FREE SHORT STORY: THE PENNY

Dear Potential Reader,

Sometimes, the only way to get to notice someone is to see what they do when no one is looking. When a young woman helps the Hatchback Woman, she finds her good deed is worth more than just value of the coin she received in THE PENNY.

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Having worked in retail, I can’t recall any cashier every escaping a register that was perfect every time. There’s just something odd or magical about how it can get off. Sure, it probably is user error. A ten ends up in the stack of ones and gets handed out as change to one of the many people too busy to check what’s handed back to them–Gosh, I do recall preferring people who paid by card.

And so, it comes to an end. I hope you all have enjoyed the Lady’s tales for the last 12 months. The 12 stories represent less than a third of what is written, and my hope has always been to reach 100 stories, so there are plenty more to come. Thank you for reading.

Hope you enjoy.

All the best,

DAN JIRE

FREE SHORT STORY: THE MIGHTIER

Dear Potential Reader,

After an accident, a father struggles to communicate with his daughter, perhaps a strange object gifted by the strange driver of the red hatchback can help him in THE MIGHTIER.

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This is a follow up to THE CAR–one of the first 9 ever written. But like most of the Hatchback Woman tales, I’ve tried to write them in such a way that you can read them without having to have read them in a specific order. Perhaps, this spoils the events of THE CAR. Perhaps, you’ll have forgotten if you ever read that tale. But I’ve never liked, as a reader, being confined to reading orders.

Check in every First Friday of every month for another Tale of the Hatchback Woman.

Hope you enjoy.

All the best,

DAN JIRE

FREE SHORT STORY: A CIGARETTE

Dear Potential Reader,

Ever spend time with someone that is so rough, you need something to get you through it? It might just be the promise of a reprieve. It might be a drink or a smoke. For Lauren Pace it is something that has to do with the Hatchback Woman, in A CIGARETTE.

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As mentioned earlier, this is one of the early tales, where I was trying to turn the Lady’s story into something of an investigation with two leads in the same fashion as The X-Files. But the heart of the story has always been how different people handle what they have received. So, while this one complicates the overall narrative with a building of events, it serves as another evaluation of what those in the Hatchback Woman’s vicinity chose to do.

Check in every First Friday of every month for another Tale of the Hatchback Woman.

Hope you enjoy.

All the best,

DAN JIRE

FREE SHORT STORY: THE EGG

Dear Potential Reader,

Some conversations reveal veiled truths. How would you like to know which came first . . . the chicken or the egg? Join two thieves looking to get back one of the Hatchback Woman’s magical objects in THE EGG.

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If you’ve read THIS, then you know the genesis of the tales of the Hatchback Woman was a writing exercise. That’s it. ‘Let me practice.’ So, it only seemed fitting back in 2020 when I was practicing writing ‘dialog only tales’ that I would try my hand at a Hatchback Woman tale in this format. So here it is, warts and all. And take note, this is the first ever publication of this tale, so remember you read it here first.

Check in every First Friday of every month for another Tale of the Hatchback Woman.

Hope you enjoy.

All the best,

DAN JIRE

FREE STORY: THE FIRE

Dear Potential Reader,

THE FIRE is just the warm story for a scorching hot August day . . . wait . . . did I get this wrong? Probably you would want something cooler to think about. But that’s not in the cards for this tale of the Hatchback Woman. So, get yourself a glass of ice water (or whatever cool beverage you prefer) and join us for the story of an Aunt who means well . . .

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I’m actually not a fan of the smell of smoke and ash. I love sitting out by a fire. But the second I’m done and I come inside the last thing I want to smell is the smoke. Still, the flames themselves have always been captivating. Like watching a wild animal on the verge of breaking out of its cage. We can sit comfortably knowing the fire is contained, but the second it leaps out and begins to spread, then it is the worst kind of animal—because there is no reasoning with fire.

Remember kids, never play with matches, but check back every First Friday of the month for another tale of the Hatchback Woman.

Hope you enjoy.

All the best,

DAN JIRE