Juvenilia

Fatal Fame by Mark McKenzie The bleached-blonde newscaster came on, and Phil Robinson knew exactly what it meant: it was time for some “celebrity news.” Phil reached for the remote control, intending to mute the television, but over the newscaster’s shoulder he saw an image of his nemesis, the girl who had ruined his life [...]

“Good night, Phil.” “Good night, Joe.” The two security guards parted ways. Joe was going home, his shift having ended, while Phil was just starting his shift. It was ten o’clock at night, and Phil would be on duty until the crack of dawn. When he first started this job, a few months ago, working [...]

The young woman stepped inside the bus and the doors closed quickly behind her. Although it wasn’t unusual for her to ride the bus on her way to work in the morning, she usually took the subway. However, this morning the sun was out and she felt like being outside and not in the dark [...]

“Mwah-hah-hah-ha!” laughed the evil Dr. Xenon, the school chemistry teacher. His diabolical plan to open up a fissure beneath the school auditorium, causing magma from deep inside the earth’s core to come rushing to the surface, which would cause havoc and threaten the lives of the hundreds of students at the morning assembly, was about [...]

“Molly” A Fairy Tale by Mark McKenzie “So much for our camping trip,” Ann growled as she felt raindrops land on her face and hair. She looked up and saw dark, looming storm clouds and she could hear thunder rolling in the distance. Ken said nothing but continued to paddle. The rented canoe was only [...]

“Leslie” by Mark McKenzie (Author’s Note: Technically, the following isn’t really a “short story.” Everything that I’ve written here is true and really happened. The story is kind of rough in places, but I guess truth is harder to write than fiction.) The day before she entered my life was, no doubt, an ordinary one. [...]

“The Young Writer and the Famous Author” by Mark McKenzie When the young writer heard that the famous author would be visiting his city and signing books at the local bookstore, he was very excited. The young writer heard about the great author’s impending visit on the local newscast the night before. It was reported [...]