Nine and One Stories

By Stewart Berg

Listing of contents along with short summaries:

"Unidentified Past Objects" -- a story of a conspiracy theory being proven true

"Tess' 23rd" -- a story of a birthday celebrated in downtown Austin, Texas

"The Inner Being of Phineus of Aethiopia" -- a story of the Perseus myth from Ovid's "Metamorphoses," as told from the perspective of the character Phineus

"Closeness and Calls" -- a story of a possible close-call

"Juncture, Texas" -- a story of a killer caught by copyright

"A Series of Crimes Against the Republic" -- a story of a number of crimes committed against the United States of America

"Killing Pastime" -- a story of institutional shatteredness, illusions included

"The Story Preceding Officer Taliaferro's Response to the Call About Someone Going After a Kid" -- a story of a joke across roughly fifteen hundred words

"Manners" -- a story of the skillful navigation of social awkwardness

"To Do" -- a story of the cyclical inevitability of further hurdles

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stewart Berg
• Release date: Sep 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463621813

Stewart Berg

Stewart Berg is a 2014 graduate of Pacific Lutheran University. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Book preview

NINE AND ONE STORIES

By Stewart Berg

Copyright Stewart Berg 2020

Smashwords Edition

The Inner Being of Phineus of Aethiopia previously appeared at The Copperfield Review

Contents

Unidentified Past Objects

Tess’ 23rd

The Inner Being of Phineus of Aethiopia

Closeness and Calls

Juncture, Texas

A Series of Crimes Against the Republic

Killing Pastime

The Story Preceding Officer Taliaferro’s Response to the Call About Someone Going After a Kid

Manners

To Do

UNIDENTIFIED PAST OBJECTS

The neon OPEN sign in the window is unlit, though it has been turned upside down. Almost all of the structure’s curtains are drawn, which the particularly perceptive could note as unusual for a store that looked as if its front door was regularly left unlocked. There are many other examples of evidence that something clandestine is either happening or about to, but these two are the most telling.

•

Suddenly, a car pulls up out front. The vehicle’s headlights had been switched off as soon as it left the road, and it comes to a stop as a disembodied growl. The engine is killed, returning the night to its eerie stillness, and then the headlights are given two quick flashes. From within the store, the upside-down OPEN sign is plugged in, unplugged, replugged, then unplugged again, the operation resulting in the sign’s sending of an acknowledgment to the car.

The car doors open, and out step two men in trench coats. One is clearly confident while attempting to appear moreso, and the other is not confident while attempting to appear so. The confident man begins to thematically light a cigarette, but, remembering that he is about to head indoors, he covers the blunder accordingly. Fortunately, the unconfident man is too disconcerted by everything around to notice, and the confident man laughs lightly within himself.

You wanting to just stand there all night and look at the place? he asks his companion.

Are we going inside? the unconfident man replies, skeptically nodding before them.

The confident man laughs openly at this inevitable naivety, but he says nothing. Instead, he begins walking toward the store.

Is it really here? the unconfident man asks after hurrying to catch up.

The confident man again laughs, and he stops for a moment in order to kick some gravel.

They always say it’s the places you’d least suspect, don’t they? he asks with a slight shrug. I bet you never thought it would be a place you drive by all the time.

The unconfident man admits that this is the case, and, by this time, the pair are at the door of the store.

Stand aside, the confident man says while pulling his companion beside him. You don’t want to take the chance of being right behind the door.

The unconfident man imperceptibly nods and shrinks into the slight alcove formed by the storefront and the frame of the confident man. Though he knows it is far too late to go back, he imagines himself to be at a crossroads, and he stares into the dark night while insensibly searching for signposts. He hardly notices when the confident man knocks twice at the door, pauses for four seconds that he counts beneath his breath, then knocks twice again.

We’re closed, a husky voice states from within the store.

"Yes, but I’m open," the confident man quickly replies, and the door is just as quickly unlocked, and then it slowly opens inward.

Well, shall we? the confident man says, and he gestures for the unconfident man to lead the way.

Do I need to say anything? the unconfident man asks after taking a hesitant first step.

It will be safest to say nothing at all.

The unconfident man gulps, but he successfully hides the action with a nod. He closes his eyes and internally counts to a determined number, and then he forces himself to venture into the dark rectangle at the building’s front, through which is only rumor.

•

Suddenly, as soon as the unconfident man has entered the store, the door is closed behind him, and the room’s lights are flashed on. These actions are done simultaneously and without warning, such that the effect is that of lightning, which causes the unconfident man to feel his heart stop beating for a moment. Recovering himself only takes just as long, however, because there is, after all, few other options, and, upon doing so, he looks about to find himself in a bookstore for the first time in his life.

His first reaction to this scene is shock, and he recoils backward, gasping while at the same time slightly losing his feet and stumbling into a large figure behind him. He instantly rebounds from the result of this recoiling, and he attempts to turn and throw out his arms, but larger arms than his own grip him at his shoulders, and, instead, he opens his mouth to cry out.

There’s no need for any of that, the confident man says, having strolled to the center of the room and now standing there with his hands behind his back. In his voice is a tone of mockery, which calms the unconfident man by way of forcing him to focus on the nature of his apparent error.

Are you speaking to me or to him? a husky voice asks from behind the unconfident man.

To both of you, I suppose, the confident man flippantly answers while turning away. Or either, I guess. Not neither, though, but in turn, possibly. Are there further divisions.

The unconfident man feels the frame of the husky voice laugh, and then he is released from its hold.

Jacoby guards the door, the confident man explains with a wave of his hand. Don’t ask him if he barks, though, because that’s my joke.

Only one of us plays fetch, Jacoby answers.

I’ve heard that before, the confident man yawns. A same thrust never does any further damage.

Everything you say is something you’ve already said, Jacoby cries out, his good-naturedness slightly marred by legitimate exasperation. How is that any different?

The confident man shrugs, taking clear delight in the existence of knobs on others. He appears to take great concern with something on the floor for a moment, and then he returns his attention to Jacoby.

Is Torrie here yet? he asks.

No, Jacoby answers, you’re first tonight.

The confident man nods indifferently, but then he turns on Jacoby in alarm.

Does that mean Mother’s alone? he asks.

She is, Jacoby answers while nodding solemnly. There are fewer of us now. She’s alone frequently.

The confident man sighs with an intensity of emotion that seems unbecoming to him, and he appears to lose himself in thought. Jacoby’s words had directed his own eyes to the floor, but then, with an effort, he begins to appraise the unconfident man.

So, he asks aloud, who is this the great Kordell E. brought with him tonight?

We won’t know until he meets Mother, Kordell E. answers, smiling wryly at the crinkled compliment. How is she?

She’s fine, Jacoby answers. She’s fine considering, that is.

Kordell E. begins nodding slowly until the motion seems to peter itself out.

Well, he eventually says, addressing the unconfident man, shall we go meet her now?

No reply comes from the unconfident man, and, after a moment, the full attention of both Kordell E. and Jacoby is turned on him.

Are you ready? Kordell E. asks, and he makes sure the repetition of his question is evident in his voice.

I am, the unconfident man quickly answers, though it is obvious that his words are a guess.

Kordell E. glances to Jacoby, and the latter shrugs.

Have you been listening at all? Kordell E. asks the unconfident man.

I have, the unconfident man answers, though it is obvious that his words are a lie.

In truth, the unconfident man had not heard a single word of the two men’s conversation since his being released from Jacoby’s hold. That action had freed his mind from any physical fear, and, doing so, it had created a vacuum for the consideration of other ones. He had, therefore, spent those succeeding moments in wide-eyed terror, and all the book titles around him felt like worded accusations of his unspoken sedition.

The unconfident man knew of books, of course, but he knew of them as things that had their place and that should not be taken lightly. There had been, in fact, no other time in his life when he had ever seen them in a way other than how they were supposed to be, and the fact of so many of them simply lying about rather than lined up on shelves was a impropriety that intimidated him. All the old warnings about those things flooded his mind, and the only thing missing from the scene were all the addicts who teachers had warned him about and who never left book dens while wasting their whole lives with their noses pressed into pages, and, though never specifically stated, the implication was that they did so in order to get high.

Can we go now? Kordell E. says, adding a sarcastic wave to his words.

Unwilling to try to explain how he had been first lost in fear then lost in justifications of that fear, the unconfident man merely nods.

Well, we’re waiting on you, Kordell E. continues, stepping aside in order to gesture to the doorway behind him.

The unconfident man looks to this place where he is being told to go. The doorway is doorless, though a lack of light in the next room keeps it dark,