"Big Black Car" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

John Peterson stared at the traffic jam ahead of him and dreaded facing his boss when he came in late again.

As his car inched forward, John heard a low rumbling sound behind him and looked in his rearview mirror to see a pitch- black 1969 Dodge Charger.

The car looked exactly like Riley's Dodge Charger, but that couldn't be. Todd Riley had died in the wreckage of his car forty years before.

It had been the last day of high school, and Riley had challenged John to a race on Mud Mountain Road. John didn't really want to race, but he showed up anyway.

In the late afternoon, the road was deserted, and Riley called the start of the race by throwing a red handkerchief out his passenger side window.

John's 1971 Chevelle SS was keeping pace with Riley's Charger, but then something went wrong, and the Charger crashed into a tree.

Peterson debated whether to go for help. He already had several traffic infractions on his record and another one would sink him good.

Peterson quickly drove away from the crash and told no one about what had happened. Later on, he heard that Riley had died in the wreck.

The Charger behind him couldn't be Riley, but Peterson turned off the highway to ease his mind.

The black car followed him.

In a panic, John pushed down the accelerator, but the powerful Charger easily kept pace.

Peterson was so preoccupied with the car following him that he didn't notice the sharp curve looming ahead of him and lost control of his speeding car and crashed into a tree.

The pitch-black Charger stopped at the crash site for a moment and then slowly drove away.

 

"Christmas in Enumclaw" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Milena looked out the window in despair. She had been hoping for a white Christmas, but it had been raining for three days with no sign of stopping.

Milena went into the kitchen to help her mother with dinner. Papa would be coming home soon, and he was always hungry after working in the mine all day.

When papa finally did arrive, he was covered with grime, but Milena gave him a hug anyway.

During supper, papa announced that he didn't have to work on Christmas, and they could spend the whole day together. He also hinted at a special surprise and Milena could hardly wait.

In the morning, Milena awoke bright and early and to her surprise mama and papa were also awake.

Papa instructed Milena to put on her warmest clothes because they were taking a trip to the mountains and see some real snow.

Milena was so excited that she kept mixing up her mittens but finally matched the blue ones her mother had given her last Christmas.

Papa had rigged a canvas covering over their wagon to protect them from the rain and two powerful quarter horses were going to take them on the long trip to the mountains.

The roads were very muddy from all of the rain, but the big horses were able get through it easily.

As their wagon left the town of Enumclaw and headed east, the buildings became fewer and eventually all Melena could see were thick woods and tall peaks on the horizon. 

As the wagon made progress the air became cooler, and the first snowflakes appeared. Around mid-afternoon, papa stopped at a clearing and they built a snowman with a carrot nose and pieces of coal for eyes.

Later on, they joined a nearby logging camp for its Christmas celebration and had a supper of venison and beans.

Milena was having so much fun that she dreaded going back to rainy Enumclaw, but papa had to go back to work the next day, and he needed his rest.

Even into her old age, Milena would think of the trip to the mountains as the best Christmas she ever had.

"A Fair Storm" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

To Sharon, it had seemed like the perfect summer job: housesitting for a couple who was vacationing in Europe.

The home was located on a small island in the Puget Sound and Sharon hoped to use the isolation to finish her master's thesis.

Everything went well until a powerful storm lashed across the island cutting power and communication.

Sharon tried to remain calm during the storm but the howling wind and encroaching darkness began to frighten her.

The crashing of a falling tree brought Sharon to the window of her bedroom. 

It was hard to see anything, but there appeared to be a tall thin man in the yard, but when Sharon looked again the figure was gone.

Bundled up in her covers, Sharon tried to go to sleep and eventually fell into a light slumber.

A strange scuffling noise from downstairs awakened her and she reluctantly took her flashlight wand headed to the lower floor.

As Sharon entered the living room, a stark white face stared at her from the big picture window.

Sharon screamed and the face disappeared.

By morning, the storm was over and armed with a knife, Sharon went outside to check on the damage.

There was debris and broken trees everywhere but fortunately the house had not been hit.

Later in the afternoon, a group of rescue workers arrived by boat and Sharon told them about to white- faced creature.

To her surprise, the fire chief laughed. 

"That sounds like the captain. "He lived on this island about fifty years ago and shows up whenever there is a storm."

"Are you saying the captain is dead?" Sharon asked incredulously.

The fire chief shrugged, "Well yeah, but he doesn't mean any harm."

"Rattler" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

It was late afternoon, and Colin Hays was walking home from school through the desert that surrounded his parent's ranch in eastern Washington state when he heard the rattle. 

Without moving, Colin searched the sage and rocks for the snake. Rattlesnakes generally stayed away from humans but there were occasional attacks.

Not seeing anything, Colin slowly moved forward. The rattling sound came again louder than before, and Colin stopped in his tracks.

 Colin looked at his watch. His father would be mad if he didn't get home before dinner and all because of an ornery snake.

Colin once again checked all of the places a snake might be and then decided to make a run for it.

Bracing his legs, he raced down the trail and stopped about a half mile from where he heard the rattle. Laughing at his fear and trying to catch his breath, Colin didn't notice the large rattlesnake that emerged from the rocks and slithered toward his leg.

"The Library Kiss" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Danny Marshall was working on a page-long equation in the library when he noticed Julia Sauter heading for his table.

  "Could you help me with my homework?" She asked Danny with exaggerated sweetness.

"You know I will, but I want something in return this time." Danny replied.

 "And what would that be?" Julia asked.

   "A kiss"

   "A kiss?"

Danny nodded, blushing furiously.

    Julia thought of all of the times that Danny had helped her with schoolwork. A kiss seemed like a small enough reward.

She glanced around the library. All of the tables were filled and some of her friends were watching.

Julia then took Danny by the hand and gave him the best smooch she was capable of.

Mrs. Foster, the librarian frowned, a few kids laughed, but everyone else stood and applauded.

For Danny, it was the most glorious day of his life.

 

    

 

"Old man in the rain"" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Brian Meadows was near the end of his shift when the old man approached him from out of the drizzling rain.

"Please help me" the old man said as he clutched Brian's arm. 

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked the old man.

"Someone is after me." the old man said as he trembled with fear.

Brian looked around but couldn't see much through the miserable weather.

The old man was clearly terrified of something so Brian let him come into his office until he calmed down.

Over the course of about thirty minutes, the man gradually relaxed and Brian walked him to the edge of the property.

The old man walked away into the early morning mist and gradually disappeared.

Brian was closing up the office when he heard a loud scream. He rushed to the source of the sound but there was nothing there.

The old man may have been right. Something was after him.

 

"Suzie's Friend" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Sometime in the middle of the night, Suzie heard her father stumble through the door of their trailer.

Muttering and cursing, Suzie's father stomped down the short hallway to her room and started banging on the door.

Suzie couldn't take another beating like the last time-so she hastily put on some clothes and escaped out the window.

With nowhere to go, Suzie ran to the abandoned cemetery across the street from the trailer park.

Sobbing uncontrollably, Suzie lay down in the cool grass at the foot of one of the old graves and eventually fell asleep.

A gentle nudging awakened Suzie and she looked into the concerned face of a beautiful woman and two police officers.

"Suzie, my name is Ms. Bryant and I'm a social worker with the city. Your father has been taken to a place where he can get some help. In the meantime, I have found a home for you with a nice family here in town." The young woman said.

Suzie was a little confused. "How did you find me?" she asked Ms. Bryant.

"A friend of yours told me you were here. I think he said his name was Johnny."

Suzie didn't know anyone named Johnny, but with a sudden urge she looked up at the old tombstone where she had slept. It said:

                            Our Beloved Son

                            Johnny Hanson

                              1920-1935

"Scream of the Fly" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

 Jessica Carson was excited about moving away from home for the first time, but her new apartment left much to be desired.

Her bedroom badly needed paint, and there was a big black spider in the windowsill.

Jessica had always been afraid of spiders, but the creature wasn't harming anything, so she let it be.

In the weeks that followed, Jessica was so busy with work and school that she didn't notice that a man in the neighborhood was watching her and making plans.

One moonless night when Jessica was sound asleep the man quietly forced open her bedroom window and began to climb inside.

The would-be rapist did not see the glittering black eyes of the spider until it was too late.

Jessica was awakened by a high-pitched whining coming from the window. She assumed that her arachnid friend had trapped another insect, and so she went back to sleep.

"Landfill" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Far beneath the surface of the county landfill, the combination of a hundred chemicals and other substances created a dark new lifeform.

After several years of growth, the new creature was capable of movement, and it slowly undulated towards the surface.

Upon emerging from underground, the creature felt the warmth of the sun, but its crude eyes could only see shadows.

Compared to the quiet of the underground the surface was full of the vibrations of life.

The creature longed to communicate with the other lifeforms that it sensed, but there was no way to do so.

As the sun went down, the creature realized that it had no place on the surface, and it slowly returned to the cold familiarity of the underground.

"Summer's End" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

In his 13th year, Paul Carter first met Holly as she wandered through the north pasture of his family's farm picking flowers.

They stayed in the pasture for hours making up silly stories about the milk cows that surrounded them and eating blackberries.

Holly returned the next day, and the young couple hiked into the hills that the bordered Paul's home.

At a small waterfall, Holly took off her shoes and soaked her feet in the cold water.

"Where do you come from Holly?" Paul asked suddenly as he watched the sunshine stream through her hair.

Holly shrugged. "A lot of places, I guess. It's easy to make friends on the road."

For the rest of the Summer, the young couple spent almost every day together, but as August rolled around, Paul noticed that Holly was becoming anxious, and he wasn't surprised when she told him she was leaving.

On a hot Saturday afternoon, Paul watched Holly walk away forever through the same field where they first met.

 

"The Glass Snake" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Michael Chan was walking home from work when he was caught in a sudden downpour which was a typical event in his hometown of Tacoma.

In order to avoid getting soaked, Michael ducked into a curio shop and started looking around. An old Chinese woman eyed him from behind the counter.

Most of the items in the shop were out of his price range, but a coiled snake made out of glass was only twenty dollars, so Michael decided to get it.

As Michael was making his purchase, the old woman pointed at the snake and said something in Chinese. Michael didn't understand the words and he just nodded along.

The rain had finally stopped when Michael exited the shop, and he looked forward to seeing how the snake looked on his coffee table.

As Michael entered his apartment, he placed the snake on the couch and went into the kitchen to make dinner.

Microwave macaroni and cheese was ready in a few minutes, and he put his dinner on a plate and went to watch a baseball game.

Michael immediately noticed the glass snake was gone but out of the shadows of his apartment a stunningly beautiful Chinese woman appeared.

The woman bowed before Michael and said: "My name is Mei and I'm your new roommate."

"Lorelei" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Jerrod Nelson was playing a game on his computer when he felt something hitting the back of his head. It turned out to be popcorn and the obvious perpetrator was Lorelei.

Lorelei was the resident ghost of the old house that Jerrod's parents had purchased in a rural section of Vermont. 

At first Jerrod thought it would be cool to have a ghost around the house, but Lorelei was more annoying than scary.

If Jerrod ever brought a friend home, Lorelei would torment them mercilessly and eventually all the kids at school thought he was some kind of weirdo.

Jerrod tried ignoring the ghost, but she would always find a way to get under his skin.

As a last resort, Jerrod googled: "how to get rid of a ghost." and was looking over the posts when he heard the faint words "I'm sorry" being whispered into his ear.

After that day, Lorelei was quieter although she still liked to throw popcorn at his head.

"Dalton and Murph" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

It was nearly noon and Dalton and Murph occupied two old chairs that faced the main street of their crumpling   town.

A disinterested fly buzzed above their heads while the two old friends consumed bottles of warm beer.

Dalton made a crude remark about a woman who was walking on the opposite side of the street, but Murph just shrugged, he was in an ugly mood and even an attractive woman couldn't pull him out of it. 

Murph had spent his entire life in the same small town doing one job or another.

Now that he was in his fifties, he felt dissatisfied and uneasy.

The children from his two ex-wives were scattered around the country and he never heard from them.

Murph took a last swig from his bottle of beer and aimed the bottle towards a trash can, but the bottle missed and shattered in the street. Dalton raised an eyebrow, but wisely said nothing.

Several moments later, the sheriff cruised down the street and Murph waved to him cheerfully. 

The two friends were about to call it a day when a car filled with parents and kids stopped on the street in front of them.

"Do you know how to get to bat cavern?" a young woman asked.

Murph pointed down the road. You go ten miles and then take a right." 

Dalton watched the car depart and shook his head. "That doesn't go anywhere Murph"

"I know" Murph said as he too another drink of warm beer.

"The Weeping Car" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Sarah Hayes was trying to study when she became aware of a sound coming from the salvage yard that she had been assigned to guard by the security agency.

Grabbing a flashlight, Sarah warily left the office. The sound which resembled a crying woman was coming from the center of the wrecking yard.

Sarah carefully walked through the maze of damaged cars and tried to make sense of the strange noise. No one other than herself was supposed to be at the yard at this time of night.

The crying sound became louder as Sarah approached the center of the yard and she was shocked to find a teen-age girl sobbing next to one of the newly arrived wrecks.

"Uh Miss, you aren't allowed to be here." Sarah gently told the distraught girl.

The young woman looked at her with glowing blue eyes. "I can't leave...not ever. My boyfriend was driving too fast, and we ran into a tree."

Sarah nodded and stayed by the girl until the sun came up and she slowly faded away.

 

"A Winter Day" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

The day after Christmas, Suzie and I were watching an old movie that had several scenes that took place in the snow and Suzie couldn't get over it.

"My Grandpa told me about snow. He said you could build things and have snowball fights and it was so much fun."

I took a look at the outside digital thermometer, it read 133 degrees. "That was a long time ago Suzie."

"Grandpa said that sometimes they would get so much snow that school would be cancelled, and they could spend the whole day sliding down a big hill."

Suzie was so excited about the idea of snow that I didn't have the heart to remind her of the changes to the climate that had occurred in the last thirty years.

When the movie was over, we played a game of cards, but in the middle of the game, Suzie became excited about something that was happening outside.

"It's snowing!" Suzie shouted.

I looked out the window and sure enough white flakes were coming down, but the temperature was still over 120 degrees.

Before I could stop her, Suzie opened the insulated door and ran outside.

The soot from a nearby burning forest landed softly around her.

 

"The Haven" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

 Commander Deena Larson rubbed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the unending stream of data from her ship's main computer. 

After a year in deep space, Deena was exhausted and desperately needed a place to rest.

It took almost another year before the ship's sensors detected what could be a habitable world.

Deena's ship eventually attained an orbit around the new planet and a probe was launched to study the surface.

The atmosphere of the planet was rich in oxygen and there was a wide variety of plant and animal life. Deena studied the wildlife for several days and noted the odd fact that most of species lived in trees and only a few dwelled on the surface.

There were also numerous bodies of water distributed around the planet and Deena smiled at the thought of laying on an alien beach light years from her home in California.

Deena navigated her shuttle towards what appeared to be an inland sea and had the strange feeling that she was on her way home.

The surface of the planet was somewhat warm due to double suns, but the air was glorious, and she immediately felt refreshed.

Deena was somewhat disappointed to find the beaches of the inland sea covered with rocks, but she managed to find a section that was close to what she remembered from home.

Taking off her flight suit, Deena basked in the warm sunshine and eventually fell asleep.

An odd tickling sensation awoke Deena from a sound sleep, and she was horrified to find that she was covered with long biting red worms. 

Deena frantically brushed the worms off and ran for the shuttle. The worms seemed to be everywhere, and she finally understood why most of the planet's animal species lived in the trees.

Back aboard her ship, Deena tried to get some sleep, but she had a nightmare about the worms and was happy to leave the new planet behind when she resumed her voyage the following day.

"Time Warp Prom Date" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

It was really funny how the whole thing happened. Jenny Porter was trying to find a date to the prom when this guy showed up from out of nowhere.

The guy said his name was Brian Meadows and that he came from the year 1978. Jenny thought the story was a little strange, but Brian was kind of cute and had a cool muscle car from the 1960s.

After a little persuasion, Brian agreed to take Jenny to the prom on the condition that she pay for everything. According to Brian, he only had a few dollars that he brought from 1978.

The time travel story that Brian kept gabbing about was starting to get annoying.

Another problem was finding Brian a place to live until the night of the prom. (According to Brian his house was no longer where it was supposed to be.) Fortunately, Jenny's parents had a guest house that he could use for a few days.

On the night of the prom, Brian showed up at her house like a normal date and Julie had to admit that he was really cool about posing for photos and all that business. Her mom had some questions, but Julie told her that his family just moved to the area.

Jenny was surprised to find out that Brian was a really good dancer, and she loved the jealous looks from her friends, but as the night wore on, he started acting weirder than usual.

In the middle of a slow dance, Brian told her that he had a feeling that it was time for him to go back and he rushed out of the ballroom.

Jenny followed him out to the parking lot and watched with fascination as Brian and his car disappeared in a cloud of mist.

Jenny was happy that Brian was headed back to his own time, but she wished he could have waited until the end of the prom.

"Feeding Time" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

As a young wife and mother, Melody Danvers got in the habit of collecting the leftovers from dinner and depositing them outside in the yard.

In the morning, the scraps were all gone. Occasionally, Melody would hear some faint growling sounds at night, but it did not occur to her that leaving food outside in a rural area may be dangerous. 

Several years went by and the husband and the boys had long since departed. The solitary meals that Melody prepared for herself didn't produce the number of leftovers that her family dinners had and so she gradually stopped the old custom of putting scraps in the yard.

One night, after a lonely dinner of a burger and fries, Melody decided to go to bed early. A loud splintering noise awakened her from a sound sleep.

As Melody struggled to find her glasses, she could hear heavy steps coming up the staircase. Finding her glasses, she immediately dialed 911 on her cell phone, but the steps had already stopped at her bedroom door.

A blow of tremendous force knocked the door off its hinges and a massive beast filled the entry. Unable to look at the hideous creature coming towards her, Melody looked at the clock on a bedside table and realized it was about the time that she put dinner leftovers in the yard.

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

The last time that Julie Mason had received a valentine was in the sixth grade, so she was greatly surprised to find a red envelope with her name taped to her locker.

For most of the morning, Julie thought about who might give her a valentine card. Karl from the soccer team had smiled at her a couple of times and David from the chess club seemed to like her.

Finally, she just gave up and opened the envelope. The card had a proton and an electron dancing with the caption: "I particularly like you" and was signed "Anthony."

The only Anthony that Julie knew was in her physics class which would explain the card. During lunch period, she found Anthony sitting alone and reading a thick book. Julie sat down across from him and put the red envelope on the table.

Anthony put down the thick book. "Did you like the card?" he asked anxiously. Julie couldn't help but smile. Anthony was cute in a mad scientist kind of way. "Yes, but why me?" she asked gently.

"Well, you like to read like I do, you're nice to everybody-including the jerks, and I think you're really pretty." Anthony's face turned a deep red at the last part of his answer.

Julie wasn't quite sure how to move forward in a situation like this but finally decided that having lunch with Anthony would be a good place to start.

"Rideshare" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Jeff Carson had a miserable day at work and was grateful to see his rideshare arrive on time.

He barely glanced at the driver before getting in the car but got the impression of some weird distortion hiding the man's face. 

The driver confirmed Jeff's address and they moved into traffic.

For several minutes, there was blessed silence and Jeff closed his eyes thankful to be away from the office.

"Do you remember being born?" the driver asked.

Jeff opened his eyes. "What did you say?" 

"DO YOU REMEMBER BEING BORN?" the driver repeated in what was almost a shout.

Jeff wasn't sure what weird shit was going on, but he answered anyway. "No, I don't remember being born."

The driver seemed satisfied with the answer and went back to his silent demeanor.

As Jeff looked out the window, he noticed that they were now traveling away from the city and his apartment.

"Hey, you're going in the wrong direction." he told the driver. 

The man seemed not to have heard and kept moving.

Trying to refrain from panicking, Jeff tried his cell phone but there was no reception.

Eventually the car entered a forested area that was completely unfamiliar to Jeff and pulled off the road.

"I was told to bring you to this location." the driver announced.

Jeff was furious. "You can't just leave me out here." he shouted at the man.

"There is no other choice" the driver said and pushed Jeff out of the car.

The car sped off and Jeff looked around. 

The dark forest seemed to move, and Jeff quickly began walking away but the darkness was faster and surrounded him until there was nothing more.