The ornery ramblings and occasional fiction of a former political science professor turned author
Tyler stared up and up… and up. The castle was beautiful, like something out of a fairy tale. Soaring spires topped with cheerfully snapping flags gleamed white against the dark green background of the mountains that rose behind it.
Continue reading “Mysteries”
Willow (Will, to her friends) Delaney gazed up at the house looming over her. It was perfect. An old three-story Victorian with classic gingerbread trim, a porch that wrapped around three sides of the house, and even a turret! Will sighed. The old girl was going to need a lot of work, but it would be so worth it in the end. She opened her hand and stared at the key that rested in her palm.
Continue reading “Housemates”
“Well, damn.”
“What is it?”
“Welp, you know it’s gotten really cold when the electricity freezes the wires!”
Continue reading “Frozen Lightning”
Looking around the ranch as the sun dropped below the horizon. Remmie smiled. His wife, Jelena, sitting next to him, glanced over.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked softly, her hand on his arm.
“Oh, just how lucky I am to be here with you and the kids. That you and the kids even exist,” he said, squeezing her hand.
Continue reading “Worth It”
A small “FOOMP” sounded from the other room quickly followed by a scream and a thud.
“What the…???” Daria screeched.
I ran into the bedroom. “What happened?”
Daria was standing between the bed and window staring at a blackened pile on the floor. Wisps of smoke drifted up.
Continue reading “Could be a good thing…”
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”