Tin Stories

Pareidolia

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:13:22 -0500

Jane saw faces in the clouds, with puffy white cheeks, wispy wide mouths and dark divots for eyes. She told me stories about the cloudmen, cloudwomen, cloudchildren and cloudpets. Mom and Dad gave her medicine. Jane is getting good grades now. And she doesn’t look at the sky much anymore.

The Storytellers

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:05:28 -0500

Those who could actually remember what happened at Whetland Gorge were long dead. By the time the tourists arrived in their sneakers and baseball caps, the story had been passed from guide to guide until it resembled truth like a raisin resembles a grape. The tourists listened and nodded sagely.

Compatibility (The Love Machine)

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:06:00 -0400

At first, their differences were pleasant friction. At his jazz club, she laughed, “His saxophone sounds broken!” At her movies, he teased, “That’s no Casablanca!” In time, she couldn’t abide the cacophony of his horns. He disdained her romantic comedies. Too much friction. They heated up, wore down, left broken.

Natural Supernatural

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:54:22 -0400

You live in a constant state of lag, limited by the speed of your electrochemical pulses, sensing reality always a nanosecond behind. Everything you see has already happened. I live there, in the synapse, outside your perception. You’ve never seen me, but you know I exist. You call me magic.

Indelible Thousands of neatly labeled microcassettes lined the...

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:01:01 -0400

Indelible

Thousands of neatly labeled microcassettes lined the walls of The Archive. Perplexed, Bruce randomly pulled, “Morning, July 8, 1982,” from a shelf. He recognized his handwriting. The realization came slowly. Here they were. His lost memories filled this closet from floor to ceiling. And he wept. Just like last time.

Illustrated by Jason Viola of ManateePower.com

We Talked Until Two

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 09:49:39 -0400

Someone said, “Norwegian.” I was compelled to interrupt the conversation: I once had a girl, or should I say she once had me? You smiled deeply from across the room. The definition of personal compatibility is tolerance of your partner’s unique quirks and odd behaviors. To treasure them is love.

Cliff Drive When the door opened at 14,000 feet, suddenly I was...

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:09:30 -0400

Cliff Drive

When the door opened at 14,000 feet, suddenly I was 11 years old, pedaling madly down the neighborhood’s steepest street, facing the wind, alive and fearless. I barely heard the jumpmaster’s shouted instructions. I remembered my bike stopped short. Momentum carried me over the handlebars. And then I was flying.

Illustrated by Jason Viola of ManateePower.com
Story originally published on June 30, 2011

Cliff Drive

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:06:00 -0400

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Potential Energy The artist’s work served no purpose, spurred no...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:23:41 -0400

Potential Energy

The artist’s work served no purpose, spurred no action, incited no passions. The massive clay figure stood motionless. When the magician spoke the words, the golem came alive. And the artist lamented that he had lost control of his creation. But then he remembered: there’s no such thing as magic.

Illustrated by Jason Viola of ManateePower.com
Story originally published on May 23, 2011

Sweet Delight, Endless Night If we unpack our memories and count...

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:27:55 -0400

Sweet Delight, Endless Night

If we unpack our memories and count our senses separately, our time together it might be stretched near to eternity. Replayed this time, the smell of her hair. Again, just seeing her half-smiles. But alas, we let every precious moment pass with the watch hand’s sweep behind the glass.

Photo by Nidhi Paul. View her Flickr photostream.
Story originally published on April 29, 2011

Spoiler Alert

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:42:29 -0400

The wormhole opened and a bleeding, wiry-haired man stumbled into our lab. He gasped an unintelligible warning, then pitched forward. Doctor Floyd and I rushed to the body. The Doctor’s face grew ashen. Then I looked down at the wiry-haired man and saw “FLOYD” stitched neatly on his lab coat.

Prelude to a Nightmare Through the porthole I saw hundreds of...

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 11:11:15 -0400

Prelude to a Nightmare

Through the porthole I saw hundreds of dark birds – no, a cloud of bats – fly out over the ocean. Then they fell from the sky, blanketing the waves in black. Three men appeared and began collecting the bodies. I lifted my camera but ducked down, hiding from the mysterious men.

Illustrated by Jason Viola of ManateePower.com
Story originally published on June 13, 2011

Prelude to a Nightmare

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:29:00 -0400

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Junction (Part 2) Isabel embraced the traveler’s life, always...

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 16:23:06 -0400

Junction (Part 2)

Isabel embraced the traveler’s life, always moving but never alone, the chaos of station stops and transfers belying the predictability of tracks and schedules. She met Philip after Beijing. They fell in love. She chose to follow her itinerary. They were two lives running parallel, meeting once then moving on.

Photo by Nidhi Paul. View her Flickr photostream.

Junction (Part 1) Philip was born on a locomotive steaming...

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:08:43 -0400

Junction (Part 1)

Philip was born on a locomotive steaming between Toulouse and Barcelona, his true nationality never ascertained. A citizen of the rails, he saw the world through the windows of the rocking cars. Other passengers came aboard between the stops. He met her en route to Lhasa, she disembarked in Xining.

Illustrated by Jason Viola of ManateePower.com
Story originally published on June 6, 2011

Junction (Part 1)

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:58:00 -0400

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The Last Damsel

Tue, 31 May 2011 15:36:23 -0400

We met in a world growing old. The dragons all were dead. Every melody had been sung, every flower plucked. There was nothing left to save you from and nothing new to give you. The only gift I could offer was to walk beside you until we found another world.

It Smells Good Politicians and bioethicists be damned, he...

Thu, 26 May 2011 17:13:51 -0400

It Smells Good

Politicians and bioethicists be damned, he thought. Our supply of fossil fuels is dwindling. In his underground bunker, the mad scientist snipped and tied the strands of DNA. And there grew the colossal nose whose sneeze would power entire cities. Quietly, the scientist updated his portfolio, investing heavily in peppercorns.

Illustrated by Jason Viola of ManateePower.com
Story originally published on May 2, 2011

Potential Energy

Mon, 23 May 2011 09:16:00 -0400

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Soon She was distracted, but the cacophony of daily life never...

Fri, 20 May 2011 17:14:00 -0400

Soon

She was distracted, but the cacophony of daily life never drowned out the song of her dreams. “Soon,” she thought. “I will become the person I was meant to be.” But the years passed like a rising tide, crashing waves masking the ocean’s steady progress, stealing away the shore, unnoticed.

Illustrated by Jason Viola of ManateePower.com
Story originally published on March 21, 2011