Speculative Fiction and Poetry
Calendula Blooms by Charles C Cole
Calendula Blooms Charles C Cole A quarter of the city was suffering through “rolling” brown-outs, power outages that lasted for hours. We’d shut down the office in response. As if I didn’t have enough to worry about, Calendula, my half-rosebush secretary, was going through…
The Stranger With a Strange Name by Charles C Cole
The Stranger With a Strange Name Charles C Cole I stood as Calendula, my receptionist, escorted a client out of my chambers. That’s when I felt a sudden dizzy spell, as if I was looking out a high window in a swaying building or…
Joe Avery Deals With Cards by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery Deals With Cards Charles C Cole The city was in the middle of a summer afternoon downpour. The raindrops were large and heavy and plentiful. I preferred walking, but not in this. My taxi arrived. To my surprise, my ride, looking something…
Joe Avery Meets Mother Nature by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery Meets Mother Nature Charles C Cole You can take the detective out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the detective. I was at a gas station some two hours from home. No traffic lights in sight. No…
Calendula, My Partner by Charles C Cole
Calendula, My Partner Charles C Cole I returned from a brisk walk around the block to clear my head. Weird things were happening. I watched a cat giving a tongue-bath to a squirrel! I saw a centaur prancing in circles in traffic to get…
Joe Avery goes for a Ride by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery goes for a Ride Charles C Cole My office, closed for the holiday, was as good a place as any to have a power nap. Signs had been posted on the door for days. I even went so far as to unplug…
Cupid is as Cupid Does by Charles C Cole
Cupid is as Cupid Does Charles C Cole I’d been having dreams about my half-rosebush receptionist, Calendula, so vivid it felt as though someone else was projecting them into my mind. I looked out my office window in thought and spotted Cupid hovering about…
Joe Avery: When Calendula’s Away by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery: When Calendula’s Away Charles C Cole “Next!” I swung open the door of my consultation chambers into our crowded waiting room, figuring the clients knew who was first in line better than I did and would make the appropriate accommodations. Calendula, my…
Joe Avery Meets the King’s Men by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery Meets the King’s Men Charles C Cole I’d recently earned a reputation as a “fixer” for our community’s exotics, from trolls to sentient trees. My “business plan” began as a viral word-of-mouth campaign through a formerly homeless genie to any folktale creature…
The Song in the Heart of a Friend Charles C Cole
The Song in the Heart of a Friend Charles C Cole “Some of my best friends are trees.” Others said it, but I meant it. A few former clients delighted in paying me back in novel ways. I was relaxing in the uppermost boughs…
Joe Avery Meets Cupid by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery Meets Cupid Charles C Cole Cupid had curly blonde hair and smiling eyes that could light up a room! Round and jolly like Santa as a youngish man, like a five-foot tall cherub. “I don’t understand,” I began. “Your message to my…
One of Cupid’s Casualties by Charles C Cole
One of Cupid’s Casualties Charles C Cole I stepped inside the bustling java joint for an early wake-up jolt. Large mirrors on the walls made the place seem like a carnival funhouse for pouty mommas’ boys on their way to the first day of…
Joe Avery Meets City Hall by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery Meets City Hall Charles C Cole I was taking a well-deserved day off from private investigations. Calendula, my half-rosebush receptionist, newly promoted to office manager, was in charge of wrangling the wild things who came to call. Our only competition, the Elf…
Joe Avery and the Mysterious Tenant by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery and the Mysterious Tenant Charles C Cole For additional income in their retirement, Janice’s parents, Ken and Lena, converted their basement into a rentable efficiency, with its own entrance and kitchenette. The first tenant was a bit of a mad scientist. Edmund…
Another Wishmaster Sighting by Charles C Cole
Another Wishmaster Sighting Charles C Cole It should come as no surprise for anyone to learn that genies are most convincing liars. (“You want to be a prince? Now you’re a prince!”) This is particularly true of the lovable really-big-fish-in-the-really-big-pond Genie with whom I…
Not Just Another Human-Plant Hybrid by Charles C Cole
Not Just Another Human-Plant Hybrid Charles C Cole The place was packed, well, for us. I stepped into the waiting area to check with my new receptionist, Calendula. While she wasn’t exactly a creature of traditional folklore, as most of our clients were, she…
Joe Avery and the Foster Shadow by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery and the Foster Shadow Charles C Cole Calendula, my half-rosebush receptionist, was perturbed. Even a non-detective could conclude this by the obsessive way she sharpened pencils longer than was necessary. Many of our preindustrial clients had a distrust of computers (digital technology…
Joe Avery Meets the Goats Gruff by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery Meets the Goats Gruff Charles C Cole Humpty Dumpty was in town to expand his regional domination. Things had been going well financially, to the extent he was getting the wrong kind of attention from the wrong kind of people. A recent…
The Final Return of the First Client by Charles C Cole
The Final Return of the First Client Charles C Cole The only way to guarantee a lunch break at the office was by leaving the building, but the demands of work didn’t always observe strict protocol. Maybe there was a long call or I…
Joe Avery Meets a Marathon Sleeper by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery Meets a Marathon Sleeper Charles C Cole Early morning, so early the sentinel rooster on the roof (the penthouse tenant had an extensive chicken coop!) was still snoozing. My intermittently shy, half-rosebush receptionist, Calendula, had been invited by former clients out of…
Joe Avery and the Perfect Fit by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery and the Perfect Fit Charles Cole Technically, the drooling toadboy was next, but I needed to mix things up or risk burning out. Sometimes you need an easy case, or at least a client who’s easy on the eyes. Nubia was my…
Joe Avery Marches to a Different Tune by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery Marches to a Different Tune Charles C Cole Calendula, my plant-human hybrid receptionist, stepped into my inner sanctum where I was concluding an early-morning nap in my swivel rocker. I’d driven all night after working a case for the legendary Mothman, dealing…
The Case of the Stone Lions by Charles Cole
The Case of the Stone Lions Charles Cole My ex-wife, Janice, an intersection of deep-rooted quiet and calm like the library where she researched, was agitated. The sight was both alarming and darkly funny, like the time my third-grade teacher, Sister Anna-Maria, had blown…
Detective Joe Avery Hits the Beach by Charles Cole
Detective Joe Avery Hits the Beach Charles Cole For some, every day is a perfect day to go to the shore, even when it’s not. I myself am not much of a sun worshipper: I burn easily. And I’m always profiling the masses for…
The Flower Girl, The Tree Man, and the Troll by Charles C Cole
The Flower Girl, The Tree Man, and the Troll Charles C Cole On doctor’s orders, I was power walking through Central Park, ostensibly sans cigarettes. Being prescriptive, there was no inherent fun in the endeavor. I huffed and puffed – keeping my anti-health disgust…
Joe Avery’s Early Client by Charles C Cole
Joe Avery’s Early Client Charles C Cole I arrived at my office in the early morning. I stepped out of the elevator into an empty hallway. The peace and quiet wouldn’t last, but it was a nice way to start the day. An unexpected…
The Case of the Wolf and Three Pigs by Charles C Cole
The Case of the Wolf and the Three Pigs Charles Cole As an in-demand private detective, I rarely get weekends or holidays or evenings off. Neither do my clients. “No rest for the weary,” my mother used to say. I live in a world…
Sabotage by Dan Rice
Sabotage Dan Rice Liberty Station isn’t the largest outpost in the vast expanse of vacuum we call space, but for a boy from Old Earth like me, it’s the best duty assignment imaginable. I mean, my God, there are aliens! Blue-skinned Starlight Missionaries and…
The Baroness by Eric S Brown
The Baroness Eric S Brown G.I. Joe has been around for a long time. When one thinks of the toys and comics, many think of Snake Eyes and Scarlet. However, there are many other “Joes” and members of Cobra. To me, the coolest is…
Earth Tours: Submerged by J.H. Malone
Earth Tours: Submerged J.H. Malone I work for EarthTours, but not as a travel agent. I’m a host, guide, and fixer for our clandestine guests from the stars. Potential tourists contact EarthTours via our deep-web .onion site. We prepare these alien visitors highest-quality counterfeit…
Grant Wilson Art
