Jim the Writer

a literary blog

Jim Anderson

Details

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The professor wore the required shirt and shoes. He expected service.

100wordchallengelogoYes, his pants were missing. So were his underpants, his socks and his wife of 38 years, if anyone cared for details.

The girl behind the counter gaped at him, her mouth a perfect O. The professor set down a bottle. “It’s all in your imagination,” he told her. True enough. What could she see beyond the counter-top? A man in bifocals and a wrinkled shirt. “Let’s get on with it.” He pulled a bill from his shirt pocket, and unfurled it beside the register.

She rang him up.

I wrote this story for the 100 Word Challenge #336 at Velvet Verbosity.

On the death of Iain Banks

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I missed the announcement in April that author Iain M. Banks had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Or as Banks put it then, that he was “officially Very Poorly.” So I was surprised — stunned, saddened — this week to read the news of his death. He died Sunday, June 9. The last novel of his that I read — which I was reading at about the time he learned the “grisly truth” — was The Hydrogen Sonata. It was his tenth “Culture” novel. I read all ten, and hoped to read ten more.  [Read more…] about On the death of Iain Banks

His Sainted Mother

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100wordchallengelogoI wrote this story for the 100 Word Challenge #335 at Velvet Verbosity.

His sainted mother needed him. Big surprise! The message didn’t say what for. It didn’t say “sainted,” either, but Susan read that into it. “Walter, this is your mother. I need you.” That was all. Not even “please call,” but that was implied, too. Of course you need him, dear. You’re 85 and alone. You need Walter and six more like him. Susan smiled. Yes, seven Walters should be enough to meet any woman’s needs. Still smiling, she pressed delete. She would tell Walter to call his mother, as she told him almost every day. The need would be implied.

Not for love nor money

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As things turned out, I did not die young.

Years ago, I started a story with that line — one of many stories I started back then and never finished — and have always liked it. Right away, you know the narrator isn’t young and isn’t prepared to be old.

Right away, you wonder why the narrator had thoughts of dying young. Was it hypochondria? Or was there real reason to expect an early goodbye? If the latter, why didn’t things turn out that way? Is the narrator disappointed?

Beats me. I never got that far with the story. [Read more…] about Not for love nor money