He’s not quite a soldier, but Bazzy is a willing participant in a near-future war. Read all about it in my short story “The Imidor.” Now available in Bullet Points 6 on Amazon, along with a half dozen more stories about war and its aftermath.
My creepy flash fiction piece “Halfway” is out in the inaugural issue of SPOOKY Magazine (no longer avaialble). I can’t say it’s about a lab experiment gone wrong, because the experiment is only halfway complete.
Purchase SPOOKY now on Amazon.
After Dinner Conversation is a unique magazine. Not only do they publish excellent short stories, acceptance is predicated on the premise that what you read is worthy of discussion. As such, the editors then follow up with philosophical or ethical questions for further conversation.
“The One That Damned Me,” first published in July 2020, is about a man wrongly accused of a crime. It is reprinted below without the magazine’s follow-up questions.
The One That Damned Me
by DL Shirey
Sent u email about Jesmyn.
Please read.
S
The text from the Ex was short and sweet, like Susan used to be. The message nearly sobered me up. I was suddenly warmer, caused by the friction of memories rushing back from five years ago. The flip phone in my hand felt twice as hot, so I dropped it in the sand as if scalded. I stared at the message until the screen blanked black. Like my life after Jesmyn.
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This flash fiction piece was originally published on PAPER (shock) in February 2022. No. 17 is about a man’s search for something in an Iowa cornfield. Strangely enough, it was a UK publisher that picked it up.
When I received my contributor’s copy of Hungry Ghost Magazine, I was blown away by the production value. Not only were the stories top notch, but the graphics were astounding.
No. 17
by DL Shirey
“Long way from home,” the old man said. He raised the crossed leg to point a foot at my Oregon plates. Eighty if he was a day, a stereotype in overalls. When I asked about my destination, he waved a whittling knife vaguely northwest, “That-away. Yonder. Three, four miles as the crow flies.”
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During the pandemic, my wife took up the piano. She played as a youth and was refreshing her skills, practicing diligently every day. I was hearing a lot of piano and was inspired to write this story. Published in Ink Pantry.
