Ben Waggoner
Bio
When I was a kid, our television broke. My dad replaced it by reading good books aloud. He cultivated my appetite for stories of adventure and intrigue, of life and love. I now write stories I think he would enjoy, if he were here.
Stories (31/0)
Homestead Horror
Moaning and shivering, I slowly realized the uncomfortable lump under my ribs was the nightgown I hadn't put on before collapsing across my bed. I rolled over and grimaced toward the unseen air conditioning vent that blew too hard on my freshly shaved head. I realized that, in addition to being bald, I was covered in a sheen of sweat. No wonder, given the dream I had just awakened from. Scenes from the dream flashed through my mind, and I shivered again.
By Ben Waggoner2 years ago in Fiction
The Bradford Creek Exchange
Author's note: The Bradford Creek Exchange is set on the colonization spacecraft The Giant Leap, introduced in Space Diner Proposal and referenced in Alien Honeymoon, Big Earth Journals, and Space Maestro. You are invited to acquaint yourself with the craft and some of the characters by reading those stories here on Vocal:
By Ben Waggoner3 years ago in Futurism
- Top Story - August 2021
Space Maestro Top Story - August 2021
Author's note: Space Maestro takes place on the colonization spacecraft The Giant Leap, introduced in Space Diner Proposal and referenced in Alien Honeymoon and Big Earth Journals. You are invited to acquaint yourself with the craft and some of the characters by reading those stories here on Vocal:
By Ben Waggoner3 years ago in Futurism
Affirmation
Ben halted halfway down the nursing home's white, featureless hallway. He crinkled his nose slightly, resisting the urge to hold his lightweight satchel in front of his face. The pervasive smell of bleach couldn't disguise the aroma from the adult diapers in the nearby service cart. Instead, he opened his satchel's clasp and riffled the pages inside. The door to room 127 stood ajar, but he tapped before pushing it farther open.
By Ben Waggoner3 years ago in Families
Candace Clicks with Aaron
For a time, I forgot what it was like to be out in God's creation, to simply be still and commune with nature. Somewhere along the line, I had grown up and become responsible, career-minded. I chose the hectic, stress-filled life of a manufacturing firm's IT manager who worked fifty to sixty hours a week, often tacking on eight to ten hours of evening or weekend classes to prepare for the next technology upgrade. I garnered much of my self-worth from achieving my work & education goals and from my ability to enable my coworkers to do their jobs on a reliable, secure network. I still took my camera with me on sporadic trips to the zoo, where I occasionally snapped a decent picture of a captive animal before hurrying to the next exhibit. But what I referred to as "my life" consisted predominantly of staring at dual screens and listening to the hum of computer servers' and routers' cooling fans.
By Ben Waggoner3 years ago in Psyche
- Top Story - June 2021
Candace Clicks with TwinsTop Story - June 2021
I have wished, at times, that I had been born twins. That way, the part of me that appreciates the conveniences of city living could reside in comfort, while the part of me that strongly prefers rural life could enjoy communing with nature. However, as twins, I would be two individuals, not one. Living apart from my hypothetical twin would separate me from my best friend. Neither of us would derive pleasure from the other's experiences in the other place. After pondering this, I concluded that having a twin wouldn't solve my conundrum of wanting to be in two places at the same time.
By Ben Waggoner3 years ago in Wander
A Time for Courage
Beneath the forest of towering masts, busy stevedores' calls echoed along the wharf as the bells of Saint Brigid's rang the six o'clock hour. Pipe smoke swirled around a pair of captains who stood between the entrances of two pubs, where they monitored their ships and glared away any sailors who considered ducking in for a last draught before their voyage. Seagulls bickered over fish guts a kitchen girl threw into the street in front of the Peculiar Puffin. The more weathered captain pulled a pocket watch from his waistcoat and pretended to look at it, gesturing toward a nearby shadow.
By Ben Waggoner3 years ago in Families