I’m sitting in front of the laptop screen when Sammy stands on the threshold and asks if I want to take a ride. I look at an email I’m in the middle of writing and realize that I really don’t have anything better to do.

That’s the truth.

I put on my red-hooded sweatshirt and follow Sammy out the garage door and into his fuel-efficient Toyota Prius. Ten gallons of regular unleaded gets Sammy a little over 480 miles, city driving.

That’s something to be happy about, I think. I think, 48 miles per gallon, 48 miles for $2.71, hey, that’s a lot more reasonable than driving a big ol’ Hummer around. The road will be a better place without those monolithic Behemoths crowding up the lanes. After all, I think, they were strictly a military vehicle used to launch rockets off, I don’t know who had the idea of making the Hummer civilian, but it wasn’t a good idea, like a fish out of water, and the market is just now realizing this.

Screws and hummers over the fold.

Tags: ::CREATIVE WRITING::, ::SPORTS::, adultery, blue pitbull, golf, hummer, infidelity, kobe, prius, Short Stories, story about infidelity, tiger woods

by ML Kennedy

(Author’s note: There is no author’s note this time. Including this one. Your mind is blown, eh?)

Click below to catch up if you’ve just joined.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7,  Chapter 8, & Chapter 9

If you’ve been here all along…

Read Chapter 10 of The Mosquito Song.

Tags: ::CREATIVE WRITING::, chicago, college apartment, fiction, hyde park, richard daley, Short Stories, university of chicago, vampire myth, vampire story

by Michael Davidson

In the morning, in my room, the pallet bonfires from last night keep me warm in my sleeping bag.

Although I’ve lived in OB for almost a year, I still haven’t bothered to purchase a mattress. Well, that’s not entirely true.

My sleeping bag did come with a twin-size air mattress. Really more of a float for swimming pools. It didn’t take me long to realize that the carpet suited my sleeping needs much better than a rubber float that comes to a screeching halt whenever I roll over to cook my other cheek on the pillow: a maneuver I loop through often during my self-prescribed eight hours.

Seeing as I got home around 2AM, it makes complete sense that I don’t get out of my sleeping bag until somewhere in the 10AM hour.

Sweet

bright and early Sunday in Southern California. OB looks good outside my window. No canyon, but plenty of roll. I feel philosophical. I smile,

and I stare at the attic window across Voltaire St. There’s a girl who lives there, I’m sure of it. She stares at the roof beams and thinks about love. She wears an ankh that lifts and falls with her chest cavity. I love her. In my wife beater,

I love her.

∞

Tags: 211, ::CREATIVE WRITING::, ::PLACES::, ::ROAD TRIPS::, fiction, mayhem, ocean beach, san diego, Short Stories, steel reserve, stood up, Toyota Dolphin, voltaire street

by ML Kennedy

(Author’s note: After a massive and unexpected delay, here is Chapter 9 of this thing. Chapter 10 should be bigger and be ready soon. All complaints about my punctuality and brevity can be sent to WBXYLO@Gmail.com )

Click below to catch up if you’ve just joined.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, & Chapter 8

If you’ve been here all along…

Read Chapter 9 of The Mosquito Song.

Tags: ::CREATIVE WRITING::, cell phones, crown victoria, fiction, ohio, rest areas, Short Stories, vampire myth, vampire story

by Michael Davidson

The only thing sweeter than carrying a cold and unopened 24-ounce can of Steel Reserve onto a moonlit beach is carrying a cold and unopened 24-ounce can of Steel Reserve onto a moonlit beach in pleasant company. Two rounds of Maker’s Mark doesn’t hurt, but it isn’t necessary. Reserve is all it takes.

With Reserve in hand, the night is sure to be memorable. Yeahhhh.

I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. There are at least three other people I know by name who feel the exact same way about Reserve as I do. I do not need to name these people. They know who they are and they stand behind their tastes.

Without having to talk, Locust and Rob lead the way to the lifeguard tower fifty yards to the north. It looks to me like there’s someone sitting on the stairs, but as we get closer it becomes perfectly clear that the tower is ours. Domination.

Or is it serendipity?

Mouse click.

Tags: 211, ::CREATIVE WRITING::, ::PLACES::, ::ROAD TRIPS::, bioluminescence, fiction, ocean beach, san diego, Short Stories, steel reserve, Toyota Dolphin