squares

short stories

Title: Black Friday
Author: Harper Kingsley
Setting: Universe B
Framework: Heroes & Villains
Characters: Vereint Georges, Sandra Georges, Patrick Georges
Genre: superhero, sci-fi

There were times when young Vereint Georges thought his family was weird. Thanksgiving was one of those times.

They bundled up in their winter coats and climbed into the station wagon at ten in the morning and headed to Willsbury, the next town over. Shining Star Grove wasn’t big enough for its own movie theater, so they had to make the 45 minute drive in the snow to make the 11:15 matinee showing of Mr. Garbello’s Balloon.

Vereint wasn’t very enthused about the academy Award nominated movie, but he was happy to be out of the house. Plus they were going to Chang’s Chinese Buffet afterward, which was always a treat. His mom didn’t believe in wasting money on restaurants and always said things tasted better when they were made at home. Except her version of egg rolls had been really terrible–he’d seen her scrape most of them into the garbage and wished she’d done that before making him eat one.

Dad switched on the radio as soon as they were in the car. He was the driver and he had control of what they listened to. Considering the radio only caught four stations and one was religious and two others were country western, it wasn’t like there was much to choose from. They always listened to the tinny sounding rock and roll station, and Mom would sing along and she sounded better than the people on the radio.

Vereint sat or laid in the backseat shivering until the car heated up. The orangey-brown vinyl always took forever to warm up in the winter and his bare legs stuck to it in the summer. Dad said … Read the rest “Black Friday [Vereint Georges, pre-Darkstar]”

Title: Two Scenes
Subtitle: Kanon vs Canon: Behemoth
Author: Harper Kingsley
Genre: science fiction, superhero, action
Link to part one: Two Scenes 01

The sounds of battle were getting closer and he found himself bracing for that moment when Behemoth crushed him and the civilians that depended on him. Hearing the adults hushing the panicked children above him did not make him feel any better. There were lives depending on him.

Seth kicked up his speed, praying that he could get them away before the fight reached their location. He could hear the shrieks of the children as they were jostled around inside the van, but he didn’t have the wherewithal to worry about them. He had to focus on getting away.

He thought he could feel Behemoth’s hot breath on the back of his neck, that was how close Behemoth was getting. It seemed the giant villain had spotted the van and had decided to go after the kids.

Title: Tears
Author: Harper Kingsley
Genre: drama, angst
Summary: There are times when she retreats to the solitude of her bedroom and cries.

There are times when she retreats to the solitude of her bedroom and cries. There’s something cleansing about tears, about cracking the hard shell of her emotions and letting all the hate, rage, and sadness out in one uninterrupted flood of tears. To cry until her eyes ached and her nose was red and sore.

And then she washed her face–flipping her eyelids back to release the trapped salt deposits to prevent swollen eyelids–and crawled into her bed. It let her paste the plastic smile on her face with the morning light and pretend that everything was good, she was happy and nothing was dying inside.

Being able to cry was the only thing that let her face the days of boredom and abuse. She was a loser, but she could pretend otherwise if she tried hard enough.

Title: Two Scenes
Subtitle: Kanon vs Canon: Behemoth
Author: Harper Kingsley
Genre: science fiction, superhero, action

TWO SCENES
Kanon vs Canon: Behemoth
By Harper Kingsley

The team was still one member short with the death of Sonic Pulse. They’d had to switch up their offense/defense strategies to accommodate her absence. It left things feeling a bit lopsided and they hadn’t yet become used to the new arrangement. Which made it the perfect time for them to answer an emergency call.

“What exactly are we headed into?” Seth asked, pulling on his armored undersuit.

“They’re being a bit shady with the info,” Powergirl said. She’d already changed and was sitting sideways on the bench, a tablet resting on her bent knees. “They say we’ll be briefed once we reach Star City.”

Seth exchanged a glance with Teen Steel. “You’re making me nervous. I don’t like the idea of heading into deadly situations blindly.”

Teen Steel pulled his uniform shirt out of his locker. “I feel like we’re about to be screwed over.”

“Royally,” Seth said.

Through a window darkly gazing
At a sight afraid to see
Breathing deep the salted water
Dreaming dreams, of you and me.