15 Days of Harveys Day 13 – Mark Hayes’s “Mandrake”

Mandrake

by Mark Hayes

 
“Hendricks? He’s dead, I believe. Murdered, if I recall correctly, a month ago. By members of his own coven, or so I am told.”
This was a reasonable summing up of the facts. Which is to say, to the best of my knowledge that Jacob Hendricks, third Earl of Cleethorpes and mediocre occultist, was indeed deceased. As such, until any evidence to the contrary was presented, I laboured under the assumption that this was indeed the case. One does not as a rule presume notices of death in The Times obituary column to be falsehoods.
It is The Times, after all.

The above is from Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8 (the famous “No Dragons” issue). You can read the rest of Mark Hayes’s Mandrake along with several other amazing stories between its captivating covers (and we both hope you do!)

Have you been Harveyed?

The kind, wise, and wonderful folks at Sixth Element Publishing included four of my flash pieces in Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8 and I’m repaying that kindness by showcasing the opening from each author’s work for the next few weeks.

 
Read

Next up, a taste of Melissa Wuidart Phillips’s The Rainbow Has Many Colours.

Enjoy!

15 Days of Harveys Day 12 – Liz Tuckwell’s “Some People Smell Roses”

Some People Smell Roses

by Liz Tuckwell

 
Some people smell roses when death approaches. For me, it’s a stench.
I was sitting at the airport with my boyfriend Jay, waiting to fly to Lanzarote for a week’s holiday. I’d known him for about six months and it was a leap of faith going with him at this point in our relationship. He was tall, dark, very good looking. Jay never passed a shop window without checking his appearance. He believed in equality of the sexes unlike some guys I’ve met. He was always happy to let me pay my way.
I suppose I was using this as a test to see whether our relationship had any future. Would we get on ok on holiday? How would he cope with the tedium of waiting for the plane? He sat there, frowning at the noisy, blond toddler playing planes, zooming around near our seats.
I smelled a nauseating odour at the crowded gate, where we would be shortly departing. It was so bad I had to rush past the curious, staring faces to the Ladies to throw up. I knelt on the floor, gasping, retching, and clutched the cold white ceramic toilet bowl. I remembered this stink from before.

The above is from Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8 (the famous “No Dragons” issue). You can read the rest of Liz Tuckwell’s Some People Smell Roses along with several other amazing stories between its captivating covers (and we both hope you do!)

Find Liz Tuckwell online at Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon, and her website.

Have you been Harveyed?

The kind, wise, and wonderful folks at Sixth Element Publishing included four of my flash pieces in Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8 and I’m repaying that kindness by showcasing the opening from each author’s work for the next few weeks.

 
Read

Next up, a taste of Mark Hayes’s Mandrake.

Enjoy!

15 Days of Harveys Day 11 – Kate Baucherel’s “Firebird”

Firebird

by Kate Baucherel

 
“The Fire Festival? You’re mad.”
“Aww, Jenny, you have no romance in your soul,” said Finch. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Jenny, who had been busy polishing her carapace, gave her avian friend a withering look. “Mantises don’t really do romance, Finch. We also don’t enjoy being fried to a crisp in the name of fun.”
“But… but… it’s not just fun,” spluttered Finch. “It’s a seminal moment in history. It’s the biggest thing since… since…”
“Since the last one,” said Jenny. “Big deal. Count me out.”
“What is this Fire Festival?” asked Kurt from his bunk.
“It’s three perfect days of music and entertainment and amazing food and cocktails and stargazing and hot springs and…” Finch gabbled.
“It’s a big crowd of sweaty travellers in a lava field,” said Jenny.
Kurt laughed. “I get it.” He shook his head. “You two are funny. I’ve been to plenty of festivals on Earth and a few on this trip, but I’ve never heard of this one before.”
“That’s because it’s not on any of the tour itineraries.” Finch flourished a dog-eared guidebook, an old-school paper publication stuffed with printed pictures and hand-written notes. “I read about it in Granny’s book. Look. It’s on the fire planet of Chapin, which no one ever seems to visit otherwise, and it only happens when Pogg’s Comet passes through their solar system. The last pass was almost a century ago.”
“Let me guess,” said Jenny drily, “your Granny went to the last one.”
Finch nodded eagerly. “She did, and no one else in my family has ever managed to go. It would be a real coup.”
“So, this is all about showing your cousins that you had a better round-the-galaxy trip than they did,” said Kurt. “I think you’re doing okay so far.” He gestured around the comfortable cabin that the three of them shared. “Look at this. We’re crewing with the finest pirate guild in the galaxy. It’s the best gap year job I could have dreamed of. Why would you want to move on?”
“We don’t need to leave,” said Finch. “Think about it. The festival will need all the supply ships it can get. The guild could make a fortune running cargo and passengers to Chapin.”
“Huh,” said Kurt. “You’re making sense for once, Finch.” He swung his long legs out of the bunk. “Let’s go and talk to the captain. Jenny, are you in?”
“As long as you don’t expect me to set foot on that planet, yes,” said Jenny. “You’ll be fine, of course, Kurt. Humans are a nice moist species.”
“Do you think Finch will come back with singed feathers?” asked Kurt, looking sidelong at the young avian who was hopping from foot to foot with excitement.
“Anything’s possible,” said Jenny. “Come on.” She gave her carapace a final polish, unfolded her legs and stalked off up the corridor towards the captain’s quarters.

The above is from Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8 (the famous “No Dragons” issue). You can read the rest of Kate Baucherel’s Firebird along with several other amazing stories between its captivating covers (and we both hope you do!)

Have you been Harveyed?

The kind, wise, and wonderful folks at Sixth Element Publishing included four of my flash pieces in Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8 and I’m repaying that kindness by showcasing the opening from each author’s work for the next few weeks.

 
Read

Next up, a taste of Liz Tuckwell’s Some People Smell Roses.

Enjoy!

15 Days of Harveys Day 10 – Me! Four Flash Pieces

Yes, I’m blessed! Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8 has four flash sized pieces from me (but be warned, Harvey doesn’t like the term flash).

It’s a Man’s World

 
“Where are you going?”
Susan’s face softened but she looked away.
All the women in the neighborhood were dressed in what we use to all “Easter Sunday” clothes; light dresses, bright, Spring colors of sky blues and yellows and whites, some with flower prints with big roses or tulips or daffodils or morning glories or black-eyed susans and all with long, lush green vines wrapping around them. All of them wearing wide-brimmed sun hats, many with scarves tying their hats around their chins. A few wore sunglasses. All had nice big purses, lots of different colors but most of them white, white cloth gloves covering their hands and all of them in either tasteful heels or flats. Nobody wore stilettos or CFMs of any kind.

Lessons Learned

They stood, coffee cups in hand, staring out the kitchen window. The radio switched from the news to two DJs joking about the lead story: an extraordinary meteor shower that wouldn’t be seen locally due to heavy cloudcover.
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the sink. “Turn that down, would you, Love?”
She put her hand on his back and leaned forward beside him. “You think that squirrel knows we’re watching him?”
“How do you think he gets up there? That’s twice in two days I’ve seen him at the top of the bird feeders. He can’t be getting past the baffles on the poles and there aren’t any branches near by.”

Sanctuary

There is a planet on the scanners. It is large and round and red. The sun is yellow and warming, and the planet is in the sun’s life zone. The gravity is slightly stronger than Earth’s. The air is a bit richer, and there is abundant water under the surface.
The red coloring comes from two things. The surface of the planet is covered with red vegetation and their spores are everywhere. The ground is also red, although not with spores but with clay and slate like so faraway Connecticut.
The dog beside me raises his massive head and growls. I scratch behind his ears and his hind legs start thumping the cabin floor. I make him thump in time to songs I sing, switching legs as I go from chorus to lead and back.
“We’ll go down, see if this is the one.”

What We Saw at Bishop’s House

What’s become of Bishop’s house? This chamber is like the one I lay in moments ago but I know neither you nor your man. Outside the door, that’s not Bishop’s workshop.
I am William Bennett. Where is my wife, Chrysanthé? We are “The Dancers Extraordinairre.” There’s an advertisement in my breast pocket. See? “Dancers to the Crowns of Europe.”
Bishop’s told you of us? Where is he, then?

Each of the above is from Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8 (the famous “No Dragons” issue). You can read the rest of each along with several other amazing stories between its captivating covers (and I hope you do!)

Have you been Harveyed?

The kind, wise, and wonderful folks at Sixth Element Publishing included four of my flash pieces in Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8 and I’m repaying that kindness by showcasing the opening from each author’s work for the next few weeks.

 
Read

Next up, a taste of Kate Baucherel’s Firebird.

Enjoy!

15 Days of Harveys Day 9 – Jack Pentire’s “Time will say Nothing”

Time will say Nothing

by Jack Pentire

 
They dragged her in through the door from the bright sunlit square outside the courtroom. She was small and stick thin, and she looked almost delicate, held as she was between the two burly jailors, They hauled her backwards as the custom was, so that she could not make eye contact with her accusers. The two men paced themselves just fast enough to prevent her from keeping up, and her heels dragged, creating two shallow tracks in the dust. The building was old and high vaulted with a hammer-beam roof that dated from the days of the tithe barn system when the local church had had greater influence over village life.

The above is from Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8 (the famous “No Dragons” issue). You can read the rest of Jack Pentire’s Time will say Nothing along with several other amazing stories between its captivating covers (and we both hope you do!)

Have you been Harveyed?

The kind, wise, and wonderful folks at Sixth Element Publishing included four of my flash pieces in Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8 and I’m repaying that kindness by showcasing the opening from each author’s work for the next few weeks.

 
Read

Next up, a taste of four flash pieces from me!

Enjoy!