Max Says No: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy
By J. R. Kruze
()
About this ebook
On a hot and sweaty farm day I didn't expect my best friend in the world to desert me.
But my dog Max had other ideas about what he wanted to do that day.
So he said, clearly, "No." Then walked away, tail high.
Calling after him, I finished loading the truck with the tools and supplies we needed.
I found Max was waiting for me, on the porch steps in the shade. He was grinning as he panted. Looking as if he had more to say to explain himself.
I sure hoped so.
Desertion was one thing. Talking out loud to me was something else...
Excerpt:
It was a typical hot, sultry day. I was going about getting ready to do something I didn't want to do, but "had" to be done. I turned around to tell Max, my black and white, crossed-mix mutt, to get in our old scratched, dented, and faded red pickup truck. We had a job to do, and he liked to come with. I did the work, he supervised. That was the deal.
Before I could get the words out, Max stood on his hind legs and clearly said, "No." Then trotted off on all four. Three black, one white paw.
I didn't have time to chase after him, as the truck was out in the gravel drive, just in front of the old faded-red wood dairy barn. It had to be loaded. The job had to get done. And nothing was going to get done if it never got started.
Of course I called after him a time or two, but he kept walking away around the back of the wood barn, turning a corner where an elm sprout had started a couple of years back. Out of sight, out of reach.
So I turned back to my job of loading the rolls of barbed wire we'd gotten used from an auction, along with a rusted paint can filled with black nails as well as gray galvanized fencing twist clips, both aged in their storage. Some fencing pliers now also red-black from real use, having lost their shine and padded handles years back. Another red plastic coffee container with a black plastic snap lid and molded-in hand grip to supply the staples we might need.
That should do it, I thought. And waited, looking over my set to see if I'd forgotten anything. Oh, yeah. I went inside and grabbed a roll of salvaged wire off an old tensile electric fence. It, too, used to be silver, but the weather had taken that away.
A lot of stuff on this farm had been changed from the weather. Seldom for the better.
After I was done, I paused to look it all over and see if I could think of anything else I'd need. Then remembered the steel post driver. It was new last year, and the shine hadn't come off its gray paint yet. I also put a few 6-foot green t-bar steel posts in there, also with their rust spots and not perfectly straight anymore. That would keep me the afternoon.
Then I had time to go find Max. He was sitting outside the faded gray porch, outside the faded aluminum screen door, on the faded gray wood steps, on his haunches, waiting.
When I got close, he cocked his head and lifted one speckled ear, as if to say "Well?" But not with any words I could hear.
I responded by first sitting next to him and scratching behind that ear.
"Since when did you learn to talk?" I asked him.
Max just sat there in the quasi-shade with me and kept looking out.
"I heard you distinctly say 'No.'"
"That I did." said Max.
"You don't want to go out and keep me company fixing fence?"
"Not one of the things I was looking forward to, today."
"But you know it's gotta be done."
"Yup." With that, Max started panting, a sort of wry smile his. Teasing me, I guessed...
Scroll Up and Get Your Copy Now
J. R. Kruze
J. R. has always been interested in the strange, mysterious, and wonderful. Writing speculative fiction is perfect for him, as he's never fit into any mold. And always been working to find the loopholes in any "pat system." Writing parables for Living Sensical seemed a simpler way to help his stories come to life.
Read more from J. R. Kruze
When the Dreamer Dreamed: Speculative Fiction Modern Parables Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoot: Speculative Fiction Modern Parables Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Autists Anthology: Speculative Fiction Parable Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEmpress Oracle: The Legend of Corona-XI Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJ. R. Kruze Short Story Collection 03: Speculative Fiction Parable Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Case of the Tenacious Typist: Speculative Fiction Modern Parables Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNew Voices Vol. 010: Speculative Fiction Parable Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Saga of Erotika Jones 06: Speculative Fiction Modern Parables Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGhost Hunters Anthology 11: Ghost Hunter Mystery Parable Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Girl Who Became Tomorrow: Speculative Fiction Modern Parables Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Autists: Speculative Fiction Modern Parables Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLast Chance: Short Fiction Clean Romance Cozy Mystery Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath by Advertising Trilogy: Speculative Fiction Parable Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Saga of Erotika Jones 04: Speculative Fiction Modern Parables Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGhost Hunters Primer: Ghost Hunter Mystery Parable Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Saga of Erotika Jones 08: Speculative Fiction Modern Parables Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGhost Hunters Anthology 08: Ghost Hunter Mystery Parable Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Saga of Erotika Jones 03: Speculative Fiction Modern Parables Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGhost Hunters Anthology 10: Ghost Hunter Mystery Parable Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Girl Who Believed Tomorrow: Speculative Fiction Modern Parables Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath by Marketing: Short Fiction Clean Romance Cozy Mystery Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHam & Chaz: Speculative Fiction Modern Parables Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNew Voices Volume 11: Speculative Fiction Parable Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGhost Hunters Anthology 13: Ghost Hunter Mystery Parable Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Case of the Forever Cure: Speculative Fiction Modern Parables Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOne More for the Road: Ghost Hunters Mystery Parables Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGhost Hunters Canon 03: Ghost Hunter Mystery Parable Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Max Says No
Titles in the series (23)
Vacation Amok: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy, #10 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSnow Gift: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Goddess Visits: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy, #9 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStory Hunted: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Goddess Returns: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Emperor's Scribe: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tunnel People: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Long Wait for Santa: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy, #12 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Case of the Naughty Nightmare: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSnow Cave: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn Love's Edge: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeace: The Forever War: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMax Says No: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMind Timing: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSynco: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Nervous Butt: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dog Named Kat: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hooman Probe, Part II: Salvation: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Integrity Implosions: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Maestro: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOne Thought, Then Gone: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lori Saga: Escape: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReturn to Earth: Short Fiction Young Adult Science Fiction Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related ebooks
A Thin Place Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bootstrap Paradox Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSwitch-Play Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPest Cemetery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLost Roses of Ganymede House Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Flash Point Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSomething to Remember You By Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Easy Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tomorrow Will Be Better Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Heart of Forestry in America: A Berea College Odyssey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Little Universe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Monster Files: The Monster Files Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kevin Cassidy The Cassidy Chronicles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBones of Bronze, Limbs like Iron Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFantasies Collide, Vol. 3: Fantasies Collide, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFantasies Collide, Vol. 3: A Fantasy Short Story Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPassing the Torch Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Cold Place to Die Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWoman in Shadow Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Memoirs of a Reluctant Archaeologist: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlex Finch: Monster Hunter: The Monster Files, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lightride Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTimes of Trouble (A Time Travel Anthology) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mutual UFO Network Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Year of Mysterious Deaths at the Riverfront Dog Park Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Wife Is A Horse Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSon of a Grit: A collection of short stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Restorer: The Sword of Lyric, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What Happens in the Ruins Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Greatest Ghost and Horror Stories Ever Written: volume 3 (30 short stories) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Satire For You
The Bonfire of the Vanities: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As I Lay Dying Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Master & Margarita Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51900: Or; The Last President Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kill for Love Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Robot Who Looked Like Me: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shriver: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mash: A Novel About Three Army Doctors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Clown Brigade Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sisters Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Living Girl on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5House of Cards Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Third Policeman: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Going Postal Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It Was Just Another Day in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Out of Oz: The Final Volume in the Wicked Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Herland Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Candy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heart of a Dog Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Dice Man: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Futurological Congress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Five People You Meet in Hell: An Unauthorized Parody Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Friday Black Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bone Palace Ballet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Closing Time: The Sequel to Catch-22 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Dog's Heart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bestseller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Max Says No
0 ratings0 reviews