ROBERT Ellis

“Customer Complaint” by ROBERT Ellis

Don Vito Luchesi The Sicilian Social Club Jersey City, New Jersey May 14, 2020 Dear Don Vito: It is with great respect that we are forced to complain - Eddie McGinty still walks upon this earth. In other words, he remains alive as of today’s date. The services of your organization came highly recommended to us, and it was with incredible difficulty we raised the five thousand dollars necessary to rectify this problem. It took us over two years of "borrowing" money from our cookie sales to acquire sufficient cash to purchase the service...

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“Indifference” by ROBERT Ellis

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #180

Eduardo and I sat on the bluff, overlooking the factory complex in the valley below. The gritty sand beneath us was a dusty buff color, matching our sweat-encrusted camouflage clothing. The air was warm from the day-long bright sun, now moving behind the Lliama Volcano in the southern Andes, and particles of dust swirled in the air. As the sun descended, the vents and air conditioning units on the rooftops of the Chilean weapons complex flashed in the copper sunlight. I pointed into the valley. “See how they don’t open one gate until anoth...

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“Footprints on the Edge” by ROBERT Ellis

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #134

The most rational of men, Josh Rowbotham founded an entirely new scientific field which he named “Astro-Biochemistry.” When Astronomy magazine, in a four-page puff piece complete with photos of Josh and his lab, asked him to describe Astro-Biochemistry, he poetically responded, “Seeking the footprints of life at the edge of the universe.” Josh used telescope spectroscopy to identify the building blocks of life on exoplanets revolving distant stars. He observed light shifts occurring billions of years ago, signs of the joining of elements i...

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“Dislocation” by ROBERT Ellis

Submitted to Contest #85

“I’ve always wanted to go to Mardi Gras. You know, in New Orleans.” Jim looked hopeful, but I kept quiet. I was going to Mardi Gras, for the sixth time in the last twenty years, but I belonged. Plus, I’d earned it because of my bargain with Pat. After all, I’d lived in New Orleans for over ten years, first college, and then working at a bank downtown. Come winter up here, shut up in that small house with Pat, I really earn a trip to any place that makes me happy. After all, I have to live up here now. “Here” is Bangor, Maine, where I now...

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“Gregory, the Grackles, and Garuda” by ROBERT Ellis

Humans may be reborn in animal form, but that rebirth from human to animal form only occurs if an atman (soul) has repeatedly failed to learn lessons in its human form. (Paraphrased from The Upanishads) Gregory Fiori teetered on the portside gunwale near the bow of his boat. His boat was hoisted as high as it could go in the boat lift, and Gregory stood on tiptoes, leaning out as far as possible while holding onto the lift guide. He had forced his grabber pole with its suction grippers and squeeze handle into the heights of the lift, attem...

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