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The time: the 1960s. The place: a mid-sized town in northern Florida. Police patrolling a middle-class neighborhood discover Waldo Fleenor bleeding profusely in the driveway of his own home. As the officers wait for an ambulance, stanch the young man's wounds, and question him about his attacker, Waldo mentally revisits past events that led to his present situation. The trouble begins with the arrival of his baby brother, Jamie, who replaces three-year-old Waldo as the primary object of their parents'affection. As time passes, the differences between the brothers become more apparent. While intelligent, sensitive Waldo grows up homely and sickly, Jamie develops into a handsome, athletic youth. By the time the siblings reach their teens, the contrast between popular, good-natured Jamie and brooding outcast Waldo is as obvious as day and night. Waldo's vague animosity towards his brother crystallizes into bitterness. Ultimately, Waldo decides the only way he can step into the light is to eliminate the long shadow cast by his brother. For Waldo to truly live, Jamie must die, and Waldo sets in motion a twisted plan to remove his hated rival once and for all. A novella.

One night on an unnamed tropical island, a young single man and a young married woman slip away from their village into the jungle for a close encounter of the sexual kind. In surrendering to passion, they have broken a tribal rule regarding adultery. When their illicit affair is exposed, they will be subjected to an awful test designed to reveal the truth, and one of the lovers will pay a horrific price as a consequence…. A short story.

A long-held axiom maintains that morality cannot be legislated; morality, after all, is a personal concept that comes from within each individual, while laws passed supposedly for the good of all are imposed from without. So, what happens when the government steps in to regulate a particular human trait and everyone jumps on board to ensure the law doesn't get broken? Conrad accidentally breaks one of the laws of the land and finds himself being pursued by bystanders and police alike, he quickly discovers that one simple mistake could be the end of his freedom…and possibly his life. A short work of a dystopian future from our Orbits sci-fi/fantasy line.

Housepainter Toby Rew has few ambitions. He's marking time, giving a facelift to a house in a low-rent district of Syracuse, New York, to earn his next meal, next six-pack, and next month's rent. One sweltering day, Toby is slaving away on his ladder when he witnesses a fight in a house across the street. Curious, he investigates and discovers a dead man in a ransacked room. Like a good citizen, Toby goes off to call the cops. But when he returns to the scene of the crime with police detectives, the homeowners are present, there's no body, and everything looks normal. When the police leave in disgust, Toby finds himself embarking on a mission that gives his dull life new purpose. Playing amateur sleuth to find out who the dead man was, why he was killed, and what happened to the body, Toby soon finds himself entangled in a mystery involving mobsters and a rare manuscript. When the situation turns to threats on himself, Toby's got to avoid painting himself into a corner with his investigation, or risk becoming the next victim.

Eleven-year-old Travis has learned to be glib in the process of selling his mother's handmade products door-to-door to help contribute to his poverty-stricken family's finances. Usually, the seventh-grader only works the immediate twenty-square-block low-rent neighborhood, where he has become a familiar and unwelcome figure hawking items of dubious quality to customers with little money to spare and less inclination to buy. One evening, Travis and his mom decide to try new territory. They drive across town to an upscale subdivision in an attempt to sell batches of freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies. In the course of the night, young salesman Travis discovers that rich folks have just as many sins to hide as poor people and, better still, that the wealthy are willing to pay to protect their secrets… A short story.

Even in the minor leagues, baseball is a cutthroat business. There are only so many places on team rosters for successful players, coaches and managers. The competition is fierce, because everybody's looking to move up, to make it as a pro in the major leagues where fame and fortune await. On the diamond or off, winning is everything, and some people will go to extreme lengths to gain an edge... A short story.

In bleak, frigid Western Montana, a high school on a poverty-stricken Indian reservation is the scene of a crime: a valuable pocket watch has disappeared. The owner of the watch, a young white English teacher, plays detective attempting to reveal the culprit. His investigation yields unexpected results. A short story from our Nibs literary line.

A down-and-out man sleeping under a bridge stumbles upon the body of a murdered young woman stuffed in a trash bag and washed up at his campsite. The killers, seeking to retrieve a telltale item from the corpse, soon arrive at the bridge while following the river in search of the victim. The derelict soon finds himself hiding with the body and wrestling with the need for self-preservation, and the desire to bring the dead woman's murderers to justice. A work of short crime from our Fingerprints line.

Place a young man and a young woman together in a cramped apartment. Stir in a pinch of jealousy, a dash of spite, a hint of infidelity. Steep in a broth of alcohol and let simmer before bringing to a slow boil. It's a fast, easy recipe for murder... A short work of crime from our Fingerprints line.

Many people own pets. Some people are owned by their pets. And a few, like elderly widower Rolf Stenstrom, take the concept of animal care to the extreme. A short work of horror from our Spectres line.