Back again, with more Very Short Stories!

I’ve recently finished my latest, near-final draft of the novel I’ve been working on for… several years now. I’ve still got a lot of room to grow as a writer, but it’s been an incredibly positive experience so far, learning and improving, meeting some wonderful, supportive critique partners — all of whom helped me get to this point.

But in the meantime, while I keep polishing and attempt the always-intimidating querying process, here’s another collection of my very short stories from the #vss365 hashtag on Twitter. I hope you’ll enjoy!

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Pocket

He drank condensation from pipes outside the Automaton factory. Fed on glowing lichen that grew in the apothecary’s gutters. Found a warm bed near the Incinerators, whenever they were purging dissidents.

He didn’t have a cent in his pocket, but the city nourished him.

Collect

Kip trembles as he answers the phone and hears heavy breathing. “H-Hello?”

“Are you ready to DIE?! …wait, shit, dropped my quarters.”

The line goes dead. The phone rings again. “Will you accept a collect call from…” A recording adds, “…Uh, YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE.”

Magnify

He strolled the edge of a canyon, snapping photographs and taking measurements.

A voice drifted to his ear, “I’m unhappy with our relationship. It’s so unfair, the way you magnify all my faults.”

“Well, I am a seismologist.”

A gust of wind sighed through the rocks.

Quick

It was a deadly stand-off.

The bandit made his move, but the cowboy was too quick on the draw. His pen scribbled across a scrap of paper, and he held up his handiwork.

The bandit sunk to his knees, gutted by the scathing caricature. “Are my ears really that big?”

Overlooked

The bounty hunter’s spurs sang a bright tune down the deserted street, chased by tumbleweeds. “Come on out! I got that giant lizard.”

As a shadow stretched past him, he had an odd feeling he’d overlooked something.

A voice yelped, “Ya damn idyat! That wuz ‘er baby!”

Listen

“Sir, one mispronunciation and the aliens will attack.”

“Fear not, xeno-linguistics are a triviality to a man of my accomplishments.” And the captain’s speech was flawless.

Five minutes later, the ship was on fire. He had learned how to talk, but never how to listen.

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Thanks for reading! I’ll be back next week with more stories.