For those of you who liked my recent story on Escape Pod (which will hit ebook format this month), I’ve got another tale from the pawnshop for you. Call it a fable about the value of a healthy sense of self. And for me, personally, this is a favourite. So, step into the pawnshop and pay no attention to the cold. The bald cat and his pet man will give you what you need, even if it isn’t what you want.

Sunday Morning Giraffe: A Lombard Alchemist Tale

Aldo is a five-year-old who always gets his way. When he doesn’t, bad things happen. So when he wakes up his father at 3AM on Sunday and demands a giraffe–in spite of the fact that giraffes do not live in the high desert in the middle of winter–his father grudgingly takes him on a giraffe-hunting safari.

Unfortunately, his parents know nothing about the source of Aldo’s will power, and would be shocked to discover that his chief ally is a demon-posessed rat with an agenda of its own involving a toy giraffe from a creepy little pawnshop way out on the edge of nowhere.

Buy it now for the Kindle and for all other readers.