CategoryProse

Longer form pieces. Short stories, snippets from longer pieces, Flash Fiction and Speculative pieces. All mixed into the melting pot.

Heretic (A Warhammer 40K tale)

Intro: I got this idea for a Warhammer 40K story and threw together a piece of flash fiction which neatly sets up the tale. What do you think of the story? Are you intrigued? Do you want to read more? “Today will be the worst day of your lives, neophytes,” Sword Brethren Sigfried Kilmer had said before they dropped into the hijacked Aeldari transport, his voice like angry rocks feuding. Every day...

The Monk

Oriental Dragon on Roof Ridge Tile

“Even lifeless, he was still the beating heart of this barren courtyard, you know?” The old man didn’t wait for an answer to his rhetorical question. “His stone eyes stared through the entrance to the monastery. His sandstone skin was smoothed by time and he wore sandstone clothes from a bygone era. He leaned on his cane, hand over hand, waiting as if for news of better times, or maybe that...

Alpha Dog

Construction Site

This was a fun challenge from Writing Magazine. It was a competition to write 1,500-1,700 words of dialogue with no attribution or tags. Literally pure dialogue which is supposed to make enough sense to be read without the need for any other clues. I didn’t actually submit the piece (time and the general dissatisfaction of the writer over their work) but I hope you like the dialogue and the...

A Coronavirus Conversation

Pirbright Laboratory

I wrote this scene as part of my NaNoWriMo project which I am still working on. The WIP is called “Vincent” (working title) who is the MC in the story. He’s a very bright, mid-20s virologist and the WIP is set in 2020 during the pandemic but is not about the pandemic. The conversation happens early in the book and it’s more about establishing Vincent’s character...

The Gift

Bleak, snow-covered mountain

This is one chapter in one of my WIPs which is a sci-fi piece set on a future Earth with mystical overtones. Cults? Hidden Agendas? Pawns in a Bigger Scheme? Of course ...

Dog’s Dinner

Johns Kitchen in Berlin

“Friedrichstrasse tomorrow, Rex. Hope there aren’t any complications. What do you think?” John slowly cut a strip from the steak he was preparing, sensing each sinew sever through his skilled fingers. He glanced at the u-bahn map on the wall. “Two stops.” He looked down at his faithful pit-bull, tongue lolling out of his salivating mouth, and sniffed. “You need a bath.” He flicked a cut of steak...

Defalcator

Silver Pineapple in the Sea

“Do you think they will ever come back?” Her voice trilled, resonating like dancing metal shards jangling in the breeze. “I think so.” The other’s cadence was more measured and cleaner, yet neither female nor male. “How long has it been now?” She asked. “For who?” It was almost a statement with barely an inflection. The water lapped quietly over the silver sand on the shore while the whiteness of...

Mother

Mum

When I stepped out of the teleporter, the first thing I saw was my mother, her back towards me. Her hair permed and snow-white. Well, it always had been, and she was wearing the vermillion cashmere sweater I had bought her for Christmas over her knee-length crimson skirt. She was always one for the classic look. “Your late, son,” she said hearing me step down from the pad. “I made your...

Pazuzu’s Covenant

Signs clattered. A dog barked. Something heavy fell. He frowned at the note written his little black book and slid it back into the inside pocket of his tailcoat with a hint of resignation. He knew it was going to be a bad day. The Undertaker waited in the doorway of the saloon and checked his pocket watch again. There was no sun to glint off the case today. Dark clouds hung low on the horizon...

Cut

Donkeys

The opening of Karl’s petting zoo promises to be the start of a new, brighter chapter in his life, but an unexpected meeting threatens to destroy everything he has worked for.— Logline. This is a follow-on piece to my earlier FTW. FADE IN It was a little after three in the afternoon. Sam, the lead zoologist, was enthralling a group of children with his extensive knowledge of goats...