Larger Trivia Overdose

     Responses to my most recent column were evenly split, about half using the word “Scrooge” and the others using “Grinch.”  (There were a few other words which are new to me, but I got the general gist.)  It occurs to me that perhaps I was a little hard on those people who announce startlingContinue reading “Larger Trivia Overdose”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XII

     Bott’s eyes snapped open and he jerked upright, fully expecting to find himself surrounded by a few dozen Imperial troopers.      But no, this was the dim, elegant bridge he’d come to know, the same smooth, graceful, unbearable lines he’d seen all along, and no more.      Wait.  He blinked.  Some lines were different. Continue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XII”

FICTION FRIDAY: Sending It Back

     Bernard was one of those shoppers who spends more time than money.  A friendly chap who liked to talk, had a treasury of stories which were not all pointless: he was pleasant enough on a slow day but at other times kept work from being done.      The keeper of the dark, dim antiqueContinue reading “FICTION FRIDAY: Sending It Back”

Polar Perplexity

     I would like to join those voices who have grown louder about massive government coverups.  It is as if at some point, leaders who cannot agree on borders or human rights or the environment got together and agreed to hide all evidence they have on a phenomenon they have decided (or have been told,Continue reading “Polar Perplexity”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER 12

     Sheriff Parimat and her Chief Deputy were the last of the playmates released from the Panoply when His Imperial Worship’s pigherds decided the Imperial pets were ready for a new assortment of friends.  They stepped slowly, stiffly, through a darkened cargo bay from which all the ornaments had now been removed.  The Sheriff stoopedContinue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER 12”

PRESIDENTIAL TALL TALES VII

     We continue to hunt for conspiracy theories involving each President of the United States.  To qualify, the story must be more or less contemporary with the President involved, and must be discounted by a majority of Mainstream Historians.  I was expecting the boring Presidents of the late nineteenth century to be fairly free ofContinue reading “PRESIDENTIAL TALL TALES VII”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER 11

     “I think it was a harmless joke!” Nubry exclaimed again.  “Do I?  Yes, I do!”      Bott said nothing, watching the ship’s defenses vaporizing bits of petals and stems as they neared the ship, AND wondering whether anyone but the Sacotans of Etmaal III were the only ones who ever got so angry asContinue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER 11”

FICTION FRIDAY: A Smell of Leaves

     Mike straightened his back with only minor effort, and stretched.  That was a respectable pile of leaves, and the weather was perfect for raking: cool with a light breeze not quite strong enough to go through the cloth jacket he was thinking of taking off if Carol wasn’t watching him through the kitchen window. Continue reading “FICTION FRIDAY: A Smell of Leaves”