short fiction

Along The Road To VR (edited 2021, drafted 2015)

A funny thing happened on the way to building Virtual Reality.
The summer of 1990 in Seattle at HITL was my bliss.
Day one: William with interns seated in a circle began with, "Build us VR." With that, he leaned back, crossed his arms and smiled.
There was a moment before anyone spoke.
Each of the interns until this very moment had a different perception of what this summer might be. The closest common theme probably being: each was here to be a grunt programmer.
Dav broke the silence, "I want a light-seeking cube!"
William smiled.
The conversation quickly covered rules, pattern-matching, sensors and receptors, etc.
I interrupted with, “But what is a reality, in the generic sense?”
William’s smile grew bigger.

Gray Rights Now! (2020)

“Hello, and welcome to the show!” A celebrity talk show host runs through her opening monologue and announces that as a special, there is only the headline guest today.
A brief series of news clips run with our host’s image superimposed while she’s talking.
The first clip shows Gray aliens with picket signs displaying slogans like “Gray Rights Now” and “Gray Pride”. Another has social media hashtags, “#Gray #ComingOut”.
“Well, folks,” Hellen begins, “you’ve heard about them for a few weeks now, so we wanted to bring one in for a get-to-know-ya chat.” …

Mickey’s Turn (2018)

Ever wonder where cats go or what becomes of them?

The Quality Without Being Named (2018)

Elegant concepts explained within a modern classic book become divorced from its guidance, and efforts at getting a mundane item such as a book returned echo how one might miss the bigger picture.

Dream Some And Then Some (2018)

Winston has an adventure through a maze-like building, experiences anomalies along the way, feels compelled to enter what seems like a hotel room but concludes it’s more than he anticipated.
His day only gets weirder from there.

Keep Purring (2018)

“If a space alien were to land and say that no more flies should be killed, would you honor that request?”
“That’s an appeal from authority and would be an argument from fallacy.”
“Perhaps this being knows something that you don’t.”
“Then he or she— or it— can explain why.”
“Perhaps it’s a matter beyond your comprehension.”
“Try me.” …

Toon Spaceships (2018)

Appearing in the twilight sky, a spaceship hangs low and looks as if designed by a student for homework. It comprises simple additive geometry of spheres, cylinders and cubes that were only rotated and scaled on various axes but otherwise not deformed or using any other custom shapes. …

Timeline, Interrupted (2017)

An explanation for the so-called "Mandela Effect"

The Ad Network (2008)

A cautious tale about going against one’s intuition and mistakenly believing that it takes a certain type of character to launch a Silicon Valley style tech startup.

This Seattle tech company started, launched and then failed inside of six months.

Cracker (2006)

Adventures with pocket-sized art

Raleigh: All You Need Is A Three (2003; screenplay 2003)

Origins of an unnatural attachment to a classic 3-speed bicycle

In The Mind Of The Beholder (2001)

Concept by Emily — When dreams, memories and past lives collide with reality

Out Of The Blue (2001; screenplay 2004)

Life-threatening events are sometimes necessary to wake someone from a mundane life

Short Fiction &Other Stories

Short Fiction &
Other Stories