Uncharted Frontier EZine Issue 16

By Allan Kaspar

Uncharted Frontier returns with our February-March 2014 issue! This is an Open Themed issue, so you will find creative works of all kinds within these pages.

Richard Lawrence continues his incredible Merlin Saga!

First time appearances by:
Maurice R. Beaulieu III with his story, The Last Library in the World
Christopher Barnes with his poem, Fun Not Fair
Holly Day with her story, Sam The Rat
James Field with his story, Sluggish Bullet

• Language: English
• Publisher: Allan Kaspar
• Release date: Apr 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310054365

Allan Kaspar

Allan is the Chief Editor and Publisher of Uncharted Frontier EZine, the premier EZine for the soon-to-be famous creative artists, writers and photographers who deserve to have a voice to the world!He is a life-long writer, RPG fanatic, and video game afficienado, whose video game reviews have appeared in Games for Windows Magazine, Mentality Magazine, Gamespot featured community reviews, and more.He spends his time in Pennsylvania frequenting old book stores, coffee shops, and Guitar Centers.

Book preview

Uncharted Frontier EZine Issue 16

Published by Allan Kaspar at Smashwords

Copyright 2014 Allan Kaspar

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this free ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to Smashwords.com to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

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Table of Contents

Sluggish Bullet -- By James Field

Fun Not Fair -- By Christopher Barnes

Sam The Rat -- By Holly Day

The Books -- By Richard Lawrence

The Last Library in the World -- By Maurice R. Beaulieu III

The Baron and the Witch -- By Allan Kaspar

Contributor Bios

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Sluggish Bullet

By James Field

Terrified is too simple to describe how I feel. I'm so scared I've reached the stage where time moves in slow motion. There are six rifles pointing at me, all are spewing smoke, but only one has a bullet erupting from its mouth. I wonder if Joe knows he's fired the missile that will reach the white handkerchief pinned to my chest.

Poor Joe, he's a good friend, a good shot too, I can see his aim is true.

I had this 'slow motion' sensation once before when a car hit the van I sat in. I sat in the back compartment on the cold metal floor with my spine to the wall and my feet stretched across to the other side. My brother drove, my best friend sat in the passenger seat, the rest of the space taken up with camping gear for a long weekend in the hills. We pulled out of a minor road on to the main highway and a fast car hit the side of our bonnet, spinning our van like a top.

The back door burst open and I flew out. Shattered glass sailed over me in a gentle wave; both the glass and I slid through time in slow motion. I've never forgotten the feeling, but I never thought I'd experience it again.

The bullet is halfway now. I can see it spinning. I can't take my eyes off it.

I still can't believe what's happening. This whole court marshal business is a farce. The old general who sentenced me is mad, no doubt. Shall I tell you what happened? It won't take long, the bullet hasn’t reached me yet, I have time.

The general was in a foul mood; well, I couldn’t blame him for that, the enemy ambushed us in the night and we lost a couple of men. It had been my turn to stand watch and the general accused me of sleeping, or dozing, and not paying attention. My punishment was to stand at attention the whole day without food or water.

As I expect you know, English soldiers must never move once given the order to stand at attention, unless they faint, which is what the mad general wanted. I stood right outside the general's tent and he kept a close watch on me; so did the rest of the lads, we're all good friends.

Suddenly, I jumped into the air and yelped, and the mad old general saw me and held a court marshal. He said I better have a good excuse because the penalty was execution by firing squad.

Can you believe it? Well, he was under strain, we all were, and like I said, he was mad.

Anyway, I didn’t really believe any of this, but I couldn’t tell him I suffer from pollen fever and jumped because of a violent sneeze. Oh, no, I couldn’t tell him that, that sounds so pathetic, like I'm a softy, so I told him a squirrel had climbed up inside my right trouser leg.

'Is that any reason to jump?' said the mad old general.

'No' I admitted. 'But that isn’t why I jumped.'

'Out with it then, what made you jump?'

'I felt another squirrel climb up inside my left leg.'

'So what? That's still no reason to jump.'

'I agree,' I said, 'but that isn’t why I jumped either.'

'Well then?' said the mad old general, becoming impatient.

'Well,' I said, 'I heard the one squirrel say to the other, Shall we crack them now or wait till Christmas. That's when I jumped.'

My mates laughed, and the sour old general got even more upset,