Short Story Sunday: The Mapmaker of Destiny

I was not aware that I had fallen asleep. It took me a moment to adjust to newness of my surroundings. Someone had moved me into the recovery position, and my cheek was resting on my arm. I heard voices; all at once and then distinctly.

Saturday Story: Next Customer Please

With a kind of resolution that was unusual for her on a Saturday night, Louisa decided to visit the local hardware store the next day to replace her desk lamp’s bulb. She refused to spend another week squinting at her paperwork: the crime of the decade was on trial and she couldn’t afford another mishap.

Saturday Story: Two Silver Bullets

You find yourself sidling up to Madelyn’s booth. You’re in a bind and she is the only one on earth who can get you out of it. You take note of the cowboy hat sticking out over the division between the smoking and non-smoking seating area. He has his back to you, so you feel all right, for now. Madelyn is tallying up the day’s takings; her shift is almost at an end, so you clear your throat as you take the seat opposite her.

“What do you want, Marv?”

Short Story Sunday: Fire Inside the Man

Jed watched as a flame swirled around his finger. He could feel its warmth and see the light, but the heat stayed millimetres away from his skin. 

It had taken months to reach this point, and the joy of victory meant he could not stop himself from playing with the flame, letting it jump from finger to finger until he let it die in a puff of white. He could not wait for Percival to return from his travels so that he could show him that the lessons had paid off; that he was finally learning to bend the elements at will. Wind he could summon without much effort, water leapt out of the earth to greet him, but fire... Fire had taken the longest time and been the most painful to master.

Short Story: This is How it Ends

"What's that you're working on? It looks like a test."

Sarah paused before responding. The whole point of having a pile of essays to mark was to avoid talking to anyone on the flight. And, to make things worse, the chatterbox was unperturbed by the aisle space between them.

Short Story Sunday: Ordinary Magic

"How long have you two known each other?"

She cannot help but blush and graze her knuckles against his as she shifts her weight from one foot to the other. On recovering her courage, Anna looks Gem squarely in the eye and says, "I feel like I've known him my whole life."

"Of course you have. Of course you do." Gem adjusts the red frame on her nose. "That much is obvious to everyone."

Short Story: The Tenant

TV satellites in Hillbrow by Waldo Swiegers (www.waldoswiegers.com)

"Tell me, Jonno, did you ever get to the bottom of that tenant story?"

"Jussis, bru. I would rather forget, hey."

"Triss, pour him another dop."

Kevin stroked his beard. "Listen, okes, the thing is this, hey. Jonno ignored all the red herrings..."