Snorting. Spitting. Shouting. His red cheeks flapping as he stomped to the lobby like a fat toddler. A table of cotton candy heads snapped around. Their eyes rolling in unison. The leaned-back chatter and laughter now a huddle of whispers… Continue Reading
I was about to give up when the hold music — a few looping bars of infuriating non-jazz — abruptly cut out. “Hello, Lost Drafts,” a voice said. I fumbled with the receiver. “Hi, I uh… I was told to… Continue Reading
Ms. Alice FoyBerkshire OH 45044 Dear Ms. Foy, I’m writing in reply to the multiple obscene comments you’ve left on our company’s Testimonials page as well as the scorched-earth social media campaign that you’ve undertaken against us in the weeks… Continue Reading
Jim Cooper braced himself for another show of Christmas cheer. “How ya doin’? Getting together with the family? We’ve got Christmas Eve supper, breakfast with Santa, brunch at the Club, dinner with the clan, caroling, open house, a tree trimming… Continue Reading
Bzzzt. Mariah tried not to look at the phone rattling on the wood-patterned laminate next to the engraved James Robertson nameplate. Because three years at the same Godforsaken bank and they hadn’t given Mariah her own desk. “Are you James?”… Continue Reading
Incoming connection… WARNING! AI originator: serial code ???472 incomplete or corrupted. Assign to: Support Agent Response Unit (SARU), Artificial Intelligence Level 9 Certified. # Discourse packet 1: SARU: Asynchronous connection established. Please state assistance required. (Inbound message from unconfirmed originator… Continue Reading
She was a small young woman with a small, appealing face. Not mousy, but perhaps chipmunky. Her features were neither acute nor obtuse: just compact and parsimonious, like her speech. She looked like she went to church: not regularly, but… Continue Reading
Lisa floored the van’s accelerator, thrashing the speed limit, weaving in and out of traffic on the A12 and even slipstreaming an ambulance from Gallows Corner to Gidea Park. It earned her more than a few angry horn blasts, a… Continue Reading
Maud turned up her hearing aid to eavesdrop on the blazing row. Raised voices blasted through the second-hand bookshop. Insults poisoned the morning air. Maud cherished each stinging word, her eyes sparkling with mischief. I sense an opportunity, she thought,… Continue Reading
“So that’s how it works.” Jean beamed at him and jiggled her hips slightly. “It’s quite simple, really.” He didn’t seem to be reacting. She furrowed her brow and then smiled a bit more forcefully. “So, go ahead then.” He… Continue Reading