Category Archives: Short Story

The old priest looked down at the young woman and inquired, “What is it I can help you with, my child?” She solemnly replied, “I wish to confess my sins.” He motioned to one of the confessionals and said, “Go … Continue reading →

There was a lad in ancient times did sail the wide, wide sea. He sailed alone and so far off that none could him there see. When he came back he said to them who wondered where’d he be, “I … Continue reading →

“Time for dinner!” We all rushed to the dining room table, my dad, my two sisters and me. Then Mom came in from the kitchen with the roast. Yummy! After we were all seated Dad said, in his usual, deep-voiced, … Continue reading →

They had met just yesterday. In the Principle’s office.  Two juniors, seventeen.  Kicked out of school, out of two different classrooms, for praising selfishness. Each had not known of the other’s existence. A faint bit of light almost whispered a … Continue reading →

The voice floated out over the listeners like a shimmering silver cloud, soft and serene, and it seemed that the whole audience had leaned far back to gaze in rapt wonder on a rare sight. Then there was a darkening … Continue reading →

God looked angrily at the earth, at all the selfless men who pleaded and plundered, cheated and stole and lied, at all the slick, double-speaking charlatans who tried to make men guiltily give up their joy, guiltily give away all … Continue reading →

It is morning. The forest is still dark, but the sky is becoming blue. Ja is 5 winters old. He sits a little back in the cave opening with his mother. Light throws down a slender, brightening veil upon them. … Continue reading →

The voice floated out over the audience like a shimmering silver cloud, soft and serene, and it seemed that the whole audience had lifted back their heads so as to gaze in rapt wonder. Then there was a darkening in … Continue reading →

He held out a hundred dollar bill to the old man. The old man had a dirty gray beard and he limped slightly as he walked with his knobby brown cane. His old blue coat was faded, and a bit … Continue reading →

On Monday, the 21st, Daily News readers were greeted with the big bold headline: NEW BRIDGE HALF DONE! A large colored picture stood below, showing the magnificent curving arch of steel jutting out over a gleaming, barge-filled river. On either … Continue reading →

There were a lot of complaints regarding Miss Pulchrid, but never enough hard evidence to fire her. She continued on year after year, like a shiny brown beetle, with little, inspecting, dissecting eyes. Miss Pulchrid did not like teaching, but … Continue reading →

The young lover of the man-made lay sprawled out on top of the hill. He was on his back on the grass, a rolled up blanket under his head. The book he held blocked from his view the beautiful sunrise … Continue reading →

Jackson, a philosophically minded librarian, sat alone at his regular table in his favorite restaurant. He had just finished an excellent meal, well-prepared and quickly served. His table was against the front window, looking out of which he could view … Continue reading →

A five foot three basketball player, that was Jean. At 14 years of age she was the youngest and shortest member of her high school team. The first game of the new year was the toughest on the schedule. Del … Continue reading →

There was a knock at the door. Nancy, six months pregnant, looked through the peep-hole, saw two policemen and opened the door. “Good morning, officers. What can I do for you?” “We were informed that you plan to have an … Continue reading →

He was President, even, he could say, Dictator of the world, for he ruled the most powerful nation on earth and had just been given absolute authority. So, smiling, and with a light step, he walked out of the Oval … Continue reading →

She was a nice-looking woman and she was sitting alone reading a book, so I pulled up a chair to her table and said, “Mind if I ask you what you’re reading?” She looked up and smiled and said, “This … Continue reading →

I was sitting in Nancy’s with a few of my buddies before going to work, when a husky, six-foot-two young man swung in the door and marched up to the counter. I almost smiled, then saw that in his right … Continue reading →

As Dave Justice swung around a corner of The Empire State Building on his way to work he looked at the young woman swinging toward him, fifty feet away, and his mind stopped. When she looked him in the eye … Continue reading →

(Dedicated to Stephen Speicher with the urgent hope that he will know more springs to give his own meaning to.) Spring is alive. New buds, new leaves, new grasses, are popping, curling, and spearing out and all around. The air … Continue reading →

When he had created the picture in his mind he thought that if men could see it they would weep for joy and thanksgiving, and they would pay him money and he could eat. “But,” he thought, “men don’t pay … Continue reading →

“We all have our cross to bear; we all have our burdens to carry.” He had heard it all his life, all six years of it. There was a helpless, yet matter-of-fact tone in her voice whenever his mother said … Continue reading →

The recently divorced, fifty-year-old salesman had gone back to see his little foothill-surrounded hometown. All the quaint little houses on the street where he raised were not to be seen. In their place stood a few large, clean, splendid-looking houses, … Continue reading →

While on my part-time window-washing job yesterday, the proprietor of the Home-Crafts shop came out and asked me how I was planning to spend Christmas, and since it fell on a Sunday, proceeded to ask me if I was going … Continue reading →