Stories

This is a collection of very short stories, that I had written over thirty years ago, when I first started to write, and they are recollections of real events that took place on the farm where I grew up in Western Australia…

Only four chapters for now, unless I recall a few other events in the mean time...

Q

A boy heads into the woods and makes a lifelong promise

Winter Maestri leads Peraza after his parents' suspicious and tragic death. Andyvion, a servant from the household of the new king of the neighboring land, leaves his home and his mates to warn Winter of a plot. Winter will do anything to keep himself and his land free, even take on a fake mate. But Hazeth Montcroix is a bit more than Winter expected and the fake mating may become real, no matter how Winter fights his feelings for Hazeth.

During the COVID pandemic, two thirteen-year-old boys fall in love while attempting to deal with the climate crisis. They meet while rescuing a racoon. Their relationship strengthens as they add information to parked vehicles, restaurants, and a fountain. Later they demonstrate in drag, practice foreplay, run around naked on the prairies, develop a close relationship with prairie dogs, and experience an extreme weather event.

A Wednesday Brief Holiday Short Story

Grant and Russell's relationship is mirrored in the relationship of their two cats.

Plants and animals were my thing. The intricacies of nature intrigued me and yet there was an elegant simplicity that I loved.

6888 Ardra. Heavy gravity planet. Human-compatible atmosphere. Generally temperate climate; I’d aimed for the southern continent which had milder weather and a good mix of terrain.

“Damn Sonez anyway.” He’d tried to keep me on his ship instead of letting me explore the planet with a team after the probe returned. Well I’d stopped his plotting before he could ruin my life.

And I’d show everyone just what Essell Deray could do.

A runaway orphan boy loses himself in a primeval American forest and, on the brink of death, is saved by the animals living there. As he recovers he finds that the animals have saved him for a reason, a reason that makes his life worth living. It seems like a fable that might have taken place in Africa, or India, a hundred years ago, but although this boy was not raised by apes or wolves, his story in contemporary America is even stranger. Be warned, however, that although this tale has many joyous moments, there is sorrow here as well, sorrow for the boy, and for the many who came to love him.

Harlon Eldrick's mother is dying of recurrent breast cancer and wants him to go tell his father. Harlon lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his father lives across the country in a small collection of buildings called Black Dog, Washington. Harlon wants to make this an adventure. He will take the train to Chicago and hitchhike from there to Black Dog. It's been over a week, since Harlon left Chicago on a trip that's been anything but an adventure. He is welcomed into a semi by Steve Lennard for what he hopes is his last ride.

The titular book from the novel 'Book of Venoms', this is a guide to the strange and magical world of Escaria and its venomous creatures. It also includes sections on the mythology and history of Escaria, as well as recipes for elixirs and antidotes.