"Dinosaur Love" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Student Paleontologist Hayley Kent was so absorbed in looking for fossils in the eastern Montana countryside that she ignored fences and no trespassing signs. Sometime in the late afternoon her persistence paid off, and she found what looked like the fossilized skeleton of a Triceratops. 

Hayley then began the laborious task of cataloguing the site. She was taking photos of the outcropping when a rider came up from behind. "Do you know that this is private property? a deep voice said. Hayleigh whirled and was surprised to see a young man about her age, but he did not look happy. "I'm really sorry, I got caught up in looking for fossils" Hayley admitted.  "What kind of fossil?" the man asked coming off his horse. Haley showed him the outline of the skeleton and he seemed impressed. 

"I'll have to talk to my dad about it. He may or may not approve of letting you work out here. by the way, my name is Mark Olson." Haley took the big hand of the rancher and told him her name. Haley also gave Mark her phone number and he led her back to the main road and her jeep.

Haley could hardly contain her excitement waiting for Mark to call about the project. While she was preparing for a chemistry test, her cell rang and she shouted for joy to hear that the Mark's father had given approval. Of course, there were conditions such as a limited number of workers and a daily clean-up of the site.

Since Haley was the discoverer of the fossil, the professor chose her as one of the workers. Removing the skeleton without damaging it was hard work, but Mark and sometimes his father came to the site to measure their progress. One day, Mark brought a lunch and they ate in the shadow of the great beast. Haley didn't know much about ranching, but Mark was happy to explain how the business worked and the future of the ranch.

Lunches at the dig eventually became dinners at nice restaurants in Billings and the excavation was nearly complete when Mark and Haley got engaged. They were married two years later at the museum in front of the proud new Triceratops exhibit.

"Drive-thru" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

It was near closing time at the Burger Corral when a customer pulled up to the outside menu board. "Can I help you?" Janey Brooks said into her headset. The customer responded almost immediately: "I would like a mushroom souffle' please." Janey rolled her eyes. The Burger Corral was always being pranked by college frat boys.

"I'm afraid we only have what's on the menu" Janey said wearily. "Look on the counter" the customer answered. Sure enough there was a dish that looked like a mushroom souffle'. "That's impossible" Janey muttered to herself.

"I would also like a bottle of white wine" the stranger said through the speaker and almost immediately a bottle of expensive-looking Chardonnay appeared on the counter. Janey rubbed her forehead with her palm. This was just too weird.

A sleek black car pulled up to the window and Janey handed the wine and mushroom souffle' to a man with an old-fashioned hat that obscured most of his face. "How...how did you do that?" she asked the stranger with terror in her voice. The man shrugged "it's a simple trick really, I hope I didn't frighten you." He then handed Janey $500 and sped away into the night.