One of the most memorable places I ever stayed was a little guesthouse in Mek’ele, Ethiopia. It was December, 2019, right about the time a novel coronavirus was claiming its first victim at a fish market in Wuhan, and about a year before Mek’ele was overrun by rebel Ethiopian forces who brutally rounded up the young men of military age and executed them while gleefully filming the murders with their cell phones.
Author: <span>Patrick Cumby</span>
Patrick Cumby is a science fiction writer who also blogs about exploring the real world. He's sharing his thoughts at PatrickCumby.com.
This short story is set in the Legends of the Known Arc universe. If you enjoy it, please share! Also, drop me a note and let me know what you thought.
The sanctification ceremony of a Mucktu novice takes a turn when a legendary historical figure makes an unexpected appearance.
TALOS is the Star Trek of my retro-imagination, a collection of short stories I’m writing to my nine-year-old self back in 1972. It’s how I imagine life would really be…
A dozen different shades of lichen spot its surface, along with a clump of yellow moss it wears like a haughty sailor’s cap. Strands of old barbed-wire stick out threateningly from several of the ancient staples. This thing looks like a fierce, grizzled old warrior, ready to stab me and send me to the hospital with a fatal case of tetanus.
The act of transferring thoughts from the insubstantial vapor of our minds onto the real and tangible surface of a whiteboard sets into motion a mysterious cosmic power.
Many years ago I had a friend and colleague named Doug who was smart, talented, courageous, and loyal. I once worked with him on an important consulting project for almost…
Once, in the Navarro region of Spain, I witnessed a fleeting moment of unparalleled beauty.
Jeanne and I were six months into a three-year around-the-world journey when we were both struck down by a mysterious illness. Self-quarantining in an AirBNB in Colombo, Sri Lanka, we…
Watching the not-so-peaceful transition of power here in the USA reminds me of our time in Arabia when the Sultan of Oman unexpectedly died. At the time of his death…
The boy eyes the window in the old brick tower, sees a glint of wholeness amidst surrounding shards. He has no knowledge of physics or geology or religion, but he knows the wonder of the day, the sunshine and the cool air pouring through the pines. The wonder of the perfectly sized rock in the ditch. The wonder of the last unbroken pane, all the way at the top.
The rock has realness, both smooth and jagged in his palm. It exists. It is quite obvious to the boy that every single instant of time stretching back to the moment of Creation has culminated in this rock. The tools of God—quantum forces, gravity, geologic processes spanning the ages—have conspired to create its perfect form, and place it here in the gravel road behind the cotton mill. All of history has occurred so that this rock might meet the last unbroken window and achieve its destiny.