"Country Club" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Jeff Hayes left the stack of dirty dishes that he was washing and peered into the banquet room of the Twin Lakes country club where he worked.

Megan Patterson's 17th birthday party was in full swing, and all of the high school royalty were there including the class president, the captain of the football team, and all of the cheerleaders.

Jeff had grown up with most of the kids at the party, but in middle school, cliques were formed and not everyone could be a member.

Jeff compared his wet and dirty work clothes to the party outfits of the revelers and felt ashamed. He would never be a part of that world no matter what he did.

As the evening drew to a close, something unexpected happened: the birthday girl herself came into the kitchen with a piece of cake for Jeff.

Megan only stayed for a short time, but in those few minutes, he almost felt like he belonged.

"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.  Now Janey was getting creeped out and she moved to another seat. A moment later her tormenter suddenly appeared in the seat beside her, even though Janey hadn't seen him move.

Glowing eyes fastened onto hers and Janey felt herself growing weak as hot breath and long 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 that 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.