Harvey

This is the last in the series of previously unpublished short stories, and this one is unique in that it’s both short story and memoir. As always, the writer only begins the work. It is finished, in every case, by the reader who brings to bear his or her beliefs, politics, biases, ambitions and imagination. Besides, I really don’t care either way. Therefore, I will leave up to you which parts are fiction and which are not. Enjoy. Five Tight Indians a short story and memoir by Harvey Stanbrough 1 I suppose I ought to write it all down while …

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This is another previously unpublished short story. And for the record, I write fiction and some of it is odd. If I were still writing under pseudonyms, this would no doubt have been written by Eric Stringer. At any rate, I am not Clark and my wife is not Clark’s wife. Enjoy. At the Moment a Dark Scenarios short story by Harvey Stanbrough Clark’s office was just off the living room. He sat in his desk chair and swiveled around sideways to look through the door into the living room. Outside the day was hot but inside the temp was …

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Another previously unpublished short story. I hope you will enjoy it. Turnaround a Dark Scenarios short story by Harvey Stanbrough Before I opened the door, I peered through the window. It was one of those security windows, with that criss-crossed wire imbedded in the glass. The hallway was pitch black. Even the Exit sign that should be glowing red above the door at the other end wasn’t lit, though I could just make out the slightly lighter small rectangle that marked the window in that door. Or maybe that was my imagination since I was about to go through the …

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Although this short story is previously unpublished as a stand-alone short story, it was excerpted from a novel in the Wes Crowley Gap series. Take a look at all the Wes Crowley novels at https://stonethreadpublishing.com/the-wes-crowley-series/. The Ballad of Rafe Wilkins A period western short story by Harvey Stanbrough 1 Two days after he attended Paco Messina’s meeting in Logan Bluffs, Rafe Wilkins found himself in a poker game in the bar of the El Rey Inn southwest of Santa Fe. Having ridden past Santa Fe, he reasoned, the following morning it would be easier to continue west and leave his …

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Yet one more previously unpublished short story. Enjoy. The Worlds a short story by Harvey Stanbrough 1 As he lay in a tiny puff of dust that only he in all the world would ever see because it was right there, inches from his face and a few inches off the ground, his face was turned south. But only he would ever see that puff of dust because only he was here in this particular position with this particular view and eventually the puff would settle again. At least all of the puff that he didn’t inhale in these final …

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Oddly, when I opened this story it had the limited front and back matter and so on, just as if I’d published it. I must have been on the cusp of publishing it when I got busy with something else. Anyway, enjoy. This One Thing a short story by Harvey Stanbrough As the bottom of the sun touched the horizon and the warmth of the day faded, a slight, humid chill built in the air. Herbert William Petry still stood alone at the freshly covered gravesite in the cemetery, his hands folded one over the other at the base of …

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If you enjoy pulp fiction of the private investigator type, you’ll like this previously unpublished short story. I have a whole series of Stern Talbot PI novels and novellas. You can check them out at https://stonethreadpublishing.com/mystery-novels/. Enjoy! The Strange Case of Marlene Stratford a Stern Talbot PI short story by Harvey Stanbrough Marlene Stratford was a beauty, with a red head chock full of ideas, blue eyes you could fall into, a smile that would melt cold steel, and a body that would make men cash-in their pensions. But all of that was theory now. At the moment the hair …

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Yet another previously unpublished short story. Enjoy. The Drubbing of Joseph McGee a short story by Harvey Stanbrough It really was a simple thing, the drubbing of Joseph McGee. It wasn’t meant to be a big deal, just a little corrective action, a little attitude adjustment. And it was necessary. At around six feet tall and filled out at around 240 pounds, McGee was one of those guys who actually looks like a lumberjack, which is what we all are. But he was also one of those guys who makes life miserable for everyone else, and he’s got a mouth …

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To interrupt the string of previously unpublished short stories, I actually published this one before. However, that publication was limited  to my patrons and donors. No cover, no backmatter, just story. I hope you will enjoy it. Silence Is Better a short storyby Harvey Stanbrough Richard Grayson stood just inside his living room and tentatively reached for the door knob. The lingering scent of Marion’s perfume was finally gone. The only smell now was of dust. His hand trembled as he touched the cold bit of hammered bronze. Do I really even want to open it? Do I want to …

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Another previously unpublished short story. Enjoy. Shriveled Fruit A Short Story by Harvey Stanbrough There’s an old saw that says you should blossom where you’re planted. But some people are never planted. Some are just dropped on hard, rocky soil to get along as best they can. Charles Claymore “Charlie” Task in Confessions of a Professional Psychopath The bank robbery was obviously well rehearsed and going according to plan. I was standing at one of those little cream-colored chest-high islands near the right wall of the bank lobby filling out my first-ever deposit form and an application for a checking …

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