Monthly Archives: September 2009

Suffocation Bell

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a short story

After facing an invisible killer, a taphephobic warrior discovers her master’s secret within a room of glass coffins.

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In white letters on blue, the sign announced Old Town, the shadow of Roseland. A gloom settled over the city, rain misting through the streetlights casting a veil. Cars groaned along the backstreets. From a nearby nightclub, music thumped while patrons in Halloween garb filed inside. The falling mist eased and floated shifting sideways, and fell again, moistening the ground, a wet fog licking the pavement.

Tigris waited for the streetcar. The night air felt cool, but the black coat stifled her. Opening the front, she let air inside. Peering up she felt the mist kiss her cheeks. Droplets speckled her dark glasses. Toe tapped to the rumbling beat of the club music.

The rhythm working inside her, she moved, rocking shoulders and swaying hips. Damp weather threatening suffocation, dancing was her breath of freedom. Head nodding, body bouncing, she danced in a circle.

From inside the glass waiting booth, a young man watched her while nodding his head to his own music playing through his earphones. Beside him, a balding old man stood with hands stuffed in pockets. Wrinkling his nose, he eyed her suspiciously. Not everyone enjoyed dancing.

Tigris stopped dancing, but her toe continued tapping.

From the left, a blazing headlight flooded the tracks. A bell toned twice. The streetcar whirred to a stop spraying light shining from its compartments. Doors clicked open sliding apart along the side of the steel beast. The old man shuffled through the door, and Tigris followed glancing around the interior washed in blue-green light. Even dark glasses failed at fighting the brilliance within the compartment…(continued)

Suffocation Bell[59k] PDF Suffocation Bell[302k]

To continue reading, click on an icon above, PDF for print or ePub (and unzip the file) for reading on your digital reader. For ePub see Adobe Digital Editions for desktop, or Stanza for iPod Touch/iPhone.

This dark fantasy adventure provides a peek into the Draco Torre mythology including minor characters from my novel, Raven Memory.

I welcome and appreciate comments on this story, including negative constructive criticism.

Bicycle Commute

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Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

For the month of September, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, or BTA, hosts a Bike Commute Challange in Oregon to promote bicycle commuting. The goal is to introduce new riders by getting local businesses and veteran riders involved. To encourage first time bike commuters, the BTA counts partial commutes. Other BTA events during the year include the popular Bridge Pedal when bridges over the Willamette River in Portland close for the bike tour. On the first day, challenge participants logged over 24,500 cumulative miles.

Portland is very accessible for bike commuting due to a mild climate, bike lanes connecting suburbs, and protected bike parking offered by the city and private enterprise. The local buses have bike carriers for riders wishing to reduce their pedal distance. Many bike riders commute all year, including the wet winter months, but the numbers rise during the summer. Getting around by bike in the downtown area bests a car any day due to low speed limits and congestion. Here are some Portland bike statistics from Portland Office of Transportion:

  • 13% of daily vehicle trips across bridges are bicycles
  • Over 5,000 bikes cross Hawthorne Bridge each weekday
  • Annual bike trip increase in 2006 was 18% over 2005
  • About 5% use a bike as their primary mode of commuting

Hawthorne Bridge

Hawthorne Bridge marked for bikes on inside and pedestrians on outside

I commute to work by bicycle because it is faster and cheaper. Riding wakes me up in the morning, and the moderate exercise is a nice break from working at a computer all day. Skeptics claim that most bike commuters ride for the environment or fashion, that bike riding is too hard or inconvenient. I believe most of the regular bike commuters agree that the primary goal is saving money. Some save time. Living twelve miles from work, my average bike commute time is 42 minutes door to office while my average car trip is 44 minutes. If I leave earlier in the morning, the car trip time shrinks to 35 minutes, but heavy traffic can increase the drive time to over an hour. Bicycles dodge traffic jams with ease and bypass accidents leaving weather as the primary factor in time. The best part: I don’t need to stop at the gym after work; I sprint hard for home cutting my time by another 10 minutes. Parking a bicycle is cheaper downtown, in the office or in an enclosed bike locker. Savings include gasoline, parking price, and gym membership. For single commuters to an office with small cargo, bike commuting makes sense.

In office parking

Office parking

Thanks to efforts by the BTA and encouragement from veteran bike commuters, bicycle commuting has exploded in Portland over the last few years. A decade ago, I was among a very small group of regular riders, but today the major bike routes into downtown receive a near constant stream during commute times. In addition to calling my passes, I installed a bell to ring if my speed is higher. On the hill before the Hawthorne Bridge, the city widened the bike lane since packs of bikes sometimes spilled over into the car lane. Second to a surge in gasoline prices last year, the biggest factor I hear in the increase in bike commuting is the realization that biking to work is not as hard as it seems especially with the help of private enterprise providing parking, support, and showers. Look for the Bike Central network.

My advice to new bike commuters:

  • Follow the rules of the road (Stop signs!)
  • Plan your trip: look for quiet streets or bike paths. Longer might be safer.
  • Maintain a line, checking shoulder before swerving or passing.
  • Maintain visibility: clothing, lights, and road position.
  • If a driver yells obscenities, try to keep calm and follow the rules.
  • Some drivers break the rules. Avoid antagonizing them by being a traffic nanny. A few enraged drivers may unleash their frustration on the next bicyclist.
  • Don’t wear headphones. It’s against the law, and you can’t hear my bell.
Enjoying an autumn day in 2001

Enjoying an autumn day in 2001

Halfway into the Bike Commute Challenge, my office of four is at 65% bike commute rate with 380 cumulative miles. Does it mean anything? I ride for my own reasons. My co-workers may choose to ride or not. The challenge is a fun event that may introduce a few new bicycle commuters that were uncertain before. Maybe some want to save money on parking, avoid heavy traffic, enjoy a nice day once a week, or ride for the environment. Everyone has their own reasons.

Ride, drive, share the road, enjoy the day.

More Twitter Fiction

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I began micro-fiction writing earlier this year without any experience in flash fiction after a review of other authors as noted in my previous post. There are many Twitter stories from writers, veterans and beginners, told in their own streams or in Twitter publications. Some stories I don’t understand, and others I might find amusing for subject matter over quality. (See my favorites.) And a tiny few hit the sweet spot: well written lasting impressions with broad appeal, the rare gem. I continue to hone my skill at conciseness.

The editor of @Nanoism, Ben White, searches for the story with “staying power.” See the guidelines for complete details, or try one of the other Twitterzines shown on the right under Microfiction. And read some of their selections to see if your story fits.

This week two of my stories appear in publications: “Lunch Swap” in @Picfic and another school related story in @Seedpodpub.

A selection of my recent attempts from my Twitter feed on the path to the rare gem:


“After erasing the board, Jon took chalk from the mechanical hand. He wrote, “I will not build robots to do my punishment.” #vss ” Posted September 4th, 2009.


“Hearing Jill’s vacation story, Bill crumples his paper. He writes a new story, none of it true. Ms. May has strict rules about plagiarism. ” Posted September 3rd, 2009.


“Quiet, cat-like, ballerinas surround Gary. Poised like poison, their eyes cut into him. Tossing his wallet, Gary runs. ” Posted September 1st, 2009.


“Beauty rests in a glass casket. Silence is bliss. Yearning to hold her, he opens the casket. She rises. The chatter never ends. ” Posted August 16th, 2009.


“Gracefully, the ballerinas twirl at him. Ducking and weaving, he dodges until they surround him. The slashing blades cut like a blender. ” Posted August 14th, 2009.