Here's the full short story previously posted in four segments. I hope you enjoy it. 1.THE FEELING BOTTOMS OUT The first observation of Clyde Barns on his birthday was that his Facebook timeline was crammed. Some just cut and pasted “Happy birthday,” some took the time to add his name, some attached cartoons with rabbits …
Author: wastedpilgrim
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Basic Math
Here’s the fourth episode in my short story. The first three were, in order, “The Feeling Bottoms Out,” “The Mercy Killing,” and “Turn It Up.” When Sheila Timlin got off, she and Clyde Barns retired to a booth to make plans for the evening. They had scarcely begun reviewing the options when their …
Turn It Up
This short story about changing times in a man’s life began with “The Feeling Bottoms Out.” The second episode was “The Mercy Killing.” Here’s the third. Clyde Barns was no regular at Henny’s Farm and Tractor, which was a sports bar occupying what once had been a Massey Ferguson dealership. For twenty years, most …
Dirty Southside Jam, by James Wayland
This is the second of James Wayland’s novels I’ve reviewed. He shipped me two of his. I shipped him two of mine. Neither of us is under any agreement to be unduly kind. I don’t think insincere, sugar-coated reviews do any good because, as a general rule, they ring false. I enjoyed both of James’ …
The Mercy Killing
The first part of this short story was called “The Feeling Bottoms Out.” I’m going to try to keep the length of this one fairly short, but here’s the second episode: Bob Cassaderne, The Morning Messenger’s publisher, didn’t actually get around to firing Clyde Barns. He had this convivial way of treating it as a …
The Feeling Bottoms Out
I didn’t plan on tumbling right back into another short story, but today really is my birthday. When my job was eliminated, it wasn’t on my birthday. Obviously, this is total fiction, and any similarity to actual events … you know the drill. The first observation of Clyde Barns on his birthday was that his …
The Charmed Life of Charles Dough
This is the story of a prominent family, Homecoming at Calliham University, and a series of events that bring the wealthy alums, their children, and a couple mischievous stoners into, uh, contention. 1. DIFFERENT GOALS Jonathan Elbert McCutcheon was a direct descendant of the founder of Calliham College, his great-great-great grandfather Estes Calliham, …
Sometimes Things Work Out
This is the final part of this serial short story, which doesn’t have an overall title yet, but I’ll come up with it when I post the whole tale in one take in a day or so. The first five episodes, in order, were “Different Goals,” “A Taste for Mischief,” “All Fall Down,” “A …
Nothing Witty About Regaining Wits
This is the fifth episode of my short story about culture shock on Homecoming Day at a private college in the South. The first four episodes were, in order, "Different Goals, "A Taste for Mischief," "All Fall Down," and "A Stroke of Smoke." “Well,” Charles Dough reported, “I finally got Christian to answer one of …
Trailer Park Trash & Vampires, by James Wayland
I have a confession to make. I am what, depending on the area of the country, is known as either a “fraidy cat” or a “scaredy cat.” I’ve never particularly cared for horror, be it a novel or a movie. Many years ago, when I was home from college, my sister invited me to …
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Nightrider's Lament 