Ken Cartisano

“Of Lights and Women.” by Ken Cartisano

Submitted to Contest #253

The customer was skeptical of my competence, I could sense as much, and I suspected it was because she was shrewd and observant. This was the kind of sign job that I had little prior experience with, but I was determined to prove her fears unfounded, and assured her I would have her sign illuminated before the end of the day. I went back outside, a touch annoyed by her acumen, and proceeded to move the bucket truck into a position to access the sign panel. By my standards, it was a large and expensive sign, double-faced, with two, 3-foot by ...

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“Chapter One: The Book Worm.” by Ken Cartisano

Submitted to Contest #251

His name—was Manchester. Norman Manchester. A normal guy: Tall and lanky, not too graceful, just your average twenty-something sluicing through his final semester of college and concerned about his prospects.He was supposed to be compiling a list of potential job opportunities, water treatment plants and testing facilities within driving distance. It was either that, or accept the teaching position he’d applied for in a large congested city hundreds of miles from home.Instead, he had gotten side-tracked into ‘Great-Books’, a site devoted to ...

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“Ch. 2 & 3: The Cabal; The Secret Library.” by Ken Cartisano

Submitted to Contest #251

“Are you sure about this?”“Yesss,” he replied.“It really doesn’t look like much of a…”He stopped and turned, “It isn’t much. I told you that.” It was the size of two city blocks, no more. They were headed toward a slight mound of earth at the far end of the park.“But I thought it was a fort.”“It was not a fort.”“But…”“It was never a fort. Ever.”“Then why did they…”“I don’t know, Cage. I wasn’t here.”A man clearing his throat disrupted their bickering. “Is that you, Cathy?”Norman turned to look at her but couldn’t see her face blushing in the...

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“Chapter 4: The Floating Barbican.” by Ken Cartisano

Submitted to Contest #251

Like a group of hooligans after a close scrape with the law, they were all giddy with adrenaline. Once the laughter had died away, the three of them clinked their glasses together, downed their drinks, and allowed themselves to slip into a more somber mood. Though she saw the professor snatch the mysterious black folder with her own eyes, she eyed Norman’s larger, battered acquisition: A fat, wrinkled, stained, bulging ream of handwritten pages. A manuscript. Cathy addressed Norman directly, as the Professor looked on. “So, what did you get...

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“Chapter 5: It's All Academic.” by Ken Cartisano

Submitted to Contest #251

The Daily Oracle:Zeus Trial Up in Air.Both sides declare a mistrial: Faceless Judge disagrees.The charges were brought by ‘Natural Law’ essentially a physical constitutional entity with some apparent clout.He was about to open the paper to page two when he heard a feminine voice.“Excuse me, Gorton Manchester?”Gorton smiled and got to his feet. He was lanky. She was all smiles. She hugged him, briefly. “How are ya?” she added.“Not bad.”“I’m Emily Kordite and I’m here to take your deposition. Please, sit back down, I see they brought you some ...

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“The Reader” by Ken Cartisano

You’re lost in your own thoughts, because you know how important the first few lines of a story can be, and that’s when you bump into him. You straighten and turn to apologize, and he essentially does a double take.“You look familiar,” he says.You repeat your apology and go back to sifting through the battery rack. It’s a small hardware and convenience store in the middle of nowhere, and the batteries, though cheap, look old, the plastic wrappers are either bent or dusty. While weighing your limited options, you realize the stranger you bump...

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“The Last Ark” by Ken Cartisano

Submitted to Contest #247

Killing the Pilot and crew seemed recklessly premature. Not because they were the only living creatures within a billion lightyears. Not at all. I had an entire cargo hold full of organic lifeforms, eager to be revived from their cryogenic stasis. They were all frozen. All expendable. All potential tools for my unlimited use.The primary reason for staying my virtual hand, is that it would be an inconvenience. I would have to suffocate them first, desiccate the bodies, incinerate the remains, thaw out some new subjects, indoctrinate them, tra...

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“.emiT fo sdnaS ehT” by Ken Cartisano

It was the strangest confession I've ever heard, only later did I realize it would be my last. I've done my time in the confessional, heard my share of unholy acts. Now, as Bishop of the Basilica, I no longer deal with laypeople on a one-to-one basis. I leave all of that to my various assistants. But this was a special case. His name was Helmut Kroll. I recognized the voice because he was famous, not because I knew him. How he got my number is a mystery, but he had resources well beyond those of my church, perhaps they were equal to God's? H...

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“A Calico Apothecary.” by Ken Cartisano

Submitted to Contest #239

The dog queries me. “Do you know your name?” I try to respond, but I can’t speak. My lips don’t move. “Just a moment. She’s coming around, coming into focus,” another voice says, and I understand that whoever they are, they’re referring to me. I try to intervene on my own behalf only to confirm that I cannot even move my jaw, let alone speak. A moment later I realize that I can’t move any ...

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“The Crying Cow” by Ken Cartisano

Submitted to Contest #235

It looks like my crime spree is coming to an end. Blinding blue lights are flashing all around, I hear dogs barking in the distance, drawing nearer, a helicopters' rotors chop the air in the sky above me with inexorable efficiency as I cower behind a downed and rotting oak tree and a couple of stiff-leafed cabbage palms.A crackling voice through a megaphone informs me that I am surrounded. If I surrender peacefully, no one will get hurt. Not one, but two red dots flicker and dance through the foliage a few meters away. S...

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“The Power Of Love.” by Ken Cartisano

Ben was cooking a bland dinner when Lena came home from work, bringing in a blast of cold air, slamming the door, swearing at the wind, her dynamic outfit rustling and swishing. “How’s the baby?” she whooshed, breathlessly.“Fine.” Ben replied. “And she’s not a baby. You see the news?”“Yeah.”“Another city, another bomb.”“I know.”“We need to leave.”“And go where?” she said.A rival nation-state had spent a decade rigg...

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“Eve; Of Destruction.” by Ken Cartisano

Only five of the nine commissioners bothered to attend his presentation; even by remote holographic projection, their expressions betrayed various degrees of incomprehension. “How do you know it even works?” “We’ve sent back numerous artifacts, uniquely anomalous artifacts.” “Such as?” Djin hesitated. “The Shroud of Turin, for instance. It didn’t show up unt...

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“The Libranarium.” by Ken Cartisano

Sarah Sauron, the golden-haired object of his inflamed ardor, approached Martin and abruptly handed him a Post-it Note and an index card. “You need to find this book, Martin, and make sure this number matches it and put it back in the card catalogue.” She was walking away with a succulent sway, before he could comprehend her request. So he jumped to his feet and pursued her, his ‘sweet’, across the...

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“When Joey Met Saulie.” by Ken Cartisano

I was parched. I tossed my jacket over my shoulder and continued plodding towards the inexplicable pasture land in the distance. It’s not that I was ever afraid of dying, you understand, I just expected it to be quick and painless, like an unanticipated bullet to the back of the head. Baking to death in the desert? That wasn’t something I’d ever figured on.We were on our way to Vegas and we’d already covered lots of territory that day, unfortunately, much of it was on foot. After two hours of trudging towards a slight ri...

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“The (Alternate) End Of the Dragons.” by Ken Cartisano

Submitted to Contest #218

The year was 1476, February 28.A flagon of mead slammed onto the table first, then two plates piled with fresh cooked pork, the fat still sizzling and popping.It was after midnight. The tavern was dark and noisy, but warm.Val leaned forward, shouting above the din, “I think we have our dragon slayer, Fid.”‘How could she tell?’ He wondered. He could barely discern her features even though she was sitting across the table from him. Still, he paused...

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