Almost Believable Tales

By Don Highmore

Fans of satire, science fiction, and fantasy alike will enjoy these eclectic, imaginative stories.

In Almost Believable Tales, Don Highmore presents nine short stories. Inspired by The Twilight Zone, where each episode has a unique genre and tone, Highmore has crafted stories that range from the satirical to the horrific. Some of the stories are more supernatural in nature, while others focus on the darker aspects of humanity. Indeed, these stories bridge the gap between reality and fiction; though there are fantastical elements embedded in almost all the tales, the stories also explore the human psyche and pose questions about serious human dilemmas, such as moving on after the death of a loved one.

From the battle between science and faith to the life of a civil servant, from the causes of a man's psychological issues to the consequences of a human and an alien falling in love, these stories will appeal to a broad swath of readers. Highmore also explores the correlation between zombie plagues and the end of civilization, the psyche of a murderer, the existence of ghosts, the reality of life after death, and the consequences of trying to steal a man's gold. Mystery, suspense, intrigue, fantasy… This collection of short stories truly has it all!

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Don Highmore
• Release date: Jun 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201784201

Don Highmore

For his entire life, Don Highmore has been an avid fan of The Twilight Zone. Episodes in the series vary widely in terms of tone and genre; indeed, some of the episodes are more humorous, while others are more horrific. With this collection of short stories, Highmore emulates the format of The Twilight Zone, presenting nine short stories that range in genre from science fiction to political satire to fantasy. Though almost all the tales include supernatural elements, they are also rooted in reality, focusing on timeless concepts such as psychology, love, and death. Truly, readers cannot be sure what sort of story they will get until they start reading!

Book preview

Don G. Highmore

Copyright © 2022 Don Highmore

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 979-883-2180-32-8

THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used factiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Introduction

In the Beginning

The Civil Servant

Veronica

The Before Time

The Zombie Myth

The Cousins Grim

Sally’s World

The Reincarnation of Nicias

Fred’s Gold

Introduction

Iwas and still am a fan of The Twilight Zone TV series. You didn’t know what kind of story you would get from week to week because it was an eclectic anthology series. Certainly, the story would be a little unusual, a little odd. The shows could fall within the realm of science fiction, fantasy, the supernatural, horror, or politics or could sometimes even be humorous. Hence, I have put together this eclectic collection of short stories for your consideration.

In the Beginning

THIS SATIRICAL SCIENCE fiction story is inspired by the never-ending battle between people of science and people of faith. It’s a battle of two giant egos. Does anyone win?

The Civil Servant

THIS IS A SATIRICAL look at one civil servant’s experience. While it is satire, those who have worked as civil servants might squint and see shadows of what such jobs are really like.

Veronica

ONE MAN’S GRIEF OVER the loss of his wife dissolves into deep psychological issues. Or does it? Perhaps there’s a touch of the supernatural at work.

The Before Time

AN ALIEN INVASION IS a science fiction staple. But what are the consequences if an alien and an earthling fall in love?

The Zombie Myth

THIS IS ANOTHER SATIRICAL science fiction story. In the distant future, a committee will investigate the correlation between the Zombie Plague and the end of civilization. Their conclusion won’t be welcomed.

The Cousins Grim

A SERIAL MURDERER IS preying on boys in Rose City. Young Peter Grim wants to solve the murders. Is he suffering from psychological issues? Or is he getting help from beyond the grave?

Sally’s World

SAM IS TRAPPED IN A remote farmhouse during a raging blizzard. Strange things happen, including his communication with a woman named Sally via an old-fashioned chalkboard. Is Sam delusional, or is someone playing an elaborate hoax? Is Sally even real? If she is, does she exist now or in the past?

The Reincarnation of Nicias

TO MOST PEOPLE, DEATH is inevitable, life is short, and eternal love is a romantic notion. To some, death is just the beginning of another life, and love is truly eternal.

Fred’s Gold

FRED IS A MISERABLE old misanthrope who mines gold for a living. Two men make the mistake of trying to steal his gold and then discover that he has some unexpected friends.

In the Beginning

Professor Simmons was the most intelligent man in the world. His IQ was rated at 200, and he held three PhDs. Some felt he was smarter than Einstein or anyone else who was living or had ever lived. He agreed with that assessment. And yet he managed to get suckered. He was offered a lot of money to debate a preacher named Peter Thomas Barnes, who categorically stated that dinosaurs, like everything else, were created by God and, therefore, existed simultaneously with humans. And, oh yes, the world was about 6,000 years old!

Simmons figured Barnes was an ignorant rube who wasn’t worth a minute of his valuable time. Then the Museum of World History According to the Bible offered Simmons a million-dollar fee to debate Barnes at their newly created museum. It was a publicity stunt for them. Simmons and his colleagues laughed at the debate. He told them, I can’t believe that someone is paying me a million dollars to debate a dumbass hick. But he was glad they were.

Simmons was only 30 years old, but he had done many remarkable things in his short life. For one, he had confirmed that tachyonic particles existed and traveled faster than light, as had been theorized. Then he had come up with a theory that married Einstein’s theory of gravity to quantum mechanics to formulate a theory of how we could travel faster than light.

Finally, he had come up with a theory of how we could time travel. That theory had been all-consuming for Simmons. Now, theory was nice, but he wanted to prove that his theory was correct beyond all doubt. As if Simmons’s two PhDs in physics weren’t unusual enough, he had a third in engineering. This meant that he wasn’t just knowledgeable about complex mathematical formulas but could also figure out how to apply his mind to creating something practical out of abstractions.

While he was deeply admired, many people didn’t want to invest money in a time machine, not one that went backward in time anyway. Some companies and wealthy individuals offered to invest billions if necessary if Simmons invented a time machine that could travel into the future. They wanted to go forward because they wanted to know what investments would turn their billions of dollars into trillions.

Simmons wasn’t interested in making wealthy corporations richer. He wasn’t interested in making countries or despots of any kind more powerful by enabling them to know the future. He wanted to travel backward in time mostly because other physicists had said it couldn’t be done. He wanted to prove them wrong, and he wanted to be the first to do it.

Many people were afraid that going back in time would lead to disaster. People worried that, if you traveled back in time, you would alter timelines. Perhaps people who existed would end up not existing at all. Or maybe the Nazis would end up winning WWII . . . or something. Simmons said this was all nonsense. Traveling back in time would no more alter historical timelines than traveling to France to taste wine.

He couldn’t get funding to create his time machine. At first, his university was pressured not to fund it. Then the government prohibited its creation. However, in secret, the government offered him all the research money he’d need if he created it for them. It would be an ultra-top-secret project, so the public would never know, he would never get credit, and he wouldn’t be able to use it.

That wasn’t good enough for Simmons. So, he publicly stated the time machine could be created, but it would cost untold trillions of dollars to develop. As he didn’t have untold trillions, and the government had prohibited its research and development, it would never be made. It was a lie, of course. Simmons knew he could create it relatively inexpensively. He was working on it in secret, but he needed expensive equipment that he couldn’t afford. A million dollars would do nicely. Along came the debate.

Rev. Peter Thomas Barnes was a wealthy, successful evangelical pastor. He was the pastor of the most prominent independent megachurch in the world. In addition, he owned an evangelical radio network, an evangelical TV network, an evangelical streaming service, an evangelical social networking service, an evangelical podcast service, and an evangelical publishing company. He was halfway to being a billionaire. His latest achievement was the creation of the Museum of World History According to the Bible.

Barnes was very proud of his museum/theme park. He proclaimed himself a pastor, prophet, scientist, and historian. His museum was designed to tell God’s truth, not secular truth. It fought against the Theory of Evolution not just for being untrue but also for being unscientific. He had an Ark that was true to all the Bible’s measurements to prove it could have been built. His museum presented the Bible as history. It asserted that the Bible was accurate and literal, not symbolic, allegorical, or metaphorical.

Barnes had seen Simmons on a TV show discussing his ideas. Simmons had mused about what a shame it was that they would never build a time machine. He’d said he would love to travel back in time and view the dinosaurs in all their glory. At one point, Simmons had guffawed at a question about the existence of God.

Simmons had said, There’s nothing beyond the natural, physical world. There’s no such thing as a supernatural creative intelligence guiding us, controlling us, advising us, or providing miracles for us. Only simple-minded fools continue to hold onto the notion of God.

Well, them was fighting words for Barnes. He wanted a way to put Simmons in his place. He thought about it and thought about it and decided that a debate in the spectacular theatre of his brand-new museum would be just the thing. The publicity would be invaluable. The verbal destruction of ‘the world’s smartest man’ and perhaps the world’s biggest atheist would be priceless. Barnes had the means, and he had the science to destroy Simmons. Most importantly, he had a huge surprise to spring on his opponent and the world.

Simmons showed up for the debate without really preparing. After all, he was debating a rube who was as dumb as a box of rocks. He didn’t count on Barnes being on his home turf. The museum theatre where the debate was taking place was made up entirely of members of Barnes’s church, who believed every word he said. The event would be televised on Barnes’s evangelical network and carried by his evangelical radio station. His evangelical website, evangelical streaming service, evangelical podcast service, and evangelical social network would promote, dissect, editorialize, endlessly repeat, and support whatever he said.

The secular press was wholly excluded. Rev. Barnes’s people didn’t want the mainstream media misquoting or mocking him as it had a habit of doing. The moderator was Pastor Bill ‘Bud’ Buddy. He was the Associate Pastor in Rev. Barnes’s megachurch, but he promised to be objective. The night of the debate came. The air in the auditorium was electric, the excitement palpable.

Simmons probably should have woken up to the fact that he was Daniel in the lion’s den when Pastor Bud opened the debate with a prayer. But he just shrugged; he was counting his money in his head and trying to decide what point in history to travel to while they prayed. The proposition of the debate was The Theory of Evolution is unscientific, whereas the Biblical Creation Story is historically and scientifically accurate.

Then Pastor Bud said, Ladies and gentlemen, Reverend Barnes would like to make his opening statement.

Rev. Barnes began: Thank you, Pastor Bud. Ladies and gentlemen, evolutionists insist the world is billions of years old and dinosaurs disappeared 65 million years ago. Furthermore, they insist that people have evolved over the last million years or so. Therefore, the two never walked the earth together. I’m not just arguing that this is contrary to the Bible; it’s unscientific, and I can prove that these assumptions are absolutely wrong.

Simmons couldn’t believe his ears and fought hard to contain his laughter. Oh my God, what a total rube, he thought.

Rev. Barnes continued: As we all know, the Bible is God’s word; therefore, it’s without error. It must be considered truthful and factually accurate in everything, including history and science. The Bible indicates humanity is approximately six to ten thousand years old. How do we know that? By studying the genealogy outlined in the Bible. There are a few gaps in that genealogy, and we don’t necessarily know the length of a ‘generation,’ so we land on the timeframe of 6,000–10,000 years. Nonetheless, a few thousand years is a long way from a million. Rev. Barnes smirked.

People laughed. Simmons’s jaw literally dropped. He thought, This audience is filled with complete morons if they’re buying this nonsense.

Now, Genesis reveals that God created everything in six days. Six literal days. So how did the evolutionists and secular scientists get things so wrong? On what basis did they decide that the Earth was billions of years old and that people evolved over a million years or so? Bad science, that’s how. Being closed-minded and being prejudiced against all of us. Rev. Barnes was moving his arms in a sweeping motion to indicate that everyone in the audience was the us he was referring to, as if there was any doubt. This was all met with thunderous applause and shouts of Amen!

For one thing, they hang their hats on layers of strata. They show you pictures of rock layers that were created as rivers carved through canyons, Rev. Barnes said. Then a giant screen behind him flashed pictures of the Grand Canyon, displaying rock strata.

Rev. Barnes continued: Supposedly, a river created the Grand Canyon through millions of years of eroding rock. This is nonsense; Noah’s flood created those layers. As the floodwaters rose, then receded, strata were formed. And fossils. How does fossilization take place? The evolutionists claim animal remains are covered in sediment, lie there for thousands of years, and petrify. Again, nonsense. Fossilization can only occur when the organism is buried quickly to protect the remains from destruction by scavengers or decomposition. The fossil record provides evidence of a single cataclysmic flood. All the fossils of every dinosaur ever found were created by Noah’s flood.

Rev. Barnes was interrupted by a standing ovation and shouts of Amen! At that moment, Simmons fully realized his situation, and he was flabbergasted. Then he got angry. This wasn’t a debate. It was an ambush by Barnes and his minions. His colleagues had warned him not to trust Barnes, but he hadn’t listened, and now he was in trouble. This crowd wasn’t going to listen to anything he said.

After a couple of minutes, Rev. Barnes held his hands up and motioned for the audience members to take their seats. Then he continued: The evolutionists also talk about humans being a million or so years old. That we evolved into what we are. We know the Bible says that Adam and Eve were created, and they were created as full-grown adults. Well, God would hardly have created humans as helpless babies now, would he? He laughed, and the audience laughed with him.

This is ridiculous! shouted Simmons.

Mr. Simmons, you will get your turn. Don’t interrupt Rev. Barnes, Pastor Bud admonished him. The audience nodded in agreement. Some booed the interruption.

Rev. Barnes held up his hands for silence again. "So the evolutionists continue to claim that dinosaurs lived and went extinct millions of years before humans came into being. Even if that isn’t true, they go on to say there’s no way those gigantic creatures could have gotten onto the Ark. Well, ladies and gentlemen, how stupid do they think we are?

"Of course, those giant creatures couldn’t have all gotten onto the Ark . . . not full-grown, anyway. The Bible doesn’t say