Time Capsule: 2016

Time to rev up the DeLorean to 88 mph and take a trip back in time. We went to 1999 a few months ago but won't go that far this time. The year is 2016. Pokemon Go was all the rage. The Chicago Cubs won the World Series for the first time since 1908. The U.S. presidential election became a flashpoint event that continues to reverberate.

And I had a short piece accepted for publication.

The kind hearts at Postcard Shorts selected my story "First Time" to appear on their website in July. The theme of Postcard Shorts was simple: Write a story that would fit on a postcard (about 200 words or so). Unfortunately, Postcard Shorts closed up shop a few years ago, but I figured I'd share my little contribution. I made some slight changes (and, to be candid, I was never truly satisfied with the ending), but here is how "First Time" appeared in 2016. Enjoy!

“Smoke it,” the skeleton man said.

A naked redhead was standing next to the skeleton man, her forearms raked open, her exposed meat glistening.

“Now, you wouldn’t have come if you didn’t want it,” the skeleton man said.

The crowd behind Kyle was growing restless. He could feel their impatient shuffling.

Kyle couldn’t remember why he had come or who had shown him this place. But the skeleton man was right. Something had pulled him here.

“I’ll take it if he doesn’t want it!” someone shouted.

A smile broke across the skeleton man’s face like crackling ice. “It’s his first time. He’s nervous,” he said.

Kyle stared at the long white stick the skeleton man was holding. There were crimson fingerprints on most of it, and it contained the fleshy bits of the redhead’s forearms. Kyle had watched the skeleton man do that.

“Still afraid? It’s natural. All these men behind you once felt the same way. And look at them now,” the skeleton man said as he lit the cigarette.

Kyle took the proffered item and robotically drew it toward his mouth.

“I envy you,” the skeleton man said. “You’ll see. It pales in comparison to other pleasures of the flesh.”