"Midnight at the Video Store" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

 Lisa Roentgen didn't like working late at the video store, but she was saving for a car and there were few jobs in her small town.

Most of her late-night customers were kids from school and then there were the odd balls like the "Fedora Man."

Fedora Man always wore an old-fashioned hat with the brim pulled down over one eye and rented obscure, gory horror films.

Lisa thought Fedora Man's outfit might be part of some weird` role-playing game, but she never had the nerve to ask.

One Friday night, Fedora Man showed up later than usual and after searching through the horror section for several minutes he approached the counter and placed a slip of paper next to the cash register where Lisa was reading a magazine.

The paper said: "Satan's Bloodbath." "Is this a movie you are looking for?" she asked him. Fedora Man nodded vigorously.

Lisa found the store's movie catalog in a drawer and began looking through it. She could find no listing for anything called "Satan's Bloodbath." "I'm sorry, we don't have it." Lisa told the anxious man.

In response, Fedora Man repeatedly tapped the piece of paper with a long, pointed fingernail. "We Don't Have It."  Lisa fairly shouted at the bizarre figure.

As quick as lightning, a long, powerful arm snaked across the counter and grabbed Lisa by the arm.

As she was being dragged across the floor, Lisa screamed as loud as she could, but there was no one there to hear her.

"The daydreams of Miss Amanda Smith." a short story by Craig Zimmerman

 Eleventh grade English teacher Amanda Smith was grading papers on a Saturday afternoon when she suddenly felt the need to escape her lonely apartment.

A local park was nice this time of the day, so Amanda grabbed the stack of papers she was working on and hurried out the door.

There were only a few people in the park and Amanda quickly found a bench and resumed grading her student's writing assignment.

Most of the essays from the girls in her class was the same romantic nonsense that she herself had believed in at one time, but Amanda learned long ago that there was no Prince Charming.

Once the assignments were all graded, Amanda set the papers aside and absently watched the ducks down by the lake until she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Sometime later, Amanda was awakened by a touch on her shoulder. "Do you mind if I sit here?"  a teen-age girl asked.

Still a little groggy from her nap, Amanda motioned for the girl to sit down.

"Do we know each other?"  Amanda asked the young woman.

" I was in your class a few years ago." the girl answered. Amanda didn't remember the young lady, but there had been so many faces.

"Mr. Harris in the math department likes you" the girl announced out of nowhere.

"How could you know that?" Amanda asked with more anger than she intended.

"Since I went away, I've learned many things. I'm not sure that I understand it all" the girl said glancing at a family having a picnic.

Amanda looked more carefully at the young woman and remembered a horrible car wreck that took the life of one of her students.

"Thank you for coming back, Susan." Amanda said to her former student.

The girl waved goodbye as she slowly faded away.

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

Landing on his favorite tree in the middle of the Walmart parking lot where he was born, Edwin the crow found a gift waiting for him in one of the branches.

Someone had left a dark red symbol of one of the human holidays that had something to do with mating.

Edwin assumed that one of the girl crows had left it and he looked around the parking lot to figure out who it could be.

He talked with Helen once in a while, and Edwin thought she liked him, but he hadn't seen her lately.

The next night, Edwin found a cookie in his tree. Not many of the crows in the parking lot shared food. Whoever liked him must be very special.

While Edwin was scrounging near the dumpsters the next day, one of his buddies told him that his secret admirer wanted to meet him that night.

Edwin was so excited that he could hardly stand it.

After dark, a small crow landed on a branch of his tree. Instead of Helen as Edwin had expected, it was Carrie who had a crippled leg and had trouble competing with the other birds for food.

Edwin was a little disappointed, but he found out that Carrie was really nice, and they became good friends.

"Solitaire" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

 Commander Deena Larson had been cruising through empty space for weeks when she suddenly came upon a solar system of four planets. Only one of the planets had the necessary components to support life and Deena prepared her shuttlecraft for a trip the next day.

The short voyage to the new world was uneventful, but as Deena emerged from the upper atmosphere the only thing visible were ruins which extended to the horizon.

Clearly, there was once an advanced civilization on the planet, but it appeared to have crumbled ages ago.

The shuttle's onboard sensors detected a weak electronic signal on the other side of the planet and Deena set a course for it.

The signal emerged from a crude dwelling that was in the midst of even more ruins.

After landing the shuttle nearby, Deena approached the dwelling with her weapon ready.

Inside the building, a large slug-like creature was engaged in some sort of activity that involved various lights and sounds.

The creature eventually became aware of Deena's presence and ceased the activity.

The two stared at each other until the slug-man brought forth a small device.

The device turned out to be a type of translator that used images rather than language to communicate.

A series of photos showed that the planet had once been inhabited by two dominant species: a beast-like creature that resembled a wolf and the gentle slug-people.

Factions of the wolf creatures were often at war with one another, and those wars eventually obliterated the entire species.

Unfortunately, the weapons the wolf-beings used also affected the slug-people and their population declined until only one remained.

The slug-creature spent its last days playing an alien version of solitaire.

"Edwin and Annie" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

One of Edwin the crow's favorite people was old Annie who lived in a broken-down RV at the edge of the Walmart parking lot where Edwin was born.

Annie was one of the few humans who could speak the language of the crows and Edwin and his friends would listen for hours as Annie told stories of her life.

During a cold and dark day in the middle of Winter, Annie told a story about a special baby who was born long ago in a place called Bethlehem. Edwin had a little trouble understanding some of the story, but he liked hearing about the animals in the manger.

After the story, Annie had a plateful of cookies for all the assembled birds. Edwin tried to think of something he could give to Annie, but as he glided over the parking lot all he found was a discarded piece of aluminum foil.

"Merry Christmas Edwin" Annie said as she fashioned the foil into a star and placed it at the top of her tiny Christmas tree.

"Swamp Girl" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Daniel was sitting on his porch and listening to the sounds of the night when Swamp Girl first appeared to him. She emerged from the marsh that bordered his property and wore a garment woven from the plants of the wetland.

Nearly every evening, Swamp Girl would come for a visit, and Daniel would listen as she told humorous and strange tales of the marsh.

One night their visit was interrupted by the intrusion of a Mr. Jennings who was president of a nearby homeowners association. Even though the HOA had no jurisdiction over Daniel's property, Mr. Jennings felt the need to complain about Dan's old truck and his overgrown yard.

After several minutes, Daniel grew weary of the tirade and showed  

Jennings to the door. Dan returned to the porch, but Swamp Girl was nowhere to be found.

A few days later, he heard that Jennings had disappeared without a trace. When he mentioned the incident to Swamp Girl, a wisp of a smile formed on her lips and then was gone.

"Give me a light" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

The young woman came out of the gloom of the parking lot and asked Peter if he had a light for the cigarette that dangled from her lips.

He didn't have a light and told her as much. Unfazed, she asked him if he wanted to see her pet. 

Before Peter could answer, the young woman brought forth a hideous worm-like creature from beneath her coat. He tried to think of something positive to say about the animal, but nothing came to mind.

The woman was apparently offended by his silence and disappeared back into the darkness of the parking lot.