Part 8 – Guaranteed not to Break

            A clanging ruckus shook Jason out of his sleep. At first, he wondered if his roommate had once again come in late, but Omar’s bed lay vacant. He lowered himself onto the floor and tiptoed out of his room. The metallic banging came again. He stumbled barefoot out of his room, stepped on something …

Part 7 – In Memoriam

            Jason found a seat in the auditorium next to Carter Maguire. They were two of the only thirty students present. Considering Ploford College accepted over two thousand freshmen every year, Jason felt a surge of anger passed through him. The man worked here for decades. Surely there should be more mourners. “Thanks for coming …

Part 6 – A Date with Density

            Dante Fosse loosened his tie. His self-critique led him to abandon the silk adornment altogether. Who in their right minds decided a noose is fashionable? He smiled as wide as he could, his gleaming teeth displaying a lifetime’s worth of careful dental hygiene. Even so, he walked away with slumped shoulders.             “I’m not …

Part 5 – And Now a Word from Our Sponsors

            Hey! Ron Brianson here. When I started Questae, Inc., I hoped for success, but I never anticipated just how fast the market would clamor for what we make. In our ever-changing world, technology is brand new one day and obsolete the next. And that always concerned me. What do we do with the flip …

Part 4 – Unpalatable

            Nothing in the dining hall appealed to Jason. He wondered why he had come for breakfast since he usually skipped it. As he stared down at the tray of hash browns under a heat lamp, he felt a light shove from behind. Surprised, Jason dropped his empty plate, allowing it to clatter against the …

Part 3 – A Rude Awakening

            Jason Ramos heard the knock on his dorm room door and growled. He glanced at the clock and wondered why anyone would disturb him on a Saturday morning before 8:00. Flexing his stiff, right hand, he noticed his knuckles had gone a yellowish purple. After pulling on a pair of pants, the trespasser hammered …

Reggie’s Renderings

            Reggie’s first self-portrait belonged nowhere near the Louvre, let alone a small town’s art museum. He had drawn a large, wobbly circle two inches to the left of the paper’s center. With uncoordinated fingers, he sketched out a smiley face that looked as though the lips were made of a single strip of bacon. …

Part 2 – The Night of the Fifteenth

            Conrad Vellion approached his red sportscar in the dim-lit parking garage, his shoulders slumped from the weight of his briefcase and the day’s challenges. As usual, most other vehicles had already left the structure for the night. Without his wife waiting at home, the professor lost his motivation to head there before security demanded …

Part 1 – The Luddite

            “He’s such a codger.”             As he entered Lecture Hall 47, Jason Ramos squinted at his friend. “Codger? Who talks like that anymore?”             “Sorry, Jason. Shall I put it in simple speak so even you can understand?” The student wore the school’s red-and-gold varsity jacket for the basketball team. He tugged at his …

Turnover

            How difficult can it be to remember to file paperwork properly? Percy Elton kicked a rock as he fumed. Gnashing his teeth, the human resources bureaucrat felt his spindly fingers balling up. It’s simple! A process a baby could follow. A helpless baby! What does that make Roger? Can he remember to turn in …