February 23, 2019
The professor’s cat moved with lark-like civility down the hallway. Plel Lolman smiled with his wooden mouth. Widow Chirp, the landlady, ladled dollops of treason pie onto broken dishes. The professor remained in his room twirling a mackerel in anticipation of Crimson Bloodhound Day. Mavis, the parlor maid, sat in the boiler room eating a […]
February 5, 2019
A cat’s eye marble, crystal clear with a neatly centered yellow ribbon twist, rolled across the rug and came to a stop next to a short heavy club which leaned against the wall in the corner of the room nearest the fireplace. “Excuse me, club, are you tall enough to see the clock? I’d like […]
January 23, 2019
Mudcakes drown in gray slurry stretching flat to the horizon. Bleak silence. Motionless. Two figures kneel. ‘Across there,’ says one. ‘It was in the dream. I do not know what it was. It hurt my eyes. I am too old. You go. I will wait for your return.’ ‘Yes, Grandmother. I will find it. I […]
January 12, 2019
The new queen moved through her gathered horde of subjects in stately dignity flanked by her green bladed bodyguards. Individual blossoms shoved and jostled to gain position for a better view. ‘They say she has snaggletusks. Can you see? Does she have snaggletusks?’ asked a young bloom hopelessly blocked somewhere on the outerest edge of […]
January 7, 2019
Elias ’10 Bricks’ Atkinson hummed a merry Mozart tune. Simultaneously, he maneuvered the snow plow to and fro, rendering the parking lot usable. Satisfied, he brought the squat vehicle to a halt and exited the driver’s cabin. Hands on hips, he surveyed a job well done. He was killed instantly when a snow cobra flew […]
December 30, 2018
Nudd Nettle glanced to his left. He wished to ascertain if the fellow over there was armed. A glint off a rifle barrel told him all he needed to know. A spinning leap and dive brought Nudd Nettle’s jaw crashing against a good sized rock. Rendered unconscious, Nudd sprawled at the path’s edge. One of […]
November 21, 2018
Once in a land where desert dunes writhed under the lash of sun-hot wind gusts a grandmother and granddaughter sat in the coolness of their burrow listening to the angry roar. The grandmother leaned forward to speak above the din into the granddaughter’s ear. ‘Now is the time,’ she said. ‘You must find the oasis, […]
November 17, 2018
The fires returned year after year, growing ever more confident and destructive. ‘I, and only I, know how to stop these terrible fires. If they’d asked me in the first place, this very bad burning of trees and buildings of all sorts could have been avoided,’ said the dune pig. ‘I will go and look […]
November 7, 2018
The appearance of the charming buffalo at the head of the stairs doused the din below. All heads turned to gaze in admiration at the charming buffalo’s single hoofed gliding descent of the balustrade. The throng parted in deference, and the charming buffalo took up a stance of elegance in the center of the ballroom. […]
October 31, 2018
Betty longed to lead the cackle. She practiced in secret every day. Would Halloween ever arrive? The wait seemed endless. Betty’s mother urged her to practice patience. The suggestion merely deepened Betty’s frown and fed her tendency to mutter. “Is it yet?” asked Betty every day until her mother at last could say,”Oh finally, praise […]
