A corpulent man dressed in a red suit with an ermine collar stepped off the sleigh onto the roof. The full moon shone brightly on the new-fallen snow and he walked in semi-midday luster to the chimney. He paused at each of his reindeer to give them a pat of reassurance. ‘Another Christmas old pal,’ he seemed to be saying. He stroked the neck of his incandescently snouted team leader. Despite his wide girth, the besuited e...

  The rain outside only made her isolation more draconian.  She had been placed under house arrest by her country’s vicious dictator, Klaus Heinrich, after she had attempted to pass military secrets to the enemy.  Her homeland had been at war for four years with neighboring Mueslichstan.  She had watched as their leader had imprisoned and murdered thousands of her fellow citizens.  She had not liked what she had seen. Sve...

Monday   Ron leaned back in his chair, resting the back against the side of the station. An old rusty yellow and green pickup truck was making its way down the highway in his direction. He unscrewed the top of his Snapple bottle and drank a deep draught of the amber mango iced tea therein. The truck approached. It did not slow. The fine mist of dust stirred up by the tires of passing vehicles left a residue on everything...