Jim Wilsky

Allen Fuller saw the girl up ahead, just as he was shifting up but by the time he passed her he was already slowing the truck down.He eased the big rig to the shoulder of the entrance ramp to I-35 and came to a complete stop.  He watched her in the mirror. Even from fifty […]

Amarillo this time a year could be a real bitch and tonight was one of those nights. Cars and trucks were everywhere, in the ditch or half ass parked and abandoned from earlier tonight. Everything had at least a two inch coating of ice on it and Austin Parmenter was slipping and sliding towards his final destination. The wind was howling but he put his head down and kept walking.

Maybe a half mile to go, give or take. He’d decided to make this run after drinking everything he had at the house and that meant everything but the NyQuil. Including the last quarter of the Cuervo bottle he always kept stowed away for emergencies. Parmenter had a lot of emergencies these days.

The car stopped and he was pulled out, landing on his knees. Yanked to his feet, he was pushed forward. They stopped. Two pounds on a door and it creaked open. The door slammed behind him and he heard a bolt being thrown. Forward again. Another door opened. “Steps.” The voice on his left shoulder […]

The man known as John Loomis stood in the kitchen, looking out the window at the rainy night. He’d have to mow again soon. That time of year. He swirled the two cubes and raised the last of his drink. He froze with the glass on his lips. Call it a sixth sense. “I always […]

Abilene, Texas 1888 Lost somewhere in memory and place, he was staring in a daze at the thin shafts of sunlight coming in through the slitted windows of the small saloon. These spells came over him every once in a while and he still couldn’t explain it. He had no idea this time how long […]

Tyler had done what his mother had told him and there he sat, down in that dark dirt, silent as a graveyard. For almost two days. Even long after the footsteps stopped he waited for his mother to come back from wherever her, pa and Seth had run off to. He was worried that maybe […]

Earlier that day around noon his Pa and Seth had been working on a harness. His mother had been outside too, scrubbing some clothes in the wash tub outside. Tyler had been assigned to sweep the floor of the cabin. “Ma, we got some visitors comin’ to call on us” Seth said loud enough for […]

West Texas 1864 The small boy shook uncontrollably as he squatted on cool dirt in the dark space on cool dirt. Smelling the musty dampness of this dirt that never sees the sun, he felt like this might be what a grave would feel like. That got him thinking about his little sister Nattie. She’d […]

State Trooper Olan Miller is headed home in his cruiser. His shift is over, finally. Five more miles and he’s got a cold one in his hand. Up ahead, very dim headlights of another vehicle slowly come into view. There’s a figure too, standing to the side of the road. As he nears, he switches […]

The old cabin creaked and shuddered in the harsh winter wind. It was late November, 1857 and Jess Bender sat slowly rocking in the big pine chair he had made years ago. He was wrapped in an old buffalo blanket, but was still shivering. The one room cabin was warmed by a fire burning in […]

Luke comes roaring down the dark lane like Dale Earnrhardt Jr. after a quick pit at Daytona. He bangs through and over an old cow gate without even thinking about the brakes. Sneaking a look in the rear view mirror he sees nothing but swirling dust. The high weeds are lit up by the bouncing […]

“Not a whole helluva lot of time left Missus Jupe.” Bev waits like she should and then finally turns the key again. The car whines, sputters and coughs twice. She taps the pedal in and out with an even rhythm. Her eyes are closed and she’s gritting her teeth so hard I think she’s  gonna […]