The cops had everything about the kidnapping of Joey wrong. Their prime suspect, Scooter the Clown was a well known children’s entertainer in town. He performed at parties, like Joey’s all the time. At the precinct I am an insignificant ant flailing for the attention of titans. Finally, a cop turns to me and says, “Are you lost little boy?” On cue, my silence held no longer. “The balloons with the ransom note, they were filled with helium right?” I asked. “Scooter never had a helium tank there that day. He blew everything up by hand. Check his truck and you will see I am telling the truth.” The officer smiled and left, only to return 10 minutes later ghost…

Thoughts of Thai food from the place around the corner cluttered my concentration as lunchtime crept ever closer. No one makes hotel reservations in December. By now, virtually all rooms were booked and the best rates were a Summer memory. Still, there is always a chance for a last minute booking so I waited, at the ready, for anything resembling a call. Two clear tones signaled an incoming call. I glance at the clock. “Of course, just before I clocked out,” I thought to myself. Putting on my dressiest phone voice I responded to the call. “Thank you for calling the reservation center, this afternoon. How may I help you?” “I’m at the front desk of the Towers and they…

“Same as always Sir?” I habitually queried of the wispy man at my counter. The deep blue flannel look was new, but everything else about him was carved from a solid block of routine. The same haircut that failed to cover the bald spot on his head, the same muck encrusted work boots, and the same patient smile hid behind his oxygen tubes all adorned him neatly. He nodded as I placed the anticipated 2 gallons of milk, 24 pack of beer, and pack of cigarillos on the counter. I didn’t bother counting the money he handed me, as it was always the exact change. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to help me carry my items to my…

The slight dripping sounds from the kitchen abruptly ended my post vacation buzz as soon as I opened the front door. Knots that I had hoped were lost somewhere on a Hawaiian beach returned to their home in the small of my back as I began the process of doing mental math. The last plumbing mishap relieved me of a month’s pay and half of my comic collection. Judging by the competing tones of multiple drips, I told myself this was going to be an expensive plumbing emergency. Rounding the corner, my jaw went slack at the sight of thick red liquid dripping from my ceiling. During my absence, my ceiling had transformed from a bland, sterile beige to an…

Electrons excite me. Perhaps that is why I took so readily to computers. By the age of 13 I had cobbled together my first computer from the odd bits leftover from the old computers of friends and family. The rush of creation and experimentation that I felt that day has never been matched, but my experiments are getting closer to recapturing that glory. The issue of any computer is that it is always in the process of becoming outdated. There are always limits on what technology can achieve. This is why my work is so important, I figured out that the best way to make a computer that didn’t need to be upgraded, that had few limits, was to harness…

I must type this sentence to keep the monsters away. I don’t know why this works, but it does. The faster I type, the further away they are. Sometimes, I think I might be able to type fast enough to make them go away. Yet, if I stop for only a moment they will return. I must type this sentence to keep the monsters away. If I knew why they targeted me, it might be worth some comfort. It would at least let me know what my fade would be when I tire. Will I be eaten? Am I to be tormented? Will they simply kill me? Just knowing what was to come next would be enough. I must type…

Fingers trembling with excitement I opened the package. Just as I had hoped, it was the camera I won on ebay. With mild delight I realized I had received a better deal than I had realized because the previous owner had left the memory card in the slot. Before sending an e-mail to the seller alerting them of the mistake I decided to see if anything was on it. Setting the camera on slideshow I watched as the camera displayed a picture of a shipping label. My confusion turned to horror as the next image was of a person brutally murdered. The rest of the card was alternating pictures of a mailing address followed by a murder scene. The last…

Returning from an international gaming convention, I couldn’t wait to put my pictures on Facebook. Half the fun of being adventurous is bragging about the awesome things that you had a chance to see and do. And if you can find kooky games that never got released in America you can inspire a little bit more jealousy in your friends with each bizarre gem found. As I was preparing to upload the photos I noticed Shaun, an old friend of mine, in chat. I hadn’t spoken to him in a while so I threw out an introductory, “Yo!” Shaun replied, “Hey, how did the trip go? Find anything good?” What an awesome day this was shaping up to be. I…

I have watched enough crime shows to have heard the adage that everyone screams when they fall. More than one mystery has been started with a detective puzzled by the lack of a scream from an apparent jumper. According to the cinema detectives, even a jumper will show a moment of remorse and scream in terror as they plummet. I had never questioned this wisdom until I began having the dream. The first few nights I barely noticed it. I went to bed at the usual time. Just as I was drifting off I had a sensation of weightlessness followed by me flailing my arms in an attempt to regain a grasp on gravity. I awoke gasping but was able…