Daily Life

By Griffin Carmichael

Work, play, home life. Everybody has something a little off about their day-to-day lives. You never know when things will go completely wrong, when the horrors you only dream about will come out into the light.

 

These short stories explore those horrors. Come and take a peak into a sampling of daily lives.

 

Sweet Baby  She was just an innocent newborn with an over-anxious mother who hired the best nanny possible. Nothing could really go wrong on mother's first day back at work.

 

Teacher's Pet  A cuddly, furry little creature isn't going to get the best of one teacher.

 

Over the Edge It was an accident, no matter what people believed, but Elizabeth took her vows seriously.

 

Meet the New Neighbors  There's always a question about new neighbors fitting in. Sometimes the answer is yes.

 

Afternoon Tea and Tentacles  One should never let a dripping horror interrupt a much-anticipated cup of tea.

 

His Master's Voice  The children wanted to keep the creature, despite their father's misgivings. It might have been better to put it out of its misery.

 

The Dark Ride  Everybody has a calling, it's just some are more unusual than others. With God on your side, it can't possibly be wrong.

 

Subject #761  Science tries to improve lives, or so Dr. D thought. The latest subject of an experimental drug might change his mind.

 

Approximately 25,000 words.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Griffin Carmichael
• Release date: Feb 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215634578

Book preview

Copyright 2015 by Griffin Carmichael. All rights reserved.

Cover copyright 2015 by Sheila Guthrie

I assert my moral right to be identified as the author of this work, under the applicable laws of each country in which it may appear.

This book may contain words or situations that are of an adult nature, or which may be offensive to some readers.

Any reference to any person, living or dead, or any place, product or cultural reference is either a product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.

ABOUT THIS COLLECTION

Some of these stories were previously published in various places under a different author name, while others are new and are included only in this collection.

DEDICATION

Many thanks as always to my children for their continued love and support of this craziness I call a writing career.

INTRODUCTION

Do readers ever wonder where an author gets their ideas? I’ve read that some authors get the question all the time, but personally I don’t think I’ve ever asked myself Hey, where did Writer X get an idea like that?. Maybe it’s because ideas always come to me in the strangest ways, and have since childhood. I guess I’m part of the writer side of it, and I understand that the gray matter is full of surprises.

Anyway…

When I decided to pull together another collection of my shorts—to fill in the gap while I continue to work on a couple of novels—I knew I wanted to have some sort of theme. The first collection was zombie tales, but I don’t have any more of those ready at this point, so that was out.

What to do? What to do?

As I got to looking through the stories I did have, things previously published or that were waiting to be published, I noticed a trend: the things that happened occurred on an ordinary day. So, after fudging around and trying various titles—including using one of the story titles—I came up with Daily Life, and a collection was born. All I needed to do was finish up a couple of shorts, make a cover, and away we went.

Work, play, home life. Everybody has something a little off about their day-to-day lives. I know I do. I hope you can find something in this odd mix of tales centered around the daily lives of the characters.

Griffin Carmichael

somewhere in the heart of the South

September 4, 2015

SWEET BABY

Oooo, Mummy loves you so much! Yes I do! Mummy loves her sweet baby so much, she never wants to leave her, Nancy Reed cooed and kissed as she pressed her infant daughter’s belly against her face. Nancy breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of baby powder and clean onesie. How could it have been eight weeks already? She couldn’t leave the baby so soon.

She didn’t see the new nanny rolling her eyes heaven-ward. The nanny that had been checked, double-checked and triple-checked. Credit, work history, school history, nothing was beyond Nancy’s reach. The person caring for her baby had to be properly vetted. It had taken months, starting long before the last in-vitro treatment had worked.

The last, because Carl had refused to spend any more money on Nancy’s quest to become a mother. His suggestion that they look into surrogacy, or even adoption, had elicited nothing more than a frown. The fertility clinic they were currently clients of had been rather odd, a weird little place found through an ad in the back of a baby magazine. Carl hadn’t wanted to try there, but in the end it had been the place that gave them a baby.

A car horn sounded, and Miss Appleton stepped forward and reached for the baby. Mrs. Reed, your husband is waiting. Don’t worry about a thing, we’ll be fine. Her grip on the child tightened as she began pulling the small body away from Nancy.

Perhaps I should take one more day, Nancy began, tugging the child back towards her. Both women ignored the whimpers and squirms from the baby being pulled between them.

Now, Mrs. Reed. We’ve been over this, Miss Appleton said. Her hold on little Carla never wavered. Your husband needs you back at work. And you need to return to your business for your own good.

Nancy knew the nanny was right. While she hadn’t been much in the baby-making department, Carl was even worse as a businessman. Nancy’s firm, savvy hand was needed, or all they had worked for was lost.

With a sigh and a last squeeze and kiss, she let the nanny take Carla, and headed for her waiting husband. She could hear the two of them chattering nonsensical baby talk as she left.

* * *

Nancy’s morning was busy, filled with endless calls and emails as she courted clients and put off creditors. By noon she felt she’d done a year’s worth of work, but it was becoming increasingly clear that she’d returned not a moment too soon. It would take all of her attention to get the business back to satisfactory levels.

Except she didn’t have all of her attention to give. She called home every fifteen minutes for updates on Carla, and between that and checking the security cameras installed in every corner of the house, she could hardly concentrate on the tasks at hand.

She knew it was just new mother jitters, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong at home. Nancy stood up to take her coat down and leave more than once before she stopped herself. She couldn’t let the business fail, she needed it to support her daughter.

After a quick lunch at her desk, where she watched Carla being fed, changed, rocked and sung to before napping, Nancy forced her mind back on track. She was so focused that she actually missed two video check ins. By mid-afternoon, Nancy was able to go a half an hour at a stretch without obsessing about Carla and the nanny.

So it was no surprise that when the bombs started falling, she didn’t even notice. The excited conversations in the outer offices didn’t raise an eyebrow. It wasn’t until loud explosions jolted the building and the panicked screams started that Nancy was jolted out of her concentration.

She looked up in time to see the staff running wildly towards the double glass doors that led into the hallway, and the elevators. There was another explosion, one that shook the building so much that half the running people were flung to the floor. Their screams only got louder, and Nancy suddenly realized that she was miles away from home, and Carla needed her.

Without thinking, she turned towards the small elevator that went from her office to the underground parking garage. It worked with a key, which only she and Carl possessed. Nancy grabbed her purse from the bottom drawer in her desk, not even sparing a thought for Carl, or anyone else. She had to get home.

* * *

Traveling the few miles between home and work had never seemed so long, or so difficult, even during the worse rush-hour traffic. There were stalled cars, chunks of fallen buildings, and masses of people clogging the streets.

Nancy pushed through all of it, using the big SUV to shove anything in her path out of the way. There may have been people amongst the rubble that proved no match for the vehicle, but Nancy didn’t notice. She had to get home, and nothing was going to stop her.

When she pulled into the