easytopia!

Blue River is a unique little desert town. Although, it has had a difficult time perking itself up. There was a lovely river that flowed right through the center of town. One side had a sloped, grassy bank, adjacent to the residential neighborhood. It was quite lovely. The other side was more steep and rocky, lined with a street. It abutted the business district with restaurants, a theater, and ot...

“This is BARN BUSTING news!” Gena said, as she perused the blouses at the thrift store. “These blouses are a JAW-DROPPING 3 for 10$!”What I do is this. As soon as I wake up, I prepare myself with a normal morning routine, and then I sit down and write a story about whatever comes to mind. More often than not, it is a surprise. “IS IT FINALLY HAPPENING!?” Her friend Mary exclaimed, “I’M GOING ALL T...

Mr. Marduk kept an old Plymouth Belvedere with a Slant 6 in his garage. He never drove it, but once in a while he’d get out there, open the hood, start the engine, and admire it. “These motors are miracles,” is what he would always say. He didn’t like the idea of driving it very much anymore, because it was a classic. He had it since he was a teenager. It had fallen out of his hands several times...

Max had the weirdest feeling that someone was looking at him. He had that feeling one has when one walks into a room and all the eyes are noticing. Or maybe that nagging feeling, sitting in a classroom, and the feeling like someone is staring, and then a careful look over the shoulder reveals, that in fact, someone is staring. Liking is the cake, and sharing is the icing. What do you not like abou...

“Hi. Welcome to Blasters, can I take your order?” “Yes, thanks, I’ll have a Double Bomb, a medium Range Chicken Fries and a small Diet Agent Orange.” Kleigh orders his lunch from the polite young lady behind the counter and checks his phone for the time. “Would you like an upgrade to the Fat Man for a dollar?” She asks. “That will be enough.” He hands the attendant his money. This is Flash Fiction...

Clarrisa has her morning routine of walking her dog, named Big, every morning while she drinks her coffee. It’s her last relaxing time before she starts her day as a Staff Manager. Whatever anyone thinks of that job, it is very demanding, and it requires a lot of organizing and people skills. These morning routines with her pug, Big, mean a lot. YCR.INFO Please share that link, OK? Even if you can...

Here’s a short chapter that revealed itself. I have about 45 of these little stories about this small town. They just keep coming. Liking is nice, but sharing is caring. Paul has to replace the old hammock that hangs in the big Willow Tree. Usually it would be brought into the house and folded up for the Winter, but at some point, someone forgot. It was probably one of those things his mom did, an...

I prepare myself with a normal morning routine, and then I sit down and write a story about whatever comes to mind. More often than not, it is a surprise. Many people call this “Flash Fiction”. This is Flash Fiction February . Miller Paul is a valiant optimist. There doesn’t seem to be much that can derail him from his efforts, in whatever he happens to be into. He does get himself into things. Fo...

What I do is this. As soon as I wake up, I prepare myself with a normal morning routine, and then I sit down and write a story about whatever comes to mind. More often than not, it is a surprise. Many people call this “Flash Fiction”. This is Flash Fiction February . If you are not familiar with the OVALS concept I started to develop last year, it’s a thing I started in 2017, then in 2023 started...

Welcome to Flash Fiction February 2025. I’m interested to see what happens today, day 1. Hello subscribers; to Troubled Minds Radio, and hello Auckland, NZ, 88.4 Underground Radio. Hello to everyone listening, or reading. Here is a link to my website, where my book of flash fiction from last year is available. It’s called, You Couldn’t Resist: 85 Flash Fiction Stories . Or simply go to YCR . INFO....

Can you guess what this is about? This is one of those cryptic lyrics. Thanks for listening and reading. I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help. i woke up in a brand new room today the writing on the wall did clearly say “the door’s closing behind you and the ceiling’s caving in it’s a serious situation that we’re in” there must be some way out of here not using TNT i took a walk thru the sep...

Thank you so much for listening or reading. I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help. despite the notes you pass under the table it`s clear to us that you are still unable to see that you`ve become the falling fable and you`re children are not such good spies at all no, you`re children are not such good spies at all they see their future lies at where you fall like you. they’ll take their pay a...

Thank you so much, new follower and subscriber, Judy Driggers . Another friend from Hard Lens Media . Most of my followers and subs come from outside Substack. no flags are waving in the skies of the mind no bloody soldiers to suppress the hope we find no states no countries, in the soul’s terrain no borders, no boundaries in which we must remain come on, the babies are sleeping tonight walk softl...

Very short lyric recitation podcasts for a while I do other stuff. I hope that’s OK with you. Let me thank new follower Geno Merryman . I always thank new followers and also new free subscribers, like Viesha Lewand . Thank you for listening, or reading. I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help. monster 1998 this man, he found a monster he didn't think to just leave it lay he thought he’d take i...

if u were 2 die I would get some flowers and burn them with your corpse and spread you over a rain cloud to rain down into the forest deep into the valley and into the river then spread on up the roots into the trees on through the branches out through the leaves and photosynthesize mingle with the sky to form a brand-new rain cloud if i were 2 die would you get some flowers and burn them with my...

In my podcast, I’ll just be loading up one lyric per day from a lot of my old songs. Really very short podcasts. Thanks. I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help. out beyond the hills deep within the trees underneath a stone lays a mystery seldom seen but, a simple fact of a single world and its single history how come not more blessings for every single one every single time under time? how co...

People are imaginative about song lyrics and poetry and even short stories. Sometimes people project the wildest things onto other people’s writing. They reveal a great deal about their imaginations and themselves when they do that. The simplest, nicest, most innocuous songs can be heard by some people in the weirdest, and sometimes creepiest ways. It’s pretty gross. Of course I’m going to talk ab...

I’m not going to do an amalgam story for the end of the month. It’s not Flash Fiction, and I just don’t feel like it. Here are my favorites from the month, and then the most downloaded inside forty-eight hours. My avg. downloads increased by more than twice over the last month. 20 is a lot for my content. 10 is above avg. In the audio, I explore a little bit about why I think some of my favorites...

THE FINALE OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Hungry Henry and Rotund Ronald have become pals. Did you ever listen to The Cheeseguard from Flash Fiction February ? These two had an impromptu meeting, and they remained cohorts. Today they are avoiding capture by a cat. This is one of several animal stories from this month. Stoicism is a mixed bag. It’s part strength, and part denial, in a way. Thanks to a ne...

DAY 29 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Has to be about cats today. I have had vivid dreams the last couple of nights. The dream interpreters all say that if you dream of cats, it’s about your relationship with the feminine. I had a long dream of all these playful cats, and they were climbing on me everywhere I went and following me. Wow. I remember those days. I was a young guy once. Don’t worry. It won’...

DAY 28 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION . Going to re-organize when this is over. I had a thread in a post with Mike Hampton that he wrote about the movie LongLegs . That is a scary movie with cool camera aesthetics. Stories about cameras are always interesting. Here is one I did during April about a birthday party gift. Here is another one I did in February about some old found footage . Interesting how c...

DAY 27 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. What a cool day here in this usually hot region. It has been threatening rain and cool breezes are in the air. I think I’ll write about desert rain. Again, I want to thank everyone because my podcast has made a stride in the last month. It’s cool. It makes me feel good. Thank you. If you are a non-corporate truth-teller, Journalist type, who does the important work,...

DAY 26 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. I was thinking of doing a thing where I finish today’s story very close to midnight and then doing tomorrow’s story directly after midnight. I may do that before this is over. After today, it’s only four left, so I’d better pull the trigger if it’s going to happen. I’m going to write something about a swimming pool today. I think UAP/UFO’s and swimming pools. I also...

DAY 25 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Want to get a better handle on what I am doing this month? Here is a description and some ideas about Flash Fiction. Here is Flash Fiction February . Today I contemplated about baseball, and jogged my memory quite a bit about hitting. I could get my bat on some real cheese. I got looks and everything in the system. There are some things relating to those reflexes an...

DAY 24 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION . Wow, it’s pretty much the home stretch, now. Just 6 more days, including today. Today I was thinking about how nice it is to hear the frogs and crickets outside at night. I remember that as a kid, and then I remembered that once people started using newer chemicals on their lawns, the crickets disappeared. Then the frogs disappeared. It’s not supposed to be like th...