Mind Slices: A Collection of New and Previously Published Stories

By Kevin Tipple

The book opens with the first two stories ever published before moving forward into more recently published and new works. Included in the book is “Burning Questions” which was a honorable mention winner” in Mysterical-E’s “Skeletons in the Closet” contest in the fall of 2007 as well as several pieces that were published at the mystery e-zine “Mouth Full Of Bullets.” In total, the book contains 16 stories in a variety of genres.

Mind Slices: A Collection of New and Previously Published Stories-- These sixteen scans and dissections of the author's brain reveal that he's afflicted with Genre Versatility, the work displaying his aptitude for fantasy, science fiction, mystery, suspense, and mainstream fiction, with some stories blending genres. The diagnosis? Your reading enjoyment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kevin Tipple
• Release date: Oct 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301201501

Kevin Tipple

In addition to having been the editor or assistant editor of several different e-zines, my book reviews appear at my blog Kevin’s Corner at http://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/ as well as at various other platforms online. I also am the book reviewer for the Texas edition of the newspaper "Senior News." My short fiction has appeared in magazines such as Lynx Eye, Starblade, Show and Tell, and The Writer's Post Journal among others and online at such places as Mouth Full Of Bullets, Crime And Suspense, Mysterical-e and others.

Book preview

Mind Slices:

A Collection of New and Previously-Published Stories

by Kevin R. Tipple

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2012 Kevin R. Tipple

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with other persons, please purchase additional copies for each person. If you’re reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover art courtesy of Barry Ergang using Kevin’s 2010 MRI

What follows are works of fiction. The people and incidents depicted are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real people or incidents is strictly coincidental.

Dedicated to my parents, Karl and Elvia Netta Tipple; my brother, Karl Regan Tipple; my wife Sandi; and my sons, Karl and Scott. Thank you for your love and support in all things.

Special thanks to my writers group known as Ravens Mavens. Staffed by infrequent attendees Tricia Allen and Jan Christensen, and regulars Mark Troy, Caroline Clemmons, Dee Stuart, and Earl Staggs, this group of talented authors has been forced to suffer through various versions of these stories over the years as well as my comments—funny and otherwise—at every meeting.

Big-time thanks to Barry Ergang, who not only edited this manuscript, but also did all the heavy lifting regarding formatting and other issues to make this book possible.

This book features both new and previously-published works of fiction. Where appropriate, the published stories have been corrected for typos and other errors that appeared on publication. Unfortunately, while those errors could be fixed, it remained impossible to remove the weirdness from the stories….

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HELL, HERE & NOW

BARTHOLOMEW MORTIMAN

BURDENS

BAIT

THE CLOCK IS TICKING AND SO ARE WE

CHRISTMAS TAKES A HOLIDAY

THE TELL

NEITHER HERE NOR THERE

OBSESSION

THE WALK

LAND CATCH

VISIONS OF REALITY

BURNING QUESTIONS

PACKAGE OF PAIN

VARMINT CONTROL

BARS OF THE HEART

STORY SAMPLE—- BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON…

Born of a class at The University of Texas at Dallas as I was finishing up my Bachelor’s degree back in 1993, this story eventually saw the light of day outside of a classroom in October 1995 when it was published in print in Starblade. It then appeared as a reprint in the May1996 issue of Lost Worlds. Sadly, neither magazine survived much longer, but both are special to me as they gave me my fiction start with this piece..

HELL, HERE & NOW

I am Dantelus, the many-generational grandson of Dante. I have received special permission in the past to visit Hell in the hope that my works would bring a message to a world bent on self-destruction. Unfortunately, the message does not seem to be working on society. It is once again time to journey through the dark wood to the gates of hell.

My only restriction was to not write movie sequels. While limiting my works in one sense, I can safely say that the sequels, Lethal Weapon 16, A Time to Die and Batman 12: The Frogman Strikes Back were not mine. I could have made millions. Instead, I am trudging through the dark woods back to hell for more ideas after yet another box office disaster.

I came around a dark corner and, as always, the lion, the leopard, and the she-wolf sat waiting at the entrance. The lion yawned and sat back and presently went to sleep. The other two seemed to think that was a good idea and settled down then. Really, good help is so hard to find these days. This wouldn’t happen if my great-great (etc.) grandfather was still alive.

With a nod to tradition, I gave the creatures a wide berth as I stepped around them and Virgil appeared. Virgil has absolutely no sense of humor so I call him Virg. He hates being called Virg which is half the fun. It must be that old-school background of his.

Hey, Virg! How’re they hanging, buddy? He hates that question. I mean, he really hates that question.

Virgil looked at me coldly. As I have told you numerous times before, Dantelus, I hate that question. As a shade, there is nothing left to hang. We are only shadows of our former selves. There are no physical bodies and therefore nothing can hang anywhere. I would suggest you save you witty repartee for your screenplays. Now, are you coming? I have a lot of work to do and I really don’t have time for this nonsense. By the way, how much did the last movie lose?

You already know that, don’t you? After all, this one was a bigger failure than that stupid futuristic water movie. At least my leading man didn’t try to direct. I was annoyed and it showed. Virg had won that point and he knew it. Let’s go.

I fell in step behind Virgil and entered through the massive gate. We passed the banner and the line of people in the entranceway. These shades were doomed to circle behind the banner for all eternity for their failure to make a choice between good and evil during their lives. Amazingly, there seemed to be even more politicians and judges in the group than the last time I was down.

We crossed the river with the surly Charon into Hell proper and soon stood on the rim of the valley. We had entered the first circle. When we started down the winding road in the valley I noticed there was a portal in the wall along the road with closed doors.

That appears to be an elevator, Virg. What’s going on?

Well, Dantelus, the state of the world has caused massive construction in Hell. We put in the elevator shaft so that the construction shades could move directly to the work areas and avoid delays and interference by going through each level. Come, get on and watch your step. Some of the rock around here is still loose and liability coverage is so expensive.

We stepped on board and Virgil punched the button for the first circle. But Virg, if you need more space, then why doesn’t Satan – or God, for that matter—just create it?

Dantelus, my friend, God and Satan are just not hands-on management anymore. Thanks to your modern society producing so much managerial talent with their MBAs and what not, God and Satan now take things pretty easy. Most days you can find them in the park, drinking beer and playing chess. Of course, God always takes white.

But what about the construction?

Well, the MBA shades decided that it would be cost-effective to put the shades that had done construction in their previous lives to work. That way, everyone works a little closer to heaven.

As the elevator drifted downward, Virgil turned toward me. Remember, all of this was originally created to save souls. Once his or her time is served and the proper remorse for past actions is shown, then a shade can begin the long journey to heaven. It is something like your prison system without the mockery of the accompanying justice system. We don’t have to worry about good-time, early release, et cetera. In fact—

A thunderous roar shook the elevator suddenly. Alarmed, I asked, What was that?

That was Satan, slamming the table, Dantelus. God won again, so Satan pays for the beer.

We traveled the rest of the way down the shaft in silence. After several minutes, we glided to a stop on the first circle. The doors hissed open and we stepped out on a ledge. We walked down the embankment and stepped aboard Phlegyas’s boat. Phlegyas normally would have taken us across to the City of Dis. Instead, we skimmed without a word across the water to a newly constructed island. The island appeared to be completely flat without a tree or anything else on it. The prow pushed onto the shore and we stepped off. Virgil turned toward Phlegyas and stated, This won’t take long. Be back here in an hour. Phlegyas nodded and turned his craft around. He flew across the water toward the shore where I could dimly see a group of souls waiting.

Come on, Dantelus, and quit staring at the Tilton Ministries people. They have enough problems already. I followed him a few paces forward and then stopped in shock. What appeared as a flat surface from the boat turned out to be a giant spiraling pit, much like what ant lions make in the dirt. The bottom of the pit seemed to stretch for miles. At precisely spaced intervals there was a person encased from the neck down in concrete.

Who are these people, Virgil?

Come with me and I will show you. We followed the sloping trail on the sides of the pit and began to go deeper into it.

Dantelus, this area is reserved for the type of people retail employees hate the most. Yes, these are the Know-It-Alls. They are the people who know everything and are the ones who are convinced the customer is always right. They are convinced employees hide merchandise in the receiving area the day before Christmas. These are the people who treat retail workers like scum and are convinced they are the servants to be trod upon. In short, they are an evil abomination that walks the face of the earth.

A disgusting, hateful group, to be sure, Virgil. How are they punished?

Dantelus, inside each pillar is a know-it-all. They really DO know it all. These people know all the answers to everything. They know how the universe was created, the meaning of time, whether it was evolution or not – everything. These people cannot speak, however, because their mouths are glued shut. Their bodies are encased in concrete so that they cannot make signs. All that can be seen is their heads on top of the concrete—their eyes and ears remain open to see and hear all, so they can hear questions but cannot give the answers. They are damned with all the knowledge of time and no way to communicate it. This is the ultimate revenge.

Can’t we allow one a few minutes to speak and say his or her tale of woe, Virgil?

No, Dantelus, for two reasons. First, it is part of their punishment to be silent forever. Secondly, once one got started it might be impossible for Satan to shut him or her up again. We have had several close calls on that score. You might hear something you should not, which could change the course of history. How else can you explain Dan Quayle? Or Clinton, for that matter?

Well, I really would like one of them to talk. Say, isn’t that Oprah over there on the right?

No, Dantelus, you should know better than that. If she were here, she would be over on the left. Virgil made a sound that might have been a short laugh.

"We’re working on something for all the talk show hosts. Lump them all together regardless of their political agenda or personally stated motivations to save the world—throw them all together and watch the fun begin. It’s better than prime-time wrestling. This one guy gets his nose broken