Nothing Like It In the World
By David Walls-Kaufman The story challenge was to deal with a subject that had at some time horrified you. The thing that stuck in my mind was an obscure subject I had come upon several times in reading histories about the First World War. DAVID “It’s the meanest thing in the world.” “There’s nothing like […]
Frankenstein, Politician
By David Walls-Kaufman I really enjoyed the Liberty Island short story contests because you had to come up with a story outside your comfort zone, and you had to write for a deadline. It was terrific practice for a writer. This was for a “Fantasy Father’s Day” contest. DAVID A clear day peppered by fall […]
Sex, Love and a Soviet Obituary
By David Walls-Kaufman A love story set in World War Two, and after. DAVID I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about how she died or where she died, bitter and surreal as the news struck me, and bare enough to make me feel cold, hollow, unclean. I’m really not sure if what I felt, or feel, for her is […]
Why Me? 1987
By David Walls-Kaufman A story contest wanted a sci-fi piece derived from your favorite sci-fi novel, and you had to use the title of that novel in your opening sentence. Here is my rendering of what Winston’s life looked like after his arrest and re-education in 1984. DAVID In 1984 they arrested me. In 1987 […]
Caribbean Halloween Killing: A True Story
by David Walls-Kaufman Liberty Island wanted a story for Halloween and what came to mind was my wonderful Grandmother Lloyd and my childhood visits with the family every year to Puerto Rico to see her. She was always a bit mysterious and more than her share of bad things piled up in her life before […]
Hemingway, Dos Passos and the Spanish Civil War
by David Walls-Kaufman The rise of Socialism in America has always fascinated me. Two key public figures typical of what many must have considered and gone through philosophically before and during the 1930s were Hemingway and Dos Passos, two good friends. Their friendship was damaged by the excesses of the Soviets during the Spanish Civil […]
Robot, Archangel
Book One: Wazku Vanishes by David Walls-Kaufman This was a short story submitted to Liberty Island and it was rejected because there wasn’t enough to it. I disagree. My vision of the story was to show a hopeless future where ordinary people had no chance. The LI editor suggested it became a larger story. At first […]
Of Crusaders and Cartels
by David Walls-Kaufman One of my favorites of my short stories. It has been rewritten several times and was originally published under the title Plight of the Locusts. It is based on a true event involving the Mexican drug cartels. DAVID “Remy, I am going to go over the Border.” The 20-year old woman hefted […]