The Corrective Collective

By Wolf Heinrich

When meek and spineless cuckold Norman accepts the help of The Corrective Collective, a wise cracking rhinoceros and monkey, to improve his lowly station in life, he gets more than he proverbially bargained for to the detriment of everyone around him, including himself.

Short Story.  5000 words

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oxsteam Publishing
• Release date: Feb 20, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386410782

Book preview

Norman ignored the whispered voice coming from the alley while he sat on the street bench eating his lunch, a tomato and cheese sandwich its bread soggy from having been assembled the previous night and refrigerated.

Psst.  Hey.

Norman strained to see the owner of the voice out of the corner of his eye, but they were almost directly behind him.  He bit into his sandwich and chewed despite the immense displeasure of its taste.

Hey, Norman.

This time the voice was loud and clear, almost brash in the way that someone calling from an alley could be.  One would think the mere fact of being in an alley would encompass all manners of stealthy desires hidden in a rotten maze of decaying trash, pools of unidentifiable liquids, and a sweaty steam that seemed to emanate from the blackened bricks of the enclosing buildings.  This voice though in its volume and tone of urgency dispelled all those notions.  This voice commanded one to turn around and give acknowledgment.

Norman turned his head expecting to see someone who he would not wish to be seen with, let alone have any transaction of any kind with.  He expected a junkie in rags, grubby hand with blackened fingernails extended, or a pale youth in a black brioche cap with matching black pea coat, the intent to mug or distribute nefarious drugs darting from his beady eyes above uneven goatee.

Instead, what Norman saw when he twisted his body around, still clutching the one bite less soggy tomato and cheese