MICHAEL JOHNSON

“VISION AT THE BLACK ROCK” by MICHAEL JOHNSON

     My father was killed before I knew him. My Mother and aunt worked to support us. By my 16th birthday, I was happily becoming a child of London’s east-end city streets, in and out of police holding cells, with no respect for authority, never in school, and no job. Mother’s eldest brother, Walter, was a professional hunter. He also farmed a small plantation in Africa’s great delta region. Uncle Walter was to be our salvation.I was taken off the streets and shipped to Africa to stay with him. To pay for my kee...

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“STUNT DOG DEMONSTRATION” by MICHAEL JOHNSON

Submitted to Contest #244

           I was with Lewis when he gave his remarkable and unexpected demonstration. It was late summer when unrelenting desert heat was spent, giving way to more amicable conditions. That clear, sparkling California morning came with early brightness and the promise of many adventures.          Monday morning, Lewis chose to confound the evil slave system that inhibits true expression from a free-spirited artist—he called in sick. He used a ...

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“RAJ” by MICHAEL JOHNSON

Submitted to Contest #241

           Ruth knew there would be little sleep. It was too hot, and many unanswered questions clamoured for her attention on this breathless, Southern summer evening. She lay in the half-light as muted city background noise and subtle scents reached for her through the half-open window. It was not the whispered intrusive sounds that kept her from sleep, though. The heat pressing softly all around seemed to encourage an endless internal dialogue recirculating in her consciousness. She t...

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“THE HIGHGATE CEMETERY” by MICHAEL JOHNSON

Submitted to Contest #240

Here is a true story drawn from a childhood memory that still remains to haunt me.In the early 1970s, London's Highgate cemetery vampire became a popular distraction in local and international news outlets. Whatever the creature was, it was seen many times by various witnesses and promptly declared a terrible vampire by two flatulent, over-inflated, self-appointed, and self-promoting experts.Descriptions vary in detail, but most described a tall black shape with a white or pale skeletal face moving silently within and sometimes without the c...

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“ A MIRACLE ON WALNUT STREET” by MICHAEL JOHNSON

Submitted to Contest #239

Jesse James, an outlaw, stood in line. Dust from the rocky lowland trail clung heavily to the folds of his clothes. A small grey cloud drifted as he pulled a soiled bandanna from his shirt pocket and wiped dirt from the corners of his eyes. Rubbing a gaunt, unshaven face with his hand, he stared intently at the counterhand. Fluorescent lighting above the checkout count...

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“SHYAMA” by MICHAEL JOHNSON

Submitted to Contest #238

                                                             SHYAMA Shyama walked with deliberate steps. Hard, narrow shoe heels punctuated her precise movements on the polished wooden floor. The rhythmic click-clack echoed in the small audit...

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“TOLBERT” by MICHAEL JOHNSON

Submitted to Contest #235

     Tolbert was not ambitious, living contentedly in a quiet, structured environment. Although unhampered by higher mental functions, the low cunning he possessed was adequate for his survival. Drifting peacefully, he would gaze through the glass at a kaleidoscope of shapes and colors. ...

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