Jeffrey McDonald

“A father for Niamh” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #260

   Niamh is a young Irish girl, with bright blue eyes, flaming red hair, freckles, and pasty white skin that burns within minutes in direct sunlight. Having just discovered who her father is, her desperate need for counsel has brought her home to a familiar place.Her late mother, a free spirit, seduced the wrong man, a man she should have left alone. Months later, when she found herself pregnant with Niamh, she did what any desperate, young woman would have done, she confronted the man. The reception he gave her was not what s...

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“Building confidence” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #256

The lights from Jeff’s garage are a beacon in the night to the errand bovine roaming the pitch-black pastures surrounding his rural home in Johnson County, Texas. Staccato sounds of an impact wrench spill out in the dark vast emptiness startling a curious coyote camouflaged by a patch of prickly pear cactus and tall dry grass. Curses echo into the night, as exhaustion battles an ever-ending desire to fulfill a dream he has had since youth, and his first time seeing a drag car fly by at the local track. He was hooked instantly, while other yo...

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“Bonds formed in the rubble” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #254

Ryan's heart pounded in his chest as he sprinted through the chaotic streets of Ferguson. The harsh chaos of enraged voices, broken bottles, and sporadic gunshots created a dissonant symphony that threatened to swallow him whole. His eyes scanned the landscape, desperate for a brief respite from the madness surrounding him. As a business owner, Ryan never expected to find himself caught in the crossfire of the riots that had engulfed the city. He'd immigrated a lifetime ago to America hoping to leave behind the troubles of Northern Ireland, ...

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“Shifting gears” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #253

Karen rushes back from the kitchen to answer her cell phone ringing on her desk, she cautiously slips and slides into her wool socks, comes to rest in her office chair, and swipes to answer.“You got that piece for the well? We also need the FOB, BOB, and JPEGs; remember this is on spec! And that over the transom piece you sent me was a big help, it was just thick enough to take the wobble out of my keyboard,” her editor George Barnes of Romance Writer’s Weekly orders while chuckling.“Yes…” she begins to reply but hears him disconnect.Karen s...

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“Reading is dangerous” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #252

Marcy strolls the aisles of Grumbles, a bookstore in a strip mall in her hometown of Rumson outside Newark, New Jersey. The owner rushes to visit with her when he finishes at the cash register, excited to see his favorite customer. They talk about the weather, children gone off to college and most importantly what new crime novels have come in. The owner Bob turns, rushes behind the counter, and pulls out a stack of books he has held back for her. Excited she fauns over the books looking at each cover and weeding out those she already owns. ...

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“Guardian of the universe’s knowledge” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #251

Jack Manning sits after the sad and somber funeral of his precious grandmother Ellen. She was a quirky eccentric woman who lived in a home straight out of the year 1900. It had only been five years ago when they finally convinced her to remodel and put in indoor plumbing and a bathroom. She always wore tailored suit dresses with a slight bell shape to the skirts and always in drab colors. Her hats were where she expressed herself, they were always bold and colorful, with feathers and puffs of lace and bows, lots of bows. The only jewelry she...

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“Bad Marinara” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #250

From trembling thin fingers an inch-long ash of a Kool menthol cigarette hangs precariously over bubbling marinara, Lenoir’s mind is troubled, elsewhere. She’s suddenly startled back to reality when the phone rings, she settles herself, takes a puff, and walks cautiously to answer.“Hello?” she softly speaks into the receiver as she walks around the kitchen tethered to the rotary phone attached to the wall.“I can’t talk to you about that.”“I can’t!”“Not on the phone Mother!” she insists slamming down the receiver and returning to cooking only...

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“Persuasion” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #248

“Hey, I’m Art,”“Joe,”“Would you like some candy?” Art asks.“No.”“Strange, isn’t it?” Art asks.“I can’t wait to leave,” Joe replies.The two men sit and watch each other for a moment, and then Art feels the grandfather inside him want to reach out and pass on some knowledge to this young man while he has the chance.“Do you know how old the art of persuasion is?” Art asks.“I don’t even know what that is.”“It all started with Aristotle,” Art began.“Who?” Joe asks.“Aristotle was a great philosopher who invented logic among other things. In his wo...

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“The fun and games killer” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #246

“It's all fun and games until someone gets murdered,” he reads on a letter inside an evidence bag, “what the heck is this? Not another body, I am getting sick and tired of this!”“Yep.” Charles Parker says looking up from playing solitaire on his computer.“When did this happen?” George Parker screams.“Don’t you watch the news!” his brother Charles yells at him from another desk.“They are having a briefing in five minutes in the conference room,” Barbara Mattel the new precinct secretary informs them both as she slinks by in her skintight skir...

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“The Stones” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #245

The cross-shaped standing stones of Callanish in the isles off the west coast of northern Britain have become the focal point of Saint Augustine’s mission to spread Christianity throughout Britain. Tradesmen, immigrants, and legionaries traveling from Rome had brought the religion to Britain by the late third century, but it never took root. Then Rome fell, their presence dissipated from the remote lands, but it was not gone. The mighty Roman empire crumbled under weak leadership and misguided ambition, but like the Phoenix from the ashes, a...

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“Kate's secret” by Jeffrey McDonald

Darkness edges ever closer as the blue sky turns orange, then red. Storms lighting pillowy grey clouds in the distance warn that the mission here in An Najal will soon need to be finished. Houses in this desert town seem alike, it is the differences that cause worry, and pain. Breech, raid, capture, and interrogate. Over and over the job can be monotonous, but training keeps you vigil, and seeing someone die in front of you because you were anything but. Victories are small, and losses are devastating, but in the mix of all this chaos blessi...

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“Dragonfly” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #243

“Dragonfly come in, Dragonfly we read catastrophic failures in the crew deck, propulsion, life support, and guidance, do you read?” The crackly voice asks.Mission control has lost communication only a week after leaving the lunar surface on its way to Mars. The first manned rocket with solar sails that give it the look of a Dragonfly had performed flawlessly on numerous missions, until now. Sirens blare, and warnings sound. Inside the ship, debris floats aimlessly here and there bumping into panels and a member of the crew floats motionless ...

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“Poppy and Johnny” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #241

Two lifelong friends just trying to get by in life get the opportunity to make a big score and move up in the drug ring they work in. Johnny the older of the two and more aggressive plays front man for the two of them with the heavy hitters of the drug ring and sets up a money drop for some product they had received recently. The next day Johnny shows up at Poppy’s house to give him the good news, but he doesn’t seem to be happy for the opportunity to make some money and make Bull The Animal happy. Bull has run the ring for a year now since ...

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“AND THAT IS THE WIND” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #240

AND THAT IS THE WINDBy Jeff McDonaldJake sits on the rear deck of his sailboat enjoying the last Chinese takeout from Ho’s on the big island on his return trip to Baja. A gentle wind blows across his face but barely even ruffles his sails.“He will go nowhere if this keeps up,” he thinks as he sips from his water bottle.Any open-ocean crossing is dangerous, he knows this. You need a properly provisioned vessel, a good background in blue water sailing, the ability to read weather maps, and so forth and so on.“But the one thing you need for sur...

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“Something's wrong with Alexa” by Jeffrey McDonald

Jeff McDonald word count 1089 4138 Holman ln. Edmundson, Mo. 63134 lordoftheales@aol.com 314-312-5187 a story where a regular household item becomes sentient. Something’s wrong with Alexa By Jeff McDonald Everett lies awake in his bed too tired to sleep, and too troubled to care. He has nowhere to be in the morning, there's no reason to even be a morning. Lights from the road outside his suburban home peek through the shades above his lonely bed, and cast eerie shapes upon the walls. His min...

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