Down From the Mountain

By Florence Witkop

Free short sci-fi dystopian story first published in The Talking Stick about a group of people about to executed because, though they've done nothing wrong, they are carriers of a fatal flu.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Florence Witkop
• Release date: Jul 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301958511

Florence Witkop

FLORENCE WITKOP, STORYTELLER Florence’s stories begin as simple tales of contemporary life, often in small towns or the wilderness she knows so well. Where they go from there is what makes them special. There is always the strong sense of place that brands them as eco-fiction. Sometimes they cross genres and contain paranormal, sci/fi, or fantasy elements. There is usually a romance and characters her readers like and would enjoy having as friends. Most of all, there is a story because what Florence does best is tell stories. Well plotted stories that carry the characters towards a logical conclusion that always includes a happy ending. Stories that shine light on the human condition while they celebrate the world we live in. Stories that her readers relate to and remember long after the reading is over. She writes about people who are as normal as apple pie (most of them, anyway) who unexpectedly find themselves in the middle of situations ranging from the heartwarming through the difficult and all the way to the horrendous. But Florence’s characters choose to act instead of running away. In the process, they survive, thrive, overcome whatever obstacles large or small are thrown in front of them, and while they are at it, they find time to fall in love. Florence was born in the city and has lived in the suburbs, small towns, the country and the wilderness, where she still lives with her husband and a cowardly cat named Smoke. At various times in her career she’s been a confession writer, a copywriter, a ghost writer and an editor. She writes short stories, novellas and novels. Her work has been categorized as romance, science-fiction, fantasy, mainstream and eco-fiction, to name a few genres that it fits beautifully into.

Book preview

DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN

By

Florence Witkop

Published by The Jackpine Writers' Bloc at Smashwords

This is a short story that originally appeared in 1998 in Volume 6 of The Talking Stick, a publication of The Jackpine Writers' Bloc. It's reprinted here with their permission and I want to say 'thank you' to each and every member.

The blizzard that should have killed them saved their lives. Three times.

The first time because one of the trucks that took them up the mountain to their slaughter slid in the wet snow, then careened into another, sliding, tipping, jostling the guards and at last stopping the whole convoy. As if an unspoken order had been given, the condemned