Fiction Press: "Friends Over Fire"

"Friends Over Fire" was the very first short story I wrote...apart from the stuff I did when I was six years old, I mean. It's a futuristic tale about a teenage girl living in a war-torn world who meets an unusual family and discovers things about them and herself. This story has been "published" in NU Sense, the black literary magazine of Northwestern University. I tried to revive it when I was a freshman, but it lasted exactly one issue. That issue included this story.

There is no discernable inspiration for this story. It's sci-fi, but I have read very little sci-fi. It's main character is a teenage girl, and I was a teenage guy when I first worked on it. Frankly, this story came out of nowhere. But it's probably the best story I've ever written. Weird how that works out.

So, check out my very first (real) short story, "Friends Over Fire" at this link:
http://www.fictionpress.com/read.php?storyid=1477021

Read more!

Skit: "Elimitrox"

Here's another skit from my archives, although it's not that old (it's from 2003). Basically, it's my parody of those commercials for prescription drugs. What's great about those commercials is all the stuff they have to say in such a short amount of time. All those warnings about interactions and side effects conflict greatly with the positive images onscreen.

So, check out the prescription drug commercial parody entitled "Elimitrox"

Elimitrox by Sterling Fisher

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Announcer: Suffering from seasonal allergies? Need relief from the congestion, sneezing, and watery eyes? Then ask your doctor about Elimitrox, the number one prescribed allergy medicine by uninformed and inexperienced doctors.

Man: I used to hate gardening because the plants would aggravate my allergies. But now that Elimitrox allows me to garden without sneezing, I can say I hate gardening because it sucks and it's hard work.

Woman: My family would stay away from me because I sneezed so much, but thanks to Elimitrox, they stay away from me not because of my sneezes but because I only bathe once every six months.

(Man and Woman look at each other and smile as Announcer begins to talk again)

Announcer: (talking quickly) Elimitrox is not for everyone. The most common side effects are dry mouth, nosebleeds, dizziness, and uncontrollable gaseous emissions. Other less occurring side effects include sudden drowsiness, tremors, vomiting, diarrhea, baldness, loss of bladder control, bad breath, reduction in size of sexual organs in both men and women, the ability to hear colors, belief that Tupac Shakur is not only alive but hiding out in rural Iceland, premature senility and death. In studies, there was an uncommonly high occurrence of side effects compared to sugar pill. Patients who have hypertension, heart or liver problems, AIDS or HIV, diabetes, acid-reflux disease, clinical depression, ADHD, size 10 feet for both males and females, a lazy eye, or the film "How High" on DVD should not take Elimitrox. Women who are pregnant, thinking about getting pregnant, or considering the possibility of getting pregnant within the next 10 years should not take Elimitrox, handle broken pills, or even touch the bottle it is contained in without three layers of latex gloves. If you are taking any other drugs, legal or otherwise, do not take Elimitrox without consulting your doctor first. On second thought, it's okay to take Elimitrox if you are smoking weed or snorting Oxycontin, but that's it. If you experience any medical problems while taking Elimitrox, contact your doctor immediately. Actually, don't worry about contacting the doctor. By the time you do, it'll already be too late.

Man: So take Elimitrox!

Woman: And eliminate your allergy symptoms today!

Announcer: A product of Crazy Ass Pharmaceuticals, kinda sorta helping people since 2010. Elimitrox patented 2003.

END SKETCH

Read more!

Fiction Press: "Jorun vs. The Alarm Clock"

No new work yet, but here is one of the three short stories that is on my Fiction Press website.

I got the inspiration for "Jorun vs. The Alarm Clock" from one simple truth: many of us hate to get up in the morning. The buzz or siren of an alarm clock annoys many a person. The sad thing is how much we need alarm clocks. I know that I would definitely oversleep if I didn't have my alarm clock on. So, I thought...what if an alarm clock went off and wouldn't stop going? It's as simple as that.

This was the second short story I ever finished. It's also the first (and only time) I've tried to write anything that's near-creepy. However, I think the ending could've been done better. I'm no M. Night Shymalan.

Well, here is the link to "Jorun vs. The Alarm Clock.":
http://www.fictionpress.com/read.php?storyid=270084

Read more!