Short Stories

Thirteen year old Dan circled the five foot tall cactus carefully. He stayed well away from the long skinny arms that seemed to reach out for him whenever he got too close. He grinned mischievously, rubbing his hands together in glee. This is perfect, he thought to himself. Looking carefully around to make sure no one could see him, he pulled out a pair of long tongs his father used to turn hotdogs on the grill. Slowly, for he certainly didn’t want to get stuck by the barbed cactus himself, he grasped the topmost section of the long cactus arm and twisted. With hardly any effort at all,...

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Patrick Nolan didn’t think of himself as a coward. But when a Union musket ball bit into the tree next to his head sending little pieces of wood into his ear and scalp, Patrick lost all thought of anything except one: get away! His rifle fell from nerveless fingers his eyes locked on the looming, angry, ugly faces of the Union soldiers scrambling towards him. Loosing all sense of reality and thought except one, he darted down the back slope of the forested ridge. Bullets and musket balls whipped through the trees sounding like angry bees, each one spurring Patrick to even more frantic efforts...

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The perfect Christmas tree is hard to find, particularly when you are tramping around the mountains instead of a tree farm. But what would Christmas be without a tree? And out West, there could only be one type of tree suitable for Christmas—a pine tree. The tree is the center of our Christmas decorations and is the focus of much of the Christmas spirit into our homes. Therefore, finding the right tree is important—essential even. I can see him now, standing on top of the hill, a good quarter of a mile from the truck, and pointing at a pine tree ten feet high. A giant among Christmas trees...

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Easter. A word, a holiday, that ought to conjure up images of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but for me, an eight year old boy living in Phoenix Arizona, I thought of only one thing: Easter Egg Hunt. Like most typical boys, dressing up for Easter church services had about as much appeal as being asked to kiss one’s sister for the cuteness factor of a family photo. But mom insisted that we at least look presentable at church—although being from a church going family, I didn’t see the big deal of dressing up extra special for this one particular service. But, I was willing, if for nothing...

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I love to hike in the mountains. And, if I may boast, I never get lost. Usually. This time, when the clouds rolled in obscuring the sun and casting everything into deep shadows, I knew I was in trouble. Suddenly everything began to blend together. Colors faded from the landscape and the ominous clouds hid any hint of the sun’s location. I halted my return trek and looked nervously around. I stood in a shallow valley nestled between three peaks of equal height and proportions. Pine trees and shadow obscured much of what could be seen in dark shades of green. In front of me, the valley split...

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