Category: Fiction

(A Lighter That Doesn’t Work & Birds That Fall From The Sky: A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 19 is a work of fiction presented by DependableFlame.com)

A Frightening Scene

Elston James was more than confused and a little startled. He’d gone to bed the night before just as always, only to walk out this morning and find his lawn, driveway and the entire street littered with dead avian carcasses. It was literally a scene out of a 1950s horror movie!

He pulled a joint out of the black plastic tube in his front pant’s pocket and placed it dead center in his lips while sliding the Vintage Look Zippo out of Continue reading “A Lighter That Doesn’t Work & Birds That Fall From The Sky: A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story”

(Peaking Through The Weeds: A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 18 is a work of fiction presented by DependableFlame.com)

Setting Out

Elston was glad that Shawn had been able to join him in the woods of southeastern Oklahoma this fall for what a mutual friend had dubbed his yearly killing spree. The killing was kind of sporadic as he looked back through time and considered the genesis of this most primitive of activities but the number of deer in the woods had exploded in recent yrs so today was different.

The two men had each grown up hunting and fishing and been heavily Continue reading “Peaking Through The Weeds: A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story”

(Sobering Diagnosis: A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 17 is a work of fiction presented by DependableFlame.com)

Revelation Day

Elston’s head was spinning with confusion and fear. He wasn’t in his right mind at the moment which didn’t make absorbing this news any easier but it certainly may have made the catastrophic nature of his father’s diagnosis seem even more dire than it really was, if that was even possible because these tragic circumstances were overwhelming and infuriating.

He was overcome with sadness for his dad but there was another component to his diagnosis that hung over Elston and his progeny as heavy as his concern for the father who had poured so much into Continue reading “Sobering Diagnosis: A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story”

(A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 16: Placing Your Bid & The Thrill Of A Score! is a work of fiction presented by DependableFlame.com)

Discerning A Deal

Elston James crashed, exhausted on the worn, slick leather couch as he grabbed the Ipad Pro off the charger and propped it up onto his lap. He absentmindedly opened the Ebay app and typed in the search query he entered so often. There was no way he’d ever be

able to cover all the results this search contained but that wouldn’t stop him from trying as it offered the least likely chance of him missing any single listing he wished to see.

Some vintage lighter enthusiasts liked to rely on keywords or clever Continue reading “A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 16: Placing Your Bid & The Thrill Of A Score!”

(A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 15: Fires Of A Home is a work of fiction presented by DependableFlame.com)

Another Chance(Ordained) Meeting

Elston had recognized the lighter the second he’d caught a glimpse of it in the man’s hand as he offered Elston the flame. When he carried plastic disposable butane lighters, they used to disappear on him all the time but that problem had not plagued him so much since he’d begun carrying vintage refillable petrol lighters. In fact, he couldn’t recall losing a single lighter in all that time.

Of course, losing a lighter is one thing and having it stolen away from you on purpose was quite another. A cheap, plastic lighter could seem part of the Continue reading “A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 15: Fires Of A Home”

(A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 14: A Spark Of Kindness is a work of fiction presented by DependableFlame.com)

Coffee Anyone?

It was a cool, calm morning as Elston made his way to the coffee shop down the street under blue skies that yielded no space for clouds. He had the day off and planned to use it to take in the fresh air around him and hopefully

perform a kindness or two toward some folks who had gone out of their way to do the same for him, even if it had taken him a while to notice.

He could see the long line at the register through the glass windows that ran Continue reading “A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 14: A Spark Of Kindness”

(A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 13: I Spy With My Zippo Eye is a work of fiction presented by DependableFlame.com)

Creating A Buzz…

Elston James had many Zippo lighters among the dozens of old fire making gadgets that he’d accumulated over the last several years. He hadn’t begun as a collector and he considered his collection now still to be a relatively

modest example of the models and mechanisms, brands and themes that a collector could reasonably assemble.

Elston had never been an all-out, price is no object sort of buyer though as Continue reading “A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 13: I Spy With My Zippo Eye”

(A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 12: Retracing Youthful Steps is a work of fiction presented by DependableFlame.com)

Catching Glimpses

Elston hadn’t seen water in that pond since he was a teenager. He remembered sitting out here on the banks with his Dad, Grandpa and brother, fishing poles in hand and adventure in their hearts.

The pond was completely dry now, not a single cattle footprint depression in sight, just dried up weeds protruding from the gray clay surface but in the recesses of his mind he could still see the crystal vivid images of yesteryear. Continue reading “A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 12: Retracing Youthful Steps”

(A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 11: Wrecking Life To Save it is a work of fiction presented by DependableFlame.com)

Crashing

Elston James was far from anything he’d have ever considered comfortable, in fact he was agitated. It was after midnight and the hard, slick floor was extremely cold on his bare feet as he sat watching the movie that was

playing on the big television set in the common area where all of the patients spent most of their time.

He was never going to hear the end of this one. He couldn’t remember all of Continue reading “A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 11: Wrecking Life To Save It”

(A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 10: Wetting A Line is a work of fiction presented by DependableFlame.com)

Ancestors

This had always been one of Elston’s favorite places in the entire world. He hadn’t been here in years and there were good reasons for that but he missed it nonetheless. This was the place of his ancestors and he could see,

feel and hear them in the crevice of every rock and waving of the tree limbs as he watched the sun rise and eventually set in splintered arrays of light.

He spent summer mornings here with his father and uncle exploring coves Continue reading “A Vintage Petrol Lighter Story Volume 10: Wetting A Line”