"Janey's Movie Night" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

 The Rialto was a crumbling old theater in a crumbling old neighborhood in Seattle, but Janey Marworth loved the faded glory of the old building.

The Rialto was one of the few places where you could watch old classics on the silver screen. Friday nights were reserved for horror movies and Janey had almost the entire theater to herself for a showing of the original "Dracula."

During the opening credits a late arrival came in and just happened to choose the seat next to Janey. "Can I have some of your popcorn?" Her seatmate asked in a bad Hungarian accent. Janey was mildly annoyed and answered with a firm no.

"You have a very beautiful neck." the stranger said a moment later. Janey was getting creeped out and she moved to another seat. A moment later her tormenter suddenly appeared in the seat beside her, but Janey didn't see him move.

Glowing eyes fastened onto hers and Janey felt herself growing weak as hot breath and long white fangs moved towards her neck. Out of instinct, Janey's right fist smacked into the white face of the weirdo, and she ran to the exit.

Janey stopped for a just a second to see if the creep was pursuing her, but in the flashing light from the screen she could see there was no one there.

"Laura's Big Catch" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Every spring, Laura Baker looked forward to hearing the chorus of frog mating calls from the pond in her backyard, but this year there was nothing but silence.

From her bedroom window, Laura looked out at the pond and noticed something dark and powerful ripple through the water. It was this unknown creature that silenced the frogs.

In the morning, Laura looked over her fishing gear and selected a strong salmon pole with fifty-pound line. Using raw steak for bait, she sat on a log at the edge of the pond and cast her line into the water.

Without warning, something hit the bait like a piledriver, and she struggled to hold onto the pole. For at least an hour, Laura fought the pull of the dark creature, but with one mighty effort she pulled the thing onto the shore.

The hideous beast lunged at Laura snapping its jaws and she was forced to hit it with a hammer. With the intruder gone, the pond gradually returned to normal, and the croaking frogs could be heard for miles around.

 

"Junkyard Dog" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Max the mutt was the official guard dog of the Tripple J salvage yard located just outside of Tacoma, Washington.

Max's duties began at seven in the evening when the yard closed and ended at about sunrise. He began his rounds at the old trailer where his owner Ben lived.

Max walked slowly through the wrecked cars always listening for something that didn't belong. A large rat peeked out of a demolished car and Max growled until the rodent retreated back into the darkness.

As he approached the back corner of the yard, Max became a little uneasy. There was something menacing and evil in the twisted metal that he sensed but couldn't identify.

Loud voices alerted Max to intruders, and he rushed towards the sound. Several kids were trying to get over the fence, but they changed their minds when they noticed the huge dog intently watching.

After the boys had gone, Max resumed his patrol. An old woman appeared from behind a rusted bus and pointed at him. A moment later, the figure vanished. Max had become used to strange sights in the yard and did not become alarmed.

As the night wore on, Max heard something coming from an upside-down truck and he went to investigate. A mama raccoon and her babies had made a home in the cab of the truck. 

Max stayed with the raccoons until it was time to head back to the old trailer for his breakfast.

 

"Trail to Nowhere" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

After several hours of hiking on a new trail near Mount Rainier, Julie Sutton realized that she had become lost. Fighting panic, she decided to find a high point on the ridge to see where she was at.

Julie was near the summit when she unexpectedly came upon a large house in a clearing. She had no idea that anyone lived so far out in the wilderness.

Julie hesitantly knocked on the door and an old woman immediately answered. "Can I help you?" she asked. Julie explained her situation and the woman gave her a strange smile. "My son Rolf can take you to the main trail." she said sweetly.

The old woman led Julie into a living room that was filled with hunting trophies. As if on cue, her son "Rolf" emerged from another room.

Julie noted that Rolf was a much larger version of his mother with the same odd smile. He motioned for Julie to follow him, and they both left the house. 

Rolf had little to say and seemed to know what he was doing, but Julie felt that he was leading her away from the trail down the ridge and she started watching him carefully.

Deep in the forest, Rolf turned to her and pulled a long knife out of his coat. Julie had been expecting something like that, and she dashed into the woods at the side of the trail.

Rolf took chase, and Julie could hear him crashing through the forest behind her. but she ran as fast as she could and eventually the sounds of Rolf's pursuit faded away.

By the time the sun was going down, Julie had found the trail head where she started from, and she called the police as soon as her cell phone came into the range of a tower.

The police took her report, and the next day Julie agreed to show them where she had found Rolf and his mother's house. Julie did eventually find the clearing but there was no house or anything else. 

The police ascribed it as some sort of delirium and Julie was left to wonder if she had imagined the whole thing.

 

"A Flock of Crows" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

A severe meteor storm had damaged Commander Deena Larson's spacecraft, and she desperately needed a place to land in order to make repairs.

Fortunately, there was a small planet in the vicinity although the atmosphere was highly poisonous. Deena would need to wear her environmental suit in order to fix the damage.

Landing the crippled vessel on the planet was more difficult than Deena imagined it would be, and she was grateful for the clearing in the midst of a sea of strange rock formations.

After putting on the bulky environmental suit, Deena exited the spacecraft and surveyed the damage. She estimated that it would take several hours to complete the repairs.

While patching a tiny hole near the engine compartment, a hovering alien done appeared and silently watched Deena work.

Deena assumed that someone was curious about her presence and so she took no hostile action against the drone. 

Several minutes after the first drone arrived another materialized and also silently watched. Deena hurriedly finished patching the engine compartment hole and then moved on to the cargo hold repairs.

Eventually, a dozen alien drones observed Deena's labor and for some reason they began jostling and fighting each other.

The fighting became so intense that they began bumping into Deena's environmental suit and she knew that even a slight tear would be fatal.

A strange idea occurred to Deena, and she activated one of the ship's drones and set it on a meandering course towards the planet's northern pole.

As Deena had hoped, the swarm of alien drones followed her drone, and she was able to finish her work in peace.

She regretted losing one of the ship's limited supply of drones, but it couldn't be helped and once the repairs were finished her spacecraft lifted away from the planet without any complications.

After leaving the planet behind, Deena wondered about the alien drones. They acted almost like a form of life, and she immediately thought of a flock of crows.

 

"The Garden of Susan" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Danny Tyson looked around his new neighborhood and thought it looked a lot like his old neighborhood. Being an army brat meant moving a lot. Danny was only fifteen and had already lived in ten states.

Danny climbed on his bike and rode around the neighborhood looking for kids his age. At the end of the block, he noticed a cute girl tending a flower garden.

Danny had little experience with girls, but he forced himself to park his bike and go say hello.

The girl was watering a large white flower when Danny walked up. She seemed to be unaware of his presence and when he said hello, she looked up in fright.

"I'm sorry I scared you" Danny stammered. The girl looked vaguely in his direction and Danny realized that there was something wrong with her eyes.

"You didn't scare me; I sometimes daydream when I'm working in the garden. The girl held out her hand. "I'm Susan Hennessy" 

Danny shyly took the girl's hand and told her his name. "Did you just move here?" Susan asked. Danny pointed down the block. "We live down at the end of the Cul de sac."

Susan's eyes did not follow the gesture and Danny realized that she was blind.

"Would you like to help me water these flowers?" Susan asked. Danny felt a little scared for some reason but then said yes and they spent the afternoon talking and caring for the garden.

Danny learned that Susan had been blind since birth, but she didn't let it hold her back and she had dreams of working in horticulture.

One Summer Day, Danny was walking to see Susan when a freak hailstorm came out of nowhere. The large hail stones pounded the ground for several minutes and then it was over.

He rushed over to Susan's house to find her crying in the midst of the ruined garden.

Danny took her in his arms. "Your garden will be new again" he promised, and Susan held him close.

"The Motel Mecca" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Martin Rhodes needed an easy part-time job for his last year of college and what he ended up with was the night-clerk position at the "Motel Mecca."

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Motel Mecca served middle-class families traveling through southern California, but in the present, it was a magnet for the very poor and small-time criminals.

Sometimes it was hard for Martin to look into the weathered faces of men and women who had been crushed by poverty and a world that only cared about the young and well-off.

One night a teen-age girl came in the office and Martin immediately pegged her as a runaway. He wanted to tell her to go back to whatever home she had, because Los Angeles had nothing to offer young girls except heartbreak, but in the end he remained silent.

About two weeks later, a nervous and sweating middle-aged man came in the office for a room. After he left, Martin looked out the window and saw the young runaway going into the room with the man.

For reasons he couldn't explain-even to himself, Martin became enraged and kicked in the door to the unit. The man looked at him in shock while Martin grabbed his flabby arm and tossed him into the parking lot. The girl just stared at him with a mixture of anger and shame.

Martin was fired that same evening, but not long after the county declared the motel a public nuisance and shut it down.

The last act of the Motel Mecca occurred when a wildfire incinerated the vacant buildings.