Jim Stitzel
Joined February 2010 and calls jimstitzel.com home.
130 stories, 4 challenges, 1131 comments, and 57 friends
I dabble a little in a lot of things — writing, webcomics, gaming, photography, web design, music, and more. I’m a full-time code-wrangler and a part-time farmer with 40 acres, a lot of animals, and far, far too much to do.
Stories
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Pinnacle
He stood, shirtless, before the sink and mirror in the public restroom. His hands rested, palms down, on the corners of the sink, fingers curled downward around the sides. Beads of sweat stood out on his brow, cheeks, and upper lip. His dark hair was p...
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Clean Underwear
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Duplicate
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Blood Rite
The albino stood on the platform and dragged the knife down his forearm. Blood ran in scarlet rivulets over his hand, his fingers. It dripped the sidereal pattern of his god onto the wooden planks around his feet. Before him the air shimmered as it str...
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NavComm
I peeled myself out of that reality and sat rubbing my temples for a moment. It took that long for me to realize that everyone was looking at me. “Well?” Harrigan demanded. I sighed. “It’s… complicated,” I replied. &...
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Clanks at Midnight
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Wooden Acupuncture
“Comfortable, Mr. Purtry?” Jake turned his head to look at the nurse. “I’m half-naked and strapped to a table.” He paused. “Are the straps really necessary? I thought acupuncture—” The nurse looked up fro...
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Skin Deep
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Symbology
I studied the symbols again. Their architecture was clearly alien, and yet their sense of familiarity was unmistakable. They meant… something to me, but I wasn’t sure yet what that was. Cartography was part of it, certainly, but there was m...
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Magic In Unexpected Places
Claire found the hat half under a bush, half out. It was the sort of hat one might wear while working in the garden — woven straw and wide-brimmed. Claire turned the hat in her hands. The top had been torn out, leaving ragged edges and a large ho...
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Broken Accord
The Arch known as Bar Gabriel stood in the shadowed room and spoke with muted vehemence. “This is unacceptable, Dur Goldath. Accord was broken long ago. How then can you aid its fall upon us once again?” The Kako grinned impishly, savoring ...
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Complete
Left: your leg. Right: mine. Completion.
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Entranced
Your eyes. Beautiful. Captivating. So delicious. -————
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Meat-Eater
In hindsight, Trista realized she probably shouldn’t have fallen asleep under that tree. - Pus dripped into Trista’s eyes from the multiple infected sores on her scalp. She wanted to wipe it away, but the tree held her fast, pinning her arm...
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Investigation, Communication
We floated in a sea of light. It surrounded us, suffused us through and through. There was a strange sense of intelligence about the light as it, well, the only way to describe it is that felt like it was investigating us. It wasn’t invasive; it ...
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The Unknown
We drifted. When your entire frame of reference has been removed, there’s little else you can do. There were no stars, no constellations, no dust clouds, nothing visible anywhere that could give us an idea of where we were. It was dark in every d...
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Attacked
He helped her up from the floor. She was bruised, bloody, and shaken. Whatever had happened here, it had been violent and traumatic. The room was a study in chaos. “You alright?” he asked. No response. Her gaze was distant, focused on somet...
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Route to Nowhere
A request. After the rather hostile takeover of our shipboard systems and my own mind, a request from the overseer for instructions seemed almost laughable. I swiveled my chair and let my fingers do what came most naturally to them. “What’s...
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Next Moves
The lights on the command deck were off, with just our stations providing illumination. It was all we had power for. Vec broke the silence. “So. What now?” Valid question. Once the code had stopped generating, it had begun a cascading compr...
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Theories
Harrigan had me checked over again. Visual inspection this time, given the incident with the nanosurgeon. Whatever else it had done, the nanosurgeon had fully optimized the implants. It wasn’t a weld; it was better. They released me with a provis...
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Upgraded
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Aftermath
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Soul Seed
The seed nestles itself deep into the new body’s brain. It discharges a series of low-yield electrical shocks, each of which stimulates a flow of select neurotransmitters, creating a chemical bath for the seed to do its work. Immersed in the flui...
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Flight
Lightning flashed, and the boys ran, pumping their legs as hard as they could. “Did you see that?” the first cried. “No, and neither did you! Keep running!” “I can’t,” came the reply. “I’ve got to s...
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Market of the Macabre
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Cursed
The Callous Demon peered down at Leohand from its perch atop the door. Leohand glared at the leathery creature. “Ah, I see you’ve met Domedra,” Tarvin said, coming back into the room. “She’s harmless enough, but few of my ...
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Creeping Up the Back Stairs
The party upstairs was in full swing, the bump-bump-bump of the music audible even from outside. In the darkness on the back stairs, a shadow moved. The form had almost no shape; it moved like liquid. It climbed each step with meticulous care, coalesci...
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Ritual
His hood is pulled up, casting his face in shadow. The bus rolls to a stop in front of him, and he steps on board. He ignores the driver’s terse greeting. It’s not like he means it. Years of driving kids to school has turned this ritual int...
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Never Leave Again
The kid pushed out through the swinging doors, stepping onto the saloon’s stoop. From here he could see the dirt street (such as it was) and two or three buildings, but beyond that — nothing. The space beyond the ‘town’ was void...
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They Left the Eyes In