Chapter One Tanner Lee Palper, or Tilper as people had called him even before he could remember, sat on the old rustic bench he’d put by the pond years ago. His pole sat leaning against the limb that jutted towards him from the water. It was...
Chapter One Dried, dead leaves crunched underneath the rhythmic footfalls of the trio. Mrs. Kendal took in a haggard breath, clearly struggling to keep a steady pace. Mandy watched the elderly mark, noting she had a death grip on her son, Trevor, as they wound their...
The lantern on my desk flickered and then went out, drenching the cabin in a tar-like darkness. I cursed quietly to myself. It seemed only the day before that I had filled the lamp, and I’d been ashore since. Carefully I placed my quill into...
Chicago, Il. Shorty Small, a man neither short nor small, took a final drag on his cigarette. Without diverting his gaze, he flicked the butt to his right. Glowing flakes of tobacco scattered as the dying cigarette struck the neighboring building’s brick wall. The sparks triggered...
Day One: October 2069 The week started out like most, sitting at my desk in a cubicle, sipping coffee and attempting to concentrate despite the constant din of other federal investigators in their adjacent spaces speaking loudly on their phones. My name is Ryan Powers. I’m one...
I suppose there are people in the world that are worse than Pastor Murdoch Prior. But Prior really was a bastard. Even before everything that happened, he was a bastard. My memories before Priorville are hazy with only bits and pieces sticking out, but granted, that whole...
With her sledge held under one arm Cassandra battled her way up the slope. Halfway up she paused to rest against the frost-crept trunk of a crooked birch and stood listening to her torn breathing, the soundless hush of the fields below filling up with...
Mystery is manifold. Nothing proved that more than examining Josh Black. He seemed ordinary, but he most definitely was not. With glasses, Three Stooges Moe haircut, neighbor-hand-me-down jeans shorts, tennis shoes with more holes than shoe, and freckles like his face was splattered with blood, Josh...
Tatum had grown generous to a fault, giving away most of his fruit and vegetables to his neighbors and friends. He thought it was a way to get more acquainted with all of them. Still, Tatum’s neighbors, up and down the street, remained standoffish, keeping their...
Young Charley Tillman was a mouse in a trap. He thought the trap was a practical joke that he was playing on himself. It felt unreal the way he kept track of time. He’d been reduced to measuring the levels of darkness in spoonfuls as it...
Dr. Benjamin B. Forsythe was an odd scoop of orange sherbet, a cold, pasty, dour sort. His whole life had been a matter of melting into something or nothing. He’d become a successful psychiatrist over his long career. Dr. Benjamin’s office was in St. Louis,...
My job usually isn’t all that interesting, and that’s the way I like it. I’ve done my time in the workforce. A lot of people my age are retired by now, but I never really had money to step out of the working world. My...
Ever since my wife Adalyn disappeared, it’s been just Charlie and me all alone. I don’t mind it. I’ve never much cared for company. If I’d wanted visitors, I wouldn’t have tried to get as far away from civilization as I could now, would I? ...
Her shoes were too tight. The coat was too itchy. And by god, if Zoe heard ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’ one more time, she’d go postal on everyone here. That would be a memorable visit to the mall’s North Pole- seeing one...
My first memory is of loneliness. Sitting forgotten on a shelf, detached from the world. Unloved and abandoned. I suppose it was sometime around 1934, although I couldn’t recall the exact day. Like anything else in this world, I don’t recall the start of my own...
Well, let’s get one thing out on the table, right at the start. I recognize that this explanation here is likely going to be fairly difficult for you all to believe, and the last thing I want to do is make this even harder to...
Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. For me, it has never been about the money spent, no, it’s about the love and joy you share with those around you. It's about charity and goodwill towards mankind, as the saying goes. Nothing is...
Do you believe in miracles? It’s Christmas, and this is the time of year folks invest in miracles. They hold out for them. Something like an annual Jubilee. No matter how bad the year, they hope that everything will somehow snap together and be made...
Trevor walked in his front door with a sigh. He shut the door like it weighed a ton and put the chain lock in place. In truth, it was life that weighed on him, exhausted him so. Working retail during the holiday season felt like...
He felt old and tired. That was all he knew about himself. He rose from his bed and washed his face while he waited for his mind to focus. There was a gentle shifting of the floor beneath him. “Am I on a ship?” the...
