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.
Achievements (1)
Stories (451)
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Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner
Everyone knows who rules this roost, it’s Foghorn Leghorn of course. He’s up before the sun every morning, flies to the chicken coop roof, and announces the beginning of every new day. His voice was so strong it resonated throughout the dell. Most of the residents relied on Foghorn’s powerful crowing to roust them out of bed. Sure, there were other roosters in the dell but none with the crowing power of Foghorn. He truly did rule the roost.
By Mark Gagnonabout a year ago in Fiction
Where’s The Beef?
Maggie and her brides’ maids could barely contain their enthusiasm. The wedding was six days away and it was time to enjoy one last fling before Maggie transformed into a married woman by uttering those life changing words, “I do.” That was in the future. Tonight was time for one final outing as a single lady with her friends. She had no idea where they were going and what to expect as everything had been planned by her friends. All she knew was it was time to get the party started.
By Mark Gagnonabout a year ago in Fiction
Memories of Home
The church hall was always pristine, the people gathering there for a free meal were anything but. They patiently shuffled along from station to station, trays in hand collecting a warm meal. The woman in front of Jack tripped on the partially detached sole of her shoe and fell to the floor. Immediately, Jack reached to help her up and saw her face for the first time.
By Mark Gagnonabout a year ago in Fiction
Departure from Solitude. Top Story - November 2024.
Fourteen months have passed since humanity cast me adrift. My waking hours are divided between tending to the equipment that keeps me alive, roaming the lunar landscape, and staring into space. Living on a massive rock that lacks atmosphere offers me a vista that no other living human has experienced. Of course, I’m not alive according to those in control of the government that abandoned me. All of us living on Moon Base Alpha were reported killed by an asteroid strike to avoid the cost of returning the two remaining explorer’s home. It was a lie they told to everyone who would listen, but it was only one of hundreds of lies the population was fed.
By Mark Gagnonabout a year ago in Fiction
Solitude
I wake up already knowing that today will be the same as the day before and the day before that and so on for as far back as I can remember. My life is a never-ending string of days filled with sameness. Even the landscape stays frozen in place, offering me nothing but consistency to view. I’ve known people who long for peace and quiet, but to them I say, be careful what you wish for.
By Mark Gagnonabout a year ago in Fiction
When it Stops. Top Story - October 2024.
“This deluge can’t last much longer. What do you think?” “I have no idea. If you had asked me that question two days ago, I would have said, absolutely not. We’ll be back out on the trail in an hour or so, but now Jack, I haven’t got a clue.”
By Mark Gagnonabout a year ago in Fiction
Vocal’s Lost Communities Revisited
(Apologies for the way the chart looks. When I posted it all the columns were lined up and it all made sense. For some reason my computer and Vocals computer don't want to co-operate and everything is scrambled. It was legible once.)
By Mark Gagnonabout a year ago in Journal
This Weeks Rule
There was only one rule: don’t open the door. At least that was this week’s rule. Last week the rule was: only eat the red berries and the rule the week before was only walk on the even numbered side of the corridor. Every week our masters devised a new rule for us to follow and a new punishment to be administered if the latest rule was broken. Just to keep life as confusing as possible various old rules were randomly discarded only to be reinstated at a future time. There was only one rule that the master’s would never cancel. Under penalty of excruciating torture and death would anyone be allowed to open the door at the far end of the galley way.
By Mark Gagnonabout a year ago in Horror
Our Only Date
There was only one rule: Don’t open the door. Once my brain slowly returned to fully functioning and my eyes were able to focus, that sign was the first thing I saw. Pulling myself into a standing position while stuffed in this dimly lit coffin-size room was a challenge. Next, I need to find what is causing the continuous swish-swish-swish sound emanating from somewhere above my head. Last, but not least, finding out how the hell I got here.
By Mark Gagnonabout a year ago in Horror
