Stopwatch Stories vol 11: Stopwatch Stories, #11

By M Todd Gallowglas

The eleventh collection in the Stopwatch Stories series of flash fiction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bard's Cloak of Tales
• Release date: Nov 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386049616

Book preview

For CHRISTOPHER KELLEN

For voicing encouragement when I was taking my first steps at this writing game.

NOT SIMILAR TO REALITY

Promises broken and broken promises.

Adventure. Wonder. Magic. Wizard. Swords. Wands. Swashling bucks. Fair maidens. Laser blasters. Flying cars and space ships and hovering skate boards. Spies lurking around every corner and portals to other worlds and time in every closet, wardrobes, and telephone booths - not to mention the occasional superhero.

These and more were the promises of my childhood.

Speaking of which...why the bloody hell is it socially unacceptable to wear my underwear on the outside of my clothes unlike the majority of my child hood heroes?

Debt. Bills. A car that drives along the ground that I actually have to stop and buy gas for. Worrying about money. Sugar turning out to be not so great for me after all. Grey hair. Speaking of sugar, and carbs, and well, everything being bad for you, can we talk about this metabolism thing that stopped working right about the time I was ready to really settle in and start enjoying this body? Gym. Because of the little extra around the middle I get from all the things that are bad for me that I can’t quite get over. So, yeah, I think I just clued into why it’s not socially acceptable to wear my underwear outside my clothes.

Depression. Anxiety. Worry. Insecurity. Awareness and acceptance of my own mortality. Sitting day in and day out facing the impending dread of the embarrassing things I’m going to do when my mid-life crises hits.

Is it time for Comic Con yet?

CHASE, OF THE WILD GOOSE VARIETY

Ideas people, the senior chief said. Get them coming and keep them coming. Nothing’s off the table. You never know where it’s going to take us once we start brainstorming.

Uh, Sir? one of the new developers said. I may have something. It’s a bit off the wall.

I said any idea, the senior chief said. Let us have it.

Uh... the new guy blushed. How about mutant killer hamsters?

The senior chief blinked at him. Mutant? Killer? Hamsters?

Uh...maybe?

Sir, one of the other developers said. He may be on to something. We could throw in some ninja penguins. I mean our genetic engineering and gene splicing has progressing by leaps and bounds over the last couple of years.

At that, the entire team got into the spirit.

Cybernetic dolphins capable of traversing the dark web.

Subterranean attack monkeys.