My Mindfudge

(Bad backstage passes) In 1988, After failing to meet them on two prior occasions after shows, I took two Metallica CD album packages (they used to come in these large cardboard containers) and cut out a 3” x 6” section of the album art from the box, laminated them with packaging tape from work, put a lanyard through them (like they were ‘backstage passes’) and went to the ‘Justice for All’…

‘Morning breath’ is an unpleasant aspect of human life. That isn’t exactly a scientific breakthrough statement. Our mouths are literally petri dishes of disgusting germs waiting to multiply and spread. It makes sense that as we sleep, our saliva glands become stagnant and stale. Lack of open mouth, conscious breathing and fresh air creates an environment rich in smelly, bacterial growth. I’ve…

Ivan Boatwright was a surly gent of advanced years. He lived alone in rural England. Time had softened his mental aptitude but life experience hardened his resolve to remain independent. He cooked and cleaned for himself. He made small home repairs. He chopped enough wood to keep the fireplace burning on frigid winter nights; and for entertainment, he curled up with good books.  While Ivan was…

If you have followed my fiction writing submissions here for a while and had to choose one story for a special project, which would you choose?

As the balmy gales of autumn blew. Two fierce hunters, they both knew. Stalking an enemy across foreign dust. Sand drank the blood of mortal thrusts. The beast now slain, but wasn’t sought. Most external conflicts are inner fought

Prior to a series of recent revelations, I was essentially oblivious to everything. You could say I became ‘self aware’ after encountering a small blue planet which I then settled on, but my current omnipotence doesn’t fill in the gaps of my past origin. I know that I floated on powerful solar winds like an aimless dandelion waiting for greater purpose to present itself. The rest of my truth is…

In the storied history of the world, it was bound to happen at some point. A biblical-level hypochondriac encountered his morose doppelgänger; a professional ‘Negative Nelly’. In their unspoken agreement, ‘no quarter’ was declared as they soon went toe-to-toe. They sought to outdo each other in a public battle of ‘who had it worse.’ On the surface, it seemed they were both in exceptionally good…

Among the countless maladies and hardships affecting humanity, no one expected another, all-encompassing epidemic to be added to the equation. Tree branches still smacked against each other in the rustling wind. Dogs still barked in neighborhoods. Noisy industrial machinery continued to produce a discordant hum. In short, an infinite number of calamitous noises polluted the airwaves globally, but…

In Krindish, the word for butterfly means ‘beautiful’. Such an innocuous statement might evoke preconceived notions of vivid colors and delicate, fluttering wings innocently floating in the wind. In their case however, it’s an extremely different scenario. The warm feelings and joyful memories it triggers in Earthlings are directly tied to the dainty terrestrial variety of the flying creature we…

Throughout my considerable travels, I’ve encountered numerous wonders. What’s life without a little excitement thrown in, here and there? These unworldly mysteries have never failed to intrigue my curiosity and draw me in; to both adventure and peril.  This one was no different… I was canvassing the great western desert to discover if I had the mettle to survive in one of the harshest…

For today I live; yet tomorrow we die. Cherish all of your joys until the end draws nigh. Seek out adventure.  Hill or mountain high. Seize the opportunity  and don’t ponder why.  Your time is priceless. More you can’t buy. Once the race is over, others are left to cry.

Feet which have trod too great a distance at the bequest of their owner, develop calluses to protect themselves from further abuse. A strained back, burdened from carrying too many heavy loads, will broaden at the shoulders. That is nature’s way of compensating for the excesses of manual labor. The visual organ however, can only do so much to defend from the repercussions of witnessing abject…

“Dr. Madrone, there’s a ‘Dr. Julius Scot’ to see you, sir. He says it is extremely urgent. Shall I send him in?” “No Stacy. I’m trying to get caught up on all these research grant financial forms. Please ask him to explain the nature of his visit and I’ll get in touch with him as soon as I possibly can. Be sure and get his contact information. Now please; let me get this confounded end-of-month…

Perhaps due to my burning curiosity and unquenched desire to know what lies beyond this mortal realm, one night I was instantly transported to the absolute edge of everything. On this side of the void, every single thing we know. What we see, smell, hear, taste, and feel. On the other side of the nightmarish threshold was pure, unadulterated nothingness. It was displayed to my unblinking eyes in…

“That’s an understandable question, Mr. Howard. We are communicating back and forth. Your responses are relevant and articulate. Your reflexes to various stimuli tests are somewhat subdued but within acceptable limits. Perhaps a bit on the low side but still decent. Overall, I’d say you meet most of the criteria.” “Thank you, Doctor… Is that ‘Lib..er..ty on your tag? I apologize. I must’ve lost…

They say that to kill a serpent, you must cut off the head. Once severed, the lifeless, slithering mass of nerve endings has no command center. Similarly, the way to destroy a thriving civilization is to interrupt its vital communication network and sense of ‘normalcy’. The modern world thrived, and later died on the dependability of the supply chain of various every day things.  Ordinary goods…

In 2022, NASA’s command center received a cryptic message from one of its deep-space research vessels. At 14.6 billion miles from Earth, ‘Voyager 1’ began transmitting a nonsensical notification about its coordinates in the distant ‘heliopause’. The numerical sequence contained only strings of zeros and a repeated three-digit number: ‘3-7-7’. At the time, the dedicated scientists suspected solar…