Short Stories – Page 5 – WELCOME TO THE JIREVERSE

FREE SHORT STORY: THAT WHICH ENCOMPASSES ALL

Dear Potential Reader,

Welcome to the start of winter, here’s a tale set in a snowstorm when a pair of contractors have an accident on the side of a mountain. It’s called THAT WHICH ENCOMPASSES ALL, and get yourself somewhere warm.

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The title is one of those long unspecific things, and to be honest, I probably need a better title for this short story. But I’ve always liked titles that have ‘THAT, THOSE, THEY, and a bunch of other words around it. Too often titles like PREY or SNOWFALL get used and they don’t really separate this PREY or this SNOWFALL from any other story, film or song titled the same thing. I get that it makes marketing easier, but I also miss those old movie posters with titles like FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN or THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US.

So, I apologize for the unmarketable title, and will admit, it’s not apt. But it’s the title I saved the file under when I wrote it and I’ve referred to the story by that name enough times it would confuse the heck out of me to call it something else.

Hope you enjoy.

All the best,

DAN JIRE

FREE SHORT STORY: THE LITTLE GIRL

Dear Potential Reader,

I hope you all had a Happy Halloween, but don’t think you’re safe yet. Novemember has always felt spookier. The leaves are gone, the night is longer, and there is a briskness to the air, and I hope you will feel all of that as you read THE LITTLE GIRL.

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This story is an old one, probably dating back to experiencing fatherhood for the first time. No one can prepare you for the amount of worry that enters your life. To finally be responsible for a young life, it’s all I thought about. Is my child okay? Sleep was a matter of exhaustion, not something to relax during or to have in regular intervals. And when you’re deprived of sleep, strange things seem to happen, or perhaps we notice things we wouldn’t have before–it’s hard to say as reality bends. Your experience is true to you, but only because you aren’t fully awake.

So snuggle up somewhere warm and prepare for one more scare . . .

Hope you enjoy.

All the best,

DAN JIRE

FREE SHORT STORY: THIS ONE IS BENJAMIN

Dear Potential Reader,

Welcome to this month’s free short story. But wait . . . did you want to spoil a novella called THIS ONE IS DEADLY? Because if you’re fine spoiling the expanded version of the following short story then proceed and read the original: THIS ONE IS BENJAMIN.

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The following tale was originally written as an exercise in shifting viewpoints to tell a story. I liked it then and still enjoy the brevity of it now. But at some point, years and years ago, I decided to expand it into a novella. When that novella was originally published, this original short story version was included in the back pages as an extra and now it’s here, free to read.

The novella will be anchoring an upcoming short story collection sometime in the coming year or so . . . titled THIS IS DEADLY.

Hope you enjoy.

All the best,

DAN JIRE

WRITING TIPS: FORMULAS ARE YOU FRIEND: HATCHBACK WOMAN EDITION

I practice writing. A lot.

I write throwaway stories. I write stories with goals to practice things like dialogue or action or group conversations.

The tales of THE HATCHBACK WOMAN began only as an exercise. I set a goal to write 10 short stories using a formula. Each story had to fulfill the formula in different ways.

The original formula to any HATCHBACK WOMAN tale was:

Character receives an item from the HATCHBACK WOMAN.
The item has a magical power.
The use of the item changes the character’s life.

Pretty simple, but not when you have to come up with ten stories (or the ongoing case of HATCHBACK WOMAN, where I’m over 30 tales as of this writing).

For #1 I came up with: theft, found, given, left in new character’s possession, rewarded, demanded, offered a choice, given by a person other than the HATCHBACK WOMAN and a few variations, like dug up after witnessing her bury something.

For #2, I tried to think of different superpowers. Whatever I could think of, from invisibility to fire power and control over time.

For #3, I tried to vary how the item affected the character. Did it make their life better or worse? The character ended up deciding this each time. And it’s what I ended up loving about writing the HATCHBACK WOMAN tales. It was hard to know if she was good or evil or if it was the character’s choice.

I’ve written a few HATCHBACK WOMAN tales that failed. But practice makes perfect, and sometimes, I just needed to change up who the character was that received the item or how they received it.

Setting formulas gives us a chance to change up what we’re brainstorming.

Instead of trying to come up with an original idea, we’re asking ‘how do we make this different than what others have read?’

Want other ideas on how you could write? I’ve got more, every LAST WEDNESDAY of EVERY MONTH.

FREE SHORT STORY: ADAM UNLUCKY

Dear Potential Reader,

It’s September, and it might even still be hot where you are, but it seems unfair to leave summer without a story set in the season. Just one more reminded of why you might be happy Summer is over.

Join Adam and his mother on a trip to a friend’s pool party that includes a very uninvited guest . . .

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The following tale was forgotten. I have many of these short stories that I write and then move on to far more interesting ideas. They’re exercises in craft, strengthening of muscles, realizations of faults. But every now and then I stumble back upon them and wonder what they were about. Sometimes, their rediscovery reminds me of plans forgotten or send me off into tangents and series development. ADAM UNLUCKY, is such a short story and maybe you’ll see why it is forgettable, but I do have a soft spot for straight-forward horror tales and maybe, this is just the kind of refreshing quick read you need as the last few hot days of the year trickle toward fall.

Hope you enjoy.

All the best,

DAN JIRE