Neumatikos

19April2007

Short Story

Posted by Puretext under: Fiction.

365 Tomorrows, a science fiction weblog, has a new story up by yours truly. They specialize in something they call “flash fiction,” which they describe as 500 words or less, So it’s a quick read.

However, I urge caution. It’s not for the faint of heart.

19March2007

Justice and Mercy

Posted by Puretext under: Fiction.

This story is a repost from August 7, 2002. But I was thinking of it today, and made a few stylistic changes. Happy reading!

This is a story about two sisters who were the same age, and lived alone in a big house in the middle of a great field. Their names (if you’ll believe me) were Justice and Mercy, and they were (of course) as different as night and day. They divided the chores pretty evenly between themselves, each according to her taste: Mercy liked to stay inside and take care of domestic things, like cleaning and mending and making meals. She had a particular passion for sewing and made all of the clothes herself. This was a source of contention between the girls because, while Mercy liked cute frilly things with pale colors and lots of lace, Justice wanted (she said she needed) more hardy clothes with tough stitching and solid, sturdy colors. Justice found dresses useless, since she was always outside minding the farm: the planting, the animals, the building projects.
Read on, MacDuff!

1August2006

Depressed

Posted by Puretext under: Fiction.

Well Jon, it sounds like you’re depressed.

No kidding.

Well, it’s important to say it. When I was a kid, I used to get 2-3 colds a year, but I was raised to insist that my sinuses were just sensitive to air pressure changes. But you know, colds have a set of typical symptoms, things like a runny nose and a stuffy head, and they typically last 7-10 days. My air pressure reactions were remarkably similar to colds. It was really helpful for me when I realized I had a cold and not somre bizarre genetic maladaption.

Well, that’s nice abourt your cold and all, but what does that have to do with me?

Depression is a lot like the common cold. It has a definable set of symptoms, tends to last a certain period of time, and it happens to a lot of people. Most importantly, though, it’s something that happens to you, not who you are.

Um, ‘kay…

The good news is that while you can’t cure the common cold, it is possible to cure depression.
Read on, MacDuff!

19July2002

Rache

Posted by Puretext under: Fiction.

“Now I pass beyond these gates of time.”

Those were the last words of Elizabeth Rachel LeMontre. It was another fifteen minutes before she died, but she didn’t say anything after that. I think she wanted to have famous last words, and those were the best she could think of, so she didn’t say anything after that.

After she stopped breathing, I really wasn’t sure what to do. I had never seen anyone die before. I really wasn’t sure how you could tell. Her eyes were already closed, so I didn’t have to put nickels on them or anything.

“Rache?” I said. “Rache.” I stood up and touched her arm. “Rache?”
Read on, MacDuff!

22April2002

Bed and Breakfast

Posted by Puretext under: Fiction.

Jeremy Flynn was 7 miles from the Tennessee State line when he remembered the livermush and Cheerwine. He immediately took his foot off the gas, but it was too late: the sign for exit 7 was already swishing past him. He accelerated again and started looking for another road sign. Karen wanted the livermush for something she was making for the wedding. Jeremy didn’t know why she insisted on doing all the food preparations for her own wedding–her parents were more than willing to contribute whatever was necessary. But some strange manifestation of Southern pride had convinced her that she was the only cook for the job. He sincerely hoped the Cheerwine wouldn’t end up in the punch.
Read on, MacDuff!

20April2002

That’s What it’s Like

Posted by Puretext under: Fiction.

What do you mean when you say, “worship?”

Worship is simply pleasing God.

But how do you please a god you have never seen, whose voice you have never physically heard?
Read on, MacDuff!

17April2002

The Legend of the White Gate

Posted by Puretext under: Fiction.

There’s a legend in our village, I don’t know how old it is. Sure it was an old story when I was a boy. There was this great city that stood on this very spot. No one knows any longer the name of that city, it was so long ago, but we know that it was called “The First of the Great Cities of the South.” That’s a very strange thing because, as we recon it, this village is in the northern part of the country.
Read on, MacDuff!

16April2002

Deep The Well

Posted by Puretext under: Fiction.

When my sons were first born, I thought I should be a happy man. I mean: five! Who could not help but be a happy man?! My darling Rebecca, she gave birth to five boys all at once. Well, not all at once: it took her all the night. But right in a row, she gave them. Five to me! I thought I should burst! But my darling Rebecca, after giving me so much, she gave up the last thing she had left, and she died before I even had her in my arms. And then, again, I thought I should burst. I could not hold back from weeping. Five sons or no, how could I ever survive without her?

Five sons! That’s a big job now. And not a woman in sight! That’s another one. And plus, it’s not easy, living as we do. I’m not a wealthy man, though I’m not a poor one. But it’s hard, being who we are, and surrounded by so many people who don’t know. We have to hide it. No one must ever know the magic I have inside of me, or the secrets I’ve been entrusted with. No one must ever know about the Well.
Read on, MacDuff!

3April2002

Requited Love

Posted by Puretext under: Fiction.

Once upon a time, upon a little hill in the middle of nowhere, stood a little blond-headed girl about the age of thirteen. And although she probably had any number of faults, there was one that stood out terribly to her: She loved. She loved with a terrible fierceness of devotion and passion that at times her whole body shook with the emotion. And perhaps this would not have seemed so terrible except for this one slight inconsistency: She loved, but she did not know who.
Read on, MacDuff!

31March2002

Unseen Treasures

Posted by Puretext under: Fiction.

The lion looked at me with a gleam in his eye.

“Will you come in?”

He looked like some Egyptian monument; his haunches reached up as much as forty feet; his head was twice as tall as me. Settling down on his belly, he placed his head near the ground before me, and opened wide his mouth.

I thought of every enchanted treasure-house I had ever heard of. Aladdin’s cave, the open tree with the dog guardians with eyes as big as plates and saucers, holes in the ground, and leprechauns. Stable, fixed, every one of them. This creature, though, once I was inside of him, could travel anywhere. He was no stone lion. He was living; I could feel him breathing.

“If I go in, can I come out again?”

“Perhaps.”
Read on, MacDuff!