SKELETONS                                                              A collection of bare bone tales While most of chapter II of Skeletons was written when I was 19 - 20,  these works represent the second phase when I was 21 - 22 years old. After being  rejected so many times I kinda put everything aside but the ideas kept coming, (there are times I wish they would stop). This was my zombie phase and these little nasties came trickling out. To me they were only skeletons of ideas that I was going to expand but somehow I felt they were right just the way they were. Only recently have I discovered that there is a name for it, (surprised?) Flash Fiction. Runner: Written on my 21st birthday (loser). I had planned to type up (yeah I didn't have a computer) some of the others just so I could have 18/4/1996 at the end. But I ran out of typewriter ribbon. I was pissed off big time so I decided to write a story to mark the day. I sat there pen in hand . . . had a flash of a guy running in the woods . . . and here it is. Was meant to be a short film but that's another story. The House Behind Us: Written while staring out my bedroom at the house behind us. The Dead and the Buried: I've always loved this one. Don't wake the dead! Fallen: Not sure how this one came about. The Captain: Another zombie theme. No idea where it came from either. Into The Fire: This was one of the first pieces I ever wrote, a vampire suicide note. Its been through a a few different versions that didn't make any sense. This one probably only makes sense to me. Possessions: You know those people who collect things all their lives then die? You can't take it with you but apparently you can come back from the dead to mind it. Soups On: Written on scrap pieces of paper on a whim then put into a folder and forgotten about as I thought it was nothing. Now it appears to be a favourite. Go figure. This is why I can't work out publishers. Ancestors: This was my first attempt to put a bit of Australiana into my stuff. Was originally set in Africa but I changed it to the Outback as I want to include my homeland in my stories just like everyone else overseas writes about their homes with a twist. The bulk of these were written just after I finished school when I decided I was going to be a writer and started on a novel - The White of Flance . As I was writing it I kept getting all these other ideas, like the flood gates opened. So much that I had two pieces of paper - novel and stories. Finally I put the book aside and thought it better practise to do short stories first. Now anything that isn't Flash Fiction goes in here. Looking back I think, man  was I screwed up when I was a kid? All the early ones were written on blank newspaper that my Dad brought home from the printers and sat in a drawer for years until I used them to hand write them. Not Alone on The Ocean: A newer story circa 2001, a ghost story with a twist. I think this was the first time I got back into short stories after attempting novels and scripts. It was refreshing and I felt a little more mature with a slightly different style. I wanted to write the way people talk and tried my best. Beneath The Quiet Of Cumberland: Based on an allegedly real life vampire tale from Victorian England that I read in a book on Dracula/Vampires. I have such respect for my protagonists don't I? I'd hate to be in my stories. Beyond The Forest: I think I just sat down and put pen to paper and out this came. Again I punish my characters, I'm sure you all know who Countess Bathory was. The Dead of Night: This was always planned as a favourite. Early version was set in modern times but I cut it as it was getting too complicated. I'm actually proud of it for the discipline it took to get it done, usually I'm a lazy sod. Between 10am and noon everyday I sat down and wrote by hand, without any preparation   and the ideas just flowed out. It took a few days but I did it and proved to me that I could put myself to the grind and get things done. Inspired by a story I read as a kid that upset me, about a statute of a kid in a European town that would talk with birds, one bird stripped off all his gold linings and the jewels from his eyes and sent them to the poor in the village. Eventually the bird died cause he stayed behind to help the statute and winter came. Poor little bird. The story is completely different though! Ha! The Christabel: Started life when I was writing the others and kept thinking of other things as boys do. Took a while to finish, a bit was written in Marketplace Gosford outside McDonalds while sitting in the sun. The Midnight Run: Here is one of the first stories I ever wrote. Is an 18 year old meant to be writing about a guy who collects dead bodies? Probably not. Not sure where this came from but the house was inspired by a real life couple in Britain who would murder his tenants and bury them in the yard, even his own daughter. (c) 2005 Kristian Becker