LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 8

     Precisely at twelve (one and one-half hours after his first break and two and one half hours before his next), Matt pulled the door of his cubicle shut and carried his brown paper bag to the nearest lounge.  He bought a can of Diet Coke from the machine and sat down at the sameContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 8”

FRIDAY FICTION: Fancy Meeting YOU Here

     “You here, Uncle Jack?”      “Down cellar.”      “Hi, what’s…um, what are you doing?”      “Sealing these papers in stasis.  Might be safe to touch in eight thousand years.”      “So your latest invention is a radioactive printer?”      “Nope.”      “Your latest invention exploded, then, and spread plutonium across your notebooks?”      “TheContinue reading “FRIDAY FICTION: Fancy Meeting YOU Here”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 7

     Matt very slowly eased his head out the door of his cubicle.  His mother wore that grey suit he’d seen a thousand times.  Ada Silberwetter had an orange-brown ensemble that flowed with her.  They stood with their backs to him.  Walter Prince faced them, and had obviously not expected to encounter so warm aContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 7”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 6

     Matt replayed his conversation with Ada Silberwetter until 3 A.M., coming up with a number of blistering responses which would have put the flouncing fluff in her place.  A sunny mood, therefore, accompanied him through the frigid gray morning that followed.  He couldn’t use the comebacks on their target now, of course, but withContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 6”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 5

     The eyes sparkled.  The impudent little chin came down.      “Boo!” said Mrs. Silberwetter.      Matt took a step back.  Mrs. Silberwetter started forward and Matt took five giant steps back.  A slow, deep smile rolled across the woman’s rosy face.  Every millimeter of exposed tooth brightened the room sixteen candlepower.  Eyelashes that shouldContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 5”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 4

     The rest of the day passed without incident, aside from the tantrum Walter Prince threw on learning Matt has assumed the authority to unlock Watanabe’s cubicle and present it to Carleton Nairn.  In the beginning, Matt had suffered terrific anxiety over such explosions, but by now he couldn’t even work up a sweat.  HeContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 4”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 3

      Matt stood up and put out a hand.  “Um,” he said.  “How do you do?”      “Er, good morning,” said Carleton Nairna little taken aback, as were most people, by just how much of Matt there was.     Matt had heard of Carleton Nairn.  Everyone in the city had heard of Carleton Nairn.  TheContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 3”

FICTION FRIDAY: Three Other Little Pigs

     Once upon a time there were three little pigs.  The first little pig liked broccoli, so she built a restaurant that served elegant broccoli dishes.  The second little pig loved eggs, so she built herself a bistro that served light fluffy egg dishes.  The third little pig had no imagination, so she built herselfContinue reading “FICTION FRIDAY: Three Other Little Pigs”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 2

     The skull, taken simply as a skull, was unobjectionable: clean and white, displayed on a black tablecloth for better contrast.  Matt had seen photographs of skulls before: his mother owned at least a dozen such photos.  Before committing murders (to paper), she liked to look at a few pictures to put her in theContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 2”

MIDWEEK FICTION: Chicken Social

    Chicken Social was a small yellow chick with good legs, a loud chirp, and a phone.  One day he crossed the road and hopped along the road to see if the worms were fatter I other people’s yard, and came to a high fence around an airport.      Since he had never seen anContinue reading “MIDWEEK FICTION: Chicken Social”