Anvil in a Lace Bootie

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

THE BLUE FLAME #scifi #noir The blue flame shuddered when he drew forward to suck the cigar to life. ‘Thanks, doll,’ he said. ‘My pleasure,’ she replied, snapping the lighter shut. They eyed each other warily. Outside, blue flames descended in vengeful billions from the sky.

11:47 am · October 26, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

WALTER CATLETT #vaudeville How To Offer A Drink To A Young Lady In the 1932 movie, Big City Blues, when Walter hands a drink to a showgirl at a party, he says to her, ‘Saturate your bridgework.’ pic.twitter.com/K1BxjM8uGP

12:07 pm · October 25, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

far. And when the phone rang moments later, he answered it. ‘The pontoons have been removed,’ said a voice. Triumphant, Shandrar raised a glass to toast himself and victory. Far away, the parsons came to their senses, confused and bruised.

12:02 pm · October 24, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

in a foreign land, a victim of amnesia induced by Shandrar, the Boise Mystic. Shandrar chuckled at his image in the mirror, knowing full well that his domino plan of parsons, Hanley, Cole, Carst, and Socket was at that very moment successfully toppling in locations near and

12:02 pm · October 24, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

gathered to exchange blows, began to climb the ladder, hauling a bucket of tar to the roof of his bride-to-be’s blast furnace. Diamond Helen Carst, the bride-to-be in question, sat at her desk, musing about June Socket’s disappearance. June Socket, Helen’s best friend, wandered

12:02 pm · October 24, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

PARSONS #flashfiction When parsons gathered to exchange blows, it rained on Hanley’s farm. Hanley was off in the city shopping for cutlery. When he entered the emporium, Norman Cole, 18 miles from the city, 6 miles from Hanley’s farm, and 42 miles from where the parsons were

12:02 pm · October 24, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

‘Deposit this,’ he snarled. ‘Certainly, sir,’ oozed the bank president with a bow and a scrape. ‘And let that be a lesson,’ added the cruel landlord. He then left the building and was set upon and beaten to death by an impressive number of people.

11:56 am · October 23, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

nudge an elderly gentleman down some stairs, and knock the hat off a young woman struggling with arms full of crying baby and several parcels. He blustered into the bank and stormed into the president’s office. There he dumped his filthy lucre on the president’s desk.

11:56 am · October 23, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

landlord had framed him for embezzlement. Flicking a mote of dirt from his left spat with his ebony walking stick and whistling ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’, the cruel landlord set off at a brisk pace along the walkway. He deftly used his stick to trip up a young roller skater,

11:56 am · October 23, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

THE CRUEL LANDLORD #flashfiction Before leaving his palace to walk to the bank and deposit his filthy lucre, the cruel landlord pulled from his waistcoat pocket the watch he’d stolen from the widow of his former partner, a man who had recently died in prison after the cruel

11:56 am · October 23, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

and sign it over to me at once. (Q eagerly races from the room. Barnum chuckles and wrings his hands in the manner of Zasu Pitts.) pic.twitter.com/Sd1z21W7Pu

11:52 am · October 22, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

I personally rescued from beneath a frond in the jungles of Australia and carry here in the pocket of my vest. Q: I don’t have any money. Could I give you something else for a peek at the princess? Barnum (looking around): The deed to this emporium would be satisfactory. Fetch it

11:52 am · October 22, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

BARNUM INTERVIEW #dada Q: Haven’t we met earlier, Mr. Barnum? Barnum: My popularity is such that return engagements are no novelty to me. Q: Oh. What is your best attraction? Barnum: For the mere tenth part of a dollar I will reveal before your very eyes the 1 inch tall princess

11:52 am · October 22, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

5 of 5 stars to Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi goodreads.com/review/show/36…

8:57 pm · October 21, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

RACE #dada #poetry i raced the river the river raced me to the sea i tripped over a boulder hurt my left shoulder the river ran by why not i? in triumphant swallow consumed by the sea alas, not to be

11:55 am · October 21, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

and truncated limbs together, and returned to the iron meshed interior bower, where the labor of three lifetimes awaited. The walls rewarded the return with a single drip of secreted sustenance. Fodon lapped at it greedily with a many fingered tongue. Existence continued.

11:49 am · October 20, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

to the wall surrounding the garden and peered over to admire the sheer drop to oblivion. For the briefest of moments, Fodon, for that was the inhabitant’s name, weighed the pros and cons of a leap to death. Cons still outweighed pros, and so Fodon sighed, tapped feelers

11:49 am · October 20, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

FODON #scifi A galaxy hosted a planet. The planet, awash with seas, boasted a single small continent. A lone city occupied the tip top of the geographical center of the continent, a great mountain shouldering high above the plains. The single inhabitant of the city stepped

11:49 am · October 20, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

PRINDELILAH HASTINGS #nonsense #poetry Prindelilah Hastings never was in sight. She hid all day under hay and crept out in the night. She always carried a jar of tar and a stick with which to write, ‘Prindelilah Hastings was here! Oh yes! That’s right!’

11:46 am · October 19, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

5 of 5 stars to The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman goodreads.com/review/show/36…

9:38 pm · October 18, 2020