Posted by Tony Lieu on December 15th, 2006 — Posted in Scribbling, Bah Humbug
Hollman Collins woke up on that Friday morning, November 19th 2004, expecting nothing special. Hollman was an assistant, but not any regular variety. There are executive assistants, and there are administrative assistants, and then there are completely other kinds. He fit into the latter category.
Hollman woke each day never knowing what to expect. He earned a handsome salary by keeping the truly wealthy happy and comfortable. He could never explain how or why exactly he ended up with this career, but he was perfectly happy with it. Each day was an adventure, some more than others, some tedious, but never dull.
Hollman’s last employer was a very wealthy but very elderly man. Three months ago, he passed away. Given the nature of his profession, Hollman was very well connected with his potential employers, but even so, open positions came few and far between. This left most days generally uneventful.
That morning, however, an expensive courier knocked on his door, asked for a signature, and offered him an unmarked white envelope. Inside the envelope was a small card, of heavy stock. The card was neatly printed with a time and date, early next week, and an address, in Nebraska of all places. With no better plans, Hollman decided to buy the plane tickets he needed to set out to attend the mysterious appointment.
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Posted by Tony Lieu on October 15th, 2006 — Posted in Stories, Fantasy
Thwack! Gwam chopped the last of the reddish fruits from the tree with his flat stone axe. His friend Reth caught the fruit and placed it into the wicker basket resting on the ground behind him.
“Axe!” Gwam shouted, and Reth below picked up the basket and gingerly stepped away from the tree.
Gwam gripped the axe lightly between two fingers, at the middle of the blade end, looked carefully, and let it fall to the ground below. Gwam preferred the climb down, with both his hands free.
When he was down on the ground, Reth handed him the basket, picked up the axe and stepped to the next tree to be harvested. Gwam gladly took the opportunity to stretch his tired limbs on the ground while his friend climbed.
Harvesting and gathering was usually women’s work, but the sweet Bajoog fruit was a special case. Growing only in the limbs of tall trees called for climbing, and requiring axe work to harvest turned it into a mans duty. Gwam could usually convince himself that he really was content to avoid running around all day in chase of game.
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Posted by Tony Lieu on September 27th, 2006 — Posted in Scribbling, SciFi
Stan found himself in a medical bay. He was sitting, or rather reclining, on one of the examination tables. These general facts about his surroundings he recognized easily. As he looked more closely at anything in particular, his stomach knotted as his mind tied into sickening knots. His earliest memory was waking up in this very med bay about two hours ago, and everything since then had confused him terribly.
The door hissed open, and a man stepped through. He walked directly to Stan’s table and stuck out his hand. Stan saw this, and thought that it was a strange thing to do. “Stan?” the man asked.
Stan looked up at the sound of the voice, with his eyebrows twisted in a questioning gaze.
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Posted by Tony Lieu on September 25th, 2006 — Posted in Scribbling, Bah Humbug
“Daddy, tell us the story of how you met mommy again,” my five year old daughter Beth pleaded, as I tucked her into bed.
“Oh yes daddy, please!” her sister Jane, two years the elder, echoed.
“Please, please!” they chorus, hopping on the bed.
I don’t know what fascinated them so much about this story, I seem to recount it once a week for them. But being a father, my little princesses have a special place in my heart. Whatever their reasons, I continue to indulge them.
“It was back when daddy was just a kid. Older than you girls, but still a kid, a teenager. I was in high school, actually. That’s a lot like your school, but it’s for the older kids.
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Posted by Tony Lieu on September 17th, 2006 — Posted in Scribbling, SciFi
The deep space survey ship Sojourner has just passed the halfway point of an eight month scientific mission to survey the planets of nearby solar systems. It is one of many such ships, all seeking eagerly to make discoveries that its crew can claim as their own. This is all a result of humanity’s most recent significant scientific breakthrough, affording faster than light travel. The Sojourner is currently on a more traditional ion drive skip across the alien solar system, from one planet to another.
“What was that?” the captain bellows, grabbing the padded arms of his seat as the ship lurches dramatically. “Status, Jenkins!” he barks.
“Checking, sir,” I answer obediently, holding back any other comments with a combination of duty to my superior officer and plain fear. As my fingers dance across the controls, I thank my lucky stars that I’m not the ship doctor, she is going to have her hands full judging from the force of that blast.
“A sudden and intense abnormality has developed,” I answer, “some sort of electrical storm, centered almost exactly on our position. Sensor data reveals no anomalies detected in the area until just moments before the initial impact.”
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