The Bad Seed
The Bad Seed It stood there in a dark, secluded part of the farm, towering over the other trees like a fat old vulture. To Apple Bloom, it looked more like a squash that had been left outside to decay through the winter rather than a tree. Its base...
No Popcorn for the Movie
Not a Popcorn Movie I looked up at the marquis above the movie theater entrance, shuffling my feet nervously against the pavement. The evening was a cold one, though it hadn't snowed in a couple weeks now, and in the sky, the sun had fallen below the...
Shockstars
Tank Girl looked around, surveying the town that used to be so flourishing. She saw the bakery at the far end of the street, illuminated from the inside by glowing fire. The deli just beside it was pouring greyish black smoke out of the doorway before...
Let's Get Lucky
Let's Get Lucky Pros: an astute, intelligent man; willingly helps people when they are in need; keeps healthy on a regular basis; doesn't complain when things are too tough. Cons: a pernicious, self-obsessed wife-beater; chronic rapist; only helps...
Snowbomb
Snowbomb I looked outside my window; snow had been steadily piling up over the past three days, adding a new inch of white powder every eight hours or so. Beyond the glass it was as white as a forest could get, pure blinding white-out conditions. It...
Look to The Skies
**Look to the Skies** The men that had carted the heavy artillery across the field wore drab olive green uniforms and chiseled, stony faces. They were tired; it was another cold March morning, but shock and adrenaline had forced them into a state of...
The Battlefield (part B)
**The Battlefield (part B)** 3 The sun was already setting in the west when I got back to the mill. The tanned brown paint of the building was chipping, exposing the grey metal underneath. For some reason, I felt respect for the large building, even...
The Battlefield (part A)
**The Battlefield (part A)** The Battlefield of Sin. That's what we call the place that used to be The Decc. In its time, The Decc was a huge multicomplex devoted to plays, concerts, and conventions, sort of Duluth's answer to the Hollywood Bowl....
Horizons II
**Horizons II** 1 "Are you friend or family, sir?" "Friend," the gray wolf said. He was wearing tan khakis and a rum-colored t-shirt, the kind of color you would rather not see in a hospital. He was scratching at an itch on his left forearm; it...
We Stand By Him
**We Stand By Him** We stand by him--this fay, pretty boy come from a dream to release us from the oppression we couldn't see. We stand by him--this thing that we all once tried to categorize, to rationalize, failed; his was a path beyond us. ...
The Sky That's Never Blue
**The Sky That's Never Blue** The whiskey was bitter, but it wasn't as acrid as the cigarette smoke or the tang of piss, or the stench of sweat. I cradled my glass in one hand and my head in the other, listening to the dim world around me, this...
Pick Me Up
**Pick Me Up** There was no call for it. This thought stuck in Jacob's mind like a fly in a wedding cake. He trudged forward through the morning mist, the heavy smell of pine invading his nostrils, somehow pushing him back...