Fiction – Page 9 – The Stories of Scott D. Southard

May 18, 2012

Episode Seven: Time Out Of Mind
Episode 7 of

Time Out Of Mind,

The Sequel to

The Dante Experience

“In the Garden of Eden”

OPENING CREDITS

Scene 1

SOUND: Of Heaven.

MICHAEL: The trick is not to panic.

REPAIR ANGEL: You’ve been saying that for twenty minutes.

MICHAEL: Just remember that, your great glorious one. Remember that. Here you might need this brown paper bag. I find breathing into it can be soothing. Are you ready? The three remaining dragons have arrived in the Garden of Eden and they have found Adam and Eve.

REPAIR ANGEL: This is exciting stuff! (more…)
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May 15, 2012

Upon The Ground: Jake’s Amazing Talent
The eighth short story from my collection Upon The Ground is available for your reading pleasure at greenspotblue.com (here). You can catch up on the previous short stories via the links on the Upon The Ground page.

Today’s story a surreal black comedy called “Jake’s Amazing Talent.” Here is a bit of the beginning of the work:

–

“Jake’s Amazing Talent”

The last thing Jake expected to be when he woke up on Monday was dead.

“Not today,” Jake moaned. Jake Hawkins was an ad consultant for a large grocery store corporation. He was born into the job. His father started the corporation over thirty years ago. Jake was raised with the notion that this great business would be his as soon as his father kicked the bucket. So patiently Jake grew up, waiting. Never did another thought enter his head other than the idea of owning this large moneymaking business.

But now that would never happen because Jake Hawkins, age twenty-eight, was dead. He sat up in his bed, yawned, and thought about this some more. His arm itched so he scratched it. Jake collapsed back down on his bed. “Oh, why today,” he moaned again. “Why did I have to die today?”

Today he was supposed to propose a new ad campaign to the board (He was calling it “Eat to Live.”). His father hoped that his presentation would show his strength to the members so they would not worry when he inherited the stores. But that was all too late.

“I’m dead…. I’m dead…. I’m dead….” He kept mumbling it to himself. It felt so weird to say it. The idea of death was just something Jake never pictured happening to him. He was always raised with the notion that he was somewhat greater than normal people. He was the heir to the great business king and his veins flowed with blue blood…. Or better yet, had flowed with green money-like blood.

He was dead.

–

You can read the rest of the story here. I hope you like it.
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May 11, 2012

Episode Six: Time Out Of Mind
Episode 6 of

Time Out Of Mind,

The Sequel to

The Dante Experience

“The Hunt”

OPENING CREDITS

Scene 1

SOUND: Of Heaven.

REPAIR ANGEL: Here is your problem right here. Look at all the memory you have used on your computer. No wonder it’s bombed.

MICHAEL: Oh, hi your great holiness. I didn’t know you were listening in. The computer repair angel here is just trying to get the computer up and running again.

REPAIR ANGEL: What are all these pictures?

MICHAEL: Oh, nothing! Just delete that!

REPAIR ANGEL: Who is she?

MICHAEL: Nothing, nothing… Anyway…

REPAIR ANGEL: She certainly is flexible whoever she is… (more…)
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May 8, 2012

Upon The Ground: Rise Up And Kiss The Wind
It is Tuesday and GreenSpotBlue.com is sharing another short story from my collection Upon The Ground. Today is the story, “Rise Up And Kiss The Wind.”

Here is the beginning from the story (here):

–

“Rise Up And Kiss The Wind”

He was back. Again.

And even though he returned once every five years something was final about this one. He knew it would be his last visit.

The old man could tell he was not long for this world. It wasn’t the fact that he wasn’t in the greatest health. He was in fine health and people in his family were known for long lives. It was a mental struggle. He no longer wanted to live. He was ready to shake off the mortal coils and move on.

And this was the place he was going to die.

It was perfect.

It was beautiful and serene.

It was more than just a cottage near the beach; it was part of his life. It was part of his being. It was the place where his life changed and led him to this destiny.

It was the place where his wife died.

Many people in the area have theories of why he always returned. He even heard two little boys yesterday call him “Old Man Death” when he was visiting his wife’s grave. But when he turned around to see the children, they were gone. It’s amazing how cruel people can be when they don’t know what they are talking about.

–

You can read the rest of the story here. I hope you enjoy it.
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May 4, 2012

Episode Five: Time Out Of Mind
Episode 5 of

Time Out Of Mind,

the sequel to

The Dante Experience

“A Night at the Theater”

OPENING CREDITS

Scene 1

SOUND: Of Heaven.

MICHAEL: Hello, your holiness, I have returned. I’m sorry about all that and my date. I’m so red. I mean, if angels could blush I would be red, not red like a devil or anything. Red just doesn’t work for me. Tried dressing up as a devil once for Halloween. I had this little tail and pitchfork and I was poking people with it and you probably don’t want to hear about that. Anyway, I brought some paradise cleaner that should help the mess and… Ok, I’ll just put it here.

SOUND: Putting cleaning supplies down.

MICHAEL: Ok, let me boot up my computer and the surveillance equipment and the video players and see what I have missed. Let’s see… Well, at least some good news since we know that one of the dragons is in Camelot. Of course, you can’t help but wonder what the other dragons have gone and what they are planning and… Do you wonder things like that? I mean… Nevermind. So the group is in the right spot. The group, now including Benjamin Franklin, are in the court of King Arthur. Our team of General Joseph, Jenkins and Dante are… Hmmm… Oh, here they are.

SOUND: Computer Beep.

MICHAEL: They have escaped France after having their heads chopped off and have been transported by the Angel Transportation League to a small village near Camelot. (more…)
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May 1, 2012

Upon The Ground: Breathing Lessons
A new short story from my collection Upon The Ground is available via the literary Web site, Green Spot Blue. This is the sixth story from the collection (You can read the other stories via the links on the Upon The Ground page on this site).

This week’s story is entitled “Breathing Lessons.” You can read it here. Here is an excerpt from the beginning of the story.

–

“Breathing Lessons”

She has asthma. And sometimes it could get really bad. Especially when she was very nervous and scared. When she was a little girl, bullies would tease her because of it. They would watch her face turn blue and laugh when she started making wheezing noises through her throat. Then she would start to hyperventilate and once she even passed out from the excitement. She remembers waking up later in the nurses’ office with a cold rag held to her head.

But all that was so long ago and now it was very rare when it would get that bad. The last experience she had with it that bad was during her wedding. She remembers vividly the old feelings running through her mind as she tried to keep standing on her feet. “Try to keep calm. You’ll be fine,” she said in her mind throughout the ceremony. She could feel the attention bearing down on her. His hand reached out at just the right moment….

“He did this to me,” Stacy said as she rubbed her enlarged stomach. “This is all his fault.”

She sighed. That was a lie. She wanted to have the child. He felt it was too soon, but he didn’t argue the point. So really it wasn’t all his fault. It was her decision. Well, it was her choice. She just forgot to worry about the pain aspect of it and what that would do to her nerves.

“I have too much time to think,” she said to herself. Her doctor ordered her to stay in bed (she felt something that didn’t feel right) and she had as many days as it would take of not moving to look forward.

–

You can check out the rest of the story here. Thank you for reading!
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April 27, 2012

Episode Four: Time Out Of Mind
Episode 4 of

Time Out Of Mind,

the sequel to

The Dante Experience

“Michael Has a Date”

OPENING CREDITS

Scene 1

SOUND: Of Heaven

MICHAEL: (Flying in) Hello, hello. Sir. I received your page. What’s going on is something wrong? What is that you have there?

SOUND: Paper rustling.

MICHAEL: For me? Ok, let me just read this note and… Ok, you really didn’t need the swear words! All you had to do was ask? I’ll tell you what is going on? No problem. I’ll just boot up the system here and as I do, I will tell you…

SOUND: Computer booting up.

MICHAEL: Ok, there we go… In the year 3020, genetic engineers on earth have developed the capability to create dragons. And these creatures, as I’ve been told by those damn future watchers, were used to for sport at amusement parks. See, mankind has always had a fascination with dragons- from bad movies to bad… well, frankly a lot of bad things, probably one of the reasons that the dragons are upset right there. Anyway, these futuristic dragons would be created, raised for a week then killed for sport by a knight… Now where the problem took place is that they kept recreating the same dragons! You see what I am getting at?… No? Ok, well, these dragons hate being brought to life and being killed over and over again, so one of the smart ones, Smaug is his name, decided to seek revenge. So him and his fellow dragons broke out of the lab early and stole a time traveling device in the hope of destroying mankind in the past where he doesn’t have the tools to fight back… Of course what they don’t realize is if they destroy man in the past, they will be erased from existence…

SOUND: Of computer beeping.

MICHAEL: And if they go back too far, maybe wipe all of us out of existence… Not you, of course, but for us it is sticky situation. Right now, the only people that can save the day are the group from the Dante Experience since they were given the weapon from the knight. And, as luck would have it, they have already killed one of the five in revolutionary Paris and…

KELLII: (chewing gum) What is this place? What is that smell? It smells like incense. (more…)
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April 25, 2012

Dinner With Jack the Ripper… a scene from MY PROBLEM WITH DOORS
Today, I am going to do something a little different and share a scene from my novel My Problem With Doors. After being honored in a novel writing competition, it was published by a new small press in late 2010 (you can find it on amazon.com here and as an eBook on Google here).

This is probably one of my favorite moments from the novel. I hope you enjoy this excerpt.

–

He was waiting at a table in a private part of the restaurant. He was sitting alone and tracing his fork across the tablecloth. He seemed to be fascinated by the lines they made on the fabric. His medical tool chest was nearby on a separate chair. It was as if he had positioned his weapons so I would know that they were there. It was when he took a sip of his red wine that he noticed me standing near him. His smile broke into a frown. “You’re late.”

“You didn’t give me a time.”

That answer didn’t appease him. “I’m not the kind of person who should be kept waiting.”

I decided not to test him with a biting reply and sat quietly across from him.

Jack seemed to be overjoyed that I was there. He clapped his hands cheerfully and motioned for the waiter to come over. “My guest has arrived.” (more…)
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April 24, 2012

Upon The Ground: In Wonderland
A new short story from my collection, Upon The Ground, is up on Green Spot Blue (You can always catch up on previous short stories from the work via the Upon The Ground page above). This story (here) is entitled “In Wonderland.” Here is a snippet from the beginning…

–

“In Wonderland”

A Beginning

The theme for freshman week was “Alice in Wonderland.” So the halls and the rooms and the campus were covered with copies of the drawings from the Lewis Carroll books. Events were planned around the stories from “Meet Your Dorm” card games night to a live chessboard on Saturday for the amusement of the first parents’ weekend.

Alan Milne was proud to be the first one to tear down one of the ridiculous signs (It looked like nothing more than a bad photocopy of a page anyway). He stuffed it into his coat pocket, picked his bags back up and headed for his dorm room.

Milton Thinks

Ugh, another normal mortal. He will breath my air and make everything complacent. He gawks at my black suit and black coat and tries to see behind my sunglasses. God, let them be a mystery, commoner! But question me. Learn to accept the immortal that stands before you.

I am art.

“So what’s your major going to be?” The mortal asks me awkwardly. He’s trying to have a conversation with me. How cute! How quaint! Makes me feel like having a glass of milk and watching a sitcom.

“I’m a poet, my major is life,” I say with a scowl. I love the sound of my voice. It rings through the air like the clearest bells.

“So you write poems?”

“No I write a poem.”

–

You can read the rest of the story here… And by the way, if you like this story and my other writing, why not check out my amazon.com page (here). You can find my novels My Problem With Doors and Megan there for your reading pleasure.

Thanks for reading!
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April 20, 2012

Episode Three: Time Out Of Mind
Episode 3 of

Time Out Of Mind,

the sequel to

The Dante Experience

“A Duel for Josephine”

OPENING CREDITS

Scene 1

SOUND: Of Heaven.

MICHAEL: Ok, lunchtime is over sir. Where were we? Ok, there are five dragons going through time trying to destroy the history of mankind. They are being chased by the kids from The Dante Experience under the leadership of Susan. From Heaven we have sent our own task force consisting of General Joseph, Angel Jenkins and Dante to help. And then there is… Ok, I’m getting a transmission from Angel Ted. After my encounter with Mephistopheles on Dead Celebrity Tic Tac Toe, I asked Angel Ted to keep an eye on the devil to see what he’s doing. We now go to Angel Ted live in Hell. Ted are you there?

Scene 2

SOUND: Of Hell- Outside of noise.

TED: (To himself) Another great assignment with Michael. I wish I had an excuse to… (Noticing he is on, upset and sarcastic throughout all his lines) Well, Hello Angel Michael.

MICHAEL: (confused) Ah, hi Angel Ted. Is everything ok?

TED: Oh, yeah. Everything is super.

MICHAEL: Good.

TED: Everything is super keen.

MICHAEL: Ok.

TED: With a capital K. Keeeeeeeen.

MICHAEL: Ted, if there is a problem this is probably the wrong time. I’m currently in the big guy’s throne room and…. (more…)
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