Short Stories§

These are links to short stories I’ve written — although I haven’t written any in a while. The top two are my best and I recommend reading them.

From the Darkness

This is a simple story about a man living alone and coming to a new level of existence. There’s not much plot to this story and what plot there is moves slowly. Still, I think it’s interesting and one of my best stories thus far.

The Letter

A story about an American living alone in Berlin, working as an English teacher and a translator. He is asked to translate a letter from someone in France. The letter is one that he finds particularly moving. The story deals with a bit with a neurosis.

She Used the F-Word

This is an experimental story for me in writing about very adult themes. It’s a very sexual story — not graphically detailed, though — about a man’s sexual abilities and how they play out with a woman he meets.

No One Ever Gave Me Flowers

A simple short story about a fellow who normally is energetic and in control of his life, but finds himself sad and reflective. In the midst of feeling down, it occurs to him that no woman ever loved him enough to give him flowers.

My Therapist Won’t Return my Calls

A divorced, lonely man has a dilema: his therapist won’t return his calls. Having no serious emotional problems at the time, the situation is tolerable. However, he feels a bit insecure being adrift in this way and seeks alternative methods.

Concetta

A short story written a diary style, but is interlaced with some dialog but only when the diary is open and present, dialog within the hearing of the diary. It tells pieces of the story of a young Italian American girl living in a small town near Boston.

Calvino Exercise

As a writing exercise, I wrote this piece in which I attemptted to reproduce Italo Calvino’s writing style by writing a few paragraphs to mingle with his paragraphs. If you read these paragraphs, see if you can figure out which ones are mine.

Hiding Under Covers

Poetic commentary and narrative about the homeless in U.S., it evolves into a story to give it a personal touch.

Purgatory for a Technology Heretic

A dark piece set in New Orleans, its about a character who works the night shift at a government facility installing Microsoft programs on computers. The protagonist believes he is condemned to this work for his blaspheme against Microsoft and Bill Gates.