"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.