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Archive for the ‘Short Fiction’ Category

Evelyn’s Big Adventure

Evelyn is definitely a city girl. Camping isn’t exactly an itch she needs to scratch.
But for Kier, she makes an exception. Bet she’ll never make that mistake again. Enjoy!


“C’mon, mom, keep up!” Kier yelled from a bend in the trail.

Evelyn, struggling with the aluminum folding chair she’d insisted on bringing, called back, “You could carry my chair for me, you know.”

With a put-upon air, newly teenaged Kier said, “You wanted the chair, so you have to carry it.” He turned to his best friend Barry. “That’s one of the rules of camping, isn’t it?”

Barry shrugged. “I guess so. I mean, you and me’re fishing, so we’ve got to carry the fishing stuff, right?”

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SnakeGrrrl

You met Tessa’s boa constrictors, Meg and Calvin, in Dreaming of Xeres.
This story tells how she got them, and
what happened when Riley met them for the first time. Enjoy!


“C’mon, Josh, it’ll be cool. You know the manager said we couldn’t have any pets ‘with fur’. Snakes don’t have fur so he can’t tell us no.”

“But they’re slimy. And besides, where would you keep it?”

Tessa batted her eyelashes. “In a terrarium, of course.”

Josh made a face at her. “I know that. I mean,” he said with an exasperated air, “where would you keep it in our tiny little apartment?” He shook his head. “I don’t think I could sleep in the same room as a snake. What if it gets out?”

“Are you seriously telling me you’re afraid of a teeny-tiny snake? This little girl’s hardly bigger than a pencil.”

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The Infamous Couch Story

In Dreaming of Xeres, you heard several times about what happened when Alex helped Riley and Tessa get their old, lumpy couch. Now you can find out for yourself what actually happened. Enjoy!


“We can’t afford a sofa,” Riley MacPherson protested from where he was finishing drying the supper dishes.

Tessa Connors, his girlfriend or ‘significant other’ as she preferred to be called, was sitting at the kitchen table with a dozen or so catalogs strewn across it. Looking up from one of them, she said, “Maybe I could talk my way into a discount at one of these places. My business with Diana is too small to get things at wholesale yet, but we’re getting bigger contracts every day.” She dug through the pile and pulled out a catalog. “Look at this one.”

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