Greg Gillis

“Silent Translation” by Greg Gillis

           Franklin Devonshire, a thirty-five-year-old tailor from New Jersey, spent half his life dreaming of traveling to Italy to take in the culture, the food, the scenery, but most of all, the fashion.            Franklin had always admired the creative flair of Italian designers, and he tried to copy some of their designs when creating his own custom-made suits in the United States. Unfortunately, he could not find clientele wh...

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“The Potion” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #176

           Charlotte Brubaker, a thirty-five-year-old runway model, was receiving less and less calls lately for modeling jobs. According to her agent, the clothing designers were seeking younger models.            Since the age of fourteen, Charlotte had dreamed of being a model. She collected issues of fashion magazines and practiced the poses and facial expressions of her idols like Claudia Schiffer, Kathy Ireland, and Cindy Crawf...

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“The Journal” by Greg Gillis

           It was a brisk Autumn Day, and Jasper Connelly was volunteering with a group of young men and women to help beautify the local park.            Jasper’s duty on that day was to help rake the leaves into large piles so one of the other volunteers could gather them up and place them into bags.            He began near the end of the asphalt pathway and worked his way tow...

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“One Direction, Two Paths” by Greg Gillis

           The year was 1950, a time when Howdy Doody was a favorite children’s television show, Bing Crosby was “Riding High” on the silver screen, and Nat King Cole neared the top of the charts with his ballad, “Mona Lisa.”            This was also the year that Chester and his best friend, James turned eighteen. Their birthdays were just one week apart, so they had celebrated it together since they were twelve. This year, however,...

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“Scary Christmas” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #173

           It was November 25th, Black Friday, and to me, the scariest time of the year.            Anyone who thinks Halloween is the scariest time of the year, has never worked in a retail store on Black Friday. That’s where I come in; my name is Sam, and I am a cashier at your local Walmart store.            I always dread this time of year, not because I don’t like Christma...

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“Dishonest Mistake” by Greg Gillis

           It was November 18, 2030, and NASA was preparing a deep space launch toward the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.            The team of six astronauts were on a research mission to seek other inhabitable planets which could sustain the basic needs of human life. If successful, NASA would begin plans to build larger vessels to carry the future of human existence.           &n...

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“The Passenger Train to Love” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #168

           Steven gazed spellbound out the window at the blurs of trees, hydro poles, and rail markers as they raced past his window while he sat in the dining car of the Amtrak train from Chicago to St. Louis.            When he left Union Station in Chicago at 7:15am, the sun was just beginning to rise over the eastern horizon. Steven had one thing on his mind, to locate the one person in the world who he couldn’t stop thinking of…...

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“In the Mind of a Child” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #167

           Dr. William Devonshire, Child Psychologist, along with colleagues, Dr. Hanna Porter, who earned a degree in Cognitive Psychology, and Dr. Lillian Gray, with degrees in Behavioral Neuroscience and Cognitive Neuroscience, combined their efforts to work on a theory they shared regarding the minds of children.            In their study, this group of brilliant minds had determined the mystery of pure, unaltered thought laid wi...

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“Old Dogs” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #166

           They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but in Bill’s mind, most of the new dogs could learn a trick or two from him.            Bill Baxter, a thirty-six-year veteran with the school board, worked most of his later years as a school custodian. Now, at the age of seventy-eight, his supervisors are asking him to pack it in and retire.            While most of hi...

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“I Blame Me” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #165

           Harrison sat upon the couch in a darkened room. His face laid tightly against the palms of his hands as he sobbed uncontrollably.            “How could have it gotten this far? This is all my fault,” he thought to himself.            Harrison married the love of his life, Becky, five years earlier at a small church in their hometown. They were high school sweetheart...

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“Ordinarily Extraordinary” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #163

           “You’ll never be content,” are the words that resonated inside his head every time he thought of his father.            Rick grew up in a dysfunctional home. His mother was a lieutenant in the United States Army, and his father was the manager of a bank. Both parents were extremely structured and disciplined, but Rick seemed to deviate from the path of order. He rarely saw his parents because of their careers, so he was ra...

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“The Food Critic” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #162

            He sat at a small, wooden table near the front window of the bistro. The sunlight reflected off the effervescence in his sparkling water, creating a prism of color cast along the white tablecloth as he scanned the menu items for l'appétit, a quaint French restaurant near the outskirts of town.             Charles Heatherington was considered to be one of the most sought-after food critics in the region. His word was consi...

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“On Our Own” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #161

           Tammy sat silently as she watched over her younger brother and sister. They were huddled together for warmth beneath the East Street bridge inside their makeshift home made from a refrigerator box that they found on the side of the road.            Tammy, her little brother, Jacob, and the youngest, Abigail, ran away from home three hours earlier. The atmosphere of their home was that of fear. Their mother, Helena, had bee...

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“Apocalyptic” by Greg Gillis

           Once a land vibrant and full of life, Los Angeles was now a vast wasteland filled with death and destruction.            It began in the year 2028; the city had been under siege as wars broke out worldwide in a desperate fight for world domination. Political leaders from Russia, South Africa, Pakistan, North Korea, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America were preparing for a nuclear assault.  &nbsp...

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“Mystery in Mayhem” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #158

           It was another dismal day in the City of Mayhem, where criminals outnumbered law enforcement three-to-one.            The dark, grey clouds hovered over the city like a blanket. Thunder rumbled so loudly, that it rattled the windows of the 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme that was parked in the shadows on Porter Street. Shards of metal fell from the rusted-out fenders as the door swung open.      &n...

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