"Sam Shelton: mirage in the desert." a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Sam Shelton had a delivery of construction materials to make somewhere in southern Arizona, but his GPS kept taking him deeper into the desert. After driving on dirt roads for miles, Sam arrived at a clearing and his destination.

Sam parked his truck and got out of the cab, while a young man emerged from an old RV. Sam looked at the manifest. "Are you Tim Chadwick?" he asked the young man. The man nodded and they shook hands. 

Sam used his onboard forklift to remove the pallets of construction supplies and then found a somewhat shady spot to have his lunch. Tim looked over the supplies and then joined him. "What are you building?" Sam asked. "A bowling alley" Tim answered with a grin.

Sam immediately wondered if Tim was a little unhinged. The nearest town was 25 miles away and it was hardly a metropolis, but Tim seemed sure of his plans, and he talked at length about how much money he was going to make. Sam finished his lunch but felt guilty when he drove away. The desert could be a cruel place.

Several months later, Sam had some time off and decided to go check on Tim. When he got to the site, he found the construction supplies scattered around, the RV ransacked and no sign of Tim. He would have to make a report to the county sheriff. Hopefully, Tim just gave up his crazy idea of a bowling alley and went home.

"Sam Shelton" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Sam Shelton was trying hard to stay awake and finally decided that he needed some coffee. Sam pulled his rig into a vacant lot next to a mini mart. The store was empty except for the clerk behind the counter.

Sam poured himself a large coffee and sat down on a bench to drink it. The coffee was good and strong and he felt better already. "What are you hauling?" the cashier suddenly asked. "I'm empty" Sam responded automatically. Five years before, his good buddy Jason had been killed in a hijacking and since than Sam had never talked about his load.

Sam finished his coffee and went back to his truck. Something about the cashier bothered him and he wanted to get the hell away. As Sam pulled his truck away from the mini mart, he noticed a car pull out from behind the store and began following him.

Sam stepped on the gas and the following car kept pace. On a deserted stretch of road outside of a small town in southern Idaho the speeding car made its move and tried to overtake Sam's truck in the opposite lane. Sam reached under his seat and pulled out his Mossberg 12 gauge. With his right hand, he positioned the barrel of the gun outside of his open window.

The car was moving up fast and Sam could see the passenger had a rifle. When the car had moved abreast of his driver's side door, Sam put two rounds of buckshot into the car and then watched as it veered off the road and smashed into a tree.

Sam slowly moved away from the wreck and then noticed two trucks blocking the road and men with rifles crouched behind the vehicles. Sam accelerated and blew through the lighter trucks while the men with rifles scattered. Glancing at the clock on his dash. He would have to hurry if he were going to be on time with his delivery.

    

"Andrea" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Andrea Gibson carefully maneuvered her wheelchair onto the ramp and wheeled down to the beach.  After the accident, Andrea's father had constructed the ramp so that his daughter could access the ocean in front of their home without help.

Andrea loved watching the waves come in and it helped her to not think about the future. She knew her parents worried about her, but Andrea didn't know what to do about it. On the horizon, Andrea spotted what looked like a ship and she grabbed her binoculars to get a better look.

The ship appeared to be an old sailing vessel which was strange, but it was possible that there were a few left. The ship came closer and eventually anchored about a mile off the beach. Andrea marveled at the beauty of the ancient ship and wondered what it would be like to sail her.

A small boat was lowered over the side of the galleon and Andrea watched as a tall man in a flamboyant uniform rowed towards the shore. The man arrived on the beach and walked towards Andrea. The tall man bowed with a flourish and Andrea felt herself blush. 

My name is Captain John Fleming, and I was wondering if you

 would care to accompany me on my journey?" Andrea hesitated for a moment and then nodded and took the captain's hand. Amazingly, her legs were no longer paralyzed, and she walked with the tall man to the dinghy.

Hours later, Andreas's father found the deserted wheelchair and noticed what appeared to be an old-fashioned ship on its way out to sea.

"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. Haley 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 fossils?" 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.

"Edwin and the Snowstorm" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Edwin the crow perched in a small tree and watched the cold white flakes cover the Walmart parking lot where he lived. From past experience, Edwin knew that the snow would make it harder to find food.

As the hours past, the snow showed no sign of letting up and Edwin decided to take a little trip and see if he could rustle up some treats. He took off in an unexplored direction, and the lights of the city gave way to fields and hills.

Edwin spotted an opening in one of the human buildings and shot through it. The inside was warm and dry and as a plus Edwin found some grub. On the lower level of the building, a large beast was making a "mooing" sound and Edwin told him to be quiet. Apparently, the animal didn't understand crow-speak and kept making a racket.

After stuffing himself with food, Edwin settled down for a nap, but his rest was short-lived when a big orange cat nearly caught him. Edwin flew to the top level of the building and kept an eye on the movements of the cat.

The next morning dawned bright and clear, and Edwin headed back to his favorite tree in the Walmart parking lot.

"Escape" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Mark Jarrett's old man told him he had to be out of the house the day after graduation, so on Saturday morning Mark packed his few belongings into his truck and backed out of the driveway for the last time. His father did not say goodbye.

Mark drove slowly down the main street of his small town looking for any familiar face. The owner of the general store: Mr. Dutton stared at him as he drove past but didn't acknowledge Mark in any way. Oddly enough, Mr. Jacobson the barber gave a friendly wave even though Mark rarely got his hair cut.

A girl from his class, Amy Riggs smiled at Mark from the sidewalk, and he pulled the truck over. "Hey, you want to go to California?" he asked partly as a joke. To his great surprise, Amy jumped into the passenger side. 

The silent mass of the deserted sawmill was the last witness to the departure of the young people as they headed west in an old Ford truck.