Leonard woke to find himself encased head to toe in a plaster cast. He’d seen body wraps like it on TV, usually involving a guy with an itchy nose, but didn’t think they actually used them anymore. He didn’t remember any accident or injury but did recall a plan to an after-hours club with his … Read moreCasting About
Joel hadn’t had a good idea in some time. His blood-seeking wasps were rejected by the military. His cabbage-fueled car got excellent mileage but the odor of farts inside the car was overwhelming. His proposal for a three-legged horse, which he pointed out, would offer improved stability, never got past the planning stage. He was … Read moreRePeeled
Bennie and Rob had passed by the empty lot hundreds of times. They’d been walking to school together since first grade in the most gentrified neighborhood in Idaho. The fifty blocks of formerly blue-collar Victorian, Gothic Revival and Craftsman homes nestled against the nearby mountains drew thirty-somethings from around the country seeking a taste of … Read moreThe Best and the Brightest
Ron’s birth was unlike any the midwives had seen before. His mother, Verdella, said the contractions felt more like firm hugs instead of bands of barbed wire roping around her abdomen. When the baby crowned, light burst from her vagina. As the birth went on the light grew brighter and brighter until the midwives were … Read moreThe Messiah and The Peanut
“Is the pressure washer on full?” “Yes sir!” “That looks like the sad dribble from my granddaddy’s pecker! Double check those boilers and make sure they’re on high!” “Yes sir!” Jensen paused, “And if they’re not sir?” Captain Sterling slowly turned away from the ship’s curved, mountainous bow disappearing into the sky. His bloodshot eyes … Read moreSalty Spice
Space Corps never forgave him for suffering a mutiny.
Bernice could feel the wind pulling the skin away from her body. The vibration from the rocket as it skimmed over the alkali flats was shaking the meat from her bones. Because of the speed she couldn’t raise her arms, so steered with her feet strapped to a pair of pedals gently moving a rudder … Read moreFlying Low
Louise dragged an old roller luggage bag diagonally across a vacant lot scattered with chunks of crushed asphalt, the bag jerking and twisting as she went. She was unfazed by the jagged terrain poking into her thinly protected feet. Louise was mostly torso. She had no neck and pencil-thin limbs which gave her the appearance … Read morePlaying Possum
Tim stepped on the foot pump as quickly as he could. A river raft was wedged under the safe in the CEO’s office where he worked as a night janitor. Days earlier Tim had seen Mr. Downing busily stuffing it full of bags that appeared to be filled with cash. “Oh, hey Tim. Could you … Read moreOne Man’s Treasure
Jerry’s trailer sat alone in the high desert, tethered on a half-acre plot ringed by a pig-wire fence. Native plants pushed against the fence like an inland sea. Bitterbrush, rabbitbrush, and sagebrush had grown like coral against a ceaseless tide of wind and sun, slowly rising up as a collective able to withstand the blasts … Read moreJerry’s Trailer