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Setter Derby On His String ~ Part One

May 11, 2021 | Prose | Comments
He was dead tired When he reached the one-course grounds Where starting tomorrow He would run The dogs on his string First he removed his two mounts From the trailer he’d pulled From two states away Behind the old pickup Led them to stalls hung them some hay Then he stretched the chain On the ground neath the shed One by one snapped his dogs’ collars To the links in Read more

The Genius

May 5, 2021 | Short Stories | Comments
He was a genius, no doubt about it. He had the riches to prove it. His genius was not in invention, but in seeing before others how inventions could be applied. Time after time this had led him to buy into successful technology companies before they became publicly owned, either through initial public offerings or recently via the SPAC route. Read more

The Qualification of Reb

March 29, 2021 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
For Billy Kell, it seemed the worst possible day of his life. It did not turn out that way. This is the story. It was 2004. Billy was an up-and-coming bird dog pro, age twenty-eight, a trainer-handler of pointing dogs for field trial competition. He’d grown up the son of a quail plantation manager near Thomasville, Georgia, who earlier had been the plantation’s dog trainer and hunt manager. Read more

1937

March 19, 2021 | Fiction | Comments
A desperate time. The Great Depression was in its eighth year. No sign of a lift out of it. Yet for a few, times were fine. Prices were low, very low, so for anyone with cash, things, all things, were cheap. Purchasing power, for the few who could afford to buy anything, was awesome. Read more

The Transition ~ Part Two

March 13, 2021 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
Allen Ames left Ben’s office at 5, Ben having told him he’d ponder how best to approach a deal with Ed Tate to take over his string. Doc arrived for the Curmudgeons’ ritual end-of-week shared libation. Ben explained Allen’s dream as they sipped their first drams of The Macallan. “What do you suppose Ed Tate has got to live on in retirement?” Sam asked. Read more

The Transition ~ Part One

March 8, 2021 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
“Ed Tate is going to have to retire,” Sam Nixon M. D. told Ben Reach at breakfast at Millie’s Diner. “Why?” Ben asked. “Heart disease, plus emphysema. Lifelong smoker,” Sam said. “How old is Ed?” Ben asked. “Sixty-seven,” Sam said. Read more