Category Archives: Fiction

I went, but I learned later I didn’t go alone. Charlotte tailed me, which of course she would not have been able to do if I had Pippi with me, but I didn’t, because Pippi would have complicated my vandalism. … Continue reading →

It took me two blocks out of my way, but I couldn’t resist going by the next morning. I stayed on the opposite side of the street and peeked. My signs were gone. I wasn’t totally surprised about that; in … Continue reading →

At first I considered the obvious: that parkway could be the final resting place for Pippi’s used poop bags. Except I’d have to be careful not to get caught, which meant night-time walks, which I didn’t want and old Pippi … Continue reading →

You never know what’s going to put someone over the edge. The straw that broke the camel’s back probably looked like any other straw. For Charlotte, it was walking out of her house a month ago and stepping in soft … Continue reading →

Airline travel died. Trains and buses began to lose business a few months later. Early in 2013 the home delivery of newspapers ended. That service had always been both a luxury and a security nuisance. At the end of May … Continue reading →

Clara had never been camping, and she liked everything about it except the mosquitos. She hated them. She didn’t understand why something so horrible had such a cute name. Little moscas: mosquitos. They were ugly, hideous bloodsucking abominations as far … Continue reading →

Starting late in 2012, American society ceased to move. Communities turned inward, made do with less, stopped interacting. But some of the college-age kids, those who had been associating most freely with each other, refused to quit. Clara and Hank … Continue reading →

Before the Jihad, travel was easy. Before the Jihad, “jihad” meant holy war, but terrorists and the media changed that. Muslims had to come up with another word for holy war, afterwards. After-word. In the old days, travel was easy. … Continue reading →

They never make it to the vigil. Rob is hauled into the waiting area outside the dean’s office, and after 19 minutes he is summoned inside and suspended for three days. Colleges are informed; he always afterwards believes he was … Continue reading →

It is the first execution in almost 20 years. The state intends to kill James Abner Maddox, and the students are against that. Their high school looks like the prison; the seniors enjoy not a lawn but a quad. They … Continue reading →