"Five-Mile Lake" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Jonathan Kepler was driving though his old hometown on the way to a business conference when he noticed the sign for "Five-Mile Lake." Back in high school, Jonathan and his friends used to hang out at the lake all the time and he decided to stop and take a look.

The parking lot was now covered in graffiti and litter, and a "No Trespassing" blocked the trail that led to the beach. Jonathan walked around the sign and was shocked at how everything had fallen into decay. Empty beer cans and other debris littered the beach. The fishing dock looked like it was about to fall into the water and the tree under which he first kissed Julie had been cut down.

Jonathan angrily kicked one of the beer cans. He couldn't believe that everything was gone. For a few minutes, Jonathan stared out at the dismal water and then walked back to his car. A police officer was waiting for him in the parking lot, and he got a ticket for trespassing. Jonathan had to admit the officer was right: He didn't belong at the lake.

"Holly" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Long-haul truck driver Sam Shelton was trying to get some sleep in the cab of his truck when he heard a faint knocking on his door. Sam opened the door and was surprised to see a teen-age girl standing there. "Can I help you?" Sam asked although he had an idea what she wanted. The girl blushed furiously, "I was wondering if you wanted a date." 

"What's your name?" Sam asked gently. "Holly" the girl answered looking down. "Well, Holly, you should be at home and not walking around a truck stop at two in the morning."

"I don't have anywhere to go" the girl said sobbing.

"Look, I have a friend-she's a teacher and you could stay with her for a while." For a second, Sam saw a flicker of hope in the girl's eyes and then it was gone and she turned and ran away. 

The next morning, Sam was getting ready to haul a load to Boise, when he heard that same faint knocking. It was Holly, but she had been badly beaten. Sam called 911 and followed the ambulance to the hospital. Fortunately, Holly was going to be ok, and his teacher friend Paula had agreed to let her stay at her home until they could make permanent arrangements.

There was one last piece of business that had to be taken care of. Holly didn't know the name of the man who had attacked her, but she did remember the mural of a green snake on the truck's door. Sam knew the truck and the driver, and he planned to make a visit the next day.

Sam rapped on the door of Ernie Gibb's truck and waited for the man to come out. Gibbs wasn't pleased to see him. "What the hell do you want Shelton?" Sam grabbed a fistful of Gibb's hair and drove his knee into the man's face. Gibbs held onto his broken nose and cursed Sam with everything he had.

"Refugee" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Ariana sat by herself at the lunch table and watched the other kids laughing and having fun. She wished she could join them, but thoughts of her father and war crowded her mind.

Ariana and her mother Parisa were forced to flee their home when the Taliban overran their village. The soldiers took her father into the fields and shot him. After fleeing to Kabul, Ariana's mother was able to get a job at the big American military base. 

For a while, life was good and Ariana was even able to go to school, but it wasn't long before the Taliban came down from the hills and the Americans began to leave. During the frenzy of the evacuation, Parisa was able to find a spot for herself and her daughter on one of the departing planes.

After a stop in Germany, Ariana and her mother were granted refugee status in the United States. Their new home was a small village in the state of Kansas. Ariana was in awe of the endless fields of corn and wheat. There was never so much food back in Afghanistan. Parisa found a job in housekeeping at the local hospital and Ariana was enrolled at the local high school.

Ariana was unprepared for the hostile glances and whispered comments from the other students. She tried to be friendly, but it seemed as if everyone hated her. Lunch time was the worst, Ariana sat alone while the other kids chatted and laughed together. 

Ariana tried to talk to her mother, but Parisa was usually tired from work and went to bed soon after dinner. After several more weeks of eating lunch alone, a girl with red hair and braces asked if she could join her and Ariana was surprised to learn that she had made a friend.

"The Man in the Snow" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Hailey Abbot checked her outdoor gear one last time. The next day she would be going on an overnight solo hike in the Norse Peak wilderness area, and she wanted to be prepared for anything. Hailey left her apartment bright and early and arrived at the Norse Peak trailhead while it was just becoming light.

After gathering her supplies, Hailey set out on the trail eager to get moving. The weather was perfect and she made good progress. It was around noon that Hailey first saw the man. He was a good distance back on the trail, but she could tell that he was huge.

Towards evening, she noticed the same man again, only this time he was much closer. Hailey quickened her pace and tried to tamp down the fear that that emerging in her gut. As darkness approached, she found an isolated campsite and prepared dinner which consisted of a peanut butter sandwich and an apple. Hailey slept fitfully, afraid of what was out there in the dark. 

The next morning, the man was nowhere to be found, and Hailey scolded herself for imagining the worst. The trail was now leading to the summit of Norse Peak and snow covered the ground. Struggling to ascend a steep rise, Hailey stopped to catch her breath and glanced behind her. The huge man was only fifty feet behind her! 

In a panic, Hailey tried running up the slope but failed to see that the snow was hiding a deep crevasse and she fell through the icy crust and became wedged about twenty feet down in the fissure. Hailey cried out for help unsure if she really wanted to be rescued by the brute who was apparently stalking her.

A rope suddenly appeared and a male voice told her to tie it around her waist. Hailey did as she was told and powerful arms pulled her to the surface. Hailey cried with relief when she was on solid ground again, but her rescuer was gone. A trail of large footprints led into the snowfield and then just stopped.

"Invasive" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Russian botanist Georgiy Morozov discovered the new plant species in a remote valley in northern Siberia on a field trip to the east. It was a type of clover with thorns, and he named it "Trifolium Spina." Georgiy brought samples of the plant back to his lab in Moscow and even planted a sprig in his garden to see how well the plant would fare in western Russia.

The new species flourished in the garden, but after two weeks Georgiy noticed that the clover was killing his flowers and spreading over the entire plot. Somewhat worried, Georgiy sprayed a portion of the new species with a common herbicide, but there was no effect. Stronger poisons did not work any better and he became alarmed as the new plant took root across Moscow.

He was astonished that the new species could spread so quickly and reluctantly decided to make a report to the department of agriculture. Georgiy tried to explain the potential danger to the bureaucrat downtown, but it was obvious that the man didn't care in the least.

By the time the Russian government understood the seriousness of the problem, the thorny clover had spread to the agricultural regions in the south. Desperate farmers tried everything to kill the invader, but their efforts amounted to nothing. 

The green plague marched on, enveloping India, Europe, and Africa. The Americas were spared for a few months and then they too became a victim of the insatiable plant. 30 years after Georgiy Morozov discovered the new species, Trifolium Spina was the dominant life form on earth.

"The Arcade" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

 While most of his friends were into video games, Max Foster was fascinated by the antique games that were to be found in an arcade located in a dusty basement in north Seattle.

Most of the games took pennies or nickels and he could spend the whole day shooting pellets at metal targets or hitting tiny baseballs into the outfield.

One day Max came into the arcade to find something new. It was a space travel game that would take the player to other worlds. Max fed the machine a nickel and suddenly felt himself being transported away. He eventually landed in a swamp which seemed to extend in all directions. Gnarled trees hung down from a red sky.

Max took a moment to try and understand what was going on and then felt a sharp pain in his back. About a dozen amphibian-type creatures were throwing rocks at him. He tried to escape, but it was hard slogging through the muddy water. 

As Max neared exhaustion, the attacks stopped and he soon found out the reason why. A much larger version of the amphibian creatures emerged from the murky water. A snake-like tongue covered with a sticky substance shot from the beast's mouth and began pulling Max towards a mouth filled with jagged teeth. Just as he was about to be eaten, everything changed and Max was back in the arcade.

The old man at the counter looked at him with a crooked smile. "Did you have a good time?" he asked.

"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 it 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.

"Club 17" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Tom Sheridan could already hear the music when he pulled into the parking lot of Club 17. As he entered the building, a girl with pure white hair took his hand and led him to the dance floor. Tom had never seen her before, but she seemed to know him very well.

Tom and the girl danced for what seemed like hours and the people around them faded into the background. The girl seemed tireless as she danced through one song after another, but Tom was growing sleepy, and the girl was slipping further away.

Sometime later, Tom awoke on an empty dance floor. The girl with white hair was gone, but Tom knew she would come with the night and he sat down to wait.