Author Archives: James Pyles

I is for Ice

i is for ice

© James Pyles

Ten year old Daniel let the screen door slam behind him as he walked into the kitchen. Uncle Ethan was working with the new horses this morning and Aunt Abby had gone into town. He grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with ice cubes from the freezer.

Ethan and Abby still had a freezer old enough to need ice-cube trays. The child momentarily considered this a charming anachronism in the 21st century.

He filled the glass with water and swallowed it down, attempting to quench not only the heat of an Idaho summer morning, but the growing sense of surrealism he was experiencing, particularly at the latest disturbance, a talking hen.

Continue reading →

The Secret Device

cell phone

© A Mixed Bag 2012

Remember, Z’kin. You’re holding one of the most sophisticated computing devices ever conceived. It has multiple scanners to gather data on their entire environment, communications circuits allowing you to contact our ship in orbit, and a voice interactive interface which can instantly answer any question.

“Not, Z’kin, Commander. My code name is Gary Evans.”

“Right. Of course. We’ve landed in a wooded area just outside of one of their communities. It’s just before dawn, so after you leave the shuttle, we should be able to launch undetected.

“Thanks, Commander. I’ll contact you daily during my scouting mission.”

“Good luck Z…uh, Mr. Evans.”

His alien form altered to look human, “Gary Evans” exited the shuttle and walked the five miles to the city. By the time he got downtown, the streets were bustling with people going to and fro.

The alien reached into his pocket secure in the knowledge that his secret device gave him mastery over his mission.

Then he saw them. They all had one. Every person he saw was looking down at their screens, rapidly tapping out messages or talking to “Siri”. His secret device was all too common here.

I wrote this for the Sunday Photo Fiction writing challenge. The idea is to write a piece of flash fiction no more than 200 words based on the photo prompt above. My word count is 192.

When I saw the photo prompt, I thought of how the hand-held communicators in the 1960s TV show “Star Trek” seemed so advanced, but now, today’s cell phones are so much more sophisticated. Imagine an alien race who wants to scout Earth thinking some of their technology is so superior only to discover we have the same thing.

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

H is for Hen

h is for hen

© James Pyles

Another morning, another visit to the henhouse for Daniel. Most of these eggs would be sold at the market, which added a modest amount to his aunt’s and uncle’s income. His experiences yesterday taught him to get in, collect the eggs, and get out.

Since his encounter with the frog, nothing amiss had happened to the boy. He and Towser had walked over to Ben Swigert’s farm, found his uncle and old Ben, and watched them struggle with and cuss at the thirty year old tractor until almost sunset.

Finally, replacing several hoses and a fuel pump later, the machine roared back to life.

Continue reading →

G is for Grape

g is for grape

© James Pyles

After leaving the pond, Daniel didn’t go back to the farmhouse right away. He spent a lot of time wandering around, looking at everything which, since his encounter with the frog, seemed perfectly ordinary.

He played “fetch” with Towser until the boy got bored (the dog never got bored with “fetch”), he found Fearful Symmetry and two of her three kittens (the pink one was still missing) near the barn and petted them for a while. He even peeked into the henhouse only to find it was still an ordinary henhouse with ordinary hens.

Finally, he slipped back into the backdoor of the house and into the kitchen.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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…”

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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.