The Old Ways
Stories do not always require overly complicated ideas. I let the idea be simple for this one—a dream of the old ways, if you insist on knowing. It still needs characters to bring it to life. Hence, a story.
Short Story
A Gift for a Queen
about an occasion of a queen receiving gifts on her birthday. What gift would you give to someone who almost literally has everything? Well, that would very much depend on your motives, as we find out in this little tale.
Scenes of Mild Peril
Robots are one of my favourite things to write about! This one is inspired by a couple of articles in my news feed. One was about robotic police officers, the other about human population growth.
Death of a Child
This is a very dark short story, certainly far darker than my usual stuff. The idea came from a role-play scenario I was writing. The two soon went down separate paths, the story ending quite different from the scenario.
Disjointed
It took him a long time to wake up, only to discover what he thought was a soft bed was in fact the muddy ground. The filtered light wasn’t streaming through a hotel window, but was the shadows cast by the trees surrounding him. He tried to stand and just about made it to his knees. He looked around and saw nothing but trees in every direction. This wasn’t the Coventry he knew.
The Dust of a Dragon
Inspired by dusting my office. Most people would have grabbed the furniture polish and wiped the dust away without a second thought. As a writer, I did the same, but with many thoughts.
Hecta and the Rabbits
Where did all the eggs and chicks come from anyway? It’s not all lost in the mists of time and legend, but much of it is conjecture and guesswork. So, here’s my contribution to the mythos.
Small Warning
The back door was old and warped, held closed by a single lock. Danko took out his jimmy and slipped it into the gap. The whole frame moved when he applied pressure, allowing him to open the door without unlocking it. As he took a step forward, he noticed a sign fixed to the wall.
‘Caution – Guarded By Gnomes’.
Danko shook his head. People really were obsessive.
A Two-Way View
A short story about Halfa, a jaded hero who decides to take control of his own fate for a change. “You aren’t making this easy.”“You’re the one talking to himself.” “Fair point.” “The horse gets a girlie horse and a warm stable, and I get a smelly cave full of deadly things that aren’t dragons!” Even heroes need to take a break.
Getting the Builders In
The bad guy would be defeated, falling into a reactor/volcano/super-powered space laser. The woman would be rescued, and they’d get out just as the place exploded. Their method of escape is always a convenient and luxurious boat/submarine/hovercraft complete with mini-bar and a huge bed. My question is who builds these bases and why do they always explode?
