Category: Fiction
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FICTION: Revenge
How far would you go to seek revenge? (Click here for last week’s episode) Buck’s fingers ached on an unusually chilled October morning as he watched the busy water traffic on the choppy Hudson. His classmates in the distance went for their noon dinner. Buck blew on his hands and shoved them deep in his…
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FICTION: Summer Ends With A Fall
As summer encampment ends we join Cadet Buck Crenshaw having spent the final weeks of the season in the West Point infirmary. It is assumed Buck suffers under a “nervous complaint” for why else would he bribe stable hands to protect the negro cadet Milford Streeter after a schooling horse is found dead? Streeter disappears…
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Fiction: Taking Chances on Lost Men
Thankful Crenshaw dismisses Buck’s warning and runs away to meet her childhood sweetheart . . . William Weldon stumbled out into the Arizona sun. His friend said something, a joke maybe, but William didn’t get it. William laughed anyway and tripped on his boot lace. “Blast it.” The wool trousers he wore stuck to the…
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Fiction: The Trouble with Dead Horses
Last week Buck was rebuffed by the girl of his dreams and now this . . . “Sir! I’m ruined for sure! What should I do?” Streeter whispered, his breath moist against Buck’s face. “What? Why are you bothering me? Where were you?” Buck asked. “By the horses, sir! Oh, I am a fool!” Streeter…
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Fiction: The Trouble with Women
A summer night of trouble for Buck Crenshaw and Milford Streeter . . . Buck reported for duty early, waiting for a chance to sneak off as the military band with its brass and drums lit the evening with hope. Girls in an array of flashy colors strolled along the wooded path known as Flirtation…
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Fiction: Romantic Hopes
Beauty clouds judgment . . . Morning came with a light rain, but Buck liked the weather. He only wished that it might let up so he could again try for colors. The adjutant cadet had always been a fair fellow and Buck hoped that the feelings against him were only at the most…
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Fiction: What is a Chicken’s Life Worth to You?
After chucking Streeter’s cigar across the tent, Buck took out one of his own, lit it and began cleaning his weapon once more. One by one, he shined the buttons of his coat and brushed the gray wool. He’d try for colors again tomorrow. Before long and although it was only just past three, Buck…
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Fiction: A Question of Mistaken Identity
Assessing a disfiguring injury after an unexpected brawl . . . Buck’s head kept him from five days of summer encampment. He studied the still raw, jagged skin at his temple in the mirror before dressing to leave the infirmary. The doctor said the hand of God saved him from losing an eye, but Buck…
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Fiction: A Bloodied Tent
The cadets watched and shielded the assault from officers in the area. Buck tore at one boy, but was blind-sided by another. He fell to the ground. A cadet’s boot rammed Buck’s forehead. Blood flowed and blinded him for a second until he felt the weight of a cadet lifted from him when a few…
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Fiction: False Friends at the Academy
Cadet Buck Crenshaw’s friend Carter returns a defaced book . . . For the next three days Buck and Cadet Streeter didn’t have a single conversation. The tent sat like a tomb each afternoon as they polished their guns or passed the time in reading or letter writing. Tomorrow at the mounting of the guard,…
Author Adrienne Morris 