The Hunting of Tulikettu
Flash fiction | Audio drama and College Course Animation Project (coming soon)
A hunter has a chance encounter with the mythical Finnish fox of the northern lights.
“Circling around the fishing hole Veikko had chiseled the day before was a polar fox. It appeared to be following a fish with its clever eyes.
But this fox was unlike any other he had seen trying to steal food from his camp. An iridescent kaleidoscope of color glowed outward from the fox’s body to the tips of its fur. They flickered and breathed like flames of his campfire.
Grandmother had told legends about this fox since he was a child. But no one had seen it in hundreds of years.
This was Tulikettu. Its tail twinkled with the same flames that created revontulet, the fox fires, the ripples and ribbons of ghostly, magical light that sometimes flickered through the northern skies.”
Perks of the Job
Flash Fiction | Submission for NYC Midnight's 48 hour flash fiction competition.
While shopping at a farmer’s market, a pair of friends get roped into a fire department’s quest to quell the rage of an everlasting fire.
“Scientists in lab coats studied the wild flames. Firefighters punched the air like boxers.
“This fire’s a demon that we can’t slay. Our bravest fighters seek retribution. Many were lost to the flames,” said Waxed Stache.
“Today the scientists have decided to send us into the flames to snuff the beast from the inside out,” said Golden Tooth.
“What?!”
“If not it’ll kill us all.”
“Then what’re your berries for?” asked Wallie.
“The Death Cocktail, just in case,” said Golden Tooth. “We hear it has bite to it. This should make it better.”
“Good thinking,” said Wallie.
“We are masters of our own fate,” said Waxed Stache.”
The Specter of Ægir
Flash fiction | Audio drama | College Course Animation Project | Asylum magazine
A diver helps his wife, the newest director of Ægir’s Aquarium, in the wake of their boss’s sudden demise. As her first day unfolds, an uncanny guest lurks, seeking vengeance.
“We stood alone on the boardwalk. Artificial light leaked from the neon sign of “Ægir’s Aquarium”. The insignia of a bare-chested god with a harpoon and algae for hair changed in a rhythm with a turquoise ocean that grew and sank behind him.
“Did you spend adequate time at the funeral?” my wife asked.
“As long as I could bear,” I said. “They couldn’t trace the poison in her blood.”
The turquoise light illuminated her hair. She pushed a strand back, lost in the mass of water that flowed before us.
“Now that she’s gone, it’s yours,” I whispered.”
Here, We Sit Aside
Flash fiction | Great Lake Review
“Charles’ asthma struck yesterday. His little lungs were still weak and filled with mucus. The songs I sing to guide him to sleep each night have fallen short. It’s not the constriction he feels first– it’s the terror. So he does not rest.
Sleep has stayed far from my body. I saw him enter my room before he could tug my sheets.
“My chest hurts.” It scared him to say that out loud. Brave, yes, but utterly helpless.”
Masked Parcels
Flash fiction | Exist Magazine
“The radiator broke two hours before Evan was summoned into our boss’s office. With haste, I forced my dull argyle tie into his quivering hands, took his wrinkled one, and told him all would be well.
Mrs. Henderson stood next to the boss’s desk– an elegant octogenarian from the eighth floor who claimed Evan had been stealing her packages. A tall peacock feather pierced her jet black hair.
The fact is, we’re replaceable. We’re the personal mailmen for those who don’t really need us.
It was my birthday. The office could not contain our boss’s screams of unwavering rage. Evan handed me my tie as he fled. His name tag was promptly removed from his mailbox. The dust in my own remained undisturbed.”