I was watching Dungeons & Dragons: The Book of Vile Darkness this past weekend when this snippet of a poem came to me. Over the next day, it grew into the beginning of a story. I’m not sure where it will go, but I share t with you here … […]
I was once challenged … either by a teacher or a contest, I can’t remember which … to write a three wishes story. This is what I came up with. I think it still needs a little work, but is a fun read anyway.
She slips her final nickel into the one-armed bandit. She pulls the arm. Cherry. Lemon. Plum. Her nickel falls back out.
“Phew! Am I glad to be out of there!”
“Who said that?” She looks around and sees no one. She shrugs her shoulders and picks up her nickel.
“Hey! That tickles!”
“What? Who said that?”
People nearby look at her and go on with their gambling.
“Me. Who else?”
“Who? I don’t see anyone.” This time she whispers.
“The nickel in your hand, stupid!”
“The nickel? But money can’t talk!”
“Wishing nickels can.”
“Wishing nickels?”
“Yeah! You can now make three wishes, on me.”
(more…)
Remember these commercials from the 1970s?
Well, that famous “Calgon, take me away!” line inspired a fantasy story I’m working on. Here’s the opening.
Angelica hated Fridays more than any other day of the week. It was always the longest day. She worked for four hours in the morning, went to school in the afternoon, and took care of the twins in the evening. The third chore not only was a strain on her emotional well being, it strained her social life as well.
Friday is the day that people go out to party. It is the prime date day. Its the day that people finally get to relax after a hectic week. But not so for Angelica. Her parents belonged to a club that met every Friday night, and it was Angelica’s job, as eldest child, to take care of Rodney and Rebbecca.
(more…)
I tend to write a lot about fear. The following snippet or very short story was written in October 1984 and explores how our own mind can be our worst enemy. The young lad sat on a tree stump, sniffling. He was weeping over the fact that he was lost. […]
Many years ago, my roommate, Susy, gave me a poster for my birthday that featured the art of Greg Hildebrandt. It had a naked woman and a white dragon on it. I used to stare at the poster a lot for there was such a emotion there. It inspired a […]
For a story I’m working on, I came up with the following concept about magic: There are two kinds of spells – generic and fingerprinted. Only the one who cast the spell can remove a fingerprinted spell. There are only two reasons to cast a fingerprinted spell – you are […]
Once, while we were driving around in Tampa, Fla., a saw a license plate that I immediately jotted down. It was “WUD4OG” … Wood for Og. The idea struck me: Who is Og? This is what I came up with: Og is a 7-foot troll. He is kind hearted–the kind […]
I drew this hydra for a film strip I did for this story. When I was in the first grade, I had this recurring dream. So, when it came time to do a writing assignment in class, I wrote about it. It’s kind of cute, so I thought I’d share […]
The following is a snippet from my writing journal. I wrote it while walking home from class one day when I was attending University of Maryland College Park. “I want to be a bird!” she cried. “A seabird! A seagull!” She stretched her arms out and ran. She ran with […]
I came up with this while walking to the Metro station from work. “Stop that, Vermilion. You are digging your claws into my shoulder.” The small dragon shifted its weight, again, upon April’s shoulders. She dipped her tiny head toward April’s ear and made a soft, friendly hissing sound. “That’s […]
