Stop me if you've heard this one: after weeks and weeks of slow and difficult circumstances on Open Salon, I’ve decided to stop posting here.  Admittedly I am not one of the regular day-to-day bloggers, mostly a participant in Alysa’s weekly fiction club, so perhaps Open’s diff… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story that incorporates the phrase "the mysterious apartment"

The Tower of Phanyon

They had enjoyed the travelers' taverns and wayfarers’ quays—lined with stalls selling spices and herbs of dubious effect—all that evening and i… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story involving a runaway turkey.

Turkey Shoot

Twelve AWARS systems flashed red around their edges inside the helmets of twelve Kodiak-5 “Kody” IFAs—and twelve Heliosian infantry froze motionless where they lay on the ground.&n… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story inspired by this line: "It's not wise to let someone like that know your name."

The Only Problem

I'd just come back from getting a sandwich at the lunch counter downstairs.  The place is owned by an old… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write the beginning of a novel.  This could be one sentence, one paragraph, a page or two, or a first chapter.

The Daemon's Gambit

Saphríaca, jewel of the west—where Crafters ruled by the people's consent, whose flying towers painted p… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a Halloween story.

Eddie's Laugh

Video-Convenience-liquor, or VCL as it was known in the neighborhood before the war, towered above what was left of Rt 1 in central New Jersey.  The land had once been a Ford factory but in… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story using this scenario (you can replace details if you like - for example, a plane instead of a train, etc.): Character 1 has a meeting at Character 2’s office at 3pm.  Character 1’s train is supposed to arrive at the station at 2pm.  A… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story based on this image.

In the Afternoon Sun

I hope you enjoyed reading this short story.  I also have a few novels published through Amazon’s Kindle S… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: instead of a short story this week, why not take up the challenge and write a REALLY short story - a mini-saga (50 words or less)!

The Saga of Kjagnar

I am Kjagnar, sword Dane, raider, student of death.  To Northumbria… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story about an uneasy meeting between (a) human(s) and nature.

Enter the Hurricane

His Majesty's Ship Retort broke over the Atlantic waves running before the hurricane.  A great boiling blackness, dark at the edge of sight, rippling with ca… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story involving something you know a lot about.

Tinker to Evers to Chance

The door swung open so violently that the pneumatic arm hissed in protest, unable to prevent the door from slamming into the wall.  The crash made… Read full post »

This week's prompt was: Write a story inspired by this situation: There’s a break-in at a character's house. The robbers took everything—money, couch, clothes—except for one odd item that they left right in the middle of the character's living room.

Pairlink® Unplugged… Read full post »

This week's prompt was: Write a story that takes place at a school.

The Siege of Arkham

An angry orange light darted through the trees, swiping at the trunks of the fallen.  The National Guard had cut the power to Arkham but a fire had… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story about a refusal.

The Refusal

Well's Geo was among the oldest geodesic domes on Setekh, one of three broadly-inhabitable planets orbiting Alpha Centauri and the first and only human colony outside of Sol System.  Eduardo Castillo saw t… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story including or somehow involving one of your favorite words, and one of your least favorite words.   After your story, be sure to tell us readers what words you chose!

Snowsweet Lake

“How the hell can a rain barrel… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story about someone who doesn't want to retire.

The Unexpected Planet

Proxima was barely a bright spot through the forward view port as Zeus hurtled toward the star at 500 miles per second.  The rotation of the bridge around… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Your protagonist has just been to the worst concert of his/her life. Suddenly, after the show is over and he/she's left, the lead singer/musician/conductor shows up and offers to buy him/her a drink. He/She agrees, under one condition—and that deal leads to one mem… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story in which a character gets carried away with a new fad.

The Naked Truth

I95 was the sound of tires, a rhythmic heartbeat of segmented asphalt tapping west and south.  Despite the strange smell that greeted them crossing… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story involving an Olympic sport

Beneath a turret, on his shield reclin’d

He knew they weren't cheering for him, but they were cheering.  The United Kingdom had always been a boxing country and the turnout for this year's Olympic… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story that's set in a place you've never been to.

The Siege of Orchid’s Blush

Stone smashing stone and all fell silent.  Tolard fell silently clawing at his face, smacking one shoulder blade against the narrow walkway and began… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story where one character comes to town and one character leaves town.

A Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man

The sidewalk under his shoes was composed of tiles, not concrete.  The sound of Jen’s wooden-soled platform sandals… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story in which, at some point, a character breaks into song.

The Migou of Calibogue Sound

He hit some trees hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs, as he barreled through the drifting darkness under a shadowed… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story beginning with these words: “She never let him.”

A Meditation on Death by a Girl Who Wouldn't Swim

She never let him throw her into the pool.  In Aspen, in summer, away from the heat and noise of… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story in which a character unexpectedly has to take care of another character's pet.

Big Sleep

The stenciled letters on the pebbled-glass door say “Paul Marston, Investigations.”  On the other side there’s what you’d… Read full post »

This week’s prompt was: Write a story involving a note that says, “I'm going to do it. I don't know if it will work, but I'm going to try.”

 Thanks for reading the above short story;… Read full post »