Literature

Chapter 29Paying Respects Gilbert Bendetti liked his job, really liked his job. It was a government job, of sorts, so the benefits were good and the work easy. He liked…

Chapter 27Bridging the Boredom Half past midnight. He stood at the top of the southwest tower of the Oakland Bay Bridge, some fifty stories above the gunmetal-cold bay, thinking, Jump…

Chapter 26At the End of the Night… The Emperor worked a wooden match around the end of a Cuban cigar, drawing and checking until the tip glowed like revolution. “I…

~Part IIIHunters Chapter 25 All Dressed Up Tommy stormed around the loft collecting beer cans and breakfast plates and carrying them to the kitchen. “Bitch!” he said to Peary. “Shark-faced…

Chapter 23Mom and Terrapin Pie “She’s in town,” Jody said. “She’s coming over in a few minutes.” Jody lowered the phone to its cradle. Tommy appeared in the bedroom doorway,…

Chapter 22A Nod to the Queen of the Damned It only took five minutes to convince the police that Tommy had been at work all night and had seen nothing….

Chapter 21Angel Dust The bed of Simon’s pickup was full of beer-sodden Animals enjoying the morning fog and speculating on the marital status of the new cashier. She had smiled…

Chapter 19Judy’s Delicate Condition For the first few weeks Tommy was uncomfortable having a dead guy in the freezer, but after a while the dead guy became a fixture, a…

Chapter 16Heartwarming and UL-Approved There was a bum sleeping on the sidewalk across the street from the loft when they returned. Tommy, full of fast food and the elation of…

Part IINesting Chapter 15 Learning the Licks They took their shoes off and did it again. The second time was less urgent and they tried to impress each other with…

Chapter 13To-Do List of the Fashionably Doomed When you know the future is grim, there is no need for speed. Tommy decided to walk to the financial district. He shuffled…

Introduction One the main arguments that have been presented in order to understand the reasons for the beginning of World War One revolves around the growth of military capabilities in…

Chapter 11Lather, Rinse, Repent The Animals were humming the wedding march when Tommy walked in the store. Tommy was rattled from the cab ride from Telegraph Hill. Evidently the cabdriver,…

Chapter 8Dinner with the Vampire “Is there something wrong with your food?” “No, I’m just not very hungry.” “You’re going to break my heart, aren’t you?” Chapter 9 He Knows…

Chapter 7Suitors After enduring a reasonable amount of bitterness from the crew over using his position to make a move on the girl in the parking lot, Tommy was able…

Chapter 6The Animals The daytime people called them the Animals. The store manager had come into work one morning to find one of them hanging, half-naked, from the giant red…

Chapter 4Blooms and the City of Burned Clutches C. Thomas Flood (Tommy to his friends) was just reaching red-line in a wet dream, when he was awakened by the scurry…

Chapter 2Death Warmed Over She heard insects scurrying above her in the darkness, smelled burned flesh, and felt a heavy weight pressing down on her back. Oh my God, he’s…

This is a work of fiction.Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons,…

CHAPTER 34Let Slip the Dogs of Irony The owl was still perched on the power pole. Adeline Eats sat in her easy chair reading the Book of Job, trying to…