Sci-Friday – Excerpt from “If Looks Could Kill”

A 4th glimpse into my upcoming book of 6 eerie sci-fi stories

Check out the first glimpse, 2nd glimpse, and 3rd glimpse.

Here is the fourth excerpt from my book of short stories in the science fiction realm that will be published soon by Wordwooze Publishing. (Great editor there, very accommodating and easy to work with.) Being a fan of The Twilight Zone, I must confess that an episode inspired part of this story. Other parts were inspired by other sci-fi and horror readings I have done over the years. (Let’s face it, we are not only what we eat but what we read.)

A short note first: In the past week or so, I have read articles on Substack and elsewhere stating that dialogue tags are bad, to keep sentences and paragraphs short, and other such terrible writing advice. Sadly, one of those articles was by someone currently serving as temporary editor of a lit mag. So, if you wonder why your stories don’t get selected for publication, this is why—editors following their own bad advice. And it’s also why I encourage you to seek other routes for your work.

Also, an update on Neil Clarke, editor of Clarkesworld, a top sci-fi mag, states that submissions are once again being accepted, but that they are still being flooded with what he calls “terrible stories” being churned out by AI. This makes your odds as a real writer, not a faker, of getting seen, let alone selected, even tougher.

The Excerpt

Ever hear the expression “if looks could kill”? Well, in Thultha’s case, it was more than an expression. Her looks could kill. But not in the way that expression usually meant.

When I saw her for the first time she was just another pair of spiked-heeled shoes topped by a great pair of shapely legs that led to a pair of short shorts and a well-filled halter-top half-concealed beneath a main of long blond hair. Nothing else mattered…

— A month ago —

She moved coolly on this sweltering summer day through a crowd of sweaty, irritable mortals hurrying from one air-conditioned building to another. I stood transfixed, suit jacket slung over my shoulder, and watched her stride along a griddle-hot sidewalk like a mistress surveying her property. Waves of heat shimmered up around her, making her look like some mirage in the desert. When she went out of sight around a corner I followed, working my way through the noontime crowd hurrying to their favorite eatery.

If only my hunger had been a little more intense or my lust a little less.

“Excuse me,” I said to the rotund man I ran into while rounding that corner. I had dropped my jacket and now picked it up just as a passerby was about to step on it.

“You lumber bus!” the man shouted at me while I bent over. “Watch where you’re going!”

“Did you see a beautiful woman walk by?” I asked, straightening up.

“So, that’s it. Chasing skirt. Shame on you. Find something better to do!”

He stomped off, running into a woman carrying a bag of groceries from the little shop a block away and rushing on with a brief apology. The contents spilled all over the sidewalk, and the woman yelled at him before crouching down to pick up cans of lima beans, green bananas, and a half gallon plastic jug of milk that mercifully hadn’t split open. A man stomped her loaf of bread without even noticing, looked at his watch, and quickened his pace.

I would have helped the woman pick up her groceries, but at that moment I caught sight of the woman I had been following and whom I later learned was named Thultha. She was examining items in a shop window. I rushed off toward her. The corner of her mouth curved upward in a sly smile before turning away and striding off, as if she had seen me and wanted me to follow. At least that’s what my libido was telling me.

I walked another block, weaving around the people sticky with heat and worry over having enough time to eat before returning to their desks. I lost sight of Thultha again and stopped at the entrance to an alley, looking down the street. But then a movement caught my eye in the dim light in the alley, and I turned toward it. There she was, standing at the far end. I almost called out to her but then saw a man—one of the throng of homeless in the city—standing in front of her, his back against the brick wall slick with oily grease. He stared at her with a look of utter fear but appeared to be mesmerized. As I watched, he shriveled, his clothes eventually falling in a heap on the greasy pavement as he disappeared entirely. Thultha seemed to take on a glow in the dim alley light and then stand up straighter. I backed away quickly before she noticed me.

I hadn’t known at the time the true nature of what I had seen.

More to Come

Watch for more excerpts from the two remaining stories in the book over the next weeks. Your feedback is most welcome.

Hope you found this helpful and have been inspired to start and/or continue writing!

See my article: Publisher Agent Fiction Genres Defined, with downloadable PDF.

Please check out my author website. And thanks for reading.

———

———

Thanks for reading. Please check out my first book of short stories (a couple are actually novelette length), newly published by Wordwooze Publishing. (I even designed the cover.)

Ebook and paperback available from: Barnes & Noble and Amazon

Ebook on other platforms shown on Books2read.

Listen on Audible.