"Home For Dinner" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

As Captain  James Edwards stepped onto the transporter device he thought about the months or sometimes even  years of travel it took for soldiers to be with their families in past wars. Now he could travel from the battlefield to his home in a few seconds.

Using technology he scarcely understood, the device whisked him from the frontier planet: "New Montana" to his house in Dallas, Texas. A distance of five light years.

His wife Julie had prepared his favorite dinner of Turkey, mashed Potatoes and gravy. After dinner, he played games with the kids and then went to bed.

Away from the kids, James talked frankly about the war with his wife. For some time, the conflict with the alien race sarcastically dubbed: "The Gorp" had been going badly. 

The aliens had destroyed at least three other human colonies in the sector and were in the process of overrunning New Montana. The next morning, Captain Edwards said goodbye to his family with the feeling that he would never see them again.

Back on the colony, Captain Edwards received word that The Gorp were planning a major attack. Within an hour, The Gorp forces were hitting his defenders with everything imaginable. When it became apparent that his army could no longer hold, Edwards reluctantly gave the order to destroy the transporter.

Unfortunately, The Gorp found some means of blocking the destruction and Captain Edwards could only say a brief prayer for his family before he was killed by a Gorp cyborg.

The Gorp commanders had studied the Earth transporter from afar and were thrilled to finally have one that had escaped demolition. The Gorp commander stepped on to the platform and in a few seconds he was on his way to have dinner with his new family.

"Julie the Waitress" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Julie Markley immediately knew that something was wrong when she saw her father staring at a newspaper with his head in his hands.

The headline said: "Black Friday." in two-inch high letters. Julie wasn't sure what the headline meant, but judging from her father's reaction-it was very bad news.

A few weeks later, Julie found out just how bad it was. "I've lost my job at the bank" her father announced during dinner. "The good news is that I  have found another job as a clerk in a store, but the pay is much less. If we are going to survive, you will have to quit school and get a job."

Julie was stunned, quit school and get a job? If only her mother were still alive. Julie knew her mom would figure something out. "I know this comes as a shock her father said, but there is no other way. Millions of men are out of work and we have to do what's necessary."

"What kind of a job could I get? I'm only 15" Julie said through her tears. "There is a diner near the waterfront that is looking for a waitress. Tomorrow you will take the bus down there and apply for the job." Her father said firmly.

"What about my friends at school?" Julie protested. "Can't I say goodbye to them?" Her father shook his head. "It's better this way, I will take care of everything at the school. As soon as this emergency is over, you will finish school." he promised.

The next morning, Julie put on her best dress and tried to think of what she would say to owner of the diner. Other then babysitting, she had never had a real job in her life.

The bus ride down to the waterfront was terrible. So many of her fellow passengers looked hungry and scared. The "Happy Diner" was on a side street just a few blocks from the waterfront. Julie looked in awe at the huge ships waiting to be unloaded at the docks.

The diner was busy with loud working men and it took all the courage Julie had to not run away. A large, powerful man in a stained white shirt was at the counter. "Can I help you?" he said to Julie in a booming voice.

"I.... I have come about the waitress job." she said in as strong a voice as she could muster. The big man laughed. "You're just a kid. Why aren't you in school?"  "I had to quit so I could help my family." Julie answered truthfully. The owner smiled sympathetically. "Hard times everywhere. I'll tell you what" he said. "I'm going to give you a try.The pay is 25 cents an hour and you keep all the tips. Be here tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM sharp. By the way, my name is Tom Sullivan." the owner held out a huge hand for her to shake and for the first time, Julie noticed that two of his fingers were missing.

Julie's alarm clock went off at 4:30 and she made it to the bus stop by 5:15. It was still dark when the bus finally made it's way down to the waterfront.

Even that early, the Happy Diner was crowded with men. Mr. Sullivan walked up to her and handed her an apron, a pencil, and a notepad. Julie put the apron on and Mr. Sullivan told her how to take an order. 

Her first customer's were all longshoremen. Most of the men were patient and kind, but a man in dirty overalls made a crude joke and put his hand on her bottom. Julie tried to push him away, but the man wouldn't listen. Suddenly, a huge hand missing a couple of fingers grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it hard. "You touch her again and I'll bust your head." Mr. Sullivan warned the man in his booming voice.

Julie didn't have anymore trouble after that and as the day wore on she learned most of the shortcuts of being a waitress. Towards evening an old lady in a ragged dress came in the diner. Julie could see the woman had not been eating well at all. "Could I have a little soup?" the woman asked Julie  in a tiny voice. Julie nodded and felt the change in her pocket. She had made almost two dollars in tips for the day.

Instead of soup, Julie  wrote "chicken dinner" in her waitress shorthand and gave the chit to Mr. Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan looked doubtfully at the old woman. "I'll cover it." Julie said to him quietly.

After several months, Julie's father found a job in another bank and she was able to quit her job and return to school. Mr. Sullivan said she could come back and work for him anytime, but Julie told him that she already had plans to be a teacher.

"The Healer" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Dr. Ernest Caldwell sat in a rocker on his porch and stared out at the foothills. In a few months, they would be covered with snow but right now they were lush and green. 

His wife Mary soon joined him. Sensing his mood, she asked what was wrong. Ernest looked at distant Mount Rainier before he answered. "It's the Wilson boy. He has cancer and there's nothing I can do."  "Why don't you go for a walk Ernest. That always helps after a hard day." she suggested. he nodded and headed for the woods at the edge of their property.

It was a beautiful Fall day and Ernest could feel a chill in the air. Snow would be coming soon enough he thought. After walking for about an hour, he spotted something on the trail. As he got closer, he saw that it was a mechanical device of some kind. 

The device was about half the size of a cigar box with a glass screen. Ernest examined the device in detail. He had never seen anything like it and immediately sensed that it was far beyond anything from his time.

Ernest tapped the glass screen with his finger and the words "diagnosis" and "evaluation" appeared. As an experiment, Earnest pointed the device at his hand. "Rheumatoid Arthritis." A few moments later, the screen said "For treatment, point to affected area." 

Ernest pointed the top of the device at the swollen knuckles of his left hand and the words "Treatment Initializing" appeared on the screen. The pain that he had lived with for so long was gone and the knuckles had returned to normal size. The words "Treatment Complete" eventually appeared on the screen.

Ernest tried to stay calm as the enormous implications of his find became clearer. Could the device cure anything? and where did it come from? He had to do more tests.

For the  next two weeks, Ernest tested the device of farm animals. Each time it cured the ailment without any side effects. The Wilson boy had never left his mind, but he debated with himself for days whether he should use the device on the child.

Finally, Ernest got word that the boy was very ill and  he decided to go ahead and use the device. When Ernest got to the Wilson  farm, the boy was near death. With a shaking hand, he pointed the device at the boy. The diagnosis was: "Osteosarcoma." The treatment phase took several minutes, but at the end Ernest could see a vast improvement in the boy and after an examination, he could find no sign of cancer.

The boy's parents considered him to be a miracle worker and word got around the community of what had happened. Soon dozens of seriously ill and injured people were showing up at his office. Ernest was cautious about using the device, but he found out that the device apparently had few to no  limits on the diseases and injuries it could treat.

After much thought, and discussion with Mary, Ernest decided that he had to turn over  the healing machine  to the government. The trip to the state capitol in Olympia would take several days and as he was preparing his wife Mary told him he had a visitor. 

The visitor was a tall man in odd clothing who identified himself as Doctor Jones. "I believe you have something that belongs to me." Jones said in a deep voice. Ernest hesitated, "I don't know what you're talking about."  Jones smiled "The healing device is mine."

"I know that you probably have many questions, Jones began, "but I can only tell you that you were part of a larger experiment to test the healing device."  Ernest grew angry. "You mean to tell me that you used me and the people I treated to test this machine? What if something had gone wrong and I hurt or killed someone with it?"

Jones smile went away. "The healing device had already been extensively tested before I arranged for you to find it." Ernest grew angrier  "Who are you and where do you come from?" he asked the tall stranger. "You may find this hard to believe, but I come from a distant planet. We often use humans as subjects for our experiments because our species are biologically similar." Dr. Jones replied with a smile. 

Ernest took the healing device from his pocket, dropped it on the ground, and crushed it with his boot.

"Snowball" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

It was the first big snowfall of the season and Mike and Brad eagerly went outside to play. At firs they built a snowman, but they both got bored and decided on something a little more dangerous.

On a slight rise above the main road, Mike rolled a dense snowball and tossed it at big Chevy Impala. Mike's snowball made a direct hit on the driver's side door. The driver slowed down a little, but didn't stop. 

Brad tried his luck on a new Camaro and hit the rear fender. This time the driver did stop and exited the car carrying a baseball bat.The driver was a big man and he headed straight towards them cursing and yelling.

Mike and Brad took off for the woods with the big man in pursuit. They tried to lose him, but it was no use. Hidden behind trees, both Mike and Brad heard the big man hitting nearby trees with his baseball bat.

Mike looked over at Brad and made a motion of making a snowball with his hands. Brad nodded and began forming one.

When they were both finished, Mike nodded again and they both stood up and tossed their missiles at the stranger. Both snowballs hit their mark and Brad and Mike made it to their homes just in time for "Wild Wild West."

"The Drive-in" A short story by Craig Zimmerman

At first the idea of taking the scenic route cross-country seemed exciting and adventurous, but now Alex was weary of corn fields  and  longed for a freeway.

According to the GPS, Alex was now in Nebraska. He plotted a course to Omaha and then started  looking for a  place where  he could get some dinner.

In the middle of nowhere, he spotted a country store and pulled into the gravel parking lot. The store appeared to be empty, but Alex spotted a lunch counter and took a seat.

After waiting a few minutes, Alex called out. Eventually, an old man lumbered in. "Can I help you?" he asked. Alex studied the menu on the wall behind the counter and asked for a cheese burger and a Coke. The old man smiled and went back to the kitchen.

While the old man was gone, Alex looked around. The store appeared as if no one had visited it in years. Through a dirty window, Alex spotted something in the distance. It turned out to be an old drive-in movie theater long since abandoned.

The cheese burger was surprisingly good and Alex felt himself getting sleepy. The next thing he knew was waking up in his car.It was  almost dark and Alex realized that he was now parked in the drive-in theater that he noticed from the store. An old movie was playing on the screen.

Alex left the car and began exploring. He quickly discovered that an electric fence surrounded the drive-in.  Suddenly the light to the snack bar flicked on and Alex walked over to it. A meal was sitting on the counter, but there was no sign of the old man or anyone else.

While eating his dinner, Alex tried to think of a reason why the old man would keep him here. For a moment, he imagined what the drive-in was like when it was occupied by families and teenagers. Maybe the old man  just wanted an audience one more time.

For the first few weeks, Alex tried to find a way out, but eventually settled into a routine of sleeping during the day and watching movies at night.

It wasn't such a bad life once you got used to it.

"The Gourmet" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Julie frowned as she looked at her chicken coop. Another one of her laying hens had been taken during the night. She looked into the desert that surrounded her home and wondered who her late-night visitor was.

The next morning, Julie discovered that two more of her chickens had been taken. She carefully looked for signs of the intruder, but there was nothing.

Julie went into the house and picked up her rifle. She had to find out what happened to her chickens. The answer was out there in the desert.

Even though it was still early, the temperature was already getting warm and Julie kept an eye out for rattlesnakes as she picked her way through  sage and rocks.

Sometime in the afternoon, Julie spotted something on the horizon and she began walking towards it. The smell of cooking chicken led her to a campsite.

As Julie approached the camp, she saw a large figure in a cloak tending some sort of cooking device. The cook turned to face her and she was shocked to see that it was some kind of creature.

Julie pointed the rifle at the thing, but kept her finger from the trigger. "What the hell are you?" she asked not really expecting an answer. In response, the creature pointed to a device on its arm. "Translator" it said in a high-pitched voice.

Julie nodded and the creature pushed a button on the device. "What are you?" she said again. The device converted her words into the creature's language and it responded. "A visitor" it said in the same high-pitched voice. The creature then pointed to one of the early stars.

Too weird Julie thought and she remembered her chickens. "Why did you steal my chickens?" Julie asked the creature. The translator interpreted her words and the creature haltingly answered: "I like to sample the foods of the planets I visit. I apologize for violating your laws." The creature pulled something out of it's cloak and handed it to Julie. It was some sort of a diamond. "Payment for the chickens" the creature said.

Julie glanced at the chicken cooking on the creature's device. It sure smelled good. The creature motioned for her to sit and together they ate the chicken. It was one of the best meals Julie had ever had.

"Night Watch" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

For the twentieth time, Virgil checked his watch. It was 3:30, he still had four hours to go. When he applied for the security guard job, he thought it would be an easy way to make some cash but the reality was long cold nights with no one to talk to.  

His present assignment was watching over an industrial park in the valley. Virgil decided to do another walk around the installation to kill some time.

As he was walking around a warehouse a woman walked out of the mist. Virgil could hardly believe his eyes. The woman was beautiful and dressed in a fabulous outfit. "Can I help you Miss?" Virgil asked in his best security guard voice.

"I'm looking for a boyfriend." The woman answered. "I haven't seen anyone besides you tonight." Virgil answered. The woman smiled. "What I meant was I am looking for a new boyfriend."

"That's very nice, but this probably isn't the best place to do that." Virgil remarked. "How about you- would you like to go out with me?" The woman inquired. Virgil was beginning to think this was a weird joke, but what the hell. "Sure, I'll go out with you." he answered. The woman held out her hand, "I'm Margaret" Virgil took the delicate hand "Virgil."

 "Let's go someplace."  Margaret said. Virgil stepped back. "I can't just leave. This is my job." "What if we could  go somewhere and you wouldn't have to worry about that?" Margaret said.Virgil shrugged. "Sure why not." He was beginning to think he was actually asleep in the guard shack and this was a dream.

Margaret clasped his hand once again and they were suddenly on the banks of a river. "What happened?" Virgil asked. "I thought it would be fun to visit London." Margaret answered. Virgil searched for and found all the familiar English landmarks.  "Are we really in London?" Margaret nodded. "How is that possible?" he asked. "It's just a special talent that I have." Margaret answered mysteriously.

For the next few hours, the couple wandered around London and had dinner in an old pub. True to her word, Virgil was returned to his job at the same time that he left. He didn't miss anything. 

As the sun came up, Virgil thought about the incredible events of the previous night and couldn't wait for his next shift. Margaret had promised to take him to Paris.

"Edwin The Crow" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

From his perch on a light pole, Edwin spotted the new car coming into the parking lot before the other crows did. Hoping to score some food, Edwin quickly descended to the pavement beside the car.

Instead of food, the driver flicked a burning cigarette at Edwin who expertly dodged the butt. Taking to the air again, Edwin dropped one on the windshield and hood of the smokers car. The smoker cursed at Edwin who laughed silently.

 After returning  to the light pole, Edwin noticed Julie's car coming into the parking lot. Julie was the closest thing to a friend that Edwin had and she always had good food to share.

Julie emerged from her car with a plate of goodies and even a bowl of clean water. "Good afternoon Edwin" she said putting the dishes down. Edwin didn't understand what Julie as saying, but he loved the sound of her voice.

After he finished eating, Julie put the dishes in her car. "I will see you later Edwin. It's time for work." Edwin watched Julie head into the large building where all the humans came and went.

Edwin had spent his entire life at the Walmart and he was a witness to all the odd little dramas that occur in parking lots: Old people struggling to walk, babies crying, a young couple kissing and later on arguing. The next day it would be  a similar tableau of human behavior.

After several hours, Edwin watched Julie emerge from the building, but he immediately sensed that something was wrong. A man in dark clothing followed his friend. Edwin flew over to Julie and warned her of the danger with several loud "Caws". In response to Edwin's warning, Julie ran back into the building. The stranger following her ran in another direction.

After making sure that Julie left the parking lot safely, Edwin returned to his light pole and tried to get some rest for the day ahead.

"Tell Me a Story" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Thomas Nelson had read every physical book in the shelter and everything in the computer as well. Without a book to ponder, the days were impossibly long.

When constructing the shelter, Thomas had thought of everything: food, medicine, clean water, power for everything, and plenty of books.

The problem was that the war had done more damage than he could have imagined, and he was stuck in the shelter for at least several more years.

One particularly dull morning, Thomas came up with an idea: "Computer tell me a story" he said into the air. "I am not constructed to perform such a task" The computer responded.  "Just try" Thomas insisted. The computer let out a mechanical sigh. "All right," it said.

"Once upon a time, there was a fish that liked to play Baseball." The computer began. "That is lame, how can a fish play Baseball?" Thomas asked.

 The computer began again: "Once upon a time there was a fish that liked to play Tennis." "You suck!" Thomas yelled as he threw a greenhouse-raised Tomato at the computer. The Tomato splattered nicely over the computer's control panel.

The computer let out a mechanical growl "Once upon a time there was a fish that liked to play Hockey" Thomas threw a heavy bottle which resulted in The Computer going silent.

"I want to hear the rest of the story!" he yelled into the empty room.

"Canvas" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Admiral Becker- commander of the deep space vessel "Athena" was frustrated. After several weeks of exploring what appeared to be a promising solar system of twenty three planets, he had almost nothing to report.

The first six planets surveyed were nothing more then barren rocks with no life whatsoever. The seventh planet did not look much better, but his original  orders were to check each planet thoroughly.

After establishing an orbit around the planet, Becker put his science crewmen to work and then he went to bed. After sleeping for a few hours, the Admiral was awakened by his communication device buzzing loudly.

Becker answered the call and was told he was urgently needed on the bridge. Once on the bridge, the Admiral was told that there was some some kind of disturbance  in the vicinity of the tenth planet of the system.

Becker ordered that they leave the orbit of the seventh planet and set a course for the tenth planet. As The Athena approached the tenth planet, the ship's sensors detected several high energy beams being directed at the planet from a craft in orbit.

The Admiral ordered that The Athena maintain its' current position until he could find out what was going on. The last thing Becker wanted was to stumble into an alien war.

A quick survey of the tenth planet showed no signs of life, but it would take days to verify that. Becker ordered that a general greeting be transmitted to the alien craft. A reply was received in moments, but it was in the alien's language. The message was put into the main computer for translation.

Several minutes later, another message was received from the alien ship, but in this case it was in the form of images rather then a written language. All of the images were of works of art, some from Earth and some that were clearly alien.

Becker struggled to understand what the aliens were trying to communicate and then it hit him. The surface of the tenth planet was being used as a painter would use a canvas. The Admiral transmitted photos of the Egyptian Pyramids to  the alien craft to show that he understood.

The Athena remained in the solar system for several months and gradually established a friendship with the art-loving alien race.

"The Abandoned" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Jason noticed the old man walking around the Simmons place when he was feeding the chickens. The Simmons farm had been abandoned since the 1960s. Jason had heard stories about the broken down house since he was a toddler.

Apparently, The Simmons family had just vanished one day and left everything behind. The police had investigated but found nothing. After so many years, the house was now a ruin. Sometimes kids would go in on Halloween and tell scary stories about what happened to The Simmons family.

Jason watched the old man for a moment and thought it might be a good idea to warn the stranger that the old house wasn't safe. Jason had been hurt the previous Summer when he fell through a rotted floor.

As Jason approached, the old man began speaking. "I was only ten years old when they came " he began. "Who came?" Jason asked, but the old man continued as if Jason wasn't there. They were called "The Zor" and they herded us into their ship in the middle of the night.

"In the ship were other people and creatures that I didn't recognize.The journey took months. My mother and father tried to keep me and my sister calm, but it was miserable.When we arrived at The Zor world we were put to work doing senseless chores. I learned later that The Zor didn't need slave labor, they were just trying to keep an old tradition going. My parents and my sister died for that tradition."

The old man continued: "Not long ago, The Zor government decided to abolish slavery and return all remaining captives to their home worlds. The stranger looked at the ruined farm. "They brought me back here."

"The Prophet" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Merrick was driving down 101 when he saw the girl hitchhiking on the side of the road. She looked like one of those "Hippies" that he heard about in Vietnam.

Merrick pulled over and the girl got in. "Where are you headed?" he asked her. "To a place in the hills outside of L.A." she replied. Merrick nodded. "I can take you part of the way, but I have to be back in San Diego tomorrow"

"Were you in the war?" the girl asked. Merrick was out of uniform and wondered how she knew. "I just got back a few days ago." he said. He waited for the inevitable questions about "what it was like" but the questions didn't come.

The girl touched his arm. "I'm sorry." was all she said. The year Merrick spent in Vietnam went through his head and he longed for a place of peace.  The girl seemed to sense his pain. "If you need a place to rest, you can come visit the commune where I live." the girl said.

Merrick automatically felt that this was something he needed. The girl wrote an address on a slip of paper and handed it to him. "I know you'll like it there" she said. "We all help each other and everybody gets along."

"Is there a leader of your group?" Merrick asked. The girl nodded "I call him "the prophet" because he's always talking about the future, but his real name is  Charles Manson.

"Henry" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Henry was eating dinner when he heard the knock. He put down his fork and opened the door. A beautiful young woman stood in the doorway.

"Can I help you?' Henry asked. The young woman smiled "May I come in?" she asked. Henry shrugged and opened the door wider. The woman came in bringing the scent of perfume with her. He also noticed that she was wearing a very revealing dress.

The woman looked around his cabin with distaste. It was a bit messy, but Henry liked it. "Did you hear about what happened?" she asked. Henry nodded. He had heard the news about the epidemic for months on his shortwave radio. A few weeks before all transmissions had stopped, and Henry had surmised the rest. "It's possible we are the last people on Earth." the woman said. Henry shrugged "maybe." He was starting to get hungry again.

 "So don't you think we have an obligation to repopulate the Earth Adam and Eve and all that?" The woman said impatiently. Henry thought about it for a moment. "Nah, I'm good." he said.

The woman left in a huff and Henry went back to eating his dinner, The beans were sure tasty.

"Teacher" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

In a fraction of a second, Teacher took attendance, reviewed the complete scholastic records of all of her students, and set up the days lesson plan for each of them.

Teacher didn't have much of an ego, but she nonetheless  felt slighted to be assigned to a class of humans.Compared to her own kind, the humans were glacially slow to learn and they often forgot a great deal.

Teacher began with reading, Most of the class were progressing, but she found herself becoming annoyed with a student who stumbled through the passage when it was his turn to read.

Teacher quickly reviewed the record of Jonathan Schumer. The boy had scored well on previous tests, but his grades were poor. A counselor had  come to the conclusion that the boy was just unmotivated.

During the math lesson, Teacher instructed Jonathan to go to the whiteboard and solve the equation. The boy seemed to take forever with the problem and Teacher thought it was a good time to apply some discipline.

Teacher started with her mildest physical reprimand and was surprised to see the human crumple to the floor. Teacher checked the boy for signs of life and found none. 

For future reference, she noted  how fragile the humans were and then went on with the lesson.