BestsellerBound Short Story Anthology Volume 4

By Darcia Helle

A collection of tales by a variety of authors.

Dusting Wars by Jaleta Clegg

Gaul is Divided by Sharon E. Cathcart

In Tartarus by Gareth Lewis

Michaela by Maria Savva

Pinkberry Squirrels by Magnolia Belle

The Ghost of the Dresser by Susan Helene Gottfried

Westwood by James Sophi

A Mile In My Shoes by Darcia Helle

The Very Useful Milkweed by Jill Warren

Hurting the One He Loved by Sydney S. Song

• Language: English
• Publisher: Darcia Helle
• Release date: Oct 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301947706

Darcia Helle

I write because the characters trespassing through my mind leave me no alternative. My books are available in trade paperback on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, as well as my website - www.QuietFuryBooks.com. I hope you'll join me in my fictional world. The characters await you.

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BestsellerBound Short Story Anthology

Volume 4

Copyright © 2012 BestsellerBound.com/Darcia Helle

All rights reserved.

Smashwords Edition - License Notes:

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the authors. This book contains works of fiction. The characters and situations are products of each author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Rights to the individual works contained in this anthology are owned by the submitting authors and/or publishers and each has permitted the story’s use in this collection. Individual copyright information is listed with each work.

Cover design by Jaleta Clegg

Table of Contents:

Dusting Wars by Jaleta Clegg

Gaul is Divided by Sharon E. Cathcart

In Tartarus by Gareth Lewis

Michaela by Maria Savva

Pinkberry Squirrels by Magnolia Belle

The Ghost of the Dresser by Susan Helene Gottfried

Westwood by James Sophi

A Mile In My Shoes by Darcia Helle

The Very Useful Milkweed by Jill Warren

Hurting the One He Loved by Sydney S. Song

Dusting Wars

by Jaleta Clegg

Copyright © 2012

General! The left flank is crumbling. What shall we do?

Buck up, man. We still have the power to beat this thing. Send out the rhinoceros. Bugle call, right flank, close the gap. General DB waved his baton. His troops rallied to his cry.

The rhinocerous charged, gray fluffy bits trailing in his wake. The assorted bunnies and animals followed, bellowing battle cries as they charged toward the fanged mouth of the monster menacing their home.

The monster growled, a roar so loud and terrifying that General DB shivered a whole fluff of cat hair loose. The rhinocerous thundered forward, a huge concoction of couch fibers, hairballs, pet fur, and dust. The monster's mouth swept closer, the roar constant. The sound drowned the screams as the front line troops disappeared into its maw.

General DB's aide froze, eyes wide in terror. The beast decimated the army, sucking whole squads into the bristle lined mouth. We are going to die.

The troops scrambled backwards in full retreat. The monster slid its mouth closer, metal neck clattering on the floor.

General, what are we going to do? The thing has our backs to the wall.

Literally. General DB thumped his baton against the baseboard where the infant dust creatures gestated. We must save our young. This vile creature must be stopped.

How, sir? His aide quivered, shedding bits of fluff and bread crumbs.

We must sever its power umbilical. It is time to summon the Ferrous Feral One. General DB snapped his baton against the metal grate set into the flooring.

But, General, he is evil incarnate. They say that he's mad, sir. The aide leaned close. He even ate his own young.

Be that as it may, without him, we have no hope. Our entire colony will be devoured by that creature. General DB hammered on the heating grate. Oy, you, Ferrous One. We need your help.

What's in it for me? The gravelly metallic voice rattled through the duct.

FIrst rights to any coins or metal bits that fall through Couch Clouds.

Your entire hoard, as well? A fragment of dusty hair poked through the grill to study General DB.

If you do not help us, our hoard will be swept away into the belly of the beast, along with our entire colony. We need your assistance, Ferrous One.

You banished me, claimed I was too contentious for your fuzzy clan.

Look at yourself, man. Metal bits poking out everywhere. You tore three of us to shreds just rolling past.

The Ferrous One pulled himself from the grate. Staples framed a gaping mouth, twisted into a wide grin. I like the sharp bits. I used to live beneath a Desk.

Yes, I know. Hurry, man, or there will be nothing left to save. General DB moved to prod the Ferrous One, but hesitated at the spiky mass of metal paperclips, staples, and thumbtacks protruding from its back.

The mouth of the monster slashed through the dust troops, sucking them wholesale into its belly.

I shall return. And you shall honor your promise. The Ferrous One dribbled tacks beneath the General as a threat.

Your courage and bravery shall live forever in our legends. General DB saluted the dangerous dust ball.

The Ferrous One charged towards the bristled maw, trailing staples in his wake. The mouth sucked him in. The monster swept its neck closer to the general and his aide.

He failed, sir. What now? Do we die, sir?

General DB squeezed back against the baseboard, spreading his fluff to protect the young.

It was a pleasure to serve with you, sir.

The mouth swept closer, scratching over the floorboards. The constant roar increased in volume. General DB closed his eyes, pulling cat hair over the googly bits.

The monster screeched. The mouth paused as the belly whined. The mouth stopped, retreating. Sparks flew between the bristles. The high-pitched squeal cut off. The monster lay dormant in the sudden silence.

What the devil? The mouth clattered against the floor as something shook the metal neck. Horace! The vacuum clogged again. You said you fixed it. Giant shoes clomped into the distance.

General DB let out his breath in a long sigh. His fluffy middle sagged away from the wall.

Are we dead, sir?

No, I think we survived, thanks to the sacrifice of the Ferrous One. May his bravery serve to inspire our warriors for generations to come. Let's see who's left. General DB rolled forward.

The bristled mouth of the monster stirred.