A Medley of Short Stories

This is a collection of 4 short stories. 3 published individually: Old Man's Time, Grey Nomads, Boys Will Be Boys and a previously unpublished Flash Fiction Story: Siphonophore No More.

Previous reviews for Old Man's Time:
5 out of 5. A great and quick read! A whole different kind of read! Exciting to the last page and last word. Tony Wo

It's not every day that one comes across such an extremely EMOTIONALLY MOVING science fiction story and I am lucky to have found it!

5 out of 5. The author does a superb job setting pace and tone in this complete story with a satisfying ending that makes sense. It is both poignant and hopeful as well as quite imaginative. I was able to visualize the suroundings and feel the emotions of the main character. I highly recommend OLD MAN'S TIME and I hope that other readers will appreciate it as well. Enjoy! Abele

BOYS WILL BE BOYS:
This short story (2280 words) is about the experiences of a German World War I veteran in the last days of the second World War.
Excerpt of the story: 'My limp was more pronounced when I was hurrying, I knew that; I prided myself on it only being noticeable to people who knew or to keen observers when I was walking at easy strides. But my strides weren’t easy in these early morning hours. I wanted to run, but my stiff ankle forced me into some sort of farcical galloping clown whenever I tried. Several times I told myself that I had to slow down, walk normally, to pass undetected.'

GREY NOMADS:
This short story (1631 words) is about the strong bond between two grey nomads driving around the vast continent of Australia and how they deal with death when it interrupts their travel.
Beginning of the story: 'Albert woke up first. It had been like this for 41 years almost without exception. He would generally wake up before Anna, walk down the stairs of their home and put a kettle of water to a boil. In his youth, Albert had been a coffee drinker, but over the years he had learned to enjoy the morning ritual of a cup of tea with Anna. Besides it was easier to just make tea, rather than tea and coffee, especially if you didn’t mind having tea.'

OLD MAN'S TIME:
This short story (3200 words) is about an old man finding his place in a futuristic world; a world of space travel and space colonization. Earth is suffocating and new worlds are needed. An expedition with the aim of colonizing a new planet is sent out.
Beginning of the story: 'The old man put his tools away, closed the console, gritted his teeth and in one not so fluent motion got up from squatting position. An old man he was alright, it had been many years since he had last seen a young man’s face when he looked in the mirror or saw himself in a shiny panel when walking past. Now, a pale face with deeply furrowed wrinkles and several days’ worth of white stubble greeted him on its hollow cheeks. An old man alright. An old man and his dog.'

SIPHONOPHORE NO MORE:
This Flash Fiction story is short but sweet.
Beginning of the story: I hated being part of a siphonophore. I should explain. I was one of the four types of zooids making up a Portugese man o’ war. An animal not too different from a jelly fish in looks, but unlike the jelly fish a Portugese man o’ war is made up of different animals that work together; a pneumatophore (the floatation bladder), a dactylozooid (responsible for defence and stinging prey), a gastrozooid (responsible for digesting food, that was my job) and a gonozooid (responsible for reproduction). I didn’t want to be the gastrozooid any longer (you could say that I was fed up with the job); I wanted to be the gonozooid.