fiction

  • Gremlins in the ECUWritten by: Emmitt Owens*As narrated by: Waylon*    Waylon: “Well now, gather ’round folks, ’cause I got another tale from the boys down at Mad Mechanics that’ll make you question everything you know about electrical repair. This particular adventure happened on one of them dog days when the humidity was thicker than Read more

  • Mad Mechanics*Written By: Emmitt Owens**As narrated by: Waylon*    Waylon: “Well now, settle in folks, ’cause I got me a story that’ll curl your toes and make you question everything you know about fixin’ automobiles. This here tale’s about four of the most peculiar mechanics you ever did see, workin’ out of a garage that Read more

  • Mad Mechanics and Midnight Revelations    Saturday night at Chill n’Fill was buzzing with an unusual energy, the kind that comes when change is stirring in a small town. Behind me, tonight’s painting had appeared as René Magritte’s “The Treachery of Images” from 1929—that famous pipe with “This is not a pipe” written beneath it, Read more

  • Bob’s Great Hot Dog Roller Caper    I arrived for my Tuesday shift at Chill n’Fill to find Bob crouched behind the counter like a surgeon preparing for the operation of a lifetime, surrounded by what appeared to be the dismantled remains of our hot dog roller. Tools I’d never seen before were spread across Read more

  • Smoke Signals, Artistic Rebellion, and Hypocritical Hearts    Saturday night at Chill n’Fill had that restless energy of a weekend in full swing, where people emerged from their weekly routines ready to embrace whatever chaos the night might offer. Behind me, tonight’s painting had appeared as Jackson Pollock’s “Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist)”—all those wild, Read more

  • Another Night at Chill n’Fill: Love, Loss, and Labor    It was Friday night at Chill n’Fill, out here where the darkness stretched for miles in every direction and our mechanically-winking polar bear served as the only beacon of civilization for truckers, night shift workers, and the occasional lost soul who’d wandered too far from Read more

  • The Secret Life of Chill n’Fill: After Hours    It was 2:47 AM on a Tuesday, that dead hour when the highway fell silent and the fluorescent lights hummed their loneliest tune. Out here in rural Alabama, 12 miles from the nearest town and surrounded by nothing but pine trees and darkness, I’d just finished Read more

  • Dating Dilemmas, Critical Blogs, and Bear Conspiracies    Friday night at Chill n’Fill was shaping up to be one of those evenings where people seemed compelled to share their deepest existential crises with whoever happened to be working the register. Behind me, tonight’s painting had materialized as Caspar David Friedrich’s “Wanderer above the Sea of Read more

  • Another Night at Chill n’Fill: Dawgs, Skateboards, and Gas Buckets It was Friday night at Chill n’Fill, out here where the darkness stretched for miles in every direction and our mechanically-winking polar bear served as the only beacon of civilization for truckers, night shift workers, and the occasional lost soul who’d wandered too far from Read more

  • Another Night at Chill n’Fill: The Entrepreneur, The Wink Warriors, and The Mirror Mystic   It was Saturday night at Chill n’Fill, and I was three hours into my shift when Bob’s latest masterpiece caught my attention through the front windows. He’d transformed our one-eyed polar bear mascot into what he called “Business Bear” this Read more