David Rodeback’s Fiction

David Rodeback

Hello and welcome! There’s a lot more fiction below, but here’s …

The Latest (Huzzah!)

(It’s in one or more of the categories below too.)

pumpkin bread and orange slices - Christmasing with Preet

Christmasing with Preet (a Christmas short story)

There were 104 rooms in Verdant Meadows, the largest assisted living facility in town. So Alli made 104 identical holiday decorations to pin on the residents’ doors.

0 comments

Some Chatter

This page exists to offer you new things to read — short stories, even shorter stories (flash fiction), and maybe some excerpts of longer works eventually. Discussion which doesn’t directly advance that goal is collapsed under these buttons, so it’s not in your way unless you want it to be:

What I Write (What You'll Find Here)
I write mostly contemporary, realistic, slice-of-life fiction — short stories, very short stories (flash fiction), and some longer forms, including a novel currently in the hands of beta readers. Some of my short fiction fits in the young adult (YA) and middle grade (MG) categories.

I read in many genres. I’m especially fond of political, legal, and military thrillers — but I’m content to let others write them, along with the adventures of wizards, princesses, and vampires; the conflicts of nations and worlds; and the deification or enslavement of science.

My writing sometimes wanders in the fringes of dystopia. When it doesn’t, conflicting secular or religious ideologies may still be involved. But even when they are, I tend to write about people living life on an ordinary scale, not a geopolitical or galactic scale. Often they are people with religious faith.

There is magic in ordinary life, and great beauty if we choose to see it.

One enthusiastic and generous early reader of my fiction wrote,

A lot of writers invent a fake world, maybe because the real world isn’t worthy of them. This writer focuses on the real world and allows the reader to lose herself in the beauty and breathtaking quality of real life. Because real life is beautiful, even if it has rough edges.

I’ll be trying to live up to that for the foreseeable future.

Writing is Fun, My Critique Group, Works in Progress, Etc.
When I grow up (and retire), I want to do two things: write novels and teach writing again. Meanwhile, I write what I can, when I can, and I’m having fun.

Over the past few years most of my short stories have been critiqued by a local group, Good AF Writers, my city’s chapter of the League of Utah Writers. (As far as I’m concerned, the AF is for American Fork.) With their help in most cases, several of my stories have won awards in one contest or another, and (so far) two have have found its way into print, both paper and electronic. I’ve written about the group here and here, and more recently here.

Some tales here are works in progress; they may yet be revised a little or a lot. Others are as finished as they’re likely to get. Perhaps you can tell the difference — most days, I can — but I haven’t labeled them here.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment, share, come back for more, etc. There are more stories to come.


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Stories about Youth

In the industry’s terms, YA (young adult) and MG (middle grade) fiction — two categories which many adults enjoy.

pumpkin bread and orange slices - Christmasing with Preet

Christmasing with Preet (a Christmas short story)

There were 104 rooms in Verdant Meadows, the largest assisted living facility in town. So Alli made 104 identical holiday decorations to pin on the residents’ doors.

0 comments
school bus - falling off my shoes

Falling Off My Shoes (a very short story)

A ninth-grade girl gets in trouble in history class, gets angry at the teacher’s pet, and misses the school bus home. A very short story (flash fiction).

0 comments
girl - if only i

If Only I (a short story)

A junior high boy writes poems no one ever sees about a girl he admires, but struggles even to talk to her. His older brother doesn’t help. Fortunately, she’s in the school band. A short story. Includes vomiting.

0 comments
art exhibit - invisible

Invisible (a short story)

A seventh grade boy, a precocious artist, draws portraits of his family. Then he draws his sister’s best friend, when she doesn’t know he’s doing it, and that’s trouble. A short story.

0 comments
schoolgirl - Marie

Marie (a very short story)

For a seventh grade boy, the last few days of the school year don’t turn out as he had hoped. A very short story (flash fiction).

0 comments
Rhonda VII - holding hands

Rhonda VII (a short story)

The high school’s star quarterback refuses to wear a pink tux to the Homecoming Dance, and there are consequences. A short story.

0 comments
campfire - wildfire

Wildfire (a short story)

Returning to the path was a relief. I belonged there, with my runner’s build and shoes to match. She belonged off the path, not so much with the grass and trees as with the soil underneath and the blazing sunlight. Her full figure belonged to nature, and her hair and skirt were fire. I shook off the impression and jogged away.

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Stories about Adults

See also “Stories about Seniors” below.

girl at crosswalk - beyond ugly

Beyond Ugly (a short story)

I told my heart to stop pounding and my head to stop remembering, and congratulated myself on my exemplary adult behavior. Because I wanted to run, and I didn’t. I wanted to shriek, and I didn’t. I wanted to weep, and I didn’t. I wanted to go vomit somewhere, and I didn’t.

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Clipped - barber shop

Clipped (a very short dystopian story)

In the dystopian but still familiar near future, a divorced man’s hopes die in a barber shop. A very short story (flash fiction).

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Her Voice - short story - burned forest

Her Voice (a short story)

A man gets up and goes to work in a burned-out forest which resembles what has become of his life.

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picnic basket - I Already Did

I Already Did (a short story)

An old stone ruin is the setting for a simple picnic, dramatic news, and a fateful choice.

0 comments
treadmills - chuck steak short story

I Am Chuck Steak (a short story)

“It’s a meat market, Amber.” My roommate’s face in the mirror looks a little hurt, because I’m complaining about church….

0 comments
plant - you died

I Dreamed You Died Thursday Night (a very short story)

A man’s dream causes him to wonder if certain things are as they appear. Gently dystopian. A very short story (flash fiction).

0 comments
i-made-muffins

I Made Muffins (a short story)

An awkward early-morning scene on a man’s front porch causes a woman to reflect on what she really wants for her life. A short story.

0 comments
candles - Christmas tree - keep my secrets

Keep My Secrets? (a short story at Christmas)

Two old friends get together when they’re home from college for the holidays. She loves to sing Christmas music. He loves to listen. Each has a secret. A short story.

0 comments
Irish flag and razor wire

Not Here (a short story)

I had never been here before this hour, but I could feel that here was my home. This place had made war on itself for decades, then simply stopped and made peace. … My next song began where the first left off. A short story.

0 comments
open windows

Open Windows (a very short story)

A writer takes her short story about a marriage breaking up to her critique group. They debate what it’s about, and she tries to explain. A very short story (flash fiction).

0 comments
orange juice

Orange Juice (a short story)

A woman who waits tables in a diner disapproves of one of her regulars, who resembles her grandpa. Her mom disapproves of waiting tables. A short story.

0 comments
sun behind cloud - There Might Be Another Way

There Might Be Another Way (a short story)

After a sleepless night and a distracted morning at church, an impromptu lunch date may be Pia’s last chance to tell Doug how she feels.

0 comments

Stories about Seniors

pumpkin bread and orange slices - Christmasing with Preet

Christmasing with Preet (a Christmas short story)

There were 104 rooms in Verdant Meadows, the largest assisted living facility in town. So Alli made 104 identical holiday decorations to pin on the residents’ doors.

0 comments
nine-roses-and-three

Nine Roses and Three (a short story)

A widower writes his deceased wife a letter for Valentine’s Day. A short story.

0 comments
orange juice

Orange Juice (a short story)

A woman who waits tables in a diner disapproves of one of her regulars, who resembles her grandpa. Her mom disapproves of waiting tables. A short story.

0 comments
chicken

The Old Man and the Chicken (a short story)

An old, lonely man shares Christmas Eve and Christmas with the only chicken left in his coop. A short story.

0 comments

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Stories with Romance in Them

Not all are romance stories, strictly speaking, but there’s at least a romantic plot line. Junior high (middle school), high school, adults, senior citizens … As to heat, someone may or may not get kissed (not so much in junior high), but nothing beyond that is portrayed. Other activities are sometimes mentioned, but not in vulgar language. If a breakup or other loss is all there is, the story is not included here, but a few of these feature people staying together.

school bus - falling off my shoes

Falling Off My Shoes (a very short story)

A ninth-grade girl gets in trouble in history class, gets angry at the teacher’s pet, and misses the school bus home. A very short story (flash fiction).

0 comments
picnic basket - I Already Did

I Already Did (a short story)

An old stone ruin is the setting for a simple picnic, dramatic news, and a fateful choice.

0 comments
treadmills - chuck steak short story

I Am Chuck Steak (a short story)

“It’s a meat market, Amber.” My roommate’s face in the mirror looks a little hurt, because I’m complaining about church….

0 comments
i-made-muffins

I Made Muffins (a short story)

An awkward early-morning scene on a man’s front porch causes a woman to reflect on what she really wants for her life. A short story.

0 comments
girl - if only i

If Only I (a short story)

A junior high boy writes poems no one ever sees about a girl he admires, but struggles even to talk to her. His older brother doesn’t help. Fortunately, she’s in the school band. A short story. Includes vomiting.

0 comments
art exhibit - invisible

Invisible (a short story)

A seventh grade boy, a precocious artist, draws portraits of his family. Then he draws his sister’s best friend, when she doesn’t know he’s doing it, and that’s trouble. A short story.

0 comments
nine-roses-and-three

Nine Roses and Three (a short story)

A widower writes his deceased wife a letter for Valentine’s Day. A short story.

0 comments
Irish flag and razor wire

Not Here (a short story)

I had never been here before this hour, but I could feel that here was my home. This place had made war on itself for decades, then simply stopped and made peace. … My next song began where the first left off. A short story.

0 comments
Rhonda VII - holding hands

Rhonda VII (a short story)

The high school’s star quarterback refuses to wear a pink tux to the Homecoming Dance, and there are consequences. A short story.

0 comments
sun behind cloud - There Might Be Another Way

There Might Be Another Way (a short story)

After a sleepless night and a distracted morning at church, an impromptu lunch date may be Pia’s last chance to tell Doug how she feels.

0 comments

Stories about Christmas

Or at least these have Christmas in them …

David Rodeback, Poor As I Am

“Poor As I Am” (A Modern Tale of Christmas Eves)

I’ve removed the earlier version of Poor As I Am, because that novella is now in print (literally and electronically)…

0 comments
pumpkin bread and orange slices - Christmasing with Preet

Christmasing with Preet (a Christmas short story)

There were 104 rooms in Verdant Meadows, the largest assisted living facility in town. So Alli made 104 identical holiday decorations to pin on the residents’ doors.

0 comments
i-made-muffins

I Made Muffins (a short story)

An awkward early-morning scene on a man’s front porch causes a woman to reflect on what she really wants for her life. A short story.

0 comments
art exhibit - invisible

Invisible (a short story)

A seventh grade boy, a precocious artist, draws portraits of his family. Then he draws his sister’s best friend, when she doesn’t know he’s doing it, and that’s trouble. A short story.

0 comments
candles - Christmas tree - keep my secrets

Keep My Secrets? (a short story at Christmas)

Two old friends get together when they’re home from college for the holidays. She loves to sing Christmas music. He loves to listen. Each has a secret. A short story.

0 comments
orange juice

Orange Juice (a short story)

A woman who waits tables in a diner disapproves of one of her regulars, who resembles her grandpa. Her mom disapproves of waiting tables. A short story.

0 comments
chicken

The Old Man and the Chicken (a short story)

An old, lonely man shares Christmas Eve and Christmas with the only chicken left in his coop. A short story.

0 comments

From the Author

David Rodeback

Thanks for reading!

Comments are always welcome, within the bounds of common civility and relevance. There’s a place for them below. Absolutely no marketing, please.

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