C.O.I. Anonymous

C.O.I. Anonymous by Colin Campbell      This weekend I went to my first meeting of the Clone Optimizers Anonymous support group. Yeah, the whole ‘Hi, I’m Dave, and I can’t control my optimizing” thing.      I was glad to find out I’m not the only one who’s been clobbered by the C.O.I. app–Clone Optimizer, Inc.–maybe […]

Nano 2.1: Yucca

The Nanogatherers, by Colin Campbell Chapter 2.1: Yucca       Granny knocked at Zina’s door. “Alfy, Bhetan, time to get up, there’s some special extra foraging that has to be done right now.”      Zina, their mother, opened the door. “Come on, boys, get your buns out there, dammit, there’s company coming.” Zina had 19 henna […]

The Vineyard

The Vineyard by Austin I Pullé Before the Reverend Jeremiah Symthe opened the letter addressed to his son from the admissions office of Northwestern University, he popped an Oxytocin pill into his mouth. He prayed this would not be like The Liberty University letter that rejected the application of his other son, Cooter.  The Smythes […]

Nanogatherers 1.9: Foraging

The Nanogatherers 1.9: Foraging by Colin Campbell Prologue 1. Granny 2. Tobe3. Solar tarp 4. Eggs Benedict 5. Uncle Joe6. Rim View Hotel7. Inside Rim View8. Hike back 9. Foraging      Tobe carried the bottle of liquor up the slope from Uncle Joe’s wagon and around the curve amid the tall pines to Grandview Point’s […]

De Profundis

De Profundis by Austin Pulle Mansoor watched his cousin frown as he read the sheet of paper he had handed over and pull his shirt cuff back to check the time on his Breitling watch.  The air-conditioning in the apartment was turned up high.  Two pots of Vanda orchids with their luxuriant blossoms were place […]

8. Hike back to the wagons

The Nanogatherersby Colin Campbella sci-fi novel in progress Prologue 1. Granny 2. Tobe3. Solar tarp 4. Eggs Benedict 5. Uncle Joe6. Rim View Hotel7. Inside Rim View8. Hike back 9. Foraging 8: On the way back to the wagons.      Then they were hiking back to the wagons, bottles tinkling together in their shoulder-slung forage […]

Decibel Meter

Decibel Meter by Paul Burri At one point in my “career” I needed a decibel meter (a device that measures ambient sound levels) and I found myself talking to a salesman.During the conversation, I asked him who used them and-he said that they sold many to schools to monitor the noise levels that the children […]

The Nanogatherers, Chapter 7

The NanogatherersA sci-fi novel in progress by Colin Campbell Prologue 1. Granny 2. Tobe3. Solar tarp 4. Eggs Benedict 5. Uncle Joe6. Rim View Hotel7. Inside Rim View8. Hike back 9. Foraging 7. Inside Rim View Hotel     Tobe had never seen a hotel before. He’d never heard the word before. He’d never been in […]

A Tryst in the Bardo

A TRYST IN THE BARDO Austin I Pullé 05-31-23 He pushed the door marked “Exit” with all his strength but it did not budge. Seventy years imprisoned in the Bardo, ever since that fateful hot Mississippi evening in 1955. He was terrified that he was doomed to spend eternity in this dismal place watching the […]

Easter Egg

Easter Egg, by Pilar Montes   A meadow lush with green grasses, clover, yellow dandelions, blue lupine, and butterflies. Hundreds of eggs are hidden in the grasses.I am green and hope I am found. Luckily, I have a shiny plastic shell. Pure excitement as children search for eggs. Suddenly, a pair of toddler-sized tennis shoes […]