Short Stories Part 2

Following up on yesterday’s post, here’s the short summaries / teasers of the remaining half of the sixteen short stories I’ve written.


"The Mouse Brothers" – Follow the adventures of two mice destined to lead their people: Flick, courageous and charismatic, and his younger brother, the mystical Ash, struggle valiantly to overcome the hard winter, the threat of starvation, a violent tribe of rats, and a particularly nasty cat to lead their people to a new home.

"The Obfusquum" – Imagine an object small enough to hold in your hand, but powerful enough to manipulate reality according to the thoughts of the possessor. A group of men and women in post-war Europe hunt for it, fight against each other, and struggle with the simple question: what would you do once you possess it? For one, the answer to such a question is put to the test.

"Perimeter Gambit" – On a nameless icy planetoid, a young lieutenant stakes everything to search for life, but gets more than he wagered when he stumbles across the "nasties," the intergalactic enemy of mankind, and seeks to redeem himself with the captain who is saddled with the task to get them offworld alive.

"The Skunk Ape" – A young boy has a chance encounter with a giant creature in the woods and finds the strength to deal with his domineering father.

"Tin Roof" – Two young military officers face the unpleasant task of dealing with what may be the sole survivors of nuclear testing.

"The Treatment" – What do you do when in an alcoholic haze you steal a hundred grand from the 1950s Las Vegas mob? Go to a UFO convention in search of psychic powers! (Why, what else could there be to do?)

"A Twist of Character" – My answer to a Stephen King challenge from his 2000 book On Writing, it’s the simple love story of a man, his prosthetic arm, and the woman who wants to kill him.

"XIKN" – The metal machines flew down from the clouds, laser-targets locking, guns blazing, hunting down the infidels one-by-one. But a single believer risks his life to make it past them, and possibly reach sanctuary.