Michael Regan

“Omicron International” by Michael Regan

Submitted to Contest #125

[Pablo Picasso is reported to have said “good artists borrow, great artists steal.” While I would NEVER consider myself a great writer, the idea for this story was stolen from Isaac Asimov’s “A Loint of Paw".]Omicron International’s stock was in trouble, which meant, as CEO, Randall Ivanson was in trouble. The stock price was steadily falling for no other reason than it had the same name as the latest COVID variant. The board wanted answers and they wanted them yesterday!‘Fuck the board and fuck the stock market - what the hell do they expec...

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“Mary's Girl Child” by Michael Regan

Submitted to Contest #124

Sept, 1983Mary Richardson stood at her kitchen window watching the evening sun play on the leaves of the grove of poplar that screened her house from the road. It was late September, the leaves were in their full autumn glory - for the first time in her life, she felt at peace. Slowly going over in her mind all the things that had led her to this place.Raised on a farm just outside Val Marie, Saskatchewan, the only child of a family broken by years of drought. Pregnant at an early age, moving to Lethbridge Alberta in 1947 after losing the ba...

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“The Philosopher's Café - Socrates” by Michael Regan

Submitted to Contest #122

David Hume had just arrived at LAX when he received news that his wife had been taken to the Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. He immediately cancelled his meetings and booked a flight back to Vancouver. He was somewhere over Oregon when she passed away.The doctors said it was a brain aneurysm, “there was nothing you could have done”. That didn’t ease the guilt of not being with her in her final moments.Struggling with his loss, his business of advising clients on social trends closed.After a year of ‘bouncing around’ his five bedroom ...

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“Vemork & Hitler's Atomic Bomb” by Michael Regan

Submitted to Contest #121

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends(John 15:13)The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. - Wilfred OwenDedicated to the 42 men who gave their life on this mission.The BombThey had no idea why, but in early 1941 the Norwegian Resistance was asked to report on the production of heavy water, at the In Vemork Norsk Hydro near Rjukan. In early June 1942 reports showed a marked increase of heavy water being stockpiled at the plant. The Resistance was asked to immediately start planning fo...

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“David” by Michael Regan

Submitted to Contest #118

I once stood here tall and proud. Supplicants from the world over came here to do me homage. But, the world has changed.My name is David and this is my story.I was conceived on a commission by Agostino di Duccio in 1465 in the quarries of Fantiscritti. Master Agostino had taken over a commission from Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (Donatello) to carve a statue of for the roof line of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo). I was to be one of twelve statues of biblical heroes commissioned to adorn the cathedral.Scarpellini (quarry ...

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“You're Not Wearing Makeup” by Michael Regan

Submitted to Contest #117

[Scientists tell us there could be an infinite number of universes, some almost the same as ours. Of course travelling between them is impossible. . . . Or is it?]John Smith, a boring name for a boring man, is hurrying to get dressed. His wife is dragging him to a lecture on travelling to another astral plane. ‘Just a load of crap’ As usual, he is late. His wife, Margret, is waiting at the bottom of the stairs.‘If we are late for the lecture I will be hearing about it for the next month.’ Margret Smith is a tall, slim woman. She had bee...

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“Stuck on Luxor” by Michael Regan

BackgroundLuxor, the Earth name for the planet, is a luxury tourist destination. Luxor is within the ‘Goldilocks Zone’ and with a gravitational field of 0.9 standard units, it is habitable by most of the thirty four known intelligent species.Luxians are remarkable bioengineers. With few other marketable skills, they had created ‘entertainment zones’ for the nineteen bipedal galactic species. Each of the ‘entertainment zones’ is enclosed in an atmospheric bubble. Plant life is bioengineered to replicate the ideal home world setting. The zones...

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“Mr. S. Was Cool” by Michael Regan

Submitted to Contest #114

“You wanna do something fun?” I whispered to Norm, who was sitting to my left. He just smiled. He was cool.It was the last Grade 12 Chemistry Lab of the year. The Chemistry Lab had been completely refurbished at the start of the year. New tile on the floor, new paint from wall to ceiling, even our lab workstations had been redone. Somehow it had survived the year unscathed - that was about to change.The Chemistry Lab had three rows of workstations, two workstations per row separated by a four foot wide aisle. There were positions f...

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“Irrawaddy” by Michael Regan

Submitted to Contest #112

He stood there stiff, face blank, his eyes unfocused, the warm afternoon rain pouring down his face.******With an unemployment rate of over 25%, there were few options for a young boy growing up in Stanley, a small village outside Sunderland, to go down into the ‘pit’ or leave. The West Stanley pit was considered the most dangerous coal mine in the UK. Joe had gone into the pit when he was fourteen, he was determined that his young brother Frank would never work there.Joe was the oldest of four boys, each born a year apart, Frank was the you...

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