Package of Pain
Mike Thornstein sat in his truck in
front of his own house as a light drizzle coated the windshield. The package was there again, even though it
wasn’t supposed to be. He had been
promised by everyone that it was all over.
The investigation was supposed to have ended months ago. He had been cleared, publicly exonerated, but
nothing changed.
It sat there wrapped in plain brown paper
on his stoop. When they first started
showing up every Friday like clockwork, his colleagues had searched for the
sender. Each one had been mailed from a
mailbox in Fort Worth. Television had
“Walker,” but all Mike had were bureaucratic bosses who decided the packages
weren’t a threat. When the sender wasn’t
identified after a few weeks, manpower and resources were delegated
elsewhere. Mike was still on suspension
while awaiting assignment, albeit very unofficially, and the packages were
still coming. Something had to be done
to end it.
The windshield wipers slapped across
clearing the glass. Visible again, the
package sat there waiting for him. He
turned the engine off and listened to it tick as it cooled. The glass slowly misted over as the drizzle
continued. The package dissolved from
view into globs of water on the glass. Sitting there, watching the mist fall,
wasn’t going to solve the problem.
If you liked the above sample, there
are 15 more short stories in Mind Slices: A
Collection of New and Previously Published Stories. Some tales lean towards the science fiction
side, some lean towards mystery, and almost all of them are suspenseful in some
way. Most stories also contain more than one genre. The e-book is currently $2.99 and is available online at:
Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/243655
Barnes and Noble’s NOOK http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mind-slices-kevin-tipple/1113576100?ean=2940044983076
2 comments:
Would I be stating the obvious if I said I like this one? I remember reading it back then and being immediately pulled into the story. Something about it grabs you from the very beginning. Good work, Kevin.
Thank you, BJ. And thank you again for giving it some attention way back when by publishing it. Appreciate it all very much.
Post a Comment