Cleve Taylor
Bio
Published author of three books: Ricky Pardue US Marshal, A Collection of Cleve's Short Stories and Poems, and Johnny Duwell and the Silver Coins, all available in paperback and e-books on Amazon. Over 160 Vocal.media stories and poems.
Stories (164)
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Promise Kept
Promise Kept Promises are meant to be kept, and I was keeping mine. My little sister Marion, younger than me by seven minutes, had made me promise that I would bring her a piece of my birthday cake since she would not be able to attend the party. That is why I was making the fifty mile drive from Leesburg to Wheaton, Maryland, with a big slice of my chocolate birthday cake.
By Cleve Taylor 5 years ago in Fiction
Mosby's Gold
Mosby’s Gold Jenna was excited. Anytime she got a chance to house sit a dog between semesters and combine it with her hobby of metal detecting was a double treat. She had been interested in metal detecting ever since she used to sit with her grandmother, eat licorice with her, and watch a British television series about metal detectorists. She knew from that show that detectorists mostly found bottle caps and other trash, but that the dream of finding something interesting drove them on. The same was true for Jenna.
By Cleve Taylor 5 years ago in Fiction
One Hit Wonder
One Hit Wonder Charlie was a one hit wonder. To outside observers he was a phenom who showed up on You Tube one day, sang “Methuselah”, the song he had written, while playing a Gibson acoustic guitar and sitting alone on a barstool. Overnight he had millions of fans clamoring to see him live and on TV. Downloads of his song pushed the song to number one in America and Europe. Everybody wanted him, all the Late Nights clamored to book him.
By Cleve Taylor 5 years ago in Fiction
U.F.O. Over Doreen Bayou
U.F.O. Over Doreen Bayou Neville Blanchard, four bottles into his current six pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon, sitting by himself at three in the morning on a log on the banks of Doreen Bayou across from the old barn where he, Willie, and Ray had been drinking all night, saw a flash of light cross the sky. “Damn. What was that?” he wondered as his alcohol muddled brain tried to make sense of what he had seen. Tossing his empty into the bayou, he heard it splash at the same time that it dawned on him. He had just witnessed the U.F.O. that had been reported in the Midville Press just days ago.
By Cleve Taylor 5 years ago in Fiction
Animals United
Animals United Wally, was in her Poe mode, nodding nearly napping, as she nestled into a too small basket on the throw rug in Farmer Ebbit’s kitchen. She roused herself slowly, licked her fur like she would a kitten, and made small adjustments to make herself more comfortable. Half listening to Ezra and Mandy as they drank coffee and talked at the old oak kitchen table, Wally’s ears perked up when she heard Ezra say, “We have to sell all the animals, or we could lose the farm.”
By Cleve Taylor 5 years ago in Fiction
The Cadillac Murders
The Cadillac Murders Evil has a distinct smell. Standing here in Tarrat’s Barn where it all happened, Wade could still smell the sickening odor that permeated the barn and the clothes of all who were there when the forensics technicians exhumed the bodies. It has been eleven, no, twelve years now, and the images, complete with smell, still interrupted his sleep on a regular basis.
By Cleve Taylor 5 years ago in Fiction
Ale and Beer
Ales and Beer Driving back from Florence to our self catering cottage in Tuscany, we stopped at a random restaurant alongside the road between towns and had a wonderful multi-course Florentine style Italian meal. In Cefalu, Sicily, we went to a restaurant with the hosts of our self catering apartment and had artichokes served in a half dozen different ways. At another Cefalu restaurant we had our first arancinis.
By Cleve Taylor 5 years ago in Feast
Oh Deer
Oh Deer The deer of Three Meadows were quite proud of their neighborhood. It was a single entrance, single exit neighborhood with three cul-de-sacs. This made it very safe for the fawns since fewer cars and slower speeds translated into fewer collisions which meant fewer injuries and fewer deaths for the deer herd. In real terms, the Three Meadows herd could boast that in the 50 years since the first houses encroached on their territory, there had been no collisions of cars and deer. Not so, however, on the through streets just outside the neighborhood where several fatal deer fatalities occurred every year.
By Cleve Taylor 5 years ago in Fiction
Earth Cruise
Earth Cruise Lara was excited. For her 12th birthday she had asked Grandpa for a family cruise, and to her surprise, Grandpa Al had said OK, and here they were. The whole family, Lara, her nine year old brother, Kirk, her mother, and her father were berthed on Star Cruiser Constellation, on a fully paid three week cruise with port stops at Mars, Earth’s moon, and the Earth Space Station orbiter.
By Cleve Taylor 5 years ago in Fiction
Bumbles Magic
Bumbles Magic Bumbles loved doing his magic for children. In fact magic could only be done with children because children believed. Without belief, there was no magic. Adults were generally cynical and didn’t believe in magic. That is why adults were entertained with tricks, instead of magic.
By Cleve Taylor 5 years ago in Fiction
