I wouldn’t classify myself as OCD. I’ve never been diagnosed or anything. But I do have a compulsion to, anywhere I go, check out the book and magazine racks. I don’t generally buy anything, I just look at how books are arranged. What are the bestsellers? What genres are adjacent to each other? I suppose it’s the wannabe writer in me doing market research. (Apparently, vampires are HOT right now…)
He looks down at his sleeping son. Although the boy is only six weeks old, the father feels like he didn’t know what life was before the child was born. Was there a time when this small angel didn’t exist? The father couldn’t imagine a life without his son. It seems he can’t remember what his life was before.
The father cherishes his son in that moment, trying to commit every detail to memory. Even the blemishes, even the flaky cradle cap, is precious to the father.
A flash.
Vertigo.
As Saturday drew to a close, I remembered that I forgot my staple Friday feature, Fiction Friday. Oops. Well, what with the Thanksgiving holiday, my step daughter’s birthday on Wednesday, and Black Friday, I didn’t exactly have time to create a brand new story. So I’m digging back into the vault and dredging up a story that only a few eyeballs have seen. I had submitted it to Asimov’s, but was told it wasn’t the right fit at that time. Oh well, maybe it will get some exposure here and you will enjoy it.
Without any further ado, I give you…
In the spirit of this new blog, I’m not going to tie myself down to a set pattern, i.e. Manic Mondays, Two-fer Tuesdays, Whimsy Wednesdays, etc. However, with the release of the latest preview for J.J. Abrams’ new Star Trek movie, (view it here) I think I will try to stick to one dedicated feature. Every Friday, I will post a piece of fiction from yours truly. Since I just decided to do this about ten minutes ago and didn’t have all week to prepare an original story, I’m posting my favorite Star Trek story that I entered into the Strange New Worlds short story contest. Needless to say, I didn’t win, but this story still reserves a soft spot in my heart. 
Deep Space Nine remains my all time favorite Star Trek series, and ‘Far Beyond the Stars’ is, for me, the quintessential Star Trek episode. So I decided to dig into that just a little deeper. Unfortunately, I forgot to include a tribble, so Dean Wesley Smith passed on publishing it. 
