The Pristine Muck
By Jamie F. Bell
Jesse, a cynical teenager, is halfway through a forced 'character-building' hike on the 'Old Mill Heritage Trail,' which he finds to be an over-manicured and ironically 'authentic' experience.
Satirical / Ironic Short Stories
8 Stories
The Resonant Ribcage of the Prairie
By Jamie Bell
The August sun beat down on the prairies, a relentless, flat hammer against the tin roof of Fred’s Oasis and Automotive. Heat shimmered off the cracked tarmac, distorting the horizon into a watery mirage that promised nothing but more heat. Flies, bloated and slow, orbited the greasy griddle smell escaping the diner’s back door, a scent as permanent as the rust on the fuel pumps. Across the dusty lot, the hulking skeletal remains of a billboard, advertising a defunct brand of tractor oil, vibrated with an unfamiliar, profound frequency. It was a low thrum, deep enough to feel in the soles of one’s feet, yet subtle enough that only those truly attuned to the profound boredom of endless summer afternoons might notice.
The Glare of a Thousand Summers
By Jamie F. Bell
The air itself seemed to shimmer, a thick, visible current rising from the asphalt, distorting the horizon into a wavering mirage of nothingness. August, in the forgotten heart of Manitoba, tasted of hot exhaust, stale coffee, and a faint, lingering tang of distant prairie fire. Inside the greasy, echoing cavern of 'The Junction Stop & Go', a symphony of humming refrigerators and the clatter of a perpetually struggling ice machine provided the soundtrack to another impossibly long afternoon. Flies, fat and lethargic, orbited the fluorescent lights, occasionally dive-bombing a forgotten smear of ketchup on the laminate countertop. Every surface felt tacky, every breath carried the weight of impending, inevitable boredom, and the distant, almost subliminal thrum of semi-truck tyres on the Trans-Canada Highway was the only reminder that a world, any world, existed beyond this humid, self-contained universe.
A Confluence of Chromium and Complaint
By Jamie F. Bell
The air in Pipestone Creek's only twenty-four-hour establishment always held a certain blend: stale coffee, diesel fumes, and the faint, enduring scent of despair. This morning, however, an acrid, burning aroma had joined the usual symphony, emanating directly from the perpetually misbehaving industrial coffee machine that stood sentinel on the counter, its chrome casing streaked with years of forgotten splatters. Outside, the early autumn wind, sharp and unforgiving, rattled the single-pane windows, promising nothing but more grey days and long hauls.
Freeze of the Prairie Line
By Jamie F. Bell
The air, sharp and unyielding, bit at Steve's exposed knuckles. A grey smear of sky pressed down on the desolate expanse of the Manitoba prairie, where the only sign of life was the '24-Hour Bite Stop' — a solitary beacon of flickering neon and exhaust fumes. Inside, the diner trembled with the passing of another semi, its groan a familiar counterpoint to the impending, suffocating storm.
The Glazed Imponderable of Highway 16
By Jamie F. Bell
The Manitoba summer pressed down, thick and hazy, outside the Trucker's Respite. Inside, the air conditioning unit, a relic of indeterminate vintage, struggled against the heat, emitting a continuous, low growl that permeated every conversation. Fluorescent tubes hummed overhead, casting a pallid, unwavering light that bleached the colour from the faded plastic booths and the perpetually damp Formica tabletops. The scent of stale coffee, deep-fried remnants, and a faint, cloying sweetness hung in the air, a testament to countless meals consumed by weary travellers.
Currents and Cracks
By Jamie F. Bell
The wind off the Red River, still carrying the bite of winter's retreat, whipped at Jamie's parka. Mud, thick and clinging, gave way to patches of stubborn ice on the trail leading into The Forks. A lone goose honked somewhere near the half-thawed banks, its call a raw, almost desperate sound that cut through the city's dull hum. Spring in Winnipeg was a hesitant thing, a slow, grudging thaw, and the landscape felt as uncertain as the knot in Jamie's stomach.
The Haze
By Jamie F. Bell
The asphalt shimmered under the faint, sickly glow of a busted neon sign, exhaling the day's accumulated heat back into the already thick, humid air. It was a summer night that felt less like a season and more like a heavy, wet blanket draped over everything. A broken fire hydrant wept a thin stream down the gutter, carrying with it a faint, cloying scent of stale rubbish and something metallic, almost like old blood. Above, a single, tired cicada sawed away at the silence, its song a frayed thread in the oppressive stillness of the back alleys. Simon, leaning against a graffiti-scarred brick wall, felt the grit of it through his thin shirt, the fabric already sticking to his skin.