This is the next installment of the Birthright Series that began in 2009 in collaboration with the late Carl Macek.

By Mark Aragona from an original idea by Stan Slavutsky
Edited by Stan Slavutsky

Ethan11309 sank into his chair and tried to ignore the patrons trickling out of the computer rental shop. Waiting always made him antsy. As his hands skittered over the keyboard, he wondered for t ... read more>>>

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I am a fan of CBC's Dragon's Den show. I believe there are similar shows now available in Japan and UK, a US version is in the works. The premise of the show is that an entrepreneur comes in front of four investors to pitch an idea or a business. If the investors like what they see they negotiate their stake in the enterprise and invest the agreed amount.

In preparation for the fourth season C ... read more>>>

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    She had been looking for it for quite some time now.

    She was on her hands and knees, head sideways on the floor, hand searching beneath the couch. Five of her husband's empty beer cans rolled out, dented and stained and still carrying the wry rotting smell of booze. There was nothing much else under there but several years worth of dust, clinging to ... read more>>>

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This story started long before Tuesday, January 25th or what has become better known as the “Day of Anger “. This story specifically started 30 years ago in Egypt , When then Vice President Hosni Mubarak was by default appointed presidential duties after then president Anwar Al Sadat was assassinated .From that day on Mubarak has done little to win over his people , some economic refor ... read more>>>

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2 comments |

By Carl Macek
From an Idea by Stan Slavutsky


According to the digital readout displayed on the inside of Orlan2893’s EVA faceplate, he had been on the job for over 37 hours. His gauges showed that he had enough compressed air and nutritional supplies for at least another 21 hours. He was nearly finished examining the 165km fuel pipeline that stretched from the Maginus A crater to the Magi ... read more>>>

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Early in my career as an attorney, I made a trip out of state to consult with my father regarding a problem he was having. Like the famed, fictional “consulting detective” Sherlock Holmes, sometimes I would be tasked to investigate one mystery or another. A few times during my career, I have been asked to look into a mysterious death. This particular trip, many years ago, was one such occasion. ... read more>>>

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BIRTHRIGHT
by
Carl Macek
Based on an Original Idea by Stan Slavutsky

The man was old. He could have been 70 or 80 – maybe even older. He kept looking around the crowded restaurant and shaking his head with disgust. At first the girl watched him from across the room with morbid curiosity. She was the only one who paid any attention to him. Every so often he would see something that for ... read more>>>

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Thousands of people living in squalor, without the basic necessities. Dead bodies floating in disease-infected water. Law and order all but vanished. An entire city submerged. The images that flashed across our TV and computer screens of New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina could have doubled for some war-torn third world country. It was, quite possibly, the worst natural disaster in American h ... read more>>>

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I am writing a poem. It’s going to be about Planet Earth, the way it looks from space. It will be a monumental work of great importance.
Looking at that majestic sphere, I feel suddenly compelled to sing a line from a popular song. I belt it out in my deepest baritone, “Planet Earth is blue, and there’s nothing I can doooooooo.” I look around to see if anybody knows that tun ... read more>>>

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I found this writing prompt: "Use these words in your story: doctor, roll of film, stairwell, telephone." So I tried it. Do but read.

So I dialed the telephone. And it was a woman.
"Why hello, there, big man. This is the lovvvve doctor. How can I...help you?"
"I'm bored. Can we meet?"
"Why certainly, big boy. When and where, and how do you want to...do it?"
"There's an alley on 51st ... read more>>>

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Prayers and Wishes

The woman starred out the window. There was no snow, and her mood was sinking very low. Not really her mood, it was kind of hard to describe, for what should have been a cheery season, was more like taking the fast track ride. She had a fervent belief in the Great One, the Creator of All, but the happenings of late, were just making hard tears fall.

She would have sworn s ... read more>>>

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Myrtle was old, and she knew she was going to cross over, probably sooner than later. However, she had a few things to clear up first, so she decided she just needed to do it. Myrtle also knew that she was going to be murdered and she needed to tell her only living child, the one she had just given away shortly after birth who was going to kill her, and why they wanted to kill her and her daughter ... read more>>>

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Something strange is going on in my old house.

I've never been one to believe in ghosts and goblins, though I do enjoy stories about them. And I have never experienced anything otherworldly during the years I spent in my house in Ayala Heights. Only now, three years after I left it, have things been rather...abnormal.

First it began with stories. One of our maids keeps hearing voices that no ... read more>>>

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THE GIFT OF A DAUGHTER
Darlene Pharris

Years of dreams and hopes
Visions of curls, ruffles and bows
All rolled into one infant child
Bringing with her a heart full of smiles

As the years rush past
She becomes a woman all too fast
Mother now has visions of a special love
Sent to her from above

Her heart is full of love and pride
As her grown daughter stands at her side
The infa ... read more>>>

Article views: 1216