Author: Prof. Ornery

I sighed, closed out the document, and shut down my laptop. Classes started tomorrow and I wanted to make sure there were no typos, wrong due dates, and anything else of that nature in my syllabus. Students were merciless when they found errors. Also extremely annoying and I sure as hell didn’t want to start off the semester that way. Again.

Continue reading “The Living Classroom”

I stared up into the tree.

“How the hell did you get up there?” I didn’t really expect an intelligible answer and indeed, what I got was a brief tail wag and a small whine. The tiny brown puppy shifted and then scrabbled back as his front paws started to slide down the trunk of the big oak.

Continue reading “Chaos”

“Well, whaddaya think?” I asked.

A long-suffering electronic sigh came from the corner of the desk. “I suppose it will do. I was hoping to be placed on the other side of the building. But I fear that once again, it has been made clear to me that I am relegated to second-class status.”

Continue reading “The Re-Org”

Kyrie laughed quietly. Reading the article discussing the ins and outs of the restaurant business in general and pubs specifically, it was clear that the author had never actually owned or even worked in a food establishment.

Continue reading “Average Odd”

The apartment above the pub was surprisingly spacious and open. The first time she’d seen it, Kyrie had been enchanted with the apartment. It was a large two-bedroom, two-bathroom place that spread the length and width of the pub below. A large balcony ran across the back of the apartment, overlooking the parking lot below, but more importantly, providing an unimpeded view of the ocean. The opportunity to live rent-free practically right on the beach was what made Kyrie decide to leave her app-creation job in Silicon Valley and move to the small central California coast town where her parents had retired.

Continue reading “Secrets”

Kyrie pulled the bottle out of the little wine fridge behind the bar. It was the last of the case she’d bought on her celebration trip to Napa a few years ago. Smiling, she thought back to that trip. She’d just gotten the job offer from AppWare with its amazing (for her) salary and benefits. This was what she had dreamed of since discovering her talent for writing apps that people loved and used. Her best friend, Kenzie, had gotten an offer as well from her dream company, and so the two of them had splurged and headed up to Napa for a weekend of spa time and wine tasting. Kyrie had indulged even further and purchased a case of wine from one of the fancier wineries in the valley. She’d been waiting for a special occasion to open the last bottle and figured this was it.

Continue reading “Celebrations”

“Honey?” Lila’s voice quavered a bit.

“Hmmm?” Rob responded, not looking up from the box he was unpacking.

“Do antelopes like roses?” Lila asked.

Continue reading “Antelope Holiday”

Carla pulled Jeff down the sidewalk until they stood in front of the lavish Christmas display decorating the neighbor’s front lawn.

“C’mon! We need to do a selfie in front of this! It can be our Christmas card!” she exclaimed.

Continue reading “Picture Perfect Elf”

“Very funny, you guys! Not!” Cassie yelled. “Now get me out of here!” She turned in place, staring around at the fantastical scene. Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy of trees giving some relief to the deep green darkness surrounding her. Spanish moss draped and flowed across everything, and little tendrils ran down the sides of the small tower sitting at the top of what looked like a sundial.

Continue reading “The Dryad’s Garden”