www.storymania.com
Storymania Logo

 

 

Short Stories




Ersatz Jerry Cornelius by Potter Michael My short story take on one of my favorite Characters from one of my favorite authors, Mi... [743 words]
Lost Chance by Michael Potter A couple find themselves stuck in a small town when their car breaks down. [13,439 words]
Qz by Michael Potter Short story about an evil government controlling a drug that produces enlightenment. [2,593 words]
The Clock by Bernadette (Some Call Me Just read this. [229 words]
Windows by Dennis Coleman Sam Holloway considers all that he sees from the boardroom window. [915 words]
Why Won't He Bless Me? by Paul D Deleon A unique look at a day in my life when I spent the majority of my time asking for a bles... [1,601 words]
Where Is My Dad? by Neil Southern A few sad words that may well touch many [96 words]
Too Late For Coffee by Liilia Morrison An old man's last days with an angel [1,489 words]
The Sun by Jessi This is a random piece of writing. It doesn�t really have a category. It�s just something I wrote when ... [72 words]
The Little Fisherman by Riot - [652 words]
The Light Side Of Dark by Lisa M Setser Being on earth for so long being a Guardian Angel is taken its toll on Azerial. He hasn�... [3,888 words]
The Kent State Tragedy- Its Impact On Me by Greg Dinunzio About to flunk out of college, a horrible tragedy saved my academic li... [305 words]
The Day That Will Never Be Forgotten by Ryuichi Minamino A story about an accident, from a survivers point-of-view [491 words]
The Books Cover Was Wrong. (Part 1:Introduction) by Jessi People are not who they seem. [304 words]
The Beginning Of The End by Donna Carmona A short story about my mom's illness. [1,656 words]
Red Sun by Doc Byron A father's worst nightmare comes true [390 words]
Pooh On Meditation by Michael Potter Short comic satire [135 words]
Ovidio Gets A Smoke by Liilia Morrison A party turns sour but Ovidio ends up sittin' pretty. [1,160 words]
Overwhelming Experience Of A College Freshman by Greg Dinunzio Culture shock does not describe the feeling that a sheltered seve... [349 words]
One Way Road by Ben Stuart A naturalist short story about school and its effect on a boy. [946 words]
Now Who Does This Remind You Of? by Me - [388 words]
Night�S Predator by Jessi I love vampires. Everything i write about them i feel conected like i am the one that is hunti... [207 words]
Next Generation by Christopher Evans Slap stick funny gender reversal, where a man get pregnant. Watch him deal with the cravings, ... [4,133 words]
My Wife And The Invisible People by Greg Dinunzio My ex-wife is very kind and thougthful to people who do not really exist.... [225 words]
Loop Life by Jessi Sometimes life feels like one giant loop [679 words]
I Have A Lot Of Ideas, But... by John Pirandello I have a lot of ideas, but each time I try to transform them in a story, exactly ... [1,430 words]
Goaland Fantasy by Michael Potter A short story about a place where the characters can do anything. [983 words]
Eternal Heartache by Wanderer Bass In honor and memory of Grandpa Buddy. [597 words]
Easter Monday by Neil Southern A True drama - In a brief moment [247 words]
Dumped by Jessi Today the love of my life. dumped me. he got with another girl then got rid of me. i dont know what to d... [75 words]
Driving by Doc Boyer A lonely man drives around aimlessly looking for that ''special'' girl. [262 words]
Driving Batsy Bats by Gino Russo The Joker finally gets one in the win column over his oldest foe... All names and characters... [1,770 words]
Dreams 1 by Wanderer Bass This is the most recent dream I can remember. I am above the influence and these are always weird drea... [355 words]
Destination Unknown by Greg Dinunzio Her life is a never ending journey in search of something that she will never find...brief ... [391 words]
Catching Stars by Riot - [185 words]
Breathe Your Name by Alice F Jones What would you do if the love of your life was your mistress? Would you run or choose for a l... [571 words]
Black Coffee by Jonathan Brucato Insignificance can put a smile on your face. [2,617 words]
Billie The Mole by Adam Robinson A short story about a mole. [797 words]
And The Lord Said . . . by W N Dayley God, Jesus and Satan discuss the fate of Humanity. [3,380 words]
A Summer Day by Corey Moon I wrote this srory kind of late, and its only my second, i just recently discovered writing and i ... [1,037 words]
A Nondescript Woman by Dennis Coleman Is she Truly a plain Jane, or is that what she wants us to know about her? [5,448 words]
A Merchant's Last Journey by H H J S Harrishafizjohnsonsieczkowski Abu-Hussam is a wicked man, but eventually through his suffering finds not only himse... [4,216 words]
A Curious Life by Jessi Dolphins live a curious life... [215 words]
A Brief Return by Neil Southern Faith, madness or harsh reality? [219 words]
How A Teenager Advoided A Pervert by Amarjit Bhambra A lot of teenager girls are not aware of dangers that they would face when co... [819 words]
Face To Face With Daylight Robbers by Amarjit Bhambra A tricky situation... [288 words]
(Cont.. Part 2) The Prince And The African Grey by Amarjit Bhambra This Chapter is continued to my story "The Prince and the Afric... [1,552 words]
Zaloo-Loo Ruled Her Tribe by Amarjit Bhambra Some Tribe secrets remain a mystery to the Moden world. I made up a story based on tr... [1,857 words]
Wolves In Silver Point by Jan Lappalainen Tyler faces terror at his farm [5,654 words]
Will I See You In The Morning? by Nicole Johnson This is about my soul mate, although we cannot be together right now. [720 words]
Vic Voegelin And The Iwo Jima Letters by Greg Dinunzio A recent news story triggers memories of a fine man who taught us honesty... [311 words]
Unrequited Love by Kimball A drunken rewrite of a previous story. [674 words]
This Is It! by Neil Southern A strange offering of pure thought [336 words]
The One Or �We Thank God For Second Chances, But Who Do We Beg For A Third?� by Anslem B Gentle One man gets a shot at perfection.... [1,167 words]
The Love Of A Mother by Kimball A story I wrote last year, but never got around to submitting. [1,253 words]
The First Valentine by Anslem B Gentle The Origins of Valentin's Day. [1,539 words]
Talk by Iam Noone A girl suffering from the eating disorder, Anorexia Nervosa [305 words]
Tales Of Unknown: The Trial Lawyer by Jeremiah Semien Take a journey, in the future, where the government, wants to control, man-k... [9,357 words]
Sunday School by Buxton A short story about Graeme, who at 9 makes the most out of Sunday School by obsessing about his F... [3,592 words]
Standing Alone by Bk Kinsel Alone [110 words]
Square Peg
Samantha Jane by Riot - [465 words]
Reflection Of A Hero by Reginald F Byron Eddie, sound asleep, wakes up to find a new obstacle flat in his doorway. Little does he k... [3,545 words]
Rag Doll by Jan Lappalainen A day in the life of Marius... [999 words]
Pressure by Iam Noone A girl who is pressured into drinking and ends up in the hospital. [406 words]
Poor Daddy by Randall Barfield Carl saw the freshly-dug hole and broke into tears... [438 words]
Mrs. Bilkhu And Her Two Little Finches by Amarjit Bhambra A very sad little story - very diffcult to write through my tears. They... [926 words]
Littlefish.Comchat by Richard W McLin This is the short story of an online predator,loosely based on real events as seen by me on ... [546 words]
Incredible India (Around Nagamalai ) by Priyah Natarajan Nagamalai is a very beautiful place in Kerala (India). The travelougue des... [1,489 words]
I Had A Dream Last Night by Neil Southern How sure can we be about reality? [300 words]
Eye For Eye by Steve Drost A man commits murder and suffers no ill effects [2,758 words]
Double Negative by James Fund A story from the point of view of someone struggling with his past and his inability to be hone... [1,896 words]
Deer Valley by P L L Loomis Me and a few of my friends did this skiing thing a Deer Valley and I was sad that it was ending. [528 words]
Chocolate Fetish by Iniquity Asylum I always wondered how long it would be before my Queen-size bed would absorb�steal, crunch, wi... [765 words]
Celeste by Anslem B Gentle One woman's journey to be free of childhood. [1,056 words]
Blood-Stained by Iniquity Asylum I sighed and realized that tonight was another night that I would have to deal with a broken hear... [1,672 words]
Ashley by Riot - [180 words]
All Over The Page by Kevin M Pasquale This is a short story, told in the 1st person point of view, about David Grimes. He is a "mes... [4,340 words]
A Walk In The Dark by Steve Drost A man goes for a walk in the woods. [977 words]
A Very Short Novel by Deepak Gupta The Emerging of India from the eyes of a common man. [1,337 words]
10 Real Adsense Secrets by Naren Sundas Sri Ganesh Infotech 10 REAL secrets for quickly growing your AdSense earnings to $100, $300, even $500 A DA... [536 words]

Go to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 [15] 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
TITLE (EDIT)
Square Peg
DESCRIPTION
A short snapshot into the morning routine of a public-transit user.
[1,254 words]
AUTHOR
Steve Drost
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
-
[February 2007]
AUTHOR'S E-MAIL ADDRESS
[email protected]
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (4)
A Walk In The Dark (Short Stories) A man goes for a walk in the woods. [977 words] [Horror]
Eye For Eye (Short Stories) A man commits murder and suffers no ill effects [2,758 words]
Nine Eleven (Poetry) Something that occurred to me after September 11, 2001. [94 words]
Outside (Poetry) A haiku about winter [12 words]
Square Peg
Steve Drost

   He waits by the side of the road, silent, immutable as stone.

   It�s raining. The air is cold and damp, without a trace of comfort. He embraces this. He would rather the air was cold than warm. He would rather be uncomfortable. It�s no more than what he deserves. It depresses him that he has to keep his hands in his pockets to keep them warm; it makes him feel less complete. He feels as though he is cheating something by keeping his hands warm. Yet he doesn�t remove his hands from his pockets.

   In front of him, the road is a slick snake, multihued with sliding oilpatch colors. He watches the road; he is facing south, toward oncoming traffic. He has good eyesight, and he will be able to see the bus even it is four or five blocks away. The bus is not coming yet.

   He thinks of the mornings he has stood here, waiting, and of the mornings he has pelted across the church parking lot in the rain, desperate to catch the bus before it escaped. He wonders at the irony of it: that at the time when he was catching the bus, it seemed the most important thing in the world; yet, now � indeed, immediately after he had caught it � it seems irrelevant. He thinks that this is what people mean when they say that time is relative, but he is not sure. This seems to be irrelevant, too.

   He can see the bus now; it is three blocks away, at the stop before his. The only way he can tell that it is the bus and not another cement truck or reefer is the broad yellow band above the windshield, where the name and number of the bus is designated. He can�t read what it says from here, but he doesn�t have to; it�s the only bus that comes by here in the morning.

   On the bus, he finds temporary relief from the cold and damp; the driver has turned the heaters up full blast. He slouches to the back of the bus, where he usually sits because the lights are always on, and he can read if he wants to. When he tells people this, he is puzzled to find that people�s reaction is almost invariably the same: He has not yet met anyone else who can read while they are in a moving vehicle, because it makes them sick. Yet he has also never been on board a bus when there wasn�t someone reading. He finds this paradox intriguing, but he can�t say why. The logic eludes him.

   The bus rumbles off toward the freeway, but turns before it gets to the onramp. It will run parallel to the freeway for about twenty blocks, the stop at the train station. He waits patiently; his eyes are open, but his mind is dozing. The bus pulls up to red light and stops, waiting. He doesn�t notice; he doesn�t notice when the light turns green and the bus doesn�t move, either.

   After a moment, he shakes his head and looks around him. There are four or five other passengers on the bus, but they all look as though they are in a daze. These are people that he thinks of as his "regulars"; people that he sees each morning, and thinks of them as acquaintances, though he has never passed so much as a single word with any of them, nor they with him. He thinks now, as he often does, fleetingly, that there is an odd kind of social psychology at work here on the bus, but he doesn�t have the right analytical background to put his finger on it; that�s as far as the thought ever goes.

   The driver is speaking into his dispatch radio about an object in the road; he is too far back to hear what the driver is saying, but he catches something about an object in the road. Abruptly, the driver stands and turns to face the passengers.

   "Can I get a couple of strong guys to give me a hand here with this thing in the road?"

   The passengers look around themselves as though they had just awoken from a deep sleep and found themselves in a strange place. This is unprecedented; the most the driver has ever spoken to them us to ask for more bus far or to announce the street locations as he passes them by.

   He shrugs, then gets up from his seat. At the door to the bus, he is about to leave with his bag, which is still slung over his shoulder. He hesitates, then takes it of and puts it on the seat.

   Outside, the moisture in the air is too fine to be called rain; it is more like a coarse mist. He feels in clinging to his freshly warmed and dried self; his dry skin sucks it up as though he has been spending time in the desert.

   He follows the driver to the rear of the bus. For an absurd instant, he has thought that the driver was going to ask him to help push the bus somewhere. He looks up at its hulking mass, the engine muttering as it idles. It must weigh upwards of three tons. Clearly, this is not what the driver has in mind.

   The driver doesn�t say anything, but he leads the two passengers to a place just behind the bus. Now he can see what the problem is � the manhole cover has come loose and is lying in the street, a purposeless iron disk, orange with rust. It rests about two feet from the hole that is its home. He remembers hearing once that manhole covers are round because a circle is the only shape that cannot fall through its own hole. He remembers telling the person who informed him of this that he always thought they were round because manholes were round, too. He smiles now as he remembers the joke, and the bus driver half-smiles back at him, quizzically.

   They squat down beside the lid, trying to gain purchase under it. It is incredibly heavy � he has never had to lift anything made of iron before, and he is amazed at its density, it�s weight, how there it seems to be. It is only an object, but it seems to have taken on more significance, more cosmic relevance, than the three of them combined. As they grunt and strain to flip it over, it seems to him as though the lid is immobile and he is flipping the universe over instead. The thought makes him smile again and his concentration flickers for a moment; then, realizing that he could be responsible if any of the others loses fingers when the lid comes down on their hands because he is not paying attention, he strains harder against the cold, gritty iron. It reaches it�s apex, and then gravity pulls into the street with a faintly musical clank. Now it is right side up, and it is a simple matter for the driver to shove it, with his foot, into the hole where it belongs.

   Walking back to the bus, he notices that his hands are orange with rust. He is careful not to touch his shirt with them, but he is glad they are dirty. Already, the whole incident has begun to seem distant in his mind. In the east, the sun is staining the horizon orange, too.



 

Submit Your Review for Square Peg
Required fields are marked with (*).
Your e-mail address will not be displayed.

Your Name*     E-mail*

City     State/Province     Country

Your Review (please be constructive!)*


Please Enter Code*:

Submit Your Rating for Square Peg

Worst     1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10     Best

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 2001 Steve Drost
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
February 2007
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
1570
 

Copyright © 1998-2001 Storymania Technologies Limited. All Rights Reserved.