Landfall and Other Stories is a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories. Plots cover alien invasions, a mind reading detective, a winged protagonist's love story and a modern day tale of an invisible man.
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Landfall
Molly
"Can we please have a ride?" says a strung out looking woman who probably crawled out of a trailer park. Molly eyes the woman suspiciously. The woman has a duffel bag on her shoulder and at her heels is a small dog yapping away.
Molly looks at her Alex, her new husband. Taking the hint, Alex says, "I'm sorry miss, but we don't have any room in our car," and Alex does sound truly apologetic.
The hitch hiker studies their 2003 Toyota Corolla and she says imploringly, "If you just push some of your stuff over on that back seat we could fit."
Molly respects and hates this woman. Molly grew up with money, but in a life changing move, she gave her trust fund to charity. Molly is trying to live like a person with little money, but she finds is hard to shake the prejudices of the rich. And the thought she can't shake now is how could anyone lack the self pride to actually hitch hike?
Alex says, "Sorry, miss, we don't have the room."
The small toy dog growls and the woman says, "Yeah, Pumpernickel, that's a good dog. We don't want to ride with these people anyway. They don't care if we're stuck here when the aliens come," and then they walk away.
Alex closes the gas tank to their car and gets the receipt from the pump. Molly thinks how odd it is to care about money anymore and not because she used to have so much of it, but because with the aliens coming nothing seems to matter anymore. This must be how people feel in countries where they have had wars. Yet money does still matter: that hitchhiker is an example of that.
They get in the car and make their way to Interstate 94. They are a few miles west of the Minnesota and Wisconsin border. Traffic is barely moving at all; everybody wants out of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Molly has never seen traffic this bad before and she has gone this way countless times on her way out of town on her way to her family's cabin in Wisconsin.
Trucks, jeeps, and other four wheel drive vehicles are doing what they would never do in normal times: they are driving on the medians and on the shoulders of the freeway. And not only does no one even honk, but no one even bats an eye.
"I wish the radio worked," says Molly, "Because I don't know how many more times I can listen to the Forrest Gump soundtrack." The radio does work, but all it says is the alien's message, over and over, "Leave your cities; return to the wild."
Alex says, "Yeah, too bad we didn't think to bring some music. I guess we were too worried about packing essentials. Did you see how bare that gas station was back there? I looked in the window and I didn't see much on those shelves."
Molly looks over her shoulder at the back seat and she thinks about all the stuff they brought with them: clothes, bathroom supplies, and prepackaged food.
Molly asks with a small voice, "Did you by chance pack the can opener?"
With a big grin Alex answers, "I sure did. I didn't know if you all had one at your cabin or not."
Molly sighs, "Good. Can you imagine trying to open these cans without a can opener?"
Alex says, "Well, at least it would have given us something to do there."
She says, "You really are a city boy, aren't you?"
Alex says, "Give me concrete and pollution any day."
Traffic has stopped, but Molly can just see the St. Croix Bridge in the distance. The bridge, which goes over the wide expanse of the St. Croix River, slopes upwards into Wisconsin and that, is where traffic usually breaks up, but Molly sees that the traffic jam doesn't stop in Wisconsin.
Out of nowhere people are on either side the Corolla and the back doors are thrown open.
Alex yells, "Oh no you don't," and Alex and Molly jump out of the car. Molly sees a man and woman pawing at her belongings and Molly feels a rage well up inside of her. Molly grabs hold of the waist of the woman who is digging for something good to steal. The woman feels Molly's hands and the woman kicks backwards and connects with Molly's legs.
Molly yanks the woman out of the car. The woman holds three boxes of Hamburger Helper in her arms. Molly swipes at the boxes and the boxes fall to the ground. The woman goes to pick up the boxes, and Molly screams, "Don't even think about it."
The woman makes a scrunched up face at Molly and she skulks away. Molly looks over to the other side of the car and she sees Alex shove a man. The man steps backwards, catches himself as he almost falls over, turns, and walks away. Molly picks up the boxes and throws them into the back seat.
"Get a blanket from the trunk," says Alex as he gets in the driver's seat and moves the car forwards two car lengths and then stops. The trunk pops open and Molly rummages through their belongings, and finding a blanket, pulls it out, and closes the trunk. The car moves forwards a bit more and then Molly covers up the food with the blanket.
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Landfall
Molly
"Can we please have a ride?" says a strung out looking woman who probably crawled out of a trailer park. Molly eyes the woman suspiciously. The woman has a duffel bag on her shoulder and at her heels is a small dog yapping away.
Molly looks at her Alex, her new husband. Taking the hint, Alex says, "I'm sorry miss, but we don't have any room in our car," and Alex does sound truly apologetic.
The hitch hiker studies their 2003 Toyota Corolla and she says imploringly, "If you just push some of your stuff over on that back seat we could fit."
Molly respects and hates this woman. Molly grew up with money, but in a life changing move, she gave her trust fund to charity. Molly is trying to live like a person with little money, but she finds is hard to shake the prejudices of the rich. And the thought she can't shake now is how could anyone lack the self pride to actually hitch hike?
Alex says, "Sorry, miss, we don't have the room."
The small toy dog growls and the woman says, "Yeah, Pumpernickel, that's a good dog. We don't want to ride with these people anyway. They don't care if we're stuck here when the aliens come," and then they walk away.
Alex closes the gas tank to their car and gets the receipt from the pump. Molly thinks how odd it is to care about money anymore and not because she used to have so much of it, but because with the aliens coming nothing seems to matter anymore. This must be how people feel in countries where they have had wars. Yet money does still matter: that hitchhiker is an example of that.
They get in the car and make their way to Interstate 94. They are a few miles west of the Minnesota and Wisconsin border. Traffic is barely moving at all; everybody wants out of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Molly has never seen traffic this bad before and she has gone this way countless times on her way out of town on her way to her family's cabin in Wisconsin.
Trucks, jeeps, and other four wheel drive vehicles are doing what they would never do in normal times: they are driving on the medians and on the shoulders of the freeway. And not only does no one even honk, but no one even bats an eye.
"I wish the radio worked," says Molly, "Because I don't know how many more times I can listen to the Forrest Gump soundtrack." The radio does work, but all it says is the alien's message, over and over, "Leave your cities; return to the wild."
Alex says, "Yeah, too bad we didn't think to bring some music. I guess we were too worried about packing essentials. Did you see how bare that gas station was back there? I looked in the window and I didn't see much on those shelves."
Molly looks over her shoulder at the back seat and she thinks about all the stuff they brought with them: clothes, bathroom supplies, and prepackaged food.
Molly asks with a small voice, "Did you by chance pack the can opener?"
With a big grin Alex answers, "I sure did. I didn't know if you all had one at your cabin or not."
Molly sighs, "Good. Can you imagine trying to open these cans without a can opener?"
Alex says, "Well, at least it would have given us something to do there."
She says, "You really are a city boy, aren't you?"
Alex says, "Give me concrete and pollution any day."
Traffic has stopped, but Molly can just see the St. Croix Bridge in the distance. The bridge, which goes over the wide expanse of the St. Croix River, slopes upwards into Wisconsin and that, is where traffic usually breaks up, but Molly sees that the traffic jam doesn't stop in Wisconsin.
Out of nowhere people are on either side the Corolla and the back doors are thrown open.
Alex yells, "Oh no you don't," and Alex and Molly jump out of the car. Molly sees a man and woman pawing at her belongings and Molly feels a rage well up inside of her. Molly grabs hold of the waist of the woman who is digging for something good to steal. The woman feels Molly's hands and the woman kicks backwards and connects with Molly's legs.
Molly yanks the woman out of the car. The woman holds three boxes of Hamburger Helper in her arms. Molly swipes at the boxes and the boxes fall to the ground. The woman goes to pick up the boxes, and Molly screams, "Don't even think about it."
The woman makes a scrunched up face at Molly and she skulks away. Molly looks over to the other side of the car and she sees Alex shove a man. The man steps backwards, catches himself as he almost falls over, turns, and walks away. Molly picks up the boxes and throws them into the back seat.
"Get a blanket from the trunk," says Alex as he gets in the driver's seat and moves the car forwards two car lengths and then stops. The trunk pops open and Molly rummages through their belongings, and finding a blanket, pulls it out, and closes the trunk. The car moves forwards a bit more and then Molly covers up the food with the blanket.
