Author Archive for Bradley J. Shambach

Living the Life

Written by
Bradley J. Shambach
on August 25, 2007 in Issue 1.08. 5 Comments
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading …

Ahmed stood with his arms crossed and his back leaning against the Brownstone apartment building. Business was slow for a Wednesday, but it was still only 11:00. The lunch crowd was what drove business in this neighborhood. The more business you got at lunch, the more likely those same people would come back after work to take something home. The forecast showed no rain for the rest of the week. That was promising. What wasn’t promising was the conversation he had two hours ago. A black Lincoln towncar had pulled up to the curb and just sat there. Ahmed was in the process of setting up his storefront for the day. He had caught a glimpse of the car and opened the walkway into the store to show that he was “open for business.” Ahmed tried to catch a glimpse of who sat in the car, but the windows were tinted to the point that he could not see the occupants. Trying not to stare, he continued the act of opening the store.

Continue reading ‘Living the Life’

The Unexpected Guest

Written by
Bradley J. Shambach
on August 18, 2007 in Issue 1.07. 10 Comments
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (6 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading …

The carrousel came to life. Half-opened and red eyes watched the luggage tumble down the main track and deposit themselves on the Samsonite merry-go-round. The passengers from flight 1402 from Paris shuffled and strained to see if theirs was the next piece of luggage to come down the shoot. Eric Jenkins felt like one of the living dead. He hated travel and he hated international travel worse. Not only did he fear flying but he also disliked the feeling he had when being a guest in a forgein country. He hated not being able to speak the language, ask for a beer, or read signs for the nearest restaurant. But worst of all he hated to be looked at as a tourist, how the locals treated him with contemptuousness. Oddly he loved his job. A job that routinely took him out of his home state once a month and out of his native country two or three times a year. But as the top salesman and representative for a hardwood distributor, he was obliged to take on these tasks.

Continue reading ‘The Unexpected Guest’