Author Archives: James Pyles

F is for Frog

f is for frog

© James Pyles

It was after lunch and Daniel was still haunted by the incident of the egg. He explained to Aunt Abby that he accidentally dropped one, but besides saying “Accidents will happen” and giving him a rag to wipe up the mess with, she proceeded calmly with the matter of making breakfast.

Only the broken shell and a small bit of the yoke was left on the floor by the time the ten year old got back to the henhouse. Now, as he was walking down the path leading to the pond near the edge of his uncle’s property, he was still wondering what happened to the rest. For that matter, ever since he arrived at the Harris farm for his annual summer vacation, he was wondering how everything that had once been comfortable and familiar had become strange and menacing.

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E is for Egg

e is for egg

© James Pyles

The first day of his vacation on his aunt’s and uncle’s farm was “free,” but after that, he was given some chores to do. It wasn’t really a lot of work, and Daniel was still given a lot of discretionary time to have fun. Even Uncle Ethan tried to offload a lot of his normal work to hired hands so he could spend more time with the ten-year old.

This morning, Daniel was in the henhouse collecting eggs. He momentarily remembered the “cycle of life” message from the Disney film “The Lion King.” The hens were blissfully unaware that what potentially could have been their offspring was about to be consumed for breakfast.

The eggs were warm and for a moment, Daniel held one in his hand. It felt comfortable, and he put down his basket so he could cradle it in both palms.

Then he felt movement. “But that’s imposs…”

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D is for Dog

d is for dog

© James Pyles

Daniel was deciding just how much damage a small kitten could do to him, even if it were an anomaly, when frantic barking came from the other entrance to the barn. Towser, the large golden retriever, charged in racing at the strange pink cat. The feline immediately ran away, ducking behind bales of hay.

The dog followed growling, which was really unusual for Towser since he normally got along with the farm cats. After a few moments, he started whining and looking around, unable to find the object of his interest.

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Anniversaries

hotel

© Sandra Crook

Antoine stepped back outside the Hotel Charlotte. He’d hoped on this 20th anniversary, staying at the place where they’d spent their honeymoon would finally quiet the ghost.

It hadn’t. If only she would rest and let him rest.

He tossed his overnight bag into the backseat, got in and started the car.

“Can we go home now, Simone?”

“Not quite yet. Remember that charming little cafe where we had our first breakfast?”

His wife had died in a car accident on their honeymoon. He’d been driving. It had been his fault. For twenty years now she didn’t let him forget.

Written for the Friday Fictioneers Photo Writing Challenge hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. The idea is to use the photo prompt above to write a piece of flash fiction no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.

To read other stories based on the prompt, go to InLinkz.com.

C is for Cat

c is for cat

© James Pyles

After breakfast the next morning, Daniel ran out the backdoor of his aunt’s and uncle’s farm house and into the barn. Sure enough, he found Fearful Symmetry relaxing in a patch of sunlight.

Aunt Abby said that Uncle Ethan could name their dogs if she could name the cats. Fearful Symmetry was the mama cat and head mouser in charge of the barn and surrounding area. She was named for a line in a famous poem by William Blake. Auntie had an impressive library in the basement, which is where she also kept the violin she hadn’t played for years, but Daniel wasn’t attracted to poetry, so he rarely sampled any of her tomes.

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Firewood in May

firewood

© Loretta Notto

“All the firewood she’ll need for next winter.”

Gerald had been laboring for weeks to make sure the house was ready and that she would be taken care of.

Most folks would say that having the winter firewood cut in May was a little premature, but he knew he was already out of time. The cancer in him was spreading fast and his doctor told him he wouldn’t last much longer.

She’d have to learn to live without him. After over sixty years together, that would be hard. He wasn’t an emotional man, but the thought of her having to go it alone made him tear up some.

Gerald turned to put the ax back in the shed only to discover he wasn’t holding it.

“Now where did that damn thing go?”

He looked again and he wasn’t at home anymore.

“Gerald, have you forgotten again?”

“Who are you?” This wasn’t home. In fact, Gerald wasn’t sure where he was.

“She will be fine, Gerald. I told you I’d take care of her.”

“Yes, Lord.”

Written for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers hosted by Priceless Joy. The idea is to write a piece of flash fiction between 100 and 175 words long with 150 being the ideal. Mine is 175 words exactly.

To read more stories based on the photo prompt above, go to InLinkz.com.

B is for Boy

b is for boy

© James Pyles

Shelley helped Daniel get his carry on out of the overhead bin. Since he was only ten, she was the flight attendant who made sure he was taken care of on his plane trip from California to Idaho. Daniel hardly felt he needed the attention, and his parents remarked more than once that he was more organized than most thirty-year-olds, but the rules were the rules. Daniel could play the role of a typical child when it was needed.

“Have a good visit with your aunt and uncle, Daniel.” As he exited the aircraft for the jetway, Shelley bent over slightly and tousled his bushy blond hair. Daniel suppressed his annoyance.

“Thanks, Shelley. Have a safe flight.” He knew that sounded stupid, but after all, he was supposed to be a kid, so circumstances often demanded he act like one.

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A is for Airplane

a is for airplane

© James Pyles

This wasn’t Daniel’s first plane ride, but it was the first one he’d taken by himself. At age ten, his parents thought he was old enough to fly alone from their home in Newport Beach, California to visit his aunt and uncle in Idaho.

He’d been very careful to look at each passenger on the plane as they boarded, as well as all of the flight attendants. Daniel even managed a brief look into the cockpit. He was relieved that he didn’t see any anomalies. They weren’t common, but they weren’t particularly rare either. It was terrifying for the normally controlled and stoic child to be in close proximity to one for very long.

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The Unexpected Guest

fly

© A Mixed Bag

Jerry’s hobby of refurbishing used laptops provided him with a modest additional income and some interesting experiences.

“It’s amazing what some people will leave on their hard drives,” he murmured as he opened the lid to his latest acquisition, one he found at a yard sale.

He was used to finding all sorts of food stuffs, potato chip crumbs, flecks of sandwich meat, drops of soda pop, on and around laptop keyboards, but the insect was something new. What’s more, it was still alive.

“Hello, little guy. You must have been caught in their right before they closed the lid and put the laptop out. Good thing I didn’t wait until next week to get to you.”

The fly’s wings were barely fluttering. It was caught by a leg. It was only a fly but…

Jerry had a magnifying glass and light rig he wore on his head to let him do close work. He used his smallest tweezers to create a gap between the space bar and the keyboard housing. The fly was free and took off.

The young System’s Analyst opened the window of his second storey apartment and escorted his unexpected guest back to its native habitat.

I write this in response to the Sunday Photo Fiction challenge for April 30th. The idea is to write a piece of flash fiction based on the photo above that’s no more than 200 words long. Mine is at the max: 200 words.

I decided to write something simple but uplifting in response to the prompt. Not too many people would have let the fly go free, especially with all of its legs intact.

To read more stories based on this prompt, go to InLinkz.com.

Just Another Monday in Chicago

chicago

Michigan Avenue in Chicago

Walking down Michigan Avenue, Johnny remembered the meme, “Come to Chicago for the food, stay because you got murdered,” yet all he saw was another “hustle bustle” Monday morning in a big city.

Naturally he came prepared. This was mostly a vacation trip, but he did have one bit of business to attend to. There she was just ahead of him, about to cross the DuSable Bridge. It would be touchy in broad daylight, but with these crowds, he was confident he’d get away with it.

He slipped the small .22 out of his sleeve into his palm just as he caught up with her. He shoved the barrel into her back and fired, then kept walking. She collapsed against the bridge railing and then onto the sidewalk.

Another successful hit, this time on an NBC news exec. Now to lunch. He’d heard “The Purple Pig” had a great wine list.

Written for What Pegman Saw. The idea is to use the Google Maps photo prompt above to write a piece of flash fiction no more than 150 words long. My word count is exactly 150.

To read more stories inspired by the prompt, go to InLinkz.com.