A Dark and Stormy Night

Happy Flash Fiction Friday!!!

I’ve been dropping hints about bloggy changes, and the time has come to tell you that I need a break from weekly writing deadlines. There’s a time and a place for those kinds of things, and I know some folks thrive under pressure, but it’s not a healthy environment for my muse. She’s in a union, ya know. The Muse’s Union. She says weekly deadlines have created a toxic work environment for her and she needs me to clap my hands three times and holler, “I do believe in ferries”. Well, it’s true, I really, really believe in the Alaska Marine Highway System. No, I’m confused. What she needs me to do is quit trying to write a brand new piece of flash fiction each and every week. Sooooooo, I’m turning this blog into a photo blog only. For Ferries.

Yes, I’m pulling your leg. Does it feel any longer? Happy April Fool’s Day!

Okay, so I do need a break from weekly deadlines (I have a novel to write) but I want to keep sharing flash fiction with you every week. What do I need? More writers! Yes, I’ll be sharing flash fiction by other authors as often as I can, with a few of my own stories thrown in whenever that silly muse of mine cooperates. If you, or someone you know would like to have me publish your flash fiction, please read THIS.

Meanwhile, let me introduce you to Thomas. 

Thomas Hallsten Paine is a native of Everett, Washington with a penchant for dark chocolate and darker fiction.  He writes short stories and flash fiction that both range from the somewhat distressful to the downright sinister. (His friends say it has to do with his mood disorder.)

After graduating from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Science in Organic Chemistry (Magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), he operated a high-end custom-design jewelry and rare gemstone business for twenty years while spending his evenings playing trumpet in various bands.  After retirement, he and his wife moved to the eastern side of the state where, besides his literary misadventures, he spends his time on hikes in the mountains, the search for placer gold, wildlife photography, and, when at home, the composition of songs.  He is a vocalist with over thirty tracks distributed to retail outlets worldwide as well as several published books of music for the trumpet.  It is also rumored that he sometimes writes poetry when no one is looking.

You can learn more about Thomas and his writing on Twitter, Facebook, or his flash fiction blog! 

A Dark and Stormy Night

It was a dark and stormy night when I heard someone pound on the front door.  I put down my book and went to answer it.

It was my friend Ethan and he was a sodden mess.

"What the hell happened to you?"

Ethan tottered through the doorway like a ninety-year-old man with terminal arthritis, although he was only seventeen.

"I was on my way home from late basketball practice and as I walked by the Old North Cemetery this truck came out of nowhere with its headlights right in my eyes and I thought it was going to hit me so I jumped for the ditch and somehow got away.  Whew!  May I sit down?"

Just then I felt someone shake my shoulder and heard my mom's voice.

“Tom, Tom.  Wake up!  Terrible news.  Your friend Ethan was hit and killed by a truck last night during the storm...”