“These Violent Delights.” Friday Flash Fics from Jeff Baker. July 18, 2025.

Posted on July 18, 2025 by jeffbaker307

These Violent Delights

by Jeff Baker

“Shh! Quiet!” Bax said.

“I’m quiet, dammit! Where is the damn thing?” Sommerfield said.

“I’m not sure,” Bax said. “All these machines look alike.”

The room was cavernous, with row after row of grey metal boxes pressed back-to-back against one another leaving only a small space for someone to walk in front of them. Each one was as big as one of their rooms in the barracks, Sommerfield thought.

Bax jumped across the walkway, landing on one of the machines, waving Sommerfield over.

“We don’t have much time.” Bax said.

“We don’t have any time.” Sommerfield said.

“I know,” Bax said, sticking his arm down between the backs of two of the machines, his cheek almost lying flat on the machine’s top.

“Use this,” Sommerfield said, turning on the flashlight on his revulator and shining the beam into the darkness.

“Turn that thrice-damned thing off!” Bax snapped.

“Remember, I outrank you,” Sommerfield said tapping the insignia patch on the sleeve of his uniform.

“Right, right!” Bax said flashing a half grin for a moment. They weren’t actually members of the Stellar Guard; they had been placed on the station with other members of the team infiltrating the Guard unit.

The unexpected part of their mission was discovering that another espionage team was active on the station and had planted what intelligence called “a destructive timed device.”

Sabotaging the Station Master’s operation was one thing. Blowing up over 450 people was another.

And doomsday was set for 2700 hundred hours. Not long.

“Not there,” Bax said standing up. “You take that side and I’ll take that side.”

But Sommerfield found the device in a matter of moments at the far end of a row of the machines, in the crack between the back and front; something in the shadows seemed darker. Sommerfield shined his light into the dark space and it revealed what looked like a wad of dirty something about the size of his fist and flattened into a slightly bulging disc.

Sommerfield pulled the object gingerly out from under the dingy curve of tubing that concealed it. Smeared with grime it blended in with the dark. Sommerfield rubbed the device with his sleeve uncovering an unlit display counting down time.

“Found it!” Sommerfield said.

Bax rushed up, Sommerfield held up a hand.

“Not an explosive, a chemical device,” Sommerfield said. “I’ve seen these before.

“Poison.” Bax said. “Spread all over the station.”

“How far is the nearest ejector portal?” Sommerfield asked.

“Not far,” Bax said as the two of them headed for the door, device in hand.

The slogans they would see in the lounge rooms of the stations ran through their heads: KNOW WHERE YOUR PORTALS ARE. KEEP OUR STATION CLEAN.

Sommerfield clicked open the ejector room door and realized he was sweating.

The portal was an unassuming box the size of a station clothes dryer at the end of the room on the far wall.

They put the device in, shut the lid and swiped the screen.

There was a click and a whoooshing sound.

“Look,” Bax said.

Through the small, round porthole to one side of the machine they could barely see the object ejected from the station, lit by the reflected sunlight off the planet beneath them. After a moment, the device seemed to blur as if someone had smeared something against the backdrop of stars. A blur that spread slightly.

“The gas,” Sommerfield said.

Bax and Sommerfield watched as the blur dissipated slowly in space, drawn towards the planet they were all orbiting.

Sommerfield and Bax sagged against the wall. They had barely made it.

“Think that was all of them?” Sommerfield asked.

Bax nodded. “One was all the message warned about.”

“If that had been a bomb, the regular station personnel would have noticed the explosion outside.” Sommerfield said.

“Certainly would have noticed it if it had gone off inside,” Bax said.

The two of them walked out into the main corridor.

“I wish we’d had time to examine that device before it went off,” Sommerfield said. “Maybe found out something about the other team that planted it.”

“Maybe it wasn’t another team,” Bax said. “Maybe it was one of ours.”

The two of them walked along quietly.

—end—

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“Come Play With Me.” Horrors for the July 2025 Flash Fiction Draw Challenge Results. (July 14, 2025.) Posted by Mike Mayak.

Posted on July 14, 2025 by jeffbaker307
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Hi! I’m Mike, A.K.A. Jeff Baker.

The draws for the July 2025 Flash Fiction Draw Challenge were:

A Horror Story

Set in A Pool Hall

Involving a Rusted Knife

E. H. Timms has given us a fine and memorable poem: “Come Play With Me.” https://thinkingthinking123.blogspot.com/2025/07/flash-fic-challenge-come-play-with-me.html

And I wrote: “I Would Speak Daggers.” (Yes, another title from Shakespeare.) https://authorjeffbaker.com/2025/07/08/a-dagger-of-the-mind-july-2025-flash-fiction-draw-challenge-story-from-mike-mayak-a-k-a-jeff-baker-july-8th-2025/

Thanks for participating, and for reading and remember it’s never too late to write your own story, post it in the comments and I’ll link it here.

We’ll be back with another draw on August 4th, 2025.

Thanks again, and pleasant…dreams?

—–mike

Posted in E. H. Timms, Fiction, Horror, Monthly Flash Fiction Draw Challenge, Poems, Poetry, Short-Stories | Leave a comment

Superman’s Legacy by Jeff Baker

Posted on July 11, 2025 by jeffbaker307
Photo by Abigail Sylvester on Pexels.com

Far-right activists are screaming that Superman has become “Woke.”

Having read comics for almost sixty years I can vouch for our favorite Kryptonian.

Well, of course Superman is “woke.” He always has been. Of course, conservatives think that’s a bad thing. Back during WWII Superman fought fictional Nazis and his image was used in fundraisers geared to combatting the Axis. Today, MAGA conservatives embrace open Nazis like Elon Musk and his Hitler-praising A.I. (a thing that was fictional in Superman-related comics for decades.) During the Civil Rights era, the Man Of Steel was featured in public service ads promoting Brotherhood (You can call it “Wokeness,” if you want.) This was back when American Family Association founder Don Wildmon was crusading against letting Black people in where the White Folks are. (Schools, stores, ect.) Most of these conservatives probably don’t know that Superman has Jewish roots, right down to his creators: Jewish Cleveland boys Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster patterning his origin on the story of Moses. “Woke” is easy to say and to remember and it’s catchy. It has become a nifty substitute for the anti-Black, anti-LGBT, antisemitic, anti-immigrant rhetoric that white supremacists can’t get away with anymore. As for the Cold War era “Truth, Justice and the American Way” slogan (from the openings of Supes’ media appearances) he said “We fight for truth, justice but not necessarily our way” in a comic I read back during the Reagan Administration. In an era where some Americans are embracing our home-grown Gestapo and propaganda outlets we need good examples like our fictional hero Kal-El. Damn right he’s woke! And always has been!

Posted in Comic Books, Humanity, Politics, Superman | Leave a comment

Rainbow Snippets Goes “Over There.” July 11, 2025 from Jeff Baker.

Posted on July 11, 2025 by jeffbaker307

Every week we post six lines from a work of ours, a work-in-progress or published or a recommendation of someone else’s work with at least one LGBT character. Posted at Rainbow Snippets here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/963484217054974

This story started out with the prompt pic of an old barn just outside town and my idea for a conversation between two guys planning to “make out” inside. Somehow the idea didn’t work as a story until I remembered the 1913 date on the front of the barn. Then the story wrote itself.

And I also suddenly had the title: “Over There.” https://authorjeffbaker.com/2025/07/11/over-there-friday-flash-fics-from-jeff-baker-july-11-2025/

“There’s places in that barn in the corners, in the shadows, in the loft…if you want.” George said.

Henry looked at George. His eyes glancing over every fold of his clothing; the checked shirt, the way the dull buttons on his overalls still reflected light.

“If we get caught…” Henry said.

“We won’t.” George said. “This barn is on my land. Nobody will be coming here at this time of day.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t.” Henry said.

“Why not?” George said. “We may not get another chance…”

Not much need for a wrap-up this time around. Thanks for reading!—-jeff

Posted in LGBT, Rainbow Snippets | 5 Comments

“Over There.” Friday Flash Fics from Jeff Baker. (July 11, 2025)

Posted on July 11, 2025 by jeffbaker307

Over There

by Jeff Baker

The barn stood there, looking brand-new with its coat of red paint. The bright white raised letters above the doors proclaimed the barn’s birth year: 1913.

Standing there in their overalls lit by the setting sun, George glanced at Henry.

“Gotta thank you for all your help with the barn last year.” George said.

“Aw, it wasn’t anything.” Henry said. “Just being neighborly.”

“Yeah,” George said. He remembered he and Henry being very neighborly one night.

“There’s places in that barn in the corners, in the shadows, in the loft…if you want.” George said.

Henry looked at George. His eyes glancing over every fold of his clothing; the checked shirt, the way the dull buttons on his overalls still reflected light.

“If we get caught…” Henry said.

“We won’t.” George said. “This barn is on my land. Nobody will be coming here at this time of day.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t.” Henry said.

“Why not?” George said. “We may not get another chance. Have you seen the newspapers? All Hell is breaking loose in Europe. It’ll be war and we’ll be dragged into it, Mark my words.”

“My nephew Ray is itching to sign up.” Henry said. “How about you?”

“I was in the Army,” George said. “Stood guard when they took President McKinley to the Capitol for the last time. If I’m called to fight, I’ll go.”

“I never done anything Presidential when I was in service,” Henry said. “But I still have the uniform. If that mess comes over here I’ll be ready.”

The sky and the surroundings were getting darker. George and Henry watched the stars slowly emerge.

Henry looked at George in the dark.

“Let’s do something that has to do with peace,” Henry said.

The two men walked silently into the dark barn and closed the doors behind them.

Above the doors, the number 1913 seemed to be a smile in the dark.

—end—

Posted in Fiction, Friday Flash Fics, Friday Flash Fictions, Historical Fiction, LGBT, Short-Stories | Leave a comment

A Dagger Of the Mind? July 2025 Flash Fiction Draw Challenge Story From Mike Mayak (a.k.a. Jeff Baker) July 8th, 2025.

Posted on July 8, 2025 by jeffbaker307
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I Would Speak Daggers

by Mike Mayak

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The draws for the July 2025 Flash Fiction Draw Challenge were: A Horror Story, set in a Pool Hall, involving a Rusted Knife. Here’s what I came up with…

The pool hall was dim, lit only by the lights above the tables and the red neon signs on the walls advertising brands of beer long gone from the world. The four men in slacks and pressed shirts were gathered around a pool table.

“This is weird,” Jack said. “I had a dream about the knife last night.”

“So did I,” Reggie said.

The other two men, Edward and Joey nodded their heads.

“That meant it was time for us to gather together again,” Reggie said. “As we do every few years.”

There was near-silence in the room for a few minutes.

“Jason’s gone. Magruder. Wesley.” Joey sighed. “And Danny.”

“The most recent.” Edward said. “Pete was the first. Then Raymond. Then Reginald.”

Reggie smiled. No one else smiled.

“The other Reginald.” Edward said. “And Zachary.”

“Yeah.” Jack said. “Y’know, I saw this old movie on TV late one night. That guy who was in the Odd Couple show was in it. All about a jury. Stuck in a room talking.” He looked up at the ceiling and then down the wall. “There was a knife in that too.”

Edward bent down under the pool table and pulled out a worn case with a handle that looked like it had once held a trumpet. He set it on the table. He opened it and pulled out an object wrapped in a dark blue cloth, not silk but something else. He set the cloth down on the table and unwrapped it as one of the others set the case down on the floor.

The knife lay on the pool table. An old knife with a wooden handle and a rusted blade.

Edward picked up the cloth and tossed it on the case, laying the knife on the green fabric of the pool table.

The four men stood there, each at a side of the table.

After a moment, the knife shuddered and shot up from the table into Edward’s chest.

Edward let out a gurgle and slid down, clutching the table. He lay on the floor, the knife shuddering in his chest. After a few moments he was still.

The other three stared at each other.

“It took the Custodian.” Joey said. “It’s never taken the Custodian before.”

“Yeah. But there’s less and less of us now,” Reginald said. “Which one of us is the oldest now?”

Jack raised his hand slightly. Moving into his role as the new custodian of the knife he picked up the blue cloth and used it to pull the blade out of Edward’s chest. The cloth soaked up the spilled blood and the blood staining the knife and pool table as if it had never been there. Then Jack wrapped the knife up in the cloth and put it back in its case.

“What happens when there’s just one of us left?” Joey said as they walked out of the room and onto the street.

“I dunno.” Jack said. “Knowing why was never part of the deal.”

—end—

AUTHOR’S ADDENDA: I watched the classic “12 Angry Men” for the first time a few nights ago. It’s about a jury deliberating a case and there’s some discussion about the murder weapon; a knife. That was in my head when I wrote this story.

Posted in Fiction, Horror, Mike Mayak, Monthly Flash Fiction Draw Challenge, Short-Stories | Leave a comment

Horrors! Flash Fiction Draw Challenge Draws For July 2025 from Mike Mayak. (July 7th, 2025)

Posted on July 7, 2025 by jeffbaker307
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Monday July 7th, 2025

Here’s the draws for the July 2025 Flash Fiction Draw Challenge. Followed by my usual long-winded explanation:

A Horror Story

Involving A Rusted Knife

Set at A Pool Hall

Now, on to the details.

Hi! I’m Mike Mayak, I also write as Jeff Baker and I’m the current moderator for the monthly Flash Fiction Draw Challenge, which was started by ‘Nathan Burgoine a few years ago and carried on by Cait Gordon and Jeffrey Ricker. It’s a monthly writing challenge mainly for stress-free fun that anyone can play.

Here’s how it works: the first Monday of every month I draw three cards; a heart, a diamond and a club. These correspond to a list naming a genre, a setting and an object that must appear in the story. Participants write up a flash fiction story, 1,000 words or less, post it to their website and link it here in the comments. I’ll post the results (including, hopefully, one of my own!) on the blog.

As I’m no good making videos I did the drawing offstage. So, the results were the Four of Hearts (a Horror Story), the Two of Diamonds (a Pool Hall) and the Ace of Clubs (A Rusted Knife.)

So we will write a horror story, set at a pool hall involving a rusted knife.

We’ll have the results here in this same space around Monday July 4th, 2025.

So, get to writing and I’ll post the results next week! And I’m putting the 2025 Flash Draw sheet at the end of this message, again! (* indicates those have been used.)

Thanks for playing, and I’ll see you in about week!

And have fun!

——mike

(Hmmmm…a rusted knife sounds made for horror…)

Clubs

*A A Rusted Knife

*2 A Set of Stereo Speakers

3 A Spare Tire

4 A Moldy Wig

5 A Clown Costume

6 A Bowl Full Of Jelly

*7. A Circus Poster

*8 A Bottle Of Poison

*9 A Director’s Chair

10 A Bicycle

*J A Hair Sofa

Q A Crystal Ball

*K A Set of Leg Irons

Hearts

A A Mystery

2 A Fairy Tale

*3 A Caper Story

*4 A Horror Story

5 A Fantasy

*6 Science Fiction

7. A Comedy

*8 A Paranormal Story

*9 A Shaggy Dog Story

*10 A Western

J A Romance

Q A Cyberpunk Story

*K Historical Fiction

Diamonds

A A Swimming Pool

*2 A Pool Hall

3 A Space Station

4 An Olympic Stadium

*5 A Palace

6 A Trolley

*7 A Synagogue

8 A Library

*9 A Race Track

* 10 A Line Outside a Theater

J The Empire State Building

*Q A Convenience Store

*K The Australian Outback.

Posted in Monthly Flash Fiction Draw Challenge | 1 Comment

Fireworks On July Fourth. Friday Flash Fics by Jeff Baker. (July 4th, 2025)

Posted on July 4, 2025 by jeffbaker307

Music For the Royal Fireworks

by Jeff Baker

“Pwhew! How hot is it, anyway?” Charlie asked, looking up at the inside of the tent.

“Somewhere in the nineties,” Anthony said, wiping his forehead with the apron his Grandmother had him wear.

“Perfect weather to be out on an asphalt parking lot in a tent full of explosives.” Charlie said.

“Tell me about it.” Anthony said.

Anthony Aquila and Charlie Ford were going to be Juniors in High School that fall.

“Month and a half ‘till school starts up,” Charlie said.

“Presumably it’ll be cooler in September.” Anthony said.

“Yeah, but school starts in August. And you never know about the weather in Kansas.” Charlie said.

Anthony’s family had been selling fireworks in summer for decades. As soon as he was old enough Anthony was put to work in the tent they had in the big parking lot of the grocery store.

“So, what do you have for sale?” Charlie asked. “I mean, that I can afford.”

“Uhhhh…snakes? Smoke bombs? Sparklers?” Anthony ticked off the items on his fingers.

“Hey, remember a few years back when we set off snakes on the sidewalk?” Charlie said.

“Yeah, there’s still black burn spots on the pavement in front of the house.” Anthony said laughing.

“Snakes, then. Definitely.” Charlie said.

“Coming right up,” Anthony said as Charlie selected a little plastic bag with the black pellets and a label with a black snake complete with fangs and yellow eyes.

Anthony punched up the numbers on the register as Charlie handed over his cash.

“And here’s to the Summer of Nineteen-Eighty-Six and the Class Of Eighty-Seven.” Charlie said.

“Yeah,” Anthony said. It was July first. Time was moving by.

—-end—

Posted in Fiction, Friday Flash Fics, Friday Flash Fictions, Short-Stories | Leave a comment

Play “Parlor Games.” But beware! Friday Flash Fics From Jeff Baker. (June 27, 2025)

Posted on June 27, 2025 by jeffbaker307

Parlor Games

by Jeff Baker

“Okay…yeah…I got it…” Julian said into the phone. “Just come in sometime this week and we’ll see what we can do…yeah…yeah…goodbye.”

Julian hung up and glanced over at Ryder.

“Well, that’s another one. Got a tattoo here last month.”

“From Elvis?” Ryder asked, but it went without saying.

“Yeah.” Julian said. “Right down her arm. A lightning bolt. Said she nearly ran over somebody the other day.” He sighed. “Felt somehow the tattoo was responsible.”

“Well, it was wasn’t it?” Ryder said.

“This is no way to run a business,” Julian said shaking his head.

Julian Syms and Ryder Boyd had been together for five years and had gotten tired of working for other people when they decided to open their own tattoo parlor. They’d been in business for a year when Elvis Ambroise had shown up. At least he called himself that. He had impeccable credentials and solid skills as a tattoo artist. But then they found he had been mixing his own ink from a very unorthodox formula. For that and other reasons they had fired him months ago. Then they started hearing from customers Elvis had inked. Strange things were happening to them. A man had tried to strangle a passerby on the street. A kid had set fire to his own house. They all said somehow their tattoos had compelled them to do it.

After Elvis had left, Julian and Ryder had found his backpack in the back of a cabinet in the back room. It had a bottle of that homemade ink and a couple of cabalistic books in it.

“That,” Ryder had said, “is a bad sign.”

They’d gone to a priest Ryder had grown up knowing and he had blessed their tools and ink. Using them on the tatts Elvis had done seemed to negate the effects.

“I happily signed up for anything to marry you, but I didn’t expect a redo of that old TV show about the creepy antique store,” Ryder said kissing Julian on the cheek.

“Yeah,” Julian said grinning and kissing him back.

The door burst open.

A huge man stood in the doorway, his shirt and pants ripped. On his chest was a green tattoo of the Hulk snarling.

“What the Hell did you people do to me?” the man yelled.

—end—

Author’s Note: Okay, I hadn’t expected to do a riff on “Friday the 13th The Series,” but it fit the picture. —-jeff June 27, 2025

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Friday Flash Fics, Friday Flash Fictions, Horror, LGBT, Short-Stories | Leave a comment

“Office Of the Lost” by Coatsworth and Fielding. Pride Month Rainbow Snippets from Jeff Baker. (June 27, 2025.)

Posted on June 27, 2025 by jeffbaker307

I’ve been posting stuff from J. Scott Coatsworth and Kim Fielding’s fun novel “Office Of the Lost” for Pride Month. Today we meet the adorable Minkis.

Friday, June 27, 2025

Every week we post six lines from a work of ours, a work in progress or part of someone else’s work with LGBT characters at Rainbow Snippets, here https://www.facebook.com/groups/963484217054974

For Pride Month I’m posting snippets from “Office Of the Lost,” a fun new novel written by my friends J. Scott Coatsworth and Kim Fielding. https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com/book/office-of-the-lost/ Our heroes, Leopold Lane and Desk Fae Crispin get a breather this week from bopping around dangerous worlds as they are back at the tree apartment Crispin calls home. Oh, and we get to meet Minkis! (But all Hell is about to break loose!)

A delighted chittering greeted him.

“Minkis!”

The gray squirrel approached cautiously, sniffing at him as if he wasn’t sure whether Crispin was real.

Small wonder. I’ve been gone for days. He reached into his pocket and held out an acorn.

Minkis stood on his hind legs, took it greedily, and dashed back toward the giant oak tree they both called home.

Awwwwwww! So sweet! (Of course, all Hell is abut to break loose, like I said!)

“Office Of the Lost” is highly recommended.

Happy Pride, everybody! See you all soon! —-jeff

Posted in J. Scott Coatsworth, Kim Fielding, LGBT, Office Of the Lost, Rainbow Snippets | 2 Comments