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Friday, August 12, 2016

“The Real Reason Mrs. Sprague Came by Her House So Cheaply” • by Karin Terebessy


Mrs. Sprague paused in front of the china cabinet when she heard a thunk.

“What was that?” she called into the parlor. “Boys?”

“Nothing, Mrs. Sprague,” they sang back in unison.

Mrs. Sprague let out a tense breath and headed toward the noise when a knock on the kitchen door forced her to pivot on her heels.

She opened the door a crack. “Yes?”

On the doorstep, a white-haired man in a three-piece suit ballooned up his chest. “I come from the past,” he proclaimed.

“Who doesn’t?” Mrs. Sprague snipped, and started to close the door.

“But I’ve just traveled through time,” he said quickly.

Mrs. Sprague shrugged. “Me too. I’m doing it right now. And now. And now. Good day—”

“Wait,” he said, grabbing hold of the door frame. “Do you know who I am?”

Mrs. Sprague nodded. “You’re Thomas Edison.”

Edison thrust his thumb over his shoulder. “You know you’ve got a vortex through time in your back yard?”

“Yes.” She threw an impatient glance toward the parlor at the sound of another thud. “Now if there’s nothing more I can do for you Mr. Edison, I have company…”

“A party, huh?”

“Hmm,” she answered vaguely.

He tried to peer over her head. “Afternoon tea? I sure could go for a bite,” he mused, rubbing his stomach.

“Yes, well, maybe some other time…”

Edison’s shoulders drooped. “Ah c’mon. Lemme in.”

“I can’t,” she said, feeling a bit badly. “Tehlasintha,” she mumbled.

“Come again?”

Mrs. Sprague straightened. “I said, ‘Tesla’s in there.’”

Edison went red in the face. “Why that—” He lunged for the door as Mrs. Sprague tried to shove it closed, trapping his arms and one leg on the kitchen side, where he thrashed them about like well-dressed worms.

She was in the midst of kicking his foot and swatting his arms when Einstein wandered in, regarded the scene, and proceeded to moon about as if nothing were amiss.

“For Heaven’s sake, Albert! Make yourself useful!”

Einstein blinked. “Shall I put the kettle on?”

A crash came from the other room, followed by a roar of laughter. This distracted Edison for a moment, and Mrs. Sprague slammed the door shut and locked it.

Einstein plucked at his trousers. “I don’t know where your kettle is, Mrs. Sprague.”

She shooed him away and hurried to the parlor, just in time to catch the lamp Ptolemy knocked over.

He had Copernicus in a headlock. “Not so tough without your boy Kepler here to back you up, are you?”

Copernicus responded with a rebellious gurgle.

“Admit my system works just as accurately as yours does to the naked eye!”

Ben Franklin perked up. “Naked?”

Mrs. Sprague tried to wedge the astronomers apart but lost her balance and stumbled backward into the bay window wall, which had been completely graffitied with squiggles, lines, arrows, and right angles.

“Who did THAT?” She sputtered.

“Don’t look at me,” Franklin said. “It was Feynman.”

Mrs. Sprague whipped around. Richard Feynman twiddled his thumbs and stared at the ceiling. Then began to whistle.

Ptolemy and Copernicus crashed into an end table, ricocheted off the couch, landed on the floor, and resumed wrestling, Copernicus cowering beneath a hail of noogies.

“For heaven’s sake!” Mrs. Sprague screeched, “Why can’t you boys be more like your friend Godel!”

Feynman pointed into the corner of the room. “He’s been hiding behind that bookcase for three-quarters of an hour!”

Godel started when all eyes turned on him. “You don’t see me,” he declared, as he waved his hands like a magician, flattened himself to the wall, then tried not to move.

A clod of soil came flying at the bay window.

Edison had circled round and stood menacingly in the backyard, palming another handful of dirt.

“You tell that charlatan to get out here!”

Tesla ran to the window, just as Edison threw the second dirt clod. It fell to the ground, ten feet short of the house.

“Your aim’s as weak as your current!” Tesla yelled.

“My current’s just as good as yours!”

“Your lamps are lame and inefficient!”

“Don’t you cast aspersions on my lamphood!”

Franklin took bets. Feynman sided with Tesla. Godel pretended to be invisible. And Pascal considered the options. “Put me down for both.”

“You can’t wager on both of them, Pascal!”

“Pretty sure I can,” Pascal said, utterly nonplussed.

Mrs. Sprague rapped her knuckles on the window. “You cut that out right now, Thomas!”

Edison dropped his dirt clod and hung his head.

She whipped around to Feynman. “And you! Get the cleanser from under the sink and start on that wall.”

Feynman scuffed his toe into the carpet. “Yes, Mrs. Sprague,” he moaned.

“Say Tycho Brahe!” Ptolemy growled.

“Tycho Brahe,” Copernicus croaked.

“Tycho Brahe? I got that from a hooker once in Paris…” Franklin mused

“No more potty mouth, Ben, I mean it!”

Einstein blinked stupidly. “Was I supposed to be getting the tea?”

Mrs. Sprague pinched the bridge of her nose. “I never had this problem when Marie Curie and Jocelyn Bell were here,” she muttered.

Franklin perked up. “Ladies?”

Mrs. Sprague threatened him with a look and trudged to the kitchen. She let out a cry when Edison’s head popped up in the window.

“Schrödinger’s out back,” he said.

“Is he really?”

“Um…”

She yanked the curtains shut.

Pascal peeked his head in the kitchen. “Ben’s trying to get Albert to drop an A-bomb.”

Mrs. Sprague massaged her temples.“The mushroom cloud kind or the dirty word kind?”

Pascal hesitated. “Both…?”

Mrs. Sprague smoothed back her hair and took a steadying breath. She reminded herself that every healthy scientist is a blessing. That there were some people who had no scientists at all. Then she headed toward the parlor, wondering vaguely when (or if) Schrödinger would appear. Nursing a strong suspicion he’d be swinging a dead cat. Like Huckleberry Finn.

storyend_dingbat

 

Karin Terebessy is a yoga teacher and mother who writes when time allows. Her most recent science fiction can be found in Stupefying Stories, Daily Science Fiction, and also in a big pile next to her desk.

Her most recent appearance in our pages was “Mood Skin” last April, and her next will be “The Memory of Worms,” in October.

 

Friday, August 5, 2016

Book Release: THE FUGITIVE PAIR, by Henry Vogel

Matt Connaught wants nothing more than to enjoy life with his new wife, Michelle, and to catch up on lost time with his parents, who were held captive for seven years. As a member of one of the wealthiest families in the Terran Federation, this should be easy.

It's not.

Because Matt is psychic. If anyone outside of his family discovers his secret, he'll be taken from his family and forced to serve in Psi Corps. When Federation agents come looking for him, Matt and Michelle have only one choice—to go on the run.

But how can they hope to escape from Psi Corps, when the Corps has the full might of the Terran Federation behind it?

THE FUGITIVE PAIR
by Henry Vogel
Book 2 in the Matt & Michelle adventures

Available now in paperback, Kindle ebook, and Audio book editions!

US - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JDQ4K1Q
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01JDQ4K1Q   
Canda - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01JDQ4K1Q   
Australia - https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01JDQ4K1Q
Germany - https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01JDQ4K1Q   
France - https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01JDQ4K1Q   
Spain - https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01JDQ4K1Q  
Italy - https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01JDQ4K1Q 
Netherlands - https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01JDQ4K1Q
India - https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01JDQ4K1Q  
Mexico - https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01JDQ4K1Q 
Brazil - https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01JDQ4K1Q 
Japan - https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01JDQ4K1Q

AUDIO BOOK now available on Amazon, Audible.com, and the Apple iTunes store!

Book Release: STUPEFYING STORIES 1.15 (August 2016)

Stupefying Stories emerges from long-term cryosleep with a great new lineup of science fiction, fantasy, political comedy and horror! (There is a difference between those last two. Trust us.) Featuring:

• MAKING MONSTERS, by Sarah Read
• AT WORK IN THE FIELDS OF THE LORD, by Edoardo Albert
• PLEASE PASS THE PURVIEW, by Conor Powers-Smith
• DESTROYER OF WORLDS, by Evan Dicken
• THE SEVENTEENTH MEETING CONCERNING THE POSSESSION OF PATRICIA COTTON, by L Chan
• URSA MAJOR, by Lynne M. MacLean
• THE BOO HAG, by David Bowles
• RECKONING IN SPOTSYLVANIA, by Ambrose Stolliker
• ANTIMIRUS, by Mike Reeves-McMillan

Always fun and exciting, never predictable, Stupefying Stories is the terrific new reading you've been looking for!

Now available for Kindle and Kindle Reader apps at these links! Free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers!

US - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JJNR3RQ
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01JJNR3RQ
Canada - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01JJNR3RQ
Australia - https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01JJNR3R
Germany - https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01JJNR3RQ
France - https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01JJNR3RQ
Spain - https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01JJNR3RQ
Italy - https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01JJNR3RQ
Netherlands - https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01JJNR3RQ
India - https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01JJNR3RQ
Mexico - https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01JJNR3RQ
Brazil - https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01JJNR3RQ
Japan - https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01JJNR3RQ

Book Release: THE COUNTERFEIT CAPTAIN (Audio Book)

Just released on Amazon, Audible.com, and in the Apple iTunes store!

THE COUNTERFEIT CAPTAIN
by Henry Vogel
(Unabridged audio book  edition)

Narrated by Heidi Cox, best known for her work both in front of and behind the camera in the hit web series, Stalking LeVar, The Counterfeit Captain is nearly six hours of exciting old-school space opera at its finest. Listen to it now on:

Amazon
Audible.com
Apple iTunes