Alex Carrick’s Blog

The following is an edifying tale wherein a king learns a valuable lesson from his queen and the whole nation is better off as a consequence. The court jester plays a pivotal role as well, although he probably came to wish he’d stayed out of it.   There once lived a king who was always mad. […]

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Note: This story received an honorable mention in the 2010 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. The man, his son and his daughter had a routine when they went for a bike ride. Taking point position would be the son, about to turn age 12, on a medium-sized bike. In the middle would be the daughter, just […]

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Paying attention to detail solved the case. There were several abnormalities to note about the two-foot-tall fish tank. A small amount of water had been displaced, as if someone’s arm had been inserted all the way; the ceramic castle on the bottom appeared to have been moved on its granular base, possibly for aesthetic reasons; […]

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The following are the jounal entries of Mr. Justin Smythe, a gentleman hobby farmer living outside the lovely theatre community of Stratford, Ontario where a widely-known Shakespearean festival is held each year. Mr. Smythe’s life proceeds quietly as he tends his cattle and occasionally takes walks in 30 acres he has set aside on his property for […]

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Chief Inspector Beige was never more glad to be home. He’d spent three days entangled in the lives of the rich and famous and was more off-balance than at any other time in his 45-year-old life. It had been a roller-coaster ride that lost its amusement appeal long before the final plummet.   Beige’s detective career spanned […]

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Tracy Tindale was at her wits end. This was the Olympics in which she was supposed to shine. Instead, she was struggling again. While most of the problem was mental, it wasn’t all her fault. In fact, her condition had recently been given a name. It was going down in the medical books as a […]

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Bradley found it was easiest to talk to his imaginary friend, Russell, while getting dressed before the full-length mirror in the bathroom. In such a setting, Russell became both a congenial valet and good sounding board. He would stand to the side and let Bradley talk.   Russell had been around for as long as Bradley could remember. […]

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David and Maria made sure to arrive home on a Tuesday evening before 6 p.m. after long hard days at work for both of them. They were a married couple in their mid 40s, with three children – William aged 20, Walter 10 and Wendy 5. Later that evening, they would be meeting with Maria’s […]

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Hostess Betty Bernard didn’t know what she was letting herself in for when she invited the television producer Mark Gatheral and the newspaper critic Gracie Phitts to the same soirée. Mr. Gatheral was a corpulent, but still handsome, man of 45. Ms. Phitts was an attractive dynamic go-getter in her early 30s. They could both […]

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Liz Stuckey’s marriage to her husband, Brian, was not without its rewards. First, there was their daughter Abby who was a delightful child of eight and accounted for much of Liz’ appreciation of life. Then there was her comfortable existence in the suburbs, with a 3,000 square-foot home and a Lexus in the driveway. Of […]

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