{"id":239,"date":"2024-04-07T06:15:43","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T05:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winroberts.com\/?page_id=239"},"modified":"2026-04-14T17:31:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T16:31:45","slug":"books","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/winroberts.com\/?page_id=239","title":{"rendered":"SHORT STORIES"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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SHORT STORIES<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t
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Enjoy FREE SHORT STORIES BY Winston Roberts<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The Art Collector<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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He wandered the rooms of the gallery.\u00a0 There being no sign of his friend, he decided to start his perusal of the artwork that adorned each wall.\u00a0 He was no connoisseur of art in general.\u00a0 He liked what he liked, but the nuisance of the various styles of art escaped him.\u00a0 The were some pieces here that he likened to something his seven-year-old niece could produce.\u00a0 Then something caught his eye.<\/p>

He took another sip of his Chardonnay.\u00a0 They had provided the free booze in the hope of loosening the inhibitions to spend money.\u00a0 The wine was of an inferior quality.\u00a0 It did contain the necessary ethyl alcohol relaxant, however, so he would put up with the taste.\u00a0 But there it was.\u00a0 It was an abstract piece.\u00a0 He guessed they would call it modern art, but it held a simple quality to it that resonated with him.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t describe the feeling, but the artwork somehow beckoned him.\u00a0 It wanted him to come closer…<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Made In Our Image<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The cooler was on the fritz.\u00a0 Carl would have to call the repair service, again.\u00a0 Filling a cart with the milk cartons of the refrigeration cabinet, he wheeled them over to the unit with the sodas that still had cooling capability.\u00a0 Wiping his forehead with his shirt sleeve, the tired proprietor of the \u2018Stop and Charge\u2019 pulled a can of soda from the \u2018frig and headed outside of the convenience store.\u00a0<\/p>

Carl had become the proud owner of this store on highway 38 west of Centerville ten years earlier.\u00a0 In that time, he had seen many changes in his world but none more significant than the introduction of AI.\u00a0 Thankfully to Carl, the fingers of that computer construction had yet to impact his business.\u00a0 Yet…<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Chivalry's Champion<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>

WHOOSH!<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The dragon had returned to the realm.\u00a0 It moved with all speed careening this way and that to avoid collision.\u00a0 The beast was green with black striping.\u00a0 It boasted its name on its side in large chrome letters: \u2018Mustang\u2019.\u00a0 The monster was the terror of all who lived in the kingdom.\u00a0 The creature had to be stopped.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A young boy (by all measures) stood at the curb waving a long wooden stick at the offending creature.\u00a0 The boy wore elbow and knee pads, like those one might wear to a skateboarding event.\u00a0 His torso was wrapped in bubble wrap, and he sported a plastic pail on his head.\u00a0 The pail had two eye holes cut out for vision and a \u2018T\u2019 shaped opening for nose and mouth…<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Stress Clinic<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The hotel room was filled with flower bouquets.\u00a0 The air was perfumed by their pheromones.\u00a0 The trash cans by the window housed some discarded carnations.\u00a0 Carnations were not acceptable.\u00a0 Carnations were ugly.\u00a0 At least, that was the prevailing attitude of the room.\u00a0 If one were to send flowers, like all these adorning devotees had, one must have the good sense not to send carnations.<\/p>

\u201cI don\u2019t care how you do it, JUST DO IT!\u201d<\/p>

She screamed the order at the top of her powerful voice, shaking the panes in the windows of the hotel room at the same time.\u00a0 Martin Cornelius was used to the abuse; he viewed it as part of his job description.\u00a0 Still, it couldn\u2019t help but hurt at some level.\u00a0 No person starts out in life to be the whipping boy for anyone, much less a narcissistic ego-driven applause hog like his employer.\u00a0 Martin needed the job, though.\u00a0 He needed the money…<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"stress\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload Now<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"pianist\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload Now<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Little Pianist<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The rain outside only made her isolation more draconian.\u00a0 She had been placed under house arrest by her country\u2019s vicious dictator, Klaus Heinrich, after she had attempted to pass military secrets to the enemy.\u00a0 Her homeland had been at war for four years with neighboring Mueslichstan.\u00a0 She had watched as their leader had imprisoned and murdered thousands of her fellow citizens.\u00a0 She had not liked what she had seen.\u00a0<\/p>

Svetlana was wildly popular in her country. She was considered the queen of Lardanian pop music.\u00a0 It had been her fame, she thought, that had prevented her outright imprisonment or execution.\u00a0 Supreme leader Heinrich wanted her alive, of that she was clear…<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t

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Connect Online with the Author\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Winston.V.Roberts@gmail.com<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tInstagram<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tTwitter<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFacebook-f<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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SHORT STORIES Enjoy FREE SHORT STORIES BY Winston Roberts The Art Collector Made in Our Image Chivalry’s Champion Stress Clinic The Little Pianist Download Now The Art Collector He wandered the rooms of the gallery.\u00a0 There being no sign of his friend, he decided to start his perusal of the artwork that adorned each wall.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-239","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/winroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/winroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/winroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=239"}],"version-history":[{"count":225,"href":"https:\/\/winroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":865,"href":"https:\/\/winroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/239\/revisions\/865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/winroberts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}