Tag: short fiction

Short Story – “A Gift for the Guardian”

On By Jeff PawlakLeave a comment

Got another one of my personal favorite short stories appearing here this week. If I recall correctly, this was the very last short story that I wrote before I began working on my trilogy of young-adult fantasy novels, The Luminous Legend.

In this tale, you’ll be following a young prince who boldly sets off to meet with a monstrous creature. There’s some debate amongst the peoples of the land as to whether the creature’s title of “The Guardian” is fitting, or if the creature is more of a menace, than anything else. My love of giant monsters naturally played a role in this story’s creation, but my greatest inspiration behind it was the famous scene in The Hobbit where Bilbo Baggins first meets Smaug and has an extended conversation with the great dragon.

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Short Story – “The Cross in the Snow”

On By Jeff PawlakLeave a comment

Today is technically the first day of Spring, but it’s still a little chilly outside, so it’s probably best to post this story before it gets any warmer out there. After all, this tale is set all the way up north not too far from the Klondike, featuring a team of sled dogs who go on a late-night adventure through the snowy, frozen Alaskan countryside. This is an anthropomorphic story, which means that, just like in Bambi, or Balto, the dogs (among other animals) in this story think and talk just as humans would.

I’ve always had a soft-spot for the anthropomorphic genre, probably because of my fondness and great interest in animals. This story, along with its companion, and one of my earliest-published short stories, “Far From the Cold”, are two of my favorites that I’ve written. I originally came up with a host of different short story ideas for this same group of sled dogs and their owner, along with a concept or two for full-length novels. I’ve promised myself that, at some point in my life, I’m going to return to these ideas and write up all the adventures that I’ve dreamed up for these hounds.

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Short Story – “Sacrifice”

On By Jeff PawlakLeave a comment

If you have a few minutes to spare, I’ve got a story that I think will leave you with a bit of a chill. I’m honestly not sure how to classify this one; it has elements of high fantasy in it, but it’s definitely too grim to quite fit into that category. Dark fantasy, perhaps? Maybe it crosses all the way into horror? If that’s the case, it includes some of my favorite horror elements; the paranormal, and a remote, primitive jungle setting.

This a quick read; the story finishes at around 3,200 words. Here’s to hoping it’s a creepy one for as long as it lasts you.

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Short Story – “Proving His Fire”

On By Jeff PawlakLeave a comment

I’m back! It’s been a crazy couple of weeks, but I’m here to continue the spree of short stories from my backlog. Today’s tale is an oldie; I don’t remember exactly when I wrote it, but I believe I was 21 at the time, if not, younger. It’s the story of a fledgling dragon who goes to some pretty serious lengths to prove to the older, stronger dragons in the land that he’s no helpless whelp.

Seeing as how this story comes from some of my earlier days when I was making a determined attempt to become a published writer, it’s not exactly a reflection of where I am right now with my language and ability to spin a good yarn. My raw, unrefined craft of years ago is definitely on display here, but I still find this story entertaining, and I hope you do, as well.

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Short Story – “Rebound”

On By Jeff PawlakLeave a comment

Before I began writing my first novel, I spent a few years working on short stories so that I could improve my language and mechanics. I also did this because I wanted to get a few publishing credits to my name before I took a major work to an agent or publisher; I thought it was very important that I had some experience with publishing rather than just dive into the novel business with nothing on my resume, especially at a young age.

I had a bunch of stories eventually be published in both print and digital formats across a variety of small-print outlets, but I also had plenty that never found their way to the public. Some were outright rejected by the publishers I sent them to. A couple were accepted, but the publisher ceased operations before/after they were published (a very common occurrence in the independent writing scene). Some I wrote just for the heck of it, and never even tried to get published.

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