Rogue

Dysfictional

When artificial intelligence runs amok… Published in 2017 by Horrified Press

“Somebody is going to have to fix this.”

“Really? I thought maybe I’d do the exact opposite and ignore the problem. You know, like we’ve been doing so far?”

“Sarcasm? That’s how you respond to a global crisis? How professional of you, Captain.”

“I learned from the best, Commander.” Jay made no effort to hide the venom in her voice.

Commander Obert slammed his palm against the desktop hard enough to make the monitors flicker. “Watch your tone, Captain! You’re on thin ice already.”

“I warned you about the issue long before it was a problem. If you hadn’t rushed it into the field without testing, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“Are you suggesting this is my fault?”

“As opposed to what?”

“As opposed to the fault of the engineer who was paid massive amounts of…

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The Eagle Cried

Vampire Maman

I’m honored to share a poem from my friend, Northern California writer Richard Turton.

The acrid smell of cordite

Still hovered in the air.

No breeze to wash away

The scent of Satan’s hair.

The Medivac’s are fading now,

Their cabins filled with dead.

So many grisly pictures

Are surging through my head

Another hill’s been taken

The earth all charred and black

We all know what’s coming;

Tomorrow…”Give it back!”

The Eagle cries from barren trees

His tears, he cannot hide.

Where once a proud, young soldier stood

My Warrior Brother, died

The scorched ground that surrounds me;

Am I in Dante’s Hell?

This skirmish now is over

We saw them as they fell.

My Warrior Brother, Donny,

Died that gruesome day.

He took the bullets meant for me

With his final words did say,

“Tell Mom and Sis I loved them!

Please! Don’t let me…

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COVID Critter 5-22-20

MacKENZIE's Dragon's Nest

I’ve been on this log for 10 weeks! Don’t push me!

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Short Story Sunday: Radio Waves

Vampire Maman

Radio Waves

“Why did they keep a vault box of old diseases?”

“For research purposes. It was a point of reference.”

“Then why didn’t they just eradicate them again? They had the knowledge. They had the vaccines.”

“No they’d didn’t have the vaccines. The box had been sealed for over a thousand years. They had no need for vaccines.  The contamination and speculation on the outcome was too overwhelming for them. Maybe for them but wewould have survived. We would have beaten it.”

“Wait, Nessie, that can’t be right. You’re saying there were no new germs, bacteria, or virus strains in a thousand years.”

“That is what the records say.”

“That can’t be right.”

“Stop questioning everything.”

“Why? Your ideas are based on something that happened almost 20,000 years ago. We’re here now and we’re happy. We’re safe. You’ve seen what happens to other species when they get sick.”

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Take My Life

We should all be so lucky to have a friend like Andy. Bravo Mandy White. Bravo.

Short Story Sunday: The Last Time

Vampire Maman

The Last Time

by Richard Turton  

I have no recollection of anything specific we spoke of that day. I’m sure the weather was involved because we always spoke of the weather in Georgia. He gave me words of advice, I’m sure, because that’s what he always did when he was going somewhere longer than overnight. His words soft, sweet, gentle.

More than once in the last few days, I’d seen him looking at the triangular walnut case on the mantle. There was a picture beside the flag, a man he’d never met; a picture of his father, my husband, in his Army dress uniform, strong, proud. A smaller picture, stuck in the corner of the frame, corners curling, fading. My husband, seated on a row of sandbags at some nameless firebase in Viet Nam.

Conversation quietly came to a comfortable close; neither of us wanting to talk of the…

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Social Distance

A sweet and bitter sweet story. A must read for everyone these days.

Dysfictional

A fictional story about young love in a post-pandemic world…

Gabrielle dressed meticulously. Each piece went on in a specific order: After the undergarments came the stockings, then two petticoats, the first with wide hoops sewn into the fabric, and the second made from a light, flowing fabric, slipped over top of the first. Her blouse buttoned high, up to her chin, and the sleeves fit snugly from wrist to elbow to accommodate the long gloves she would slip on over top after lacing her calf-length boots. A skirt of royal blue silk finished the ensemble, paired with a matching bodice laced over the blouse. She pinned her hair in an elegant yet casual updo and topped it with a wide-brimmed bonnet.

She slipped down the staircase quietly, hoping to avoid unnecessary questions from her mother. She didn’t want to have to explain where she was going. Her mother would…

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Short Story Sunday: Goji and the Angel

A short story to savor and love

Vampire Maman

Diana Garcia

Goji and the Angel

By Diana Garcia

Angel Rodriguez did not like it one bit.  She was stuck.  She heard a click as she turned the key and pumped the gas pedal, but nothing happened. So, here she was in the middle of the desert, in the middle of the night.

She sure as hell was not going out there in the dark to look for help. Her cell phone was dead so she would not go out until morning to look for other hikers.

Just go to sleep,she thought.

The the cacophony of night noises made it hard. It was the usual desert sounds she heard late at night but in the comfort of her own bed. Out here, it was different. Packs of passing and yipping howling coyotes, things slithering in the dirt right outside the car, and black shadows flying low and shrieking past…

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Last Call by R James Turley

Vampire Maman

Today I’m honored to share a story from my friend, and one of my favorite WordPress bloggers R James Turley.

Last Call

by R James Turley 

When Suzy Night was introduced on stage, Ron’s mouth dropped open.  She had a walk made for a run-way, and a body that just wouldn’t quit.  Ron knew Kathy was going to hire a new singer, but didn’t know who.  He did now.  Those legs, that long dark hair stretched down her back.  Ron stared at her, wondering what it’d be like to kiss those lushes lips.

“What do you think of our new singer?”  Kathy sat down beside him at the table, two rows from the stage.

“She’s gorgeous,” he poured wine in both of their glasses.  “Where did you find her?”

“She came in on open MIC night, and just started singing,” Kathy lifted her glass toward the stage.

Why couldn’t Ron…

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