Stories
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Samir and the Golden Cart
Samir was excited; today was the day his friends Josephine and Ben were coming to visit. Samir’s family had moved to Amherst, Massachusetts, and he wanted to show his friends his new home town. Josephine and Ben arrived with Ben’s mom in time for lunch. Samir’s mother took everyone out to eat at a restaurant… Continue reading
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Alexander
It came into Alexander’s mind, as he was idly playing solitaire on his laptop, that this particular game of solitaire was connected to…something. His vague idea — not much more than what people call a “feeling” or a “sense” — didn’t include any hint of what the connection might be. But Alexander paid the thought… Continue reading
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What kind of speckles?
A reindeer couple, Rae and Filip, were ambling down a path in a new part of the forest they hadn’t visited before. It was quite a nice path; wide enough for them to walk side by side, and free of the tangled underbrush that often annoyed Filip by snagging his antlers. They came to an… Continue reading
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The Find
The scrapyard was the last stop for junked cars; they got crushed, cubed, and shipped away. Grif didn’t know where, but figured they got melted down. Don claimed they might be used as giant bricks, but Grif didn’t buy it. “nobody wants rusty bricks.” There were precious few perks to the job. For Don it… Continue reading
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The Kayakathon
“Hey, look at that, look at that!” yelled Otter. “What?” asked Muskrat. He looked where Otter was pointing. “Oh,” he said, “is that all?” “Is that ALL?” asked Otter. “What is it? Have you ever seen anything like that before?” “I sure have,” said Muskrat. “That’s just a boat. See the pointy parts on both… Continue reading
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The Curious Incident of the Lawnmower
It so happens that for the past year or two our family has included two dogs of mixed, and, to us, unknown ancestry. To the casual observer, or even the diligent analyst, they share very little in appearance. They arrived quite separately, but since becoming housemates have bonded closely and become inseparable. I had made… Continue reading
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Character of the day: Tom Swift
The technological history of the 20th Century started with tinkerers and mechanics building new machines, and progressed to more complex machines backed by scientific theory and advanced math. And all of it was embodied in one person: Tom Swift, the teenage genius inventor and hero of more than 100 books. Tom appeared in 1910 in… Continue reading
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Ronald’s Train is Stranded
Lecturer EamorieDepartment of AntiquitiesByronton UniversityAP Box 2 Dear Professor, I’m sorry to inform that I will be delayed in reaching the University; I was riding the evening train to Byronton when it unexpectedly lost its forward locomotion. We (that is to say the passengers) were informed (that is to say, by the conductor) that there… Continue reading
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Ronald’s Nighttime Study
Ronald stayed up far into the night studying the automaton’s description of the system that powered it. It had been Professor Q’s innovation, and one which he had not shared with Ronald. Still, he wanted to present the professor with the solution to the puzzle of how Doctor Witherspoon’s pocketwatch-sized device had disabled Elektra. Ronald… Continue reading
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Dr. Witherspoon’s Appointments
Doctor Witherspoon, having arisen at his usual hour and dawdled over his newspaper, his breakfast, and the day’s wardrobe, was forced to ask the driver of the steam taxi to hurry to Harrow’s in order not to be late to his first appointment. Harrow’s was the financial institution — considerably more than just a bank,… Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated puppy Chocolate. I shouldn’t be surprised, but she mostly speaks in doggerel.