The Dinosaur Chronicles
The Dinosaur Chronicles
Author: Joseph M. Erhardt
Desc: A man kills and forgets--utterly--that his victims ever existed; a nurse investigates and uncovers a shocking secret. A couple is stranded in their Colorado cottage by an antagonized creature that they can't see and it's getting bolder and smarter as the hours go by. A scientist creates a time machine and precipitates the Ultimate Disaster. Two boys enter a county fair and encounter the world's greatest juggler who has a secret that's both wonderful and razor-edged. The Dinosaur Chronicles contains 14 long and short tales of science fiction and fantasy in the classic style; they run the gamut from the thoughtful to the witty to the poignant. Total length: about 60 000 words. Excerpt from "Letter of the Law": At the entry to the Resuscitation Room there’s a little lip where the broken tiles of the hallway meet the broken tiles of the refurbished dispensary. They shoved the gurney across the lip with a significant hiccup not caring at all about their cargo. They might as well have been rolling a six-foot salami. Excerpt from "The Practical Meek": My shrink says I’m depressed. He’s wrong. He also says I’m passive-aggressive. He’s right about that. But at five-seven and 130 pounds I’m supposed to be active-aggressive? Excerpt from "Crawl Ice": He didn’t know why but the darkness bothered him. He struggled to move. He crawled to the kitchen found the junk drawer on the third attempt and pulled. The drawer stuck and he rattled it up and down as he yanked. It flew out gouged a new channel in his ribcage and overturned on the floor. Excerpt from "The Great Aribo": Darkness had long fallen and the high-gloss wooden balls glistened in the glow of the midway lights. They flickered as they danced from hand to hand and twirled as they passed through the tall arc of their orbit. The Great Aribo’s performance remained perfect as no ball dropped though as he announced the end of the tenth cycle the rasp in the clown’s voice added a broken croak to the chilly autumn eve.