The short fiction of j hardy carroll
I read about how infantry guys in WWII were envious of the Air Force crews because they flew their missions and went back to bases in England, whereas the infantry experienced total war 24/7. Ah, technology. I’m in the infantry, but on detached service to an agency I can’t mention. We sit in a dark room in…
I had never been allowed in his garage. None of us had, which might have been strange with anyone but him. Aunt Nora said he’d been this way since his brother died, way back in the war. Secretive. Solitary. The funeral was held despite the rain, since we are above all a practical family. Aunt…
“The King is dead. Long live the King.” Hoskins hoisted his nearly empty pint, looking hopefully around for somebody to notice this and offer to refill it. “The king ain’t dead, you bloody sod,” said Smith. “He’s bleeding abdicating. To marry that American tart. The divorcée.” “I seen her picture in the papers,” added Woodcock. “She’s a…
When Uncle Forbes came to dinner, his invariable subject was death. Death, in its infinite varieties. Death by misfortune was a favorite, as was death by misadventure, death from disease, death most foul, death expected, and death unexpected. With Uncle Forbes, the topic was inexhaustible. When other conversation would spring up about something other than death– how a certain function was…
Dreams in the night. Waking dreams. Now she is wandering through the small town airport dragging the suitcase behind her like a reluctant child. Her eyes scan the expanse of glittering floor, the sea of worn blue carpet. A woman in uniform smiles, asks if she may help. Another city. Days later, or years. Eternal. She…
“Stephens,” said Mr. Wentworth. “When you’ve finished your lunch I need to see you in my office.” Stephens took his time, made his thermos of tea last the full half hour. Screwing the top back on, he placed the container into his messenger bag and brought it with him. He knew what was coming. The office…
It was the sort of thing you might see in a comedy: the husband, slightly daft, is taken advantage of by a sharper who sells him a bit of beachfront property in a prime location for what seems to be an impossibly low price, especially for more than three thousand square feet with an ocean…
The boy let out a wail of dismay loud enough to be heard by the bus driver, who naturally assumed it was an emergency and braked so hard he threw the passengers sharply forward and spilled all manner of travel cups and canisters, drenching many a sweater and lap. It was just after they’d had stopped for tea,…
Father Estrella was drunk, but not too drunk to hear confession. Marco used to joke it was better to have a drunk priest hear your litany of recent sins, since any righteousness on his part would be offset by the hypocrisy of his own weak soul– not that Father Estrella was ever especially righteous, even when sober. “Say three Hail…
When Chet regained consciousness he had no idea of the time. They had taken his watch. They had taken everything, even the emergency fifty he kept beneath his insole. His mouth was swollen and it felt like they’d broken some ribs. He raised his head and looked around at the alley. A short cut had…