B. Morris Allen's Blog, page 13
April 20, 2019
Beginnings 020 – Grand Central
As Walter came into the station he saw the usual groups of young people, sitting on the floor waiting for the three AM and four AM trains. They would wait until about ten before going to sleep on their jackets or sleeping bags. They knew from experience that the police never came around after ten.
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“Grand Central”
About the story: A man realizing his goals in life.
April 19, 2019
Beginnings 019 – Victim of Changes
No matter how angry they were, his pursuers would need hours to dig away the fallen stone behind him. How fortunate, he thought sardonically, that the key support for the passage’s ceiling had turned out to be this support beam at the end. He tossed the thin pole aside with disgust.
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“Victim of Changes”
About the story: When you’ve been running for too long, it’s easy to forget why and what from.
April 18, 2019
Beginnings 018 – Silver Lining
Wolf’s bane. It’s properly arnica montana, but my grandfather insisted on the more colorful term; something to do with his service in the Long War way back when. I have my doubts about how pivotal this stuff was, since it’s also known as ‘leopard’s bane’, and we don’t get a lot of were-leopards in Europe. I also have trouble seeing how it worked. Did our side smear mashed up flowers all over their foes and then ask “Feel that mild skin irritation? Want to negotiate now?” Maybe that’s why the...
April 17, 2019
Beginnings 017 – The Digital Revival
“Remind me again what we’re doing here,” muttered Carl as his partner smashed a cudgel through a small window in a thick steel door. In the distant guardhouse, lights began to flash.
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“The Digital Revival”
Anti-SF
Published 01-Apr-2013
About the story: Two thugs break into Area 52.
April 16, 2019
Beginnings 016 – Spring and the Arachnodactylist
Long, slender fingers enclosed the book, captured it in a cradle of skin and bone. The book, a paperback space opera in the grand style of ‘Doc’ Smith, fluttered occasionally in a half-hearted way, but made no real effort to get free. Now being read for the third time, it looked brand new, unmarked, the tawdry cover perfect. The fingers, smudged with ink and occasionally cramped from lack of movement, left black smears along the outer edge of each page, but the rest they treated with elabora...
April 15, 2019
Beginnings 015 – Manifest Destiny
On the day that Kvald of the Sword came to the fabled City of Fate, black clouds covered the sky, thunder rumbled in the distance, and the wind howled unceasingly. The atmosphere, in short, was foreboding.
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“Manifest Destiny”
Start with Stones: collected stories
Published 22-Jun-2013
About the story: When everyone knows all the prophecies already…
April 14, 2019
Beginnings 014 – Last Train
“Old-time Rail Yard,” the sign said. The man standing in front of the Transportation Museum read it carefully. For the next three days, a small room in the annex off the main museum would exhibit the trains and other rail equipment that had once operated in or around the Greater London area.
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“Last Train”
About the story: An old story that took a long time to finish – about the (fictional) Greater London Old Time Rail Yard.
April 13, 2019
Beginnings 013 – … Crash Like Thunder
It was a hum of warning buzzers when it was spotted at system’s edge. It was a rumble of fear when it passed through the Engsson barrier and immediately began evasive maneuvers. And it was the deep, slow toll of a bell when it orbited Norbeq IV and the bombs began to fall.
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“… Crash Like Thunder”
Ray Gun Revival; Novo Pulp; Tocsin and Other Stories
Published Sep, Oct 2012
About the story: The sequel to “Drive Like Lightning…”, with the title stolen directly from Brian Setzer’s song.
April 12, 2019
Beginnings 012 – Drive Like Lightning …
She is a flash of yellow when she drops out of FTL, going .9 c in a sleek ship marred by a tracery of energy-weapon scars. She is a spray of actinic blue when she crashes through the Engsson barrier at the edge of Norbeq system. And she is a steady burn of fusion red as she decelerates at tremendous g to allow Norbeqi fast cruisers to catch up and arrest her.
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“Drive Like Lightning …”
Ray Gun Revival; Novo Pulp; Tocsin and Other Stories
Published 22-Aug-2012
About the story: With an introd...
April 11, 2019
Beginnings 011 – Metaphorosis
Like the sound of soft fingers on skin, green palm fronds whispered amongst themselves. Their soft breath caressed his cheek as he listened for the slight scratching of frond cilia against stiff palm trunks.
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“Metaphorosis”
Metaphorosis: a collection of stories
Published 22-Jun-2013
About the story: Never change, sweetheart. Not into that.
Loosely based on a reversal of the plot of Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”, but with a lighter tone, and more metaphors.
