A. L. Kaplan

Tag: fire

  • BE WHO YOU ARE

    I’ve always said you should be who you are. Now you can tell the world.

    Give yourself a gift.

    BE Who You Are Flames Shown on an Essential T-shirt

    Visit ALKaplanAuthor.Redbubble.com to see more designs and products.

    STAR TOUCHED

    STAR TOUCHED

    Sometimes it’s hard to be who you are meant to be.

    Especially when your powers can get you killed.

    Eighteen-year-old Tatiana is running from her past and her star-touched powers eight years after a meteor devastates earth’s population.

    Her power to heal may be overshadowed by more destructive abilities. Fleeing the persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. But this civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble.

    Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends…and herself.

    #Bewhoyouare

  • Star Touched Cover Reveal

    Ah. The sweet smell of a new book. Just got my galley proof for Star Touched. I think the cover is awesome. What do you think?

    Startouched front cover2

    Fall 2017

    The world will never be the same.

  • Fire Hot Rescue

    lime-flame

    “Drop that hose here, Ryan. Hook it up fast. I want to wash off the road and get out of this uniform.”

    “I hear you. Having to wear the oxygen tanks as well isn’t fair. How did we get stuck with solo clean-up duty?”

    “You know darn well why. How did you ever talk me into a lime Jell-O balloon toss?”

    “Everyone at the street festival had a blast, especially with the Jell-O balloons. Food scraps are everywhere. This is more than just our mess. The rest of the squad should be here.”

    “Well, maybe if you hadn’t smashed a balloon on the captain’s daughter they would be.”

    “She sure looked hot in that white dress, soaked and clinging to her skin.”

    “You mean green and sticky. I’d rather face a five alarm fire than the flames in the Captains eyes. Jenny may never speak to you again.”

    “I don’t know, James. There she is now.”

    “Hi, boys. Either of you need a drink? Got some fresh lime-aid.”

    “Cute, Jenny. I’d love some. Sorry about your dress. Hope there’s no hard feelings.”

    “Of course not, Ryan. You were just havin’ fun. Want some, James?”

    “No thanks, Jenny. Hey, Ryan, you okay? Your face is turning bright red and your eyes are watering.”

    “Oh dear. So sorry, Ryan. I must have gotten some ghost pepper in that lime-aid you just guzzled. Hope there’s no hard feelings.”

    “Wow, that’s hot stuff, Ryan. Good thing we have a fire hose.”

     

     

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  • THE PROPOSAL

    Sweat dripped down John’s back, tickling like a stream of little spiders. He hated being hot, but the corporate sauna was the only place where he could work undisturbed. Stripping down to a towel had made it somewhat bearable. He squeezed the black satin pouch that hung from his neck and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. The proposal deadline was in a few hours. Holiday house guests, endless phone calls, and questioning coworkers had kept interrupting him, even in the bathroom. This hot, pit of cedar hell was his only refuge. His fingers tapped furiously on the keys of his iPad. He was almost done. Nothing could stop him now.

    A fire alarm screeched. John groaned in frustration. “This isn’t fair.”

    He stumbled to the door and yanked it open, dizzy from the prolonged heat. Cold air hit him like an arctic blast. Everything looked hazy, smoky. Panic pressed in on him. He raced to the exit, bare feet slapping on the tile floor. Relief filled John as he burst out of the building and hurried to his boss, Morgan and her administrative assistant, Tyron.

    “Sorry…Morgan,” he said, clutching the iPad with its precious proposal and gasping for air. “Proposal’s…not quite…done….Need another…five minutes.”

    Morgan’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times, then she cleared her throat. Her eyes kept lowering, then darting away, finally settling on something behind his left shoulder. “Um…it’s okay, John. The fire and all….”

    “Really,” said Tyron with an enormous grin. “When you said you had an early holiday gift for me I wasn’t expecting this, but I love it.”

    Confused, John stared at his coworkers, then at the crowd around them. Fingers and phones pointed in his direction. It wasn’t until his heart stopped pounding in his ears that he heard the sniggering and the rapid clicking of cameras. A cold December breeze chased away the last of the sauna’s heat induced haze. Somewhere during his dash to safety, his towel had vanished. Warmth flooded John’s face. He lowered the iPad, then shrugged and handed it to Morgan. Sinking to one knee, he opened the pouch around his neck and pulled out a diamond ring.

    “Tyron, will you marry me?”

    Tears glistened in Taylor’s eyes. “Of course I will, you crazy fool.”

    Camera’s continued to snap amidst cheers and applause as Tyron wrapped his jacket around John and pulled him into passionate kiss. This was one proposal that would make history.

  • THE FOG OF MEMORY

    I stare at the old barn through the thick mist. My heart pounds. That barn burned down thirty years ago. Police thought a dropped lighter and moonshine turned that tinder-trap into a lethal blaze. But that wasn’t the cause. I grasp the doorframe; listen to the echoes of the past.

    Popular kids like them didn’t ask girls like me to parties, but I was too desperate for companionship to see the warning signs. Besides, Brenton was cute. I sipped my soda while they swigged booze and studied how everyone stumbled through the barn. Drunk was ugly.

    I didn’t realize just how ugly until a few more sips into my drink. The walls started to spin. I sank to the ground, limbs heavy and numb. Brenton loomed over me, a strange grin on his face. Before I could get up two of his friends held me down and started to cut away my clothes. I screamed, told them to stop, let me go. They laughed. Nobody could hear me. No one was coming to my rescue. Brenton climbed on top of me.

    I don’t remember anything else after that. My clothes vanished. I woke up in my bed, neatly washed and wearing my fleece jammies. Police found three bodies in the charred remains of the barn, toasted from the inside out.

    There’s a good reason I stay away from people, hunt alone. Smoke rises from the doorframe. Flames shoot skyward, engulfing the structure again. I’m unharmed. I never am.

  • Conflagration

    Flames tore at the old wooden house, devouring each board and the memories hidden within. Ian stood a good hundred yards from the structure shivering even as heat from the blaze scorched his skin. Emotions swirled in his mind vacillating from terror to rejoicing. The old man told him not to play with matches, told him with the strap of his belt and the point of his boots. Ian knew those boots and belt too well. It didn’t’ take much to rile father, especially when he was drinking.

    Ian was free now. Free from fear and pain, free to live all the dreams he had barely wished for. But who would believe him? Even as the sirens drew nearer, he knew what everyone would think. ‘Poor boy, driven by desperation to kill his dad.’ But it wasn’t Ian that started this fire. His hands were clean. A smile twisted across Ian’s face as he looked at his hands, the ones father always said were deformed. He brushed away tears, wincing as he bumped his bruised cheek. Beside him his rescuer place a hand on his shoulder, three elongated fingers giving a gentle squeeze.

    “It’s time to go, little one.”

    “Will we ever return?”

    Grandpa frowned. “After what he did to you, to her? You deserve better.”

    “Mother loved this world. She even loved him once.”

    “Maybe someday, Ian. Once hearts have healed.”

    Shimmering light swirled around them. Ian’s skin prickled as the transport beam pulled them onto the waiting ship.

  • Last Call

    Mike stared at the image of Jackie, his friend’s granddaughter, standing down the hall of the burning building. Only the glass on his mask kept him from rubbing his eyes. The figure, unaffected by the thick smoke, waved him deeper into the inferno. Mike tapped the regulator on his tank. Was it defective, a bad mix? Thirty years with the department and he had never hallucinated. Mike ignored the commander’s order to evacuate. He couldn’t leave Jackie. Besides, his escape route was already blocked. Four great strides and a leap took him past the collapsed floor — into a cool untouched pocket. Mike’s jaw dropped. The wall of flames stopped three feet from the door. Jackie was gone.

    Fire roared at his back, snapping him into action. Mike kicked in the locked door. Experience sent him under the bed where he found a terrified eight-year-old boy wrapped in a wet towel. Now all they had to do was get out of the building. Mike’s heart pounded as flames crept closer. No windows, no way out. Jackie reappeared next to the bed pointing at a sliver of hope. He raced down the hidden stairs clutching the boy. The old servant’s access led them out as the building crumbled. Events churned through Mike’s head as he tried to catch his breath. There was no way he or the boy would have made it out of that building without Jackie’s help. It was time he gave his old friend a call.

  • Fire on the Mountain

    I look back and smile as smoke billows up from the distant hillside. A fire in the forest should be frightening, but this one sends a thrill of joy through me. I’m finally free of those bastards. They never even noticed me slip out, drunk as they were. There was only one thing they thought I was good for.

    They promised a job with steady pay, all meals included.  Times are tough. You take work when you can, even when it drags you to the middle of nowhere. The pay never materialized, neither did the food, unless you count stale bread and broth. We were only cheap labor for their little endeavor…and entertainment.

    Life on the streets taught me patience always pays off. I played along, even pretended to enjoy it, all the while sneaking supplies and scattering explosives around the camp. The others who came with me didn’t fare so well. Eugene died in a rock slide, Jimmy from too many fists. Carlene, well, she tried to say no. The list goes on.

    I didn’t ask the right questions when they hired me, but neither did they. Discounting me and not asking about what I knew was a mistake they’ll never repeat. Now my bags are filled with their treasures. Dad taught me well before he died. I’d be fine out here. Rubble and ash are all anyone will find of those men. Don’t ever mess with a rebel’s daughter. She’ll put you in your place.