"The Car and the Girl" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Jake Crawford was walking into his high school when he noticed a pristine 1975 Chevy Camaro pull into the parking lot. Jake gazed with envy at the beautiful car and was surprised to see Milly Prentiss emerge from the Camaro. 

Milly was in a couple of Jake's classes, but he didn't recall ever talking to her. During lunch, Jake looked for Milly and found her eating by herself at one of the tables.

"Do you mind if I sit with you" Jake asked as he approached Milly's table. Milly smiled and motioned for him to sit. Jake studied Milly for a moment. She had dark brown hair, light green eyes, and a nice smile. He found it strange that he hadn't noticed how pretty she was before.

Jake tried to think of something to say that didn't involve the car and then remembered his card tricks. He pulled a deck from his pocket and started with the simplest trick he knew and by the end of lunch they were having a blast.

After school let out, Milly gave Jake a ride home in her car and he found out that Milly and her father had restored the old car during the Summer in the hopes of selling it and using the money to pay for her college next year. Jake couldn't imagine selling such a perfect machine.

As their friendship grew, Milly began picking up Jake in the mornings as well as taking him home after school. Jake felt like royalty riding in the Camaro and laughed at the kids who were still walking to school.

One morning, Milly showed up at Jake's house without the car. "Where's the Camaro?" he blurted out as Milly stepped onto his porch. Milly looked sad. "My father got a good offer, and the new owner took it home right away. Did the car mean that much to you Jake?"

Jake looked into Milly's light green eyes and felt sorry that he had thoughtlessly hurt her. "I'll admit that it was fun pretending to be one of the cool kids for a change, but you are what matters to me." and with that he took Milly's hand and together they walked to school.

"Driftwood" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Mark Halstead's sailboat "Starfish" was set adrift after nearly being destroyed by a freak storm about one thousand miles southwest of  Ireland. Communications, navigation, and propulsion were all gone and Jim spent most of his time scanning  the horizon for a passing ship. 

Fortunately, he had enough fresh water and food to last a while, but time was running out. Twenty days after the storm, Mark was elated to spot a small island in the distance.

A steady current pulled the crippled ship to the outskirts of the island. Mark tossed the anchor over the side and then rowed his dinghy to the shore.

As soon as he set foot on the beach, a young woman rushed across the sand and embraced him. "Richard, you've come home" she said through her tears. Mark was about to correct her but decided to wait until he found out what was going on.

The young woman whose name turned out to be Barbara, led Mark to small cottage about a half-mile inland. Barbara chattered non-stop while Mark looked for a phone or some sort of radio. He soon learned that a storm had wrecked the island's radio tower.

Barbara made a large dinner and while they were eating Mark learned that Barbara was the only permanent resident of the island. Mark also noticed a slight change in Barbara's demeanor and he wondered what had happened to the actual "Richard."

As Barabara was cleaning the table her tone became even more accusatory and Mark knew he had to get out of there. When Barbara took the table scraps out to her livestock, Mark sprinted out the door and headed for the beach.

He speedily rowed his dinghy out to the Starfish and pulled up the anchor. The sailboat caught ahold of the outgoing current and headed out to sea.

In the distance, he could see Barbara with a rifle angrily kicking the sand.