Short Stories

Photo by David Lezcano

All short stories published on The Quick and the Dead are linked below. Happy reading!


  • An Oily Mess: Part Three

    Written by guest author Jolene Rice This story is part of the project A Writer’s Shindig. Jolene Rice’s story is the second of 6 short stories written for the project. You can read more about our collaboration and read all the stories posted thus far at A Writer’s Shindig. Skin Care Cassandra spent every Sunday… Continue reading


  • An Oily Mess: Part Two

    Written by guest author Jolene Rice This story is part of the project A Writer’s Shindig. Jolene Rice’s story is the second of 6 short stories written for the project. You can read more about our collaboration and read all the stories posted thus far at A Writer’s Shindig. Doing a good job Cassandra had… Continue reading


  • An Oily Mess: Part One

    Written by guest author Jolene Rice This story is part of the project A Writer’s Shindig. Jolene Rice’s story is the second of 6 short stories written for the project. You can read more about our collaboration and read all the stories posted thus far at A Writer’s Shindig. A job Cassandra stopped. Rain was… Continue reading


  • Smoke on the Water: Part 2

    I previously posted a version of this story that was not complete. One of my fellow writers and blog readers invited me to a “woodshedding” writer’s group at the end of 2025, where I worked with other writers to improve and complete the story. It was a fun exercise in collaboration. All the stories from… Continue reading


  • Smoke on the Water: Part 1

    I previously posted a version of this story that was not complete. One of my fellow writers and blog readers invited me to a “woodshedding” writer’s group at the end of 2025, where I worked with other writers to improve and complete the story. It was a fun exercise in collaboration. All the stories from… Continue reading


  • Pride Is an Ugly, Ugly Sin

    This is the last post for now of my unfinished stories. I think all the characters I’ve shared here have a bigger story to tell. I hope you’ve enjoyed wondering what else might happen to them. Katherine Amelia Herrington has a mantra that she says everyday as she brushes her hair. She stares at her… Continue reading


  • Lydia Agnes

    This is the second of three short scenes from stories that aren’t fully written. Some of these scenes are part of a larger work that remains unfinished and some of them are from tales that haven’t come to me…yet. “Lydia Agnes,” the shepherd called. I snapped by head up, fully at attention, though I had… Continue reading


  • Days came and went. Months came and went. Summer came and went. The start of school came and went. Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, came and went. Steven and I heard nothing from David and Marian. Despite invitations to barbeques, birthdays, holidays and celebrations. Their silence was a cold stone in my belly. I blamed myself… Continue reading


  • I crumpled yet another sheet of paper into a ball, tossing it into the garbage along with the dozen others already there. Whenever I got going, there was always too much to say, and the letter ended up being too long and convoluted to make any sense to the reader. It needed to be clear.… Continue reading


  • Canada is not like how I thought it would be. It’s better than I had heard. It’s better than I ever imagined. Mira, Simon and I spent four months in refugee housing. It was an apartment block filled with women and their kids, or kids living with an assigned guardian from the Canadian government, men… Continue reading