped to listen he heard – as if from a great di...
June 11, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #08 – “A Not so Different Future”
A NOT SO DIFFERENT FUTURE
Opening the control panel, Melanie exclaimed, “What a mess.” She put her hand on her husband John’s shoulder and said, “Just sit right there.”
John – watching robotic gladiators pummeling each other – replied with a grunt.
A few minutes later, Melanie returned with a can of compressed air and a duster. She gave a quick spurt from the can and a small cloud of dust filled the air. “Oh my.” With each successive spurt, the clouds became smaller, until the dust was gone.
She...
30 Stories in 30 Days #07 – “The Buzzing of Flies”
THE BUZZING OF FLIES
March 11, 2015
There was a low murmur in the nearly full conference room as the reporters took their seats. On the stage a couple of people were checking the three microphones at the table. Without fanfare, they were joined by three middle aged people.
The larger group talked and laughed a bit, but then the three took their seats, and the others left. The reporters quieted down.
On the far left of the table, a woman leaned forward and clicked on her microphone. “Welcome,” she...
June 7, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #06 – “House Call”
HOUSE CALL
Right at 1:00 PM, Doctor Baker’s secretary program announced, “Doctor, your one o’clock has called in.”
Working on a report, Baker replied, “Thank you. Would you display their information.”
Finishing a sentence, Baker looked up to a holographic screen and studied the patient information for a few seconds. “Put them through,” he finally said.
A second holographic screen appeared showing a generic female face. In an equally generic voice, she said, “Good afternoon, Doctor Baker.”
“Good af...
June 5, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #05 – “Hot Heads”
HOT HEADS
With a whimpered grunt, Jacob fell against a tree. He immediately regretted the jolt that shook his broken rib. A last minute gust of wind had caught his parachute and slammed him into a tree trunk. From the pain, he figured he had broken at least one rib, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it was two or three. He had also lost a bunch of skin along his right side and his upper arm.
Jacob had no idea how much time he lost from the various times he passed out from the pain or time spent t...
June 4, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #04 – “Details”
DETAILS
“And for your final wish?” Kaahime asked.
Thomas rubbed his chin. “Well, I already have health and knowledge, so I guess what I need now is wealth. I wish I had a goose that lays golden eggs.”
Kaahime nodded. “Granted.”
There was a small puff of blue smoke, and then Kaahime handed Thomas a cage containing a large, white goose. The goose looked around a honked.
Thomas lifted the cage and looked inside. “Is there something special I have to feed it for it to lay golden eggs?”
“Gold dust.”
“Wha...
June 2, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #03 – “You Didn’t Pray Hard Enough”
YOU DIDN’T PRAY HARD ENOUGH
An older man walked alone down a sidewalk. Two young women – one recording everything with her phone – ran after him. “Reverend Williams,” the one not recording called out.
The Reverend stopped and turned. “Yes?”
The two women ran up and stopped before him. “Reverend Williams. My name is Ashley Carter and this is my sister Tina.”
Tina waved with the hand not holding her phone and said, “Hi.”
“We drove all the way from Kansas to see you,” Ashley explained.
“Oh?”
“We want t...
I’m Number 1!
Well, by ebook is. 
“The Most Powerful Man in the World and other stories” is Number 1 on the free Kindle list of time travel stories.
June 1, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #02 – “Hmmm”
HMMM
The old man stood up behind the podium and raised his glass to the score of gentlemen seated before him. “As Prime,” he said, “I welcome you to the 417th Annual Meeting of the Cacumen Society.”
As one, they all downed their drinks.
The Prime smiled, then stated, “Before we get down to business, I wish to welcome Jonathon Lowe, son of the late Benjamin Lowe, to our ranks.”
A young man looked around the room and the other men nodded to him.
“Jonathon,” the Prime asked, “would you care to make a...
