Laurentz Baker

“For Saturn” by Laurentz Baker

This is impossible. I’ve got to stop thinking this way. There was always a possibility. I decided life would be easier if I didn’t dwell on it. I actually might be from Saturn. But how did they know? And why are they looking for me? Is there some kind of unrest involved? Would long lost relatives be searching for me? I’m intrigued? But at the same time this could get dangerous.  But why am I seeing it that way? Why am I being negative? It could be that they didn’t realize that any posterity of a relative of mine had any family left. But...

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“Future Lou” by Laurentz Baker

Young Lou encounters his future self for the third time this day. Future Lou has yet to figure out the best way to present himself. Telling his younger self that he is from his future will bring about more resistance to what he’s been trying to warn him about. “Look, don’t do it,” says Future Lou “ You’ll regret it.”  “Will you let me handle my business,” replies Lou’s younger self. “You spend almost a month in the hospital and unlike the first time you got locked up you spend thirty years in a federal prison.” “I’ve never been to jail ...

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“The Waterfall” by Laurentz Baker

Oh, now they tell us. If I knew it was going to be this hot I would have waited to go on vacation. Now I’m way up here on this mountain and it’s damn near 110°. I didn’t hear anything about a heat wave coming when I was planning this thing. What the hell! I guess what the hell is right. It’s too hot. I got to tell you I’m not ready for this. I expected at this altitude there would be a cool breeze. It shouldn’t be scorching. But it is. It’ll be brutal to trek down the mountain. The shade of the trees will be no help.  And the temperatur...

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“Next” by Laurentz Baker

Neither was seeking anything serious. They simply have these feelings among the millions of other things to do. Anything more than the casual occasion would be complicated. Too much to deal with. That's just the way it is. It hadn't been long since they met. Two with unexplained feelings. Love? Who knows, but they're with one another. Wondering what might happen next. Wondering what should happen next. They’re in love. At least one thought it was love. Neither had been in love before. Or at least they didn't think they had. Is that...

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“Bari's Scriptorium” by Laurentz Baker

Several books rise beside the stairwell and are placed in order on the shelf Blake has hovering near the ceiling. Blake knows he helped his father place the the clear plastic storage bin with the blue and white Christmas lights under the stairs.  “The blue and white lights looked great lining the bookstore window last year,” he says to Bari, his sister. You said as much after we put them up. The haze from the frost we’ll somehow have to create ourselves. It’s fifty degrees and cloudy. No snow and icicles so far, only fog and rain.” ...

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“The Root Of The Tree” by Laurentz Baker

The root of the tree was beneath a clump of leaves and hooked the tooth of his rake. James had been busy since the cold weather rolled in. Today, it was sixty degrees and would get warmer throughout the afternoon. The grass cut. The hedges were trimmed. But the onslaught of leaves from the oak trees made it seem it would be next fall before he could make a dent in this year’s yard work. And then the heavy rain. It rained during the summer. Great for the grass and watered the seeds. But it seems the clouds took the direction of the season...

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“Happy For You” by Laurentz Baker

I just write what I feel. I don’t have time to worry about what people think. I’m a freelance writer, and I’ve got to get the product out there. They can say what they want. I’ve got to move on to the next story. It’s not an issue. Don’t act like you care. What else am I supposed to do? I have to keep food on the table and a roof over my head. I do my own critiquing. One star, no star, doesn’t matter. No one reads it. One person reads it. I’m the one. Great. I’ve got to move on. Don’t act like you don’t know it. Whatever happens, happens. ...

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“Seraphine” by Laurentz Baker

Submitted to Contest #149

I should be asleep by now. But something grabbed my attention. Fire, I think. A single flame. When I sit up to be sure of what I see. It is gone. A flicker. I sit a moment to see if it will show again. Nothing. I lie back down.  And through closed eyes, I see something bright in front of my face. I open my eyes. And there it is. A flame hovering in the corner of my home just below the ceiling. In a blink. It no doubt retreated. It doesn’t shine as bright as it did when my eyes were shut. My eyelids stretch not yet adjusted to the dark...

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“When The Carnival Is Not” by Laurentz Baker

Submitted to Contest #93

Cold raindrops propelled by the wind strike like nails to my face. Who in their right mind would visit the carnival with the wind howling its contempt at their existence. And it is in my right mind that I am not sure. But here I am, shivering, muddy, and wet, trying to figure out how I came to be here. The rain is prominent, but the sleet fights to make its presence known.  A carnival. What kind of carnival is this? It flickers between every spike of rain⎯every blink of the eye; it lights up the night sky then disappears into darkness...

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“No Second Thought” by Laurentz Baker

Submitted to Contest #70

What was Joel thinking? What he did will cost us our lives and cost this company more than ten million dollars. He’s lost it. Our retirement, our pension, gone; it's madness, is what it is. To sell company formulas and not give a damn; give no second thought to put us in danger. What the hell was he thinking? We’ve lost everything. I can’t grasp it. I could kill him, literally kill him. We’re ultimately going to prison. Guilt by association. Selling secrets to foreign powers. Espionage carries the death penalty. The cost of what he did is ...

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“An Eternity of Sorrows” by Laurentz Baker

Submitted to Contest #53

A blazing yellow sun spies us from between a bank of clouds high in the sky. The road’s lights stretched out along the desert floor, flickering, fearing to sleep, anticipating this moment. The dust devils dance among the heat waves rising from the sand.  “It’s been how long, brother? Twelve years? The last time we witnessed one another was Rome. You were pointing your gun at me, running down a flight of stairs of abandoned buildings, behind back alleys of fish markets. I would have killed you if I caught you. But you got away? Disappe...

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“Nebula 13 (Chapter 2)” by Laurentz Baker

Submitted to Contest #49

Fight for Briem Or Fight for None The message that materialized on my ship’s screen read⎯Onyx Blake. You have not been authorized to assemble a force to engage (this) the Briem.  Nebula Council of Planets (NCOP) I know that a council member is likely at my ship’s entrance. We won’t survive tangled in red tape. I need to depart quickly as it is, due to the enemy’s head start. But with the council en route to seize my ship I skip proper space station departure procedures. If they board my ship here I’m grounded. If they catch me h...

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“Nebula 13” by Laurentz Baker

Submitted to Contest #47

In past times when the council of planets attempted to organize a summit, Onyx with many others, who were against the collaboration with the governments he was led to believe murdered his father fought against these attempted summits.  But now that there is a new and more dangerous element at play he no longer has a choice but to support a summit addressing this more dangerous foe. Like many others, if he doesn’t what little he has left and loves will be destroyed. The date is 8.12.5590. A commercial passenger transport overhears a ...

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“The Black Man's Salvation” by Laurentz Baker

Submitted to Contest #45

Fire and thick black smoke tower over the city street like an avenging angel gazing down on razed retail stores, restaurants, and a police precinct.  “This is what happens when good men do nothing,” stated his father. “But then the others were just as evil as the one who did the killing.” “Several attempts have been made, pop, but when will people realize the destruction of the black race will never come to fruition. Mankind in its finite thinking refuses to accept truth and consequences.” “Systemic genocide, son. In the moment, a...

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“Ice Blue” by Laurentz Baker

Submitted to Contest #43

It was like any other late spring day in May. If any other late spring day started out at 75° degrees and dropped to 0° degrees. The official holiday celebrating our service members was yesterday and today was the day to wind down and burn the extra calories I scarfed down with a bike ride and run.It was still early⎯5 a.m. My plan to be out of the house by six...six-thirty to avoid being cooked liked the shrimp, green peppers, and pineapple on the kebobs I consumed the day before. Before I left the house I could feel the heat rising like any...

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