Michael Dilts
Stories (30/0)
Detour
The road ahead was a smear, a smudge of charcoal on a stained and dirty canvas, stretching across a featureless landscape toward the horizon. There was a ragged stubble of half-naked bushes along the edge of the asphalt, whipped about by the wind and flailing their bony branches like tortured souls as I passed by. Beyond that unkempt fringe was nothing but endless acres of rock and sand, spreading monotonously in all directions. It was hard to believe the map on my phone, which assured me that there would be a little town less than an hour away. At this point I would welcome the livid glow of neon, the cluster of ugly structures huddled together like stranded survivors at the edge of the void. I would order myself a cheap greasy burger from whatever joint I could find and be on my way, fortified to face whatever creatures lay waiting ahead in the alien terrain.
By Michael Dilts8 months ago in Fiction
Tippecanoe and Telemischief Too. Runner-Up in Next Great [American] Novel Challenge.
Will Harrison looked around the grounds of old estate. It had been - what? Two decades? Twenty-four years since he had last taken his leave? The grouse still called and drummed from the copses of trees nearby, but the landscaping had not been well-maintained and the brush was overgrown. However the brick façade upon which he had insisted, with its double layer of graceful columns, still cast its spell, speaking of power and privilege just like the aristocratic homes of his native Virginia.
By Michael Dilts10 months ago in Fiction
The Cottage in the Woods
You've probably heard Greta's version of events. I know I have. It's a gruesome goulash of grotesque gibberish, a fulsome farrago of fearsome falsehoods, a sickening salmagundi of salacious slander. Even though I am the target, I trust that it is obvious she has concocted a self-serving fable that features Greta as the virtuous heroine and myself as the irredeemable villain. Of course, it might come as a bit of a surprise to her that I am still alive, since her melodrama ends with my murder (fully justified, apparently) at her hands.
By Michael Dilts11 months ago in Fiction
Subscribe to my stories
Show your support and receive all my stories in your feed.
Send me a tip
Show your support with a small one-off tip.