Short Stories
The Poodle – A Short Story
The Poodle Annie finished reading her daily scripture and was contemplating its meaning when the phone rang. She decided, based on her morning study, that she was not going to answer the phone. The phone call was from the National Academy of Poodle Excellence and they...
A Woman Making Her Way
A Woman Making Her Way - An Illustrated Short Story Deborah was at a spring party in someone's backyard. She told the man who was too interested in her this analogy. She saw herself as being on a paddleboard, making her way through the perils of life. She had to row,...
The Letter To Her Father – an illustrated short story
The Letter To Her Father She was writing the letter to her father but had a hard time saying what she wanted so she had started it 7 times. By that time she was copying bits and pieces of the earlier attempts into the letter in the hope it would finally come together....
The Decision – An Illustrated Short Story
She couldn't decide. She wanted to go to the Forum where she could show off her new hairdo and earrings and watch wrestling and talk and eat and flirt and listen to people say profound things and maybe get a mani/pedi. She would see her friends and have fun, laughing...
Happy Spiralita – An Illustrated Short Story
The Question Girl Spiralita was a happy girl, in spite of her questions. As a matter of fact, it was her questions that gave herself that happy identity. She was known throughout the land as the 'Question Girl'. Some made fun of her because of all the questions she...
The Revelation Dragon’s Younger Sister
In the Book of Revelation there is a terrible dragon. Here is how it is described:"Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crown on its heads." Rev. 12:3 Well, this isn't that dragon. This is...
An Alliterary Lady – An Illustrated Short Story
AN ALLITERARY LADY Susan seldom saw herself in this space. But between bouts of binge watching and bra burning she brought herself before the bastion of beauty. With wonder and wisdom she willingly wept at the way in which the wayward artist had winnowed down the...
The Six Sextuplet Sisters – An Illustrated Children’s Story
Once upon a time there were six sextuplet sisters. The were named Wendy, Sally, Debra, Fiona, Angela and Gail. They all looked exactly the same when they were born. But as they grew they started to look different, one from the other. How they looked ended up being...
The Good Friend – An Illustrated Short Story
The Good Friend The woman was so anxious to finally tell the other woman about what was going on in her life because the other woman was a good friend. They were able to go have coffee one fall morning and have time to talk. The woman spilled her guts to the other...
The Adventures of Medusa – Medusa Studies for an Exam
Medusa Studies for an Exam - The Adventures of Medusa Medusa needed to read her Greek Mythology book for her Ancient Religion class so she went to a local coffee house to study. She was minding her own business, drinking her cappuccino and eating her gluten-free...
The Woman Who Thought in Circles – An Illustrated Short Story
The Woman Who Thought in Circles She went around and around about wearing circles. She didn't want to be too matchy matchy. Then again she did because her mom liked her more when she was. But she liked her mom less when her mom liked her more which was very confusing...
The Short Order Cook – An Illustrated Short Story
The Short Order Cook He stood exceedingly still. Not for a moment or a minute, but for many minutes at a time. This happened at least 3 times while I was eating at the counter. He looked in the fridge at one point. He waved goodbye to a customer, not saying anything....
The Woman with Only Two Thoughts – An Illustrated Short Story
The Woman with Only Two Thoughts - An Illustrated Short Story The Large and The Small The woman wasn't able to think anything but these two thoughts. Everything was either too large or too small. Things were never just right. Well, that isn't exactly true. Sometimes...
Time in the Museum – An Illustrated Short Story
Chapter One He lagged behind his wife because he was reading the catalog raisonne of the artist. He was trying to figure out how much time it took for her to paint the painting of the crying violinist. He didn't notice what time it was but his wife did because she was...
The Sculpture of Love – An Illustrated Short Story
Chapter One The woman saw herself as flawed, always. She didn't like how selfish she was, how greedy. She didn't like her judgmental attitude towards so many people and things. She felt she wasn't a very good wife or mother. She knew she was not as helpful as she...
How She Turned Into Herself – A Short Story
How She Turned Into Herself She turned toward the radio tower, listening. She turned into someone else when she did. For a while she was happy being this new person. Then, when she didn't recognize herself any longer she realized she wasn't happy after all. She...
The Woman Moving Forward – A Short Short Story
"The woman moving forward while the baggy pants guy waits for his boarding pass while I sit on the floor waiting for the flight to California and wait for Linda and Caitlin to return from getting food during fall break in Tulsa in October of 2004." An illustrated...
Woman with Three Selves – A Short Short Story
Chapter One The woman thought about her selves and didn't feel anything but. The End Drawing and short story © 2017 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Divorce Woes – A Sketchbook Drawing
A woman with a hairdo too old for her talking to her friend about packing her bags three times before he came home and how he never knew while they drank coffee and talked too loud so I could hear their divorce woes on a humid night in Tulsa. I drew this a Starbucks...
The Emotional Landscape – A Short Story
The Dead but Alive Woman She woke up every morning only seeing what was behind her. She sometimes would try to turn her head but could not. It was as if she was made of stone. So, she looked back. She remembered the many signs telling her not to go in that direction...
Numbers at Starbucks – An Illustrated Short Story
Chapter One It was two in the afternoon when I noticed the two. The two were self-involved and didn't see the other one. I notice that one had two distinct colors, her hair and her dress. I noticed the other one had two things strange about him, he was wearing...
But & And – A Short Short Story
But and And She was stuck in the middle of somewhere but wasn't sure where that was and that made her feel lost and scared but she did like her shirt and how her necklace matched her hair but she was self-conscious about her freckles because it was so weird that she...
The Woman at the Motel – A Short Short Story
The Woman at the Motel A woman named Nancy at the Del Mar Motel who has 3 kids and Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses & always reads the sports section because her dad was a high school football coach who talked about her son with ADHD & Tourette Syndrome whom...
The Blue Woman and the Red Bird – a Friendship Story
The Blue Woman and the Red Bird One day the blue woman was walking to the edge of the volcano so she could jump in and kill herself. On the way she came across a red bird standing on a dead branch near the trail she was on. The red bird started talking to the blue...