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    Passing Fancies
    Passing Fancies
    Passing Fancies
    Ebook132 pages41 minutes

    Passing Fancies

    By A. F. Stewart

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Bites of fiction, nibbles of imagination and feasts of invention.

    Three tiers of tales, drabbles, flash fiction and short stories are contained within the pages of Passing Fancies, a collection of speculative fiction.
    The majority of the stories are in the fantasy genre, but you will find a smattering of crime drama and sci-fi dropping by as well.

    You will discover tales short to long, amusing to chilling, wandering about the pages waiting just for you.

    Come flit through fantasy, mystery and space.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherA. F. Stewart
    Release dateApr 13, 2012
    ISBN9781476054131
    Passing Fancies
    Author

    A. F. Stewart

    A steadfast and proud sci-fi and fantasy geek, A. F. Stewart was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada and still calls it home. The youngest in a family of seven children, she always had an overly creative mind and an active imagination. She favours the dark and deadly when writing—her genres of choice being dark fantasy and horror—but she has been known to venture into the light on occasion. As an indie author she’s published novellas and story collections, with a few side trips into poetry and non-fiction.

    Read more from A. F. Stewart

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    • 4/5
      There’s really something rather nice about feeling included in the dedication to a book, and A. F. Stewart dedicates her collection of Passing Fancies to all her online friends whose prompts and tweets and inspired her. I guess I should dedicate this review to those shared friends who have also provided me with so much inspiration.The collection opens with a delightful selection of tales told in 100 words or less. And the first, A Fictional Vacation, is a perfect introduction. Just sit back and let the author carry you off on a wondrous journey… Though some of those glimpses through the window are distinctly disturbing, for all that they’re so brief. The author certainly knows how to pack an emotional punch into just a few words.The next section employs my favorite short story length, around 1000 words or less for flash fiction. One hundred words is great for a passing fancy, but if I want to stop for a snack between the world’s distractions, a thousand words provides the perfect short stay. Of course, settling back into those distractions afterwards might be hard, and eating a snack after reading about the werewolf father’s kindness… Actually, going back to writing after meeting Nick’s wonderful muse might be difficult too. But the smiles that go with the shocks are always beautifully timed, and the emotions swirl from fear to pathos to fun.Then on to reading a collection of fine short stories. Finding one that reminds me of a hundred word tale is like meeting with an old friend—“Tell me more,” I ask as we sit together by the fire. Each tale takes its own different direction and ends, leaving the reader satisfied. Passing Fancies is a fine polished collection of fanciful dreams and nightmares, and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

    Book preview

    Passing Fancies - A. F. Stewart

    Brief Shorts

    A Fictional Vacation

    Not What It Seems

    Look Before You Leap

    The Last Adventure

    Be Careful What You Deliver

    Heading South

    Dark, New World

    Trespass

    Ornamental

    The Abyss

    Know your Neighbours

    Don’t Build There

    The Kidnapping?

    Old West Gunfight

    Somewhere in Hollywood...

    Dream Eater

    Flash Fiction

    A Hand in His Pocket

    Death of a Furby

    Murdering Muse

    A Monster Therapy Session

    Time in a Box

    In The Rain

    Strange Love

    Die Spam, Die

    Veil of Tears

    Short Stories

    The Wild Hunt

    Be Careful What You Deliver- Part 1

    Be Careful What You Deliver- Part 2

    Be Careful What You Deliver- Part 3

    Be Careful What You Deliver- Part 4

    Who Wants to Live Forever?

    A Funny Murder

    Conversation in the Country Club

    Love is Murder

    About the Author

    Other Books by A. F. Stewart

    Brief Shorts

    The stories in this section are micro fiction, a story told in 100 words or less. You will discover brief tidbits of fantasy, sci-fi, crime, even some general fiction and a tale of the old west.

    A Fictional Vacation

    Iris walked into the travel office, hesitant, but she needed a holiday. The man behind the desk smiled and beckoned her forward.

    Here for a vacation are you? What would you like? Middle Earth, Shangri-La, Gotham City, perhaps?

    I’d like Camelot. Iris displayed her credit card to finalize the transaction; the travel agent gave the card a quick swish for payment.

    Just step into the back room. Once you’re in the chair we’ll hook up the virtual gear. Any character in particular you wish to play?

    Oh yes. Iris smiled, her demeanour shy. I want to be King Arthur.

    Not What It Seems

    I’ve seen the light.

    I’m so bloody sick of it. Every time I die, there it is, mocking me, like some kind of punishment. After my conscription into the Dreshen Warriors, I was so afraid of dying; it seemed like such a great idea to drink the potion and live forever.

    Eternally young, death will never claim you, be reborn everlasting.

    I never considered there was an afterlife, a place with no war, no blood, and no repeated death. I never imagined I would glimpse its paradise through a doorway, only to have it forever out of reach...

    Immortality sucks.

    Look Before You Leap

    The small pile of feathers fluttered in the wind; a few danced across the water. Sassy the Cat was content, pleased and ready for a nap. Two weeks of befriending that silly canary Horace had been worth it. Sassy had happily encouraged his ambitions to be a daredevil, his love of risky adventure. Poor Horace had believed every lie.

    Sassy curled in the grass for her nap, cherishing the memory. The look on Horace’s face as he leapt from the ledge into her mouth had been priceless.

    The Last Adventure

    Terror invaded Fred’s mind after he plummeted from the plane and found his parachute refused to open; he knew then it had been a very bad idea to go away with his business partner. The adventure weekend had sounded like such fun, a day of kayaking and then some skydiving. He never imagined Jim knew that he had stolen the money, or that he would murder him.

    A parachute, what I wouldn’t give for a working parachute.

    That was Fred’s last thought, right before he crashed onto the taxi and died.

    Be Careful What You Deliver

    It was a dark and stormy night and Sarah was driving a lonely stretch of highway. A hilltop mansion was visible on the horizon; it was Professor Dim’s house. Relief flooded her mind; she could finally hand over that creepy sarcophagus.

    Oh, why did I ever agree to help him? Go to an abandoned warehouse, pick up an ancient coffin and deliver it to a mad scientist, all in an evening’s work, right? I must have been out of my mind.

    Sarah gunned her van’s engine, powering up the road’s incline, heading straight to the Professor’s abode.

    Heading South

    Well, it's done; I’ve actually left home. The ticket is in my hand, I'm at the airport ready to fly off to Rio and meet up with Jackie. We are going to have such a time at Carnival; the husband and kids are already an afterthought.

    Thank heaven hubby agreed to take care of our rug rats for a week so we two girls can party. Sun, the beach, drinks with umbrellas and girl talk here I come.

    Dark, New World

    The world transformed today.

    The sun went red, the sky opened and the Shadow Hoard poured forth into our realm. People ran, the hungry wailing hunters in pursuit, but there was no escape. Hundreds, thousands were taken, lifted into the heavens, screaming.

    We have no hope, for the clouds have darkened and turned into rain.

    A rain of blood, sticky and thick.

    Trespass

    Jimmy munched on his candy, trying not to remember he was stuck in this haunted house until sunrise. Local ghost stories of moans and spectral figures lurked in the recesses of his mind and he jumped at every creak and shadow.

    Stupid Bobby and his stupid bet.

    Clunk! The noise made him flinch and he turned to look. A

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