Fiction

TWK Award Winner: Feuds. Liza, orphaned and widowed, receives a photograph of her grandmother racing a motorcycle. A grandmother she did not know existed, who wants to see her now. Can she forgive her for all the years of neglect? And what about Sheriff Bartkowski, who keeps trying to get her to accept his apologies for the stupid arrest? 15 minute read.

One Grate Task. Challenged to write something involving a cheese grater, our author finds art imitating life, creating existential tension. 4 minute read.

A Shattering Moment. The two bulbs in the dim, trendy bar shattered, leaving us in the dark. Then the voice, from nowhere and everywhere, started telling me what I had to do. 3 minute read.

A Dog, a Bike, and a Van.  Can Mike find peace on his bike after the dognapping? A possible scene from a possible novel. 4 minute read.

What Is She After?  Six months ago, Hugh investigated her insurance claim. Now she’s hitting on him. What is she after? 7 minute read.

Lost Boy.  Three-year-old Kyle runs into the woods after his balloon. His mother, Harriet, is drunk and dashes hither and yon in a chaotic effort to find him. Can Harriet recover her loss?

Too Old to Scream: A Scary Story. Marcella wanted to scream, but she knew it had just been a dream. Or had it?

Murder at the Roadhouse. When Luther messed with Junior’s gold-plated dumbbells, he got more than he expected. But Detective Bartkowski complicates the investigation—and his life—by rushing out and arresting Luther’s wife. Can he overcome her antipathy? 15 minute read.

Dog Day. Does karma come in chocolate?

Ain’t Over Till It’s Over. Norm Vander Wall, a private investigator, overhears a baseball story. Will it let him pin a forty-year-old murder on his old nemesis, “Dirty Dutch” Vander Molen?

Chef Nathan and Wicked King Paprika. Will the wicked king’s machinations force Chef Nathan to cook his world-famous Hungarian Goulash for him?

Escalation. An argument over a discarded fly swatter escalates with unexpected results.

Rattlesnake Gulch. A trail-worn cowpoke shows up in Rattlesnake Gulch and turns Rebecca’s world upside down.

The Arroyo. More from Rattlesnake Gulch. Rebecca is driving her buckboard down a dry riverbed, her mind occupied by Josiah’s intrusion into her settled life, when life-threatening danger roars.

Threads of Time. More from Rattlesnake Gulch. Rebecca’s father, the sheriff, is murdered, and trumped up charges put Josiah in jail for the murder.

The Chinese Checkers Murder. Will the Chinese checkers board help P.I. Norm Vander Wall and Detective Sgt. Andre Adams figure out who really killed Peter Dykema?

The Walk Around the Pool: An Experience. What’s it like to be at the pool but not able to see anything?

Budding Intellectual: A Vignette. He was two years old and the world was his oyster.

Banded Together: A Ghost on the Paper Route. A ghost intercepts a high school youth on a dark, winter morning paper route and tells him of a murder.