Author’s Note: A.) I’ve always enjoyed short-story contests of 50 words or fewer. B.) As of this writing, pangolins are one of the animals most suspected of giving humans this strain of coronavirus.
The pangolin hunter smiled, looking at his wriggling snare.
“Listen,” the defiant pangolin said. “I’ll make you a deal: Let me go, and I’ll let you live.”
The hunter said nothing, reaching to strangle the little anteater.
“Okay,” the pangolin resigned, blowing a juicy sneeze in the hunter’s face.
Mr. Gelz was old. Mr. Gelz (G like gills; rhymes with bells) was mostly bald. Mr. Gelz & Mrs. Gelz had grandchildren. Mr. Gelz smoked a pipe and wore short-brimmed fedoras. Mr. Gelz celebrated one birthday by getting a stunningly all-white concrete 2-car-wide driveway. Mr. Gelz scolded all the kids in the neighborhood for using…
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is chapter 2 of my on-again-off-again novel “Westenra Memorial.” You can read Stave I from last Halloween with this link. Stave II This photo of a spring peeper frog has nothing to do with this story. I’ve just been meaning to use it for years. Shambling in through the front door of…
It has been a little while, but I have a new story in Pen World Magazine! In it I uncover not one but TWO pen heists that targeted the Parker Pen Co. in the late 1940s. This story is reproduced here with permission from Pen World. Please click on the individual images to see the…
