"Edwin and Saint Nick" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Edwin the crow's friend Carrie was very sick, and he looked out on the frozen Walmart parking lot for someone who could help.

The humans scurried back and forth in their strange contraptions completely unaware of the silent creatures suffering around them.

As the night wore on a large human in a bizarre red and white costume caught Edwin's attention.

Edwin approached the unusual man, and in the crow language asked the man if he could help.

To Edwin's surprise the man understood and followed Edwin to the scraggly tree where Carrie was perched.

The human examined Carrie for a moment and then took a large cookie from his bag and indicated that she should eat it. 

As Carrie nibbled at the cookie, she seemed to grow stronger and eventually even her crippled leg was healed.

Edwin tried to thank the human, but he had already disappeared into the mist of the parking lot.

"A Rainy Christmas" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

After her father was laid off from Boeing, Emily wasn't expecting much for Christmas. Just to see the worried look on her parent's faces ease for a few hours would have been enough of a gift for her.

During dinner one night, Emily asked about getting a Christmas tree, but her father looked sad, and her mother shook her head no.

On Christmas morning, Emily woke up early like she did when she was a child and was surprised to find a fully decorated tree in the living room.

The rest of the day was pretty cool too. Her father was pleased with the pen and pencil set that Emily gave him and her mother loved the knitted scarf.

All in all, the Christmas of 1972 wasn't so bad, even if it did rain most of the day.

"Whiteout 2" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Julie Reynolds looked over at her driving partner and regretted that she had answered the ride-sharing ad at her college in order to get home for Thanksgiving.

Ben Crowley had been one of her classmates in high school and he was still the same obnoxious jerk that he had been back in the day.

The first argument concerned the route that they should take over the pass. Julie preferred the faster route over I-90, but Ben wanted to take the scenic route over Chinook pass. Since Ben owned the vehicle, Julie was forced to go along with it.

About ten miles outside of Yakima, it began to snow. Julie looked over at Ben, but he seemed unconcerned. The snowfall continued to accelerate until it was almost impossible to see.

Somewhere near the summit the car stopped moving. "What are you doing?" Julie demanded.

"We're stuck" Ben answered simply. Before Julie could say anything else, he exited the car and began looking around.

As Julie watched through the windows to monitor Ben's progress, she noticed a dark shape emerge from the forest on the side of the road and collide with Ben who was removing snow from the under the front tires.

Julie opened her own door and watched in horror as Ben struggled with some sort of creature. Grabbing her purse, Julie frantically searched through the pockets until she found what she was looking for.

After arming her vial of pepper spray, Julie aimed the snout into the red eyes of the huge creature and gave it a long dose.

The thing howled in pain and ran back into the woods. Ben had numerous cuts and bruises but was not badly hurt. A short time later a tow truck was able to pull them out.

"Thank you for helping me." Ben finally remarked as they neared home.

"Next time I pick the travel route." Julie answered.

"The Party Across the Lake" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

The happy sounds of a lawn party filtered from across the lake and Dan Reynolds seethed with resentment.

Reynolds had grown up dirt poor in his small town and the snubs from wealthier classmates who lived around the lake were still fresh in his mind.

After leaving school, he worked day and night to accumulate enough money to buy his own property on the lake, but the new home did not bring him the satisfaction he had wanted.

The older residents of the lake still did not want him and there was never an invitation in the mail.

Reynolds considered calling the police in order to silence the laughter and music from across the water, but then decided to handle it himself.

The noise from the party faded away as an old woman slowly opened the door of the home that had caused Reynolds so much anguish.

"Can I help you young man?" the woman asked in an ancient creaky voice.

Reynolds felt uneasy and hesitated. "The party... I just wanted you to keep the noise down."

The old woman looked confused. "You must be mistaken young man, there hasn't been a party at this house in over forty years."

"Edwin the Hero" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

 It was the middle of Summer and the Walmart parking lot where Edwin the crow lived was blazing hot.

Some of the birds had escaped to a nearby lake to cool off, but Edwin stayed because he didn't want to miss out on any yummy treats.

While Edwin cruised over the parking lot looking for good grub, he noticed a small dog in one of the human vehicles who appeared to be in trouble.

The little dog was barking and clawing at the steamed-up window of the vehicle and Edwin could only imagine how hot it was inside.

Edwin frantically tried to get the attention of several humans in the area but they either ignored him or shooed him away.

Finally, Edwin spotted his old friend Julie in the parking lot and was able to communicate the emergency to her.

After seeing the condition of the little dog, Julie was able to find the owner and save the pup.

Edwin didn't really understand the idea of being a hero, but he did get some yummy cookies out of the deal.

Book Review- "A Scream Full of Ghosts" by Jane Nighshade.

I had a great time reading Jane Nightshade's new collection of ghost stories titled "A Scream Full of Ghosts."

Many of the stories are set in California's Gold country and feature several colorful old west characters, but my favorite of the anthology takes place in modern day San Francisco.

"Red Onion" is the bittersweet tale of a young man's love for a struggling single mom that extends beyond the grave.

A Scrhttps://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/515XSz7E82L._SX311_BO1,204,203,200_.jpgeam Full of Ghosts: Nightshade, Jane: 9781943201891: Amazon.com: Books

"Midnight at the Video Store" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

 Lisa Roentgen didn't like working late at the video store, but she was saving for a car and there were few jobs in her small town.

Most of her late-night customers were kids from school and then there were the odd balls like the "Fedora Man."

Fedora Man always wore an old-fashioned hat with the brim pulled down over one eye and rented obscure, gory horror films.

Lisa thought Fedora Man's outfit might be part of some weird` role-playing game, but she never had the nerve to ask.

One Friday night, Fedora Man showed up later than usual and after searching through the horror section for several minutes he approached the counter and placed a slip of paper next to the cash register where Lisa was reading a magazine.

The paper said: "Satan's Bloodbath." "Is this a movie you are looking for?" she asked him. Fedora Man nodded vigorously.

Lisa found the store's movie catalog in a drawer and began looking through it. She could find no listing for anything called "Satan's Bloodbath." "I'm sorry, we don't have it." Lisa told the anxious man.

In response, Fedora Man repeatedly tapped the piece of paper with a long, pointed fingernail. "We Don't Have It."  Lisa fairly shouted at the bizarre figure.

As quick as lightning, a long, powerful arm snaked across the counter and grabbed Lisa by the arm.

As she was being dragged across the floor, Lisa screamed as loud as she could, but there was no one there to hear her.

"The daydreams of Miss Amanda Smith." a short story by Craig Zimmerman

 Eleventh grade English teacher Amanda Smith was grading papers on a Saturday afternoon when she suddenly felt the need to escape her lonely apartment.

A local park was nice this time of the day, so Amanda grabbed the stack of papers she was working on and hurried out the door.

There were only a few people in the park and Amanda quickly found a bench and resumed grading her student's writing assignment.

Most of the essays from the girls in her class was the same romantic nonsense that she herself had believed in at one time, but Amanda learned long ago that there was no Prince Charming.

Once the assignments were all graded, Amanda set the papers aside and absently watched the ducks down by the lake until she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Sometime later, Amanda was awakened by a touch on her shoulder. "Do you mind if I sit here?"  a teen-age girl asked.

Still a little groggy from her nap, Amanda motioned for the girl to sit down.

"Do we know each other?"  Amanda asked the young woman.

" I was in your class a few years ago." the girl answered. Amanda didn't remember the young lady, but there had been so many faces.

"Mr. Harris in the math department likes you" the girl announced out of nowhere.

"How could you know that?" Amanda asked with more anger than she intended.

"Since I went away, I've learned many things. I'm not sure that I understand it all" the girl said glancing at a family having a picnic.

Amanda looked more carefully at the young woman and remembered a horrible car wreck that took the life of one of her students.

"Thank you for coming back, Susan." Amanda said to her former student.

The girl waved goodbye as she slowly faded away.

"Edwin's Valentine" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Landing on his favorite tree in the middle of the Walmart parking lot where he was born, Edwin the crow found a gift waiting for him in one of the branches.

Someone had left a dark red symbol of one of the human holidays that had something to do with mating.

Edwin assumed that one of the girl crows had left it and he looked around the parking lot to figure out who it could be.

He talked with Helen once in a while, and Edwin thought she liked him, but he hadn't seen her lately.

The next night, Edwin found a cookie in his tree. Not many of the crows in the parking lot shared food. Whoever liked him must be very special.

While Edwin was scrounging near the dumpsters the next day, one of his buddies told him that his secret admirer wanted to meet him that night.

Edwin was so excited that he could hardly stand it.

After dark, a small crow landed on a branch of his tree. Instead of Helen as Edwin had expected, it was Carrie who had a crippled leg and had trouble competing with the other birds for food.

Edwin was a little disappointed, but he found out that Carrie was really nice, and they became good friends.

"Solitaire" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

 Commander Deena Larson had been cruising through empty space for weeks when she suddenly came upon a solar system of four planets.

Only one of the planets had the necessary components to support life, and Deena prepared her shuttlecraft for a trip the next day. 

The short voyage to the new planet was uneventful, but as Deena emerged from the upper atmosphere, the only thing she could see was miles and miles of ruins.

Clearly, there was once an advanced civilization on the planet, but it appeared to have crumbled ages ago.

The shuttle's onboard sensors detected a weak electronic signal on the other side of the planet and Deena headed for it. The signal came from a crude dwelling that was in the midst of even more ruins.

After landing the shuttle nearby, Deena approached the dwelling with her weapon ready. Inside the home, a large slug-like creature was engaged in some sort of game that involved various lights and sounds.

After several moments, the creature became aware of Deena's presence and ceased the activity. The two stared at each other until the slug-man brought forth a small device. 

The device turned out to be a type of translator that used images rather than language to communicate. A series of photos showed that the planet had once been inhabited by two dominant species: A beast-like creature that resembled a wolf and the gentler slug people.

Factions of the wolf creatures were often at war with one another, and those wars eventually obliterated the entire species. 

Unfortunately, the weapons used by the wolf beings also affected the slug people and their population declined until only one remained. The last of the slug-beings spent its remaining days playing a game for one.