easytopia!

The 3rd Annual Flash August Fiction Marathon : Finale https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-economics There weren’t many parts left for the completion of the shed. So much work had to be done to prepare the base, dig the posts, and remove the ground cover where it would stand. The problem the builders were having now is the fact that the kit that was delivered doesn’t look like it was built for the ou...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-scifi Astronaut John Officer had been given a punitive assignment. After blowing a whistle on some mandate violations he witnessed on a mission, he was sent to an abandoned post on a diminutive planet in an uninhabited district in Andromeda. His single-seat craft was programmed to land at an equatorial location. Then he was to wait an unspecified amount of time fo...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-dialogue https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-kids “What do you think we look like to it?” Jean asks her brother Harris. “I don’t know.” Harris says. “He’s way up there in the corner. Maybe he sees the whole room from there. Maybe it’s a great view.” “Is it looking at us?” Jean asks. “I hope not!” Answers Harris. “Maybe it’s just looking for bugs. I hope it’s just lo...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-misc There weren’t a lot of pitches left in Talley’s arm, and maybe fewer swings left in Carson’s bat. These guys were teammates most of their careers, and since then, this is one of the few at-bats where they’ve squared off. It was odd to see them as opponents in such a large game. The entirety of the baseball world was watching as they faced off in a classic sit...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-speculative It was difficult to use the word “situation” for the situation because for all intents and purposes the situation was over. There was so much that was irreversible that it made repair impossible. The sadness for the people who weren’t infected was beginning to set in. There were people who would present as heroes and fixers. They were opportunists, gra...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-lyrics I don’t need a star to wish on. I have you. I don’t need a crowd to entertain. I have you. I don’t need a stage to sing from. I have you. When you have a road to travel. You have me. When you have the heavy lifting. You have me. When you have a tear to cry with. You have me. I don’t need to find a treasure. I have you. I don’t need a place of status. I have...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-family Max decided to take a walk up the hill. It’s a hill his granddad groomed decades ago. It’s the smallest of three hills close by. This one is on the family property. Max is visiting the old place to try to see what is worth doing with it, now that his granddad and his dad are both gone. There are stones along each side of the path and a mostly grown-out grav...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-ai https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-relationships “All the peach pie is gone!” Marly said as she scooped some ice cream onto her plate and looked for a good pie replacement. “What else is here?” “Well, there’s some chocolate cake, a strawberry and blueberry medley, there’s some angel food cake, cherry cobbler, and some hazelnut chocolate mousse.” Said the nearby...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-misc Roger liked his new bike. A standard setup with a lowered seat and a stretched frame is so comfy and stable. He hadn’t had a motorcycle for a few years. He loved traveling on two wheels. He stood with his cup of coffee, admiring it. Talk about a cruise. It’s fresh to him, just dropped off in his driveway. He cannot wait to break himself into it. It’s a key st...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-light This dull, floating orb hangs over the valley. It is not there all the time. Or at least it’s not seen all the time. From dusk till dawn it hovers. It’s as though it’s hung from wires stretched between the ranges on either side. Sometimes there are things that everyone knows but no one talks about. That type of thing where everyone sees it, they don’t unders...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-natural All the bugs are out at once. That’s how it seems on a humid summer night. The noise, the the swarms, the constant peppering on the skin, the bites and the general bugging that bugs do. It isn’t quite dark enough for the bats to get their work in. There are certainly birds having a late evening foray. Frogs are fattened on the profusion. Kids playing kickb...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-henry-ronald “I hear there’s a lot of stuff at those things!” Henry says to Ronald as they see the wild lights and hear distant carnival music. Perched on a bale of hay being used for a parking marker in the large grassy parking area, they hear the discordant music through the neon whirling rides and random megaphone barkers. “I’m dizzy already” Ronald replies. “W...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-kids Everyone knew George had all the best toys. Every day he’d bring a new toy to school and play with it at his desk. Every day the teacher would take his toy and put it in her desk. The next day he would bring another one. After many days, the teacher would have a drawer full of toys, but there was never any exhaustion of new ones brought by George. Sometimes w...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-dialogue https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-family “There are more people in the yard than I invited.” Marisol told her event organizer. “I think it looks more crowded with the help.” Nadia, the organizer replied. “No… No, I can see there are a good number of people here I didn’t invite, I don’t even know some of them, and a couple of them I specifically did not wa...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-natural The sun eclipses the hill, revealing jewels like gold adorning wild grass, as the incandescent dew yields a return of day. Wildflower petals stretch into the light, ravishing another day. A bird shakes, and she arches her head in a stretch, not yet ready for her morning announcement. The tree reflects from the pond. The mirror, yet holding the night’s stil...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-relationships Antler is alone on the roof of the fire house. He’s operating his makeshift observatory. The desk kit with the spotting scope is on the folding table, the nice one with the 10-inch lens set up off to the side. It’s a new moon, it’s still early, the last signs of dusk are on the horizon. He’ll wait with a cigar and a scotch. It won’t be long at all be...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-relationships https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-music MicroFiction Jack and Kim were out in the living room of the apartment, deciding on music. It was their turn to do the weekend cleaning. They needed a good soundtrack. Their roommate Cliff was running around gathering some things for a day of hiking and nature. He burst into the room with binocs and a camera ar...

UNCLE PLASMA: Part 3 — The Ride These two guys are big. “Who the crap are you!” The large wide one says. The taller skinnier man behind him leers with violating eyes. He’s holding a long metal flashlight. The wide guy has slicked back hair, squinty eyes and a five 0’clock shadow. He wears a black leather waist length slicker and a white v-neck t-shirt. He has on pleated black dress slacks and boot...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-mystery https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-economics Matt and Christian worked at the mall. It’s a fun place to work for them. They worked for the facility. They knew all the back ways, and inner corridors, the basement and any weird nook or cranny there is. Their supervisor is well aware that teenage boys find that entire dynamic fascinating, so he has to be sure...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-relationships https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-dialogue A little backstory on this. PAO is a spinoff from the Chronicles of the Last Gas Station. That’s another series I did years ago and these are two of the characters. Mint and Jasmine have been on the road for a day. They aren’t in a rush. They couldn’t be, after the blowout going away party they had last nigh...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-animals Every time Mary goes out to water her garden, she sees a Robin watching her. Usually, it sits atop the fence post near the middle of the yard on the right. “You again?” She asks. Mary will walk through the herb garden, watering with a can, giving all her aromatics a drink. Up the one side of her raised beds toward the back of the yard. Then she makes the r...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-mystery https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-relationships Timmy and Tommy are creative. These twins are always busy. Some of their favorite things are sports, cars, found objects, building and pranks. That’s right. They have a devious streak. Once they picked a friend’s locker and school, and stuffed an inflatable doll into it. They had filled it with helium. Yes, y...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-dialogue https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-ai (I know the image is misspelled. I’m not correcting it.) “Fake it till you make it is such a weird concept.” Frank said. “Building oneself on such a fraudulent foundation seems like it would have horrifying repercussions.” “I see your point." His friend Morris replies. “Impostor syndrome would really be an issue. The w...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-ovals Peters has recently completed six training phases, he has been in some seventh phase missions , and today, he’s sent back up to Leopard 5 for another Watch Mission. They send these recruits back and forth from sixth and seventh phase to maintain their acclimation, and test their processes. They have to stay warm as they wait to be recruited. There has been s...

https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-uncle-plasma Pete gets a call from work as he’s walking home from his eventful shift at work. “Pete, we have a situation we can’t discuss with you on the phone. Where are you?” His supervisor, Gary asked. “I’m about halfway home, on foot.” He said. “Can you turn around and get back in here for a consult. I’d say it’s advisable, my guess is you know what it’s about...