Scarecrow (WT 42a)

Not all heroes have powers and muscles and capes. Some heroes live lonely, solitary lives and care for the ordinary things, lest the ordinary things become unique.
There's a big, black scarecrow in someone's future. If you leave the city life, the rat race and modernity to return to the greener, agricultural lifestyle, what becomes of those touches of modern isolation and loss of ancestral memories?

The original story was first published online in Golden Visions Magazine on March 31, 2009 in the online edition and after 120 days went away as Golden Vision does not maintain an archive of online stories.

A revised version of this story titled "KAKASHI" has been accepted for publication in LOCAL HEROES, an Anthology edited by Brandon Rucker and published by STATIC MOVEMENT late summer or early fall 2011. This will be a reprint.

(WT 82-A,B) The Penis Tree

An exercise between friends. Use the three word title to create a story.
In addition to the title, There were four themes: Impalement, Absorption, Satyrs/Nymphs, Zombies

The ZOMBIE theme became story 87D.
The SATYR/NYMPH/ mythical creature - succubus theme became a ghost story 87C. Why did it become a Succubus story? Because not all story ideas can have a same title and atmosphere or tone.

That leaves Impalement and Absorption for 87A and 87B. Both of those are merely ideas floating around the ether.

(WT 82-C) The Devil's Massif

Something happened up on the Devil's Massif. A man's reputation was ruined and his life turned to ashes. Once, She lived in a glade on the Devil's Massif and woe to the man who wandered into her glade.

Paleobotany Gone Bad (WT 72)

An idea about bamboo and possibly tiger cages.

(WT 78) The Phantom Flush

Darling, I heard a noise in the bathroom, she said...
(hint, it's a ghost story)

The Houston Birthday Party (WT 76)

There's a worm in your future. Yanno, like earthworm.
This is posted on the website in the Halloween Folder.
The Houston Birthday Party

My Flashy Shorts

FLASHY SHORTS
A defunct web page. It was a nice idea that failed.

...And This Has Been One of Them (WT 67)

WT-67
I can't believe a story got completely written and filed on my hard drive without getting an entry here but there it was, sitting there, smirking.

I posted this story on my website. It's my summer gift of fun. Enjoy it.
...And This Has Been One Of Them...

Ryder Eisel (WT 70)

Mining on a distant planet, Ryder Eisel becomes a metal soldier, much like a praetorian guard in ancient Rome.

This was the January 2011 story on my website.

2012 Apocalypse (WT 60)

Now he knows why the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 and what he must do for the next 12 baktun cycles (12 times 144,000 days). The pillars of heaven as represented by the compass must pass on their burden to four new men.
Update #1 (29 Sep 2009): I submitted this to a journal and got rejected.
Update #2 (10 Jan 2010): A third journal and a rejection.
Update #3 (7 June 2010): I published this on my website.
In the Stone Folder:
2012 APOCALYPSE

I fought the spaceship and the spaceship won (WT56)

I was rewriting one of the (how do I say this?) "bad idea" or "unworkable idea" or "dead end" ideas and saved this scene as a story all by itself. Don't think this is unusual, lots of stories you read have lost a character that didn't advance the story. Or the author deleted characters because there were too many characters in the story.

UPDATE #1: February 2009 - I "salvaged a fragment from the draft and put it on the website in the Sci Fi Folder as I Fought the Spaceship and the Spaceship Won -- Wayne and Roberto and you get to read about their misadventure with the spaceship. It did not further the story I was trying to write.

That's the reason that a writer would take a segment and save it as a short story or make it into a standalone story.

UPDATE #2: May 2010 - I took a very humorous chunk of the old story and started to make it into a short story for the website but something odd happened... It created a better segment of the origial story, so much so, I have continued with the original ideas and outline I first set out last year.

Now I have to find another story to post.

(WT 55) Treasure Hunters

My creature from the black lagoon story. It's hard to say if any story will actually appear. Treasure hunters in the deep, deep ocean.

Update: I posted a portion of the story on the website.

silicone (WT 3)

March 1, 2010
I took one of the usable portions of this story (About 1100 words) and posted it as a standalone story on my website. Every so often I cannibalize a failed idea like this. This particular idea is three years old and I know that I will not go to go back to it. I'm only posting this to keep track.

August 2007
New idea: A CIA Spy is captured in china. They convert him into a living plastinated statue as punishment.

This idea didn't pan out: Frat boys try to create a display piece but instead convert the body of a friend into silicone rubber. It's like those dissected bodies you see in museums.

My Heroes Were Rovers (WT 38)

Published on website.
Two guys, huge overpowered trikes like the Can Am Spider by Bombadier, a metallic interface in their chests, and computer connection to their brains.
Add a duplicitous drug dealer selling MetalCrack, a drug laced with nanomachines, and war games...
In the METAL Folder:
My Heroes Were Rovers

(WT 62) Tongareva

BACKSTORY 2:
A few years in the future, the icecaps melts, sea levels rose and southern tectonic plates shifted upward exposing the landmass of the Antarctic.
The ocean rise floods vast tracts of land prompting a move to floating cities made from wood. A new icecap forms over Canada. Much of the Mississippi valley is shallow swamp. In an effort to reduce atmospheric CO2, fast growing trees are planted and the wood is converted to boats. Most energy systems are converted to battery and electric motors recharged by non-hydrocarbon fuels.

BACKSTORY 1:
A few years in the future, the icecaps melts, sea levels rose and southern tectonic plates shifted upward exposing the landmass of the Antarctic. Most of the Pacific islands in the South Seas fell below water level. But in Polynesia, specifically the Cook Islands, Tongavera atoll, rises to reveal a small central island surrounded by reef. The sharks have left and been replaced by dolphins.

An overflight finds the new South Pacific Atoll and the US military send geographers and scientists to explore the new atoll. They find the ruins of pyramidal stone buildings with smooth walls and flat roofs. On the east side of the central island there are a a dozen black stone altars with a depression in the anatomically correct outline of a man and on the west side of the island are another dozen black stone altars with dolphin shaped depressions.

There are steles with pictograms reminiscent of Egyptian and Sumerian writing. That puts them circa 2800 BC. Translated they tell the story of a civilization that was destroyed by some extraterrestrial object. No one can complete the translation of the texts. The object is described as the harbinger of death from above. The ancients could see it coming and their shamans and magicians created two islands--one for men and one for women, with sexually distinguishable altars in order to avoid destruction. Sonar locates the second island still at the bottom of the ocean. The Brass and intelligentsia believes that the altars were for sacrifices -- human and dolphin. They also assume that the inhabitants were wiped out in a meteor strike.

All of that is reported back to headquarters. Then the expedition disappears completely. A second group is sent to find out what happened.

(WT 61) Goats

I thought of a great opening lines to start a story:
I warned you boy's not to drink old man dickface's moonshine but you boys could never listen to what your elders tell ya.
Why don't you go back to your hovel and play with your cats, you old crone.
Mouth breathing moron in a baseball cap with droopy pants.
Yips
Voodoo mammy got the power of baron sahmedi

These lines may not end up in the final draft but it's inspirational.

(WT 59) Jack and Jack

A revision of a writing exercise along the lines of "Big Name Writers Seminar"

First Contact: Antarctica (WT 50)

Something alien is happening in the Ross Sea and the Belleny Islands, ANTARCTICA. It's a protected area so they create a special unit to do surveillance year round. They drop into the sea February 1st and will be picked up December 1st. The Aliens see them in the first few days and expose the suited men to a beam so their bodies begin to transform. Since the men are there for the winter season, they can't remove the suits and don't notice their bodies changing slowly. By the time the "pickup" comes in December, their feet and ankles have extended into flippers and their legs shortened up close to their shrunken hips. They have thick furry coats from the shoulders down and a layer of blubber to keep them warm. Their arms are shorter and their hands are webbed and broadened out into flippers. But they are still human under the mask-like hoods.

Published on the website

CHIEF WHITEFEATHER ... (WT 49)

Chief WhiteFeather of the Corona Grande Tribe
- Terry and his buddy Brian have a great S&M relationship but when Terry's father visits and Brian is left outside in a tool shed like a dog, two handymen intervene and Terry's life is changed forever. This is a "wood" transform.

Monkey Men From Mars (WT 44)

Published on my website. Go, have fun reading it.

Sweat covered Gary Loopers' body. He pulled his damp t-shirt over his head and dropped his basketball shorts on the floor. Gary stood naked to the blast of cold air. Sean's pet, Mombe, a young male bonobo about five feet tall snatched the shorts, sniffed them and wrapped its arms around Gary's leg. He jumped as hairy hands fondled his privates and felt up his butt other. Gary grabbed the Mombe's wrists and pulled with all of his might.

In the Furry Folder on my website.

Short Ribs and Other Tasty Morsels (WT 58)

I posted six short stories, humorous pieces, on my website.
25 April 2009

NYMPHS AND SATYRS (WT 51)

A man finds nymphs and satyrs while on vacation. Plus a goat! And now it's going up on the website:
NYMPHS AND SATYRS
Sometimes being a directionless jerk and a guy who "goes along to get along" and just wanders through life isn't a great idea. Then sometimes, wanting to BE SOMETHING, anything in life is also misguided. But then, maybe it isn't. Who knows? How can we know? All I can really say is that one of these characters likes his stick shift more than anything in life.

Scarecrow (WT 42b)

NEWS

On January 28, 2009, Darkened Horizons published my horror story:

"The Scarecrow"
It is the story of friends, Wyatt and Ben, their dark secrets and the sacrifice one must make for the other to live. You will find it at this URL: Darkened Horizons --- click on the Publications link in the left hand corner. Darkened Horizons publishes through Lulu and Vol 6 is available in PDF (download) or print format (paperback and hardback).

(WT 53) Time Travel

One thought - A man travels back to ancient Rome to learn about the past and learns too much.

(WT 50) Carnival Sideshow Geek

A story set in the 1860's on the plains of Oklahoma.

Big Name Writer's Writing Seminar (WT 49)

On December 8th, 2008,
YANKEE POT ROAST published my satire titled:
"Big Name Writer's Writing Seminar"

You can read it at this URL: http://www.yankeepotroast.org/archives/2008/12/bigname_writers.html

YANKEE POT ROAST is a website devoted to short form humor and satire.

A POEM: Who Was This Robbie Burns

On December 1st, "FLASHQUAKE" on the web (volume 8, number 2) - http://www.flashquake.org/index.html published my poem titled "Who Was This Robbie Burns." Which is a meditation on New Years Resolutions, those things that we make in a drunken stupor on January 1 each year and then forget about only to remember in the cold cruel light of late December wen we have to own up to achieving or failing once again.

Click to the Homepage (if you see vol 8 number 1, then hit reload on your browser) and then go to the POETRY link. My poem is about the 6th down the list of nine (which means nothing as far as I know).

CURSE OF SHADOWS (WT 48)

I swore I was never going to write a werewolf story, but this happened. It's going to magazines, so you have to be patient if you want to read it.

In the Halloween folder:
CURSE OF SHADOWS

(WT 47) Fame and Fortune (POEM)

A free verse form poem, or a flash fiction about trick or treating.
I sent it to a magazine. Maybe they'll print it...

First line:
What do you call a man with one hand flesh and one hand steel?

Pettifore's Bibolet and Bagatelle (WT 45)

Pettifore's Bibolet and Bagatelle
Two young men discover anatomically correct rubber dolls.

Poseidon's Bounty (WT 45)

Poseidon's Bounty
Trey Montgomery invests in a sushi restaurant. AND, I do mean invest.
This is a statue transformation.

It's Published on the website:
Poseidon's Bounty

Young Jackasses In Lust? (WT )

I posted this on the website. It started out as a chapter of something from my hard drive. I turned it into a short story.
A detective meets a young man being transformed into a donkey and lustful thought enter his mind.

In the Furry Folder:
YOUNG JACKASSES IN LUST

Incident at the Soccer Match (WT 43)

What's the hottest, most sexually charged statue you can imagine? How about your own body converted to stone? This is going to be a Hunk story. I owe a story with lots of genitals and bawdy bodies to the website.

In the Halloween Folder:
INCIDENT AT A SOCCER MATCH

CAGE FIGHTER (WT 23)

WHAT A BEAST OF A STORY!
I've also changed the title to Cage Fighter.

"CAGE FIGHTER" is the story of a mix-martial-arts fighter turned secret agent who gets deeply involved in the politics of an alien planet.

In the SCI-FI folder:
CAGE FIGHTER

'Til the rains from heaven did fall (WT 36)

A story about the incarnation of Death stopping the apocalypse with help from his friends, one of whom is the Biblical Cain.

A WORM'S EYE VIEW OF KARMA (WT 37)

This is a story about worms and Ragnarok.

POSTED

In the OTHER Folder:
A WORM'S EYE VIEW OF KARMA

Mud Men (WT 40)

I posted this story on the web for the 5th of May. 

It was one of those ideas that just struck like lightening and was complete in 12 hours. 

MUD MEN

Pele's Kiss (WT 33)

A statue story. About 2480 words. 

This will be posted on 5 April 2008

PELE'S SONS

Mike's Tribe ( WT 27)

It's about koteka's and trees.

In the SCI FI folder:
NEW HORIZON

(WT 35) The Donegal Manuscript

"The Travels and Discoveries of the Brothers Barnaby and Tag Canley
in the Jungles of Savage and Unmapped Africa.

A Written Account of the Years 1829 to 1935 by Tag Canley

We Share Our Fate as Brothers and Equals Must Share Life.
We Grew up as Turlough Ua-Tuathail of Caisleán Uí-Domhnaill and
Aodh Mac-An-Airchinnigh in Graignamanagh, Contae Chill-Chainnigh
Master and Manservant, But We Were Born Equals and We Will Die Equals.

Casuality Violation (WT 1)

I posted a chapter of this on my website. It's January's post. In the SCI FI folder:
TORCH, A TRANSFORM .

The second segment is also in the SCI FI folder:
SPACESHIP 2377

And an earlier segment:
NEW YEARS DAY - 2374

And the place it all started:
THE TEST SUBJECT

Drink the Worm (WT 26)

When Patrick and I woke up last Friday, we never imagined that aliens would use us to conquer the planet. Some things just never cross your mind. But that was last Friday. Today, we're taking a well-earned sunner in Cabo.

In the Sci Fi folder:
DRINK THE WORM

Lord Bertrand's Halloween (WT 32)

"Over near the bar, Lord Bertrand, mingling with the other guests." Colin pointed to three muscular young men who appeared to be naked. A closer look revealed form-fitting, clear-rubber costumes covering their bodies from head to toe. The only openings were holes for their eyes and an inch-long slit for their mouths. Hayden Bertrand-Doyle caught sight his Great-Uncle. He tapped Troy and Chance and they walked over to greet their host. Lord Bertrand admired the suits - so anatomically perfect for each boy and so revealing. The costumes fit like a second skin and gave their bodies the appearance of marble.

In the "Transgender" folder:
Lord Bertrand's Party

(WT 31) Frankie and Robin

It was Halloween night, but there'd been no trick or treaters at the home of Frankenstein, who was about to go to bed when the doorbell rang. He opened the peephole.

"Pizza delivery." A handsome young man crowned with golden curls, waxed and polished horns curved up over his head and cloven feet stood holding a checkered pizza box. His smile charmed. His eyes invited. Frankenstien scowled, or tried to.

Dogs At Midnight (WT 30)

It was Halloween night, but there'd been no trick or treaters at the home of Ayden Cain. The mark warned the living. He was about to go to bed when the doorbell rang. Dressed only in boxers, he opened the door. Death, master of all living things, stood naked -- pale skin stretched over bones, tall, a black mass of curls over his thin face. Death was always welcome in the house of Cain.

This turned into DOGS AT MIDNIGHT and was published by THE TINY GLOBULE:
DOGS AT MIDNIGHT

(WT 39) I knew this broad was trouble

I knew this broad was trouble from the first time she stepped into the Barfing Beagle. She wore bad-girl blue jeans and a street-slut halter. On one shoulder she cradled a Denebian Antimatter rifle. Conversations stopped. Heads turned. Her free hand held a cell phone to her ear.
"Which of those ass-kissing-weasels screwed the pooch this time?" she asked.

(WT 28) The Body in the Bathroom

"Thanks to a nasty divorce, this house is a bargain -- five bedrooms, three baths, media room, pool, 5 acres sitting next to a county park, only used on Sundays for grandma's tea parties." The agent unlocked the double door and entered the grand hallway decorated in creams, reds and golds. Rick and Rhonda wrinkled their noses.

"Something smells and it ain't roses," Rick laughed.

Halloween 2007 (WT 24)

This is a story about three college guys and their costumes.
In the Halloween folder:
HALLOWEEN 2007

The Factory (WT 25)

- A mannequin factory takes desparate measures to stave off bankruptcy. How far would you go? ---- On the other hand, a fifty year old man hopes to eventually become an Olympic statue
In the OTHER Folder
The Mannequin Factory

Alien Transmutator (WT 26)

The basic idea is that a half dozen soldiers are offered the chance to pilot a spaceship and accept. What happens afterward, well now that would give the story away.
POSTED September 1, 2007

ALIEN TRANSMUTATOR

Tin Can (WT 18)

TIN CAN
The tale of two brothers with a drunken father. One can run away while the other waits as a tin man.

In the Metal Folder on my website:
TIN MEN

(WT 20) Bluetooth

JULY 30, 2007
- - more chapter openings

Me buddy Michael suggests a story about Bluetooth and becoming a robot. Oi! I thinks I'll take him up on it.

AQUARIUM (WT 9)

Posted

A young man with a checkered past is offered a job by the head of the Mexican Mafia. Strange transformations take place when he has to sleep with the fishes to save a Mafia Don's son.

In the Furry Folder: AQUARIUM

(WT 22) Squeezy and the Rump Rats

The second story of Detective Reedy and Priority Homicide:
Reedy meets up with a friend from his past and breaks open a white slavery ring.

Scarlet Stallions (WT 13)

Mascot costumes for a high school team...
Posted on the website:

SCARLET STALLIONS

The Boys (WT 5)

Four teenage boys are kidnapped by aliens and forced to work in a mining colony in outer space. Oversized body and genital growth, Lizard transformation, alien sex, intergalactic conspiracies ...
In the SCI FI folder:
THE BOYS

The Cypress Grove (WT 12)

A Story about reforestation and conservation. It's great to commit to a cause, but sometimes - if, maybe, probably and possibly - you get carried away in the pot. I must say, that's going to far, isn't it? Would you mind being part of a grove, or wouldn't you?

Posted on the website.
CYPRESS GROVE

Emmisary to the Sun World (WT 5)

The portion of the story I wrote:
EMMISARY TO THE SUN WORLD

(synopsis)
Of the many alien races discovered by human explorers, the humanoids of Epsilon Orionis are unique. They can absorb and manipulate pure energy with their metallic bodies. Earth initiates a secret operation to obtain the technology. Eager to succeed, Ambassador Spanner Templeton, Captain Randall, Lieutenant Buck Owen and First Mate Milo Orrington secretly guide the crew of the Dreadnought Apollo and a cohort of marines through their conversion to metallic humans regardless of the consequences.
A xenophobic cabal of humans has opened a gateway to another dimension. In a misguided effort to preserve the purity of the human race, the xenophobes will allow the inter-dimensional aliens enslave and isolate the human race, maintaining its purity. Only the metalized humans can prevent alien domination and enslavement.

DUTY AND HONOR IN TERRA COTTA (WT 8)

I posted this on my website for March, 2007.
Since then, I received a set of comments from an editor. I will no doubt revise the story to fix its current shortcomings.

DUTY AND HONOR IN TERRA COTTA

(WT 19) Piscean Conquest

I changed the premise from outerspace to Atlantis, the lost continent.
There's a water sport called Underwater Rugby where the team plays entirely underwater with only snorkels, no oxygen tanks. So let's say that someone discovers Atlantis deep in the Atlantic and a business venture wants to put a base of operations down there. Wouldn't it be nice to have men who can live down there?

An excerpt is in the SCI FI folder:
THE DEVILS IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA

Farewell to the Flesh (WT 15)

A story of diamond thieves on Ash Wednesday. They have an interesting price to pay for their misdeeds. Posted to the website.
FAREWELL TO THE FLESH

American Fanily Barbecue (WT 16)

American Family Barbecue got rejected. It was written for a themed anthology and has very little use elsewhere.
In the "Other" folder. Enjoy the story.
AMERICAN FAMILY BARBECUE

Gypsy's Curse (WT 11)

Posted on the Website
The story of a gypsy curse on a thief. The tattoos on his arms actually transform him into a snake.

CURSE OF THE GYPSY

(WT 10) we were so poor

I moved the text into the comments to save space

The Dung Bearers

Stunts, inc (WT 4)

Stunts Inc. is a 27000 word story in the Furry folder.
STUNTS, INC.

Buck Moon (WT 17)

A draft version is posted on the website as "The Clearing" in the "furry" folder.
THE CLEARING
This is about two gay men who take a western camping vacation and end up being transformed into ponies and living their lives 10,000 years in the past.

(WT 10) Chrome

I want to write a story about a man forced into a chrome-plating bath until he turns to metal.

(WT 6) Porcelain

PORCELAIN
Four young brothers are converted into porcelain statues only to be retrieved many years later.

RUNE WARRIOR (WT 2)

RUNES
Runic tattoos convert two men into mystic warriors for the military.

Published on the Website in the Halloween folder:
RUNE WARRIOR

Rainforest (WT 4)

RAINFOREST - posted in September 2006
Explorers are "adopted" by the insects on a strange jungle. This involves ants, dragonflies and slugs (or snails).

Posted on Website in the Furry Folder:
FIRST CONTACT: PHASE TWO

Antares Avatar (WT 7)

Posted on the website as Antares Avatar

Strange things happen when you monitor a supernove using quantum devices you don't
understand.

Posted on the Website:
ANTARES AVATAR