Mark Gagnon
Bio
My life has been spent traveling here and abroad. Now it's time to write.
I have three published books: Mitigating Circumstances, Short Stories for Open Minds, and Short Stories from an Untethered Mind. Unmitigated Greed is do out soon.
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Stories (450)
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Instruction Manual
To our most valued customer, thank you for purchasing this state-of-the-art hand tool. We know you will enjoy many years of use from this masterfully designed device. Only the highest-grade materials have been used to create this multipurpose tool, so you may feel confident that it will always function to the best of its ability in all types of environments. Our company has been manufacturing this implement for over one hundred years, and we have never had a complaint due to poor quality or inadequate design. To ensure that you are thoroughly satisfied with this product, we have included a list of instructions for its proper use.
By Mark Gagnon13 days ago in Fiction
The Woods
“I warned her over and over again, don’t go into the woods alone. There are creatures living in those woods that will kill you or worse, but did she listen? Of course not. She would laugh at my warnings and, in a mocking tone, reply, What’s worse than being dead?” “If only I had a way to show her the horrors I have witnessed in those woods actually exist, she might still be with us now. All that is left for me to do now is go into the woods and search for her. My friends, neighbors, fellow villagers, who among you will join me?”
By Mark Gagnon16 days ago in Fiction
Revelation
I can’t remember a time when Maddie wasn’t in my life. We met as toddlers, our parents were next-door neighbors, and we spent almost every day playing together. Many children drift apart once they start school, but not Maddie and me. We attended the same grammar school, had the same teachers, and helped each other with homework. Inseparable, joined at the hip, two peas in a pod, and all those other tired clichés were used to describe us by the adults. That’s how it was right up to the day her father got promoted and the family moved to another state.
By Mark Gagnon19 days ago in Fiction
The Gift
My life consists of the same boring routine seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year. Nothing changes, and honestly, that’s exactly how I like it. I’m not plagued by feeling obligated to attend family gatherings, work extracurricular activities, church functions, or political rallies. Other people may feel compelled by some odd need to socialize, but not me. I want to get up at the same time every morning, enjoy my Raisin Bran along with a glass of orange juice, watch the news and weather while I’m dressing, then leave for work. It’s simple, succinct, and I see no need to change it.
By Mark Gagnon24 days ago in Humans
Guardian of Knowledge
Friend or Foe It didn’t take a college degree for David to figure out what part of town his customer was from. His shiny new Jaguar XKE announced that loud and clear. What surprised him was someone on his social level reading a dystopian novel about the rich controlling the poor with a drug called soma. David’s perusal came to an abrupt halt the moment the driver spoke.
By Mark Gagnon28 days ago in Chapters
Guardian of Knowledge Chapter II
1975 - 1980 David Cooper’s New Reality David had left the terrors of war in the rice paddies and jungles of Vietnam and was anxious to restart a life he had barely begun before being drafted into the Army. His hometown of Leominster, Massachusetts, hadn’t changed much since he had been gone. Two forms of factories dominated the city. One type of factory produced plastic pellets, the raw material needed for manufacturing everything from toothbrushes and sunglasses to five-gallon buckets, pink lawn flamingos, and car parts. The other factories ran the molding machines that produced everything made of plastic. There was a third place a person might find work if he had training, and that was a tool and die shop. This is where blocks of steel were skillfully carved into the molds used by the molding machines to form the plastic products. Out of the three occupations, tool and die maker paid the most, but none of the jobs interested David.
By Mark Gagnon30 days ago in Chapters
Guardians of Knowledge. Top Story - December 2025.
1959 The Beginning Every attendee left the meeting sporting a similar look of resolve that no one had imagined possible during the days and months leading up to this secret conclave of the world’s ultra-wealthy and powerful. The only thing these members had in common was that they were excessively rich and powerful, and they wanted more of both. This gathering had been created to devise a way for them and their descendants to codify a system that would ensure their status and power far into the distant future. After extensive debate, the plan that was agreed upon was relatively simple.
By Mark Gagnonabout a month ago in Chapters
Blown Away
What I enjoy more than anything in the world is sitting on top of a nearby 300-foot-tall rock face cliff, with my feet dangling over the edge. A strong ocean gust buffets my loose-fitting jacket while it winds its way around my body on an endless journey around the globe. What draws me to this spot day after day isn’t the mesmerizing seascapes or the spectacular sunsets, it’s the birds.
By Mark Gagnonabout a month ago in Fiction
The Chasm
I woke to the sound of the rain slapping against the bedroom windows. It was six in the morning, and I really had no desire to get out of bed, but my stomach began to rumble, so begrudgingly, I dragged my old carcass to a standing position. The sky and the woods around my home were misty and gray. The house’s interior looked to be cloaked in a shroud of dull light even after I had switched on the lamps. Yes, this was the kind of day that darkened one’s soul. Nothing to do, no place to go, and no one to speak with except the uncaring rain. I didn’t think this day could get more depressing, but I was wrong.
By Mark Gagnonabout a month ago in Fiction
