Eleven of my personal favourite short stories have been compiled into my first anthology. For a limited time this anthology is free to download at Smashwords.
Here's a taste of what's inside:
“I don’t know what
all the fuss is about?” my boss shouted down the phone line. “You go skydiving
all the time. Either you’re on the plane to London or you’re looking for a new
job. Got it?”
The line went dead. So did my
insides at the thought of a plane trip.
That night during dinner Susie
put down her cutlery and said, “You look like someone’s died.”
“I’ve got to go to London tomorrow.”
She’d resumed eating. Susie
never let anything spoil her appetite since falling pregnant with twins. “So you’d
better get packing.”
“I can’t go to London.”
“You’re not afraid of flying.
You go skydiving every month.”
“It’s not that.”
“You have a passport, though
god knows why, it’s not like we can afford to go anywhere on your salary.” Her
shoulders drooped. “Sorry, love. I didn’t mean to be such a bitch. These kids
had better pop soon or I’ll be a nutcase.”
I pushed the plate away and
reached for the bottle of cheap wine instead. I understood her agitation. I was
anxious for the twins to be born, too.
“It’s not heights I’m afraid
of, Suse. It’s x-ray machines.”
Susie’s face froze mid chew.
Her cheek looked stuffed like a squirrel’s. She gulped and looked me square in
the eye. “Craig. If x-ray machines were dangerous they wouldn’t use them.”
I managed a weak smile. “Are
you trying to get rid of me?”
She sighed. “I’d love to leave
this huge belly at home and come with you. Christ knows I’m dying for a few
days off from carrying these boys around.”
I said nothing.
“Look, if you really don’t
want to go, don’t go. You’ll get another job.”
We both getting another job
wasn’t an option. There just weren’t any other jobs to get.
“But what if you go into
labour while I’m away? I’ll miss the birth.”
She gave me a comforting
smile. “I’m sure I’ll be on so many drugs I won’t even notice if you’re there
or not.”
Hearing Suse laugh away her
ordeal sent a knife through my heart. She’d be in terrible pain. The worst kind
of pain she’d ever experience in her life, and if the twins came early, I
wouldn’t be there to help her through the pain. I would’t be there to explain.
***
“Napier Insurance. How may I help you?”
I was calling from a public
phone so the call couldn’t be traced, but I had to call, for Susie’s sake. “I
have a question about my life insurance policy. Do you have to have the body as
proof of death, or does a disappearance count?”
“What do you mean by
disappearance?”
“Well, if there are witnesses
to a disappearance, but no actual body could be found after this disappearance,
would the policy still be paid out?”
“Sir, I’m going to have to put
you through to my supervisor.”
I hung up. I was fast running
out of options. I couldn’t get another job. I couldn’t disappear and leave Suse
flat broke with twins on the way. But I
also couldn’t go to London. I was screwed.
***
The cab pulled up at the airport. Why London?
Why not Brisbane or Melbourne? I could drive through the night and make it in
time to conduct the briefing. Damn the global economy forcing our company to
expand.
Inside the terminal,
everything went against me. No long lines. No problems issuing tickets and
checking in the luggage. No choice left but to confront the x-ray machines and
hope my worst fears didn’t come true. I placed my carry-on onto the conveyor
belt and stepped through the body scanning machine. And that’s when everything
went dark.
***
A TV screen flickered on and a face came into
view.
“Can I help you?”
I decided to start with the
truth. “I’m Argaron. I’m wanted for treason.”
The face on the screen remained
impassive while it downloaded information. “Ah, Argaron. Welcome back. You need
not look so worried. You will be pleased to know you are no longer wanted for crimes
against the government. Since you’ve been gone there have been twelve changes
in government. All escapees were pardoned decades ago. You are free to return
to your old life here on Tetron 5.”
My old life? I could barely
remember it. I’d escaped the war on Tetron 5 as a boy, an act punishable by
death but a band of us had escaped anyway, via the portals our government used
to steal knowledge from other planets. Because my father was head of security
for Tetron 5, I knew the portals to capture escapees would be installed inside
airline x-ray scanners on Earth, the place where I’d fled to. I’d lived amongst
the humans knowing I’d be safe, as long as I didn’t have to fly in a commercial
airline. To avoid that, I’d stayed in low paying jobs to ensure I’d never be
able to afford to fly anywhere. Six months ago Susie had fallen pregnant, she’d
lost her job, I’d been promoted by threat, and yesterday I’d been ordered to
London.
“What if I don’t want to come
back?” I asked.
“If you don’t wish to return,
the portal will remain open for two minutes and your time here will be reversed
so it will appear as you have not disappeared. But you do realise that staying
on Earth is problematic? You know what you are. Are you sure this is what you
want to do?”
I didn’t wait around to
explain. I turned and ran towards the light.
***
Susie picked me up at the airport. “You’re
alive so you obviously overcame your fear of x-ray machines.”
I kissed her on the cheek and
smiled. “And you’re obviously still pregnant so you never gave birth while I
was away.”
“And have you miss out on a
single day of nappy changing? No way. Seriously, you were very worried. Is everything
all right?”
I leaned my head back into the
head rest and closed my eyes. I was a free man. I could live the rest of my
life without fear of persecution. Now all I had to do was figure out a way to
cover up the fact that I wasn’t human.
I opened my eyes to find Suse
watching me. “You look like you’re hiding a secret,” she said.
“I’m just tired.” I
didn’t want to tell her that she’d find out my secret soon enough...when the
twins were born.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
D L Richardson is the author of speculative fiction. She has three teen novels and one short story anthology published. Her first novel reached number 2 at OmniLit and number 38 at Kobo Books. Her second reached number 1 at OmniLit. Little Red Gem is her third novel and recently won 2nd place Best Books of 2013 Paranormal Cravings. She lives in Australia on the NSW south coast with her husband and dog.
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