Short Stories
Complete Works & ChecklistComplete Works & Checklist Since 2001, Dennis Herrick has been writing prize-winning short stories and books -- which are for sale on amazon.com You can see all of his titles at amazon.com by searching on the amazon page for the author's name of Dennis Herrick. All short stories are 99 cents, and books are priced as listed. (When you have found the short story or book you want more information on, click on its cover image in the appropriate category of this website’s home page.) Read More |
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Shoot Me A StoryIn this short story, a reporter becomes a war correspondent to write about the heroics and sacrifices of American soldiers in combat. Read More |
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Newspaper Stories: Reporters and Editors collectionMore than 2,100 daily and weekly newspapers were closed from 2004 to 2021 in the United States. Tens of thousands of newspaper employees with a wide range of skills and with families depending on them have lost their jobs. This book is a tribute to the men and women who filled such vital roles in the nation's democracy. This collection of linked short stories and novel excerpts features reporters and editors working together in the same newsrooms. Read More |
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A Locked DoorA hapless newspaper reporter becomes a prime suspect when a friend dies in an “apparent suicide.” He knows he’s innocent of any wrongdoing, but the police are not convinced. He must restore his reputation and solve his friend’s death by himself and avoid being a suspect to police. Read More |
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The Faraón ApachesSpanish colonists in New Mexico in the 1600s and 1700s feared the Faraón Apaches, but they are mostly forgotten today by residents in the area between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Read More |
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From the StarsWhen an alien spaceship crashes on Earth, a NASA scientist tries to understand the strange creatures and technology of a greatly advanced space-faring race known as the Yompar. The aliens say they are only studying Earth and its Human inhabitants. But why? Read More |
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Above the WaterEven though climate warming caused the Atlantic Ocean level to rise several feet and flood New York City, people and businesses continued to occupy the skyscrapers. This story is told from the viewpoint of an 8-year-old boy whose guardian and companion is a robot. This story was inspired by an idea from Ellis Herrick. Read More |
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A Second Chance on Indian LandsFollowing the twin disasters of climate change and nuclear warfare, the United States is invaded in about 2200 on the east by the Russians and on the west by the Chinese. In the sweeping Great Plains in the middle, Native Americans are left with the dry American desert that neither the Chinese nor Russians want, at least for now. The tribes develop and defend the original Indian lands. Published in 2018. Read More |
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The Christmas ShopperA World War II veteran in his 90s goes out during a snowy night of Christmastime’s enchanted season to buy a present. Read More |
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Rustlers Along the Outlaw TrailThis short story is about a Texas cowboy in 1870 who helps a crippled New Mexico marshal catch a pair of rustlers and murderers. The events and characters of this short story, the pueblo of San Esteban, and the settlement of Gabriel are fictional. However, historical facts are accurate for 1870 in New Mexico, and the named Albuquerque residents were recorded in an 1870 census with their names, occupations, and ages. Many events outside the main story line were reported by an 1870 Albuquerque newspaper, The Republican Review. Read More |
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A Link in the ChainEmployees of a daily newspaper learn that their rich owner is planning to sell the paper to a huge newspaper chain conglomerate. How can they possibly raise enough money to buy the newspaper themselves and save their jobs? Read More |
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Sitting Bull Rising From the GraveA Sioux Indian woman living homeless in Albuquerque is inspired to change her life when she believes she sees the chief from the 1800s, Sitting Bull, and that he gives her advice. She starts her new life by writing a play about Sitting Bull. Read More |
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Shadows of a Lost TimeAn archaeologist on a team excavating a 400-year-old pueblo in 1934 New Mexico has visitors from the past who make him rethink his career. This is a ghost story if you want it to be, a love story if you want it to be, and a self-discovery story if you want that — all in the context of the jazz age soon after the end of the Indian Wars. Read More |
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Alien VisitorsHere’s one scenario on how the first encounter between humans and aliens of another planet could turn out. This story was inspired by an idea from Athan Herrick. This story includes a list of more than 350 titles about first-contact, many involving alien invasion of Earth. Read More |
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To Steal What Is SacredAn ancient katsina mask sacred to the Pueblo Indians and valued at a million dollars or more is stolen from a museum and a guard is killed. Was it an inside job? Read More |
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The Indian Who Defied CoronadoNONFICTION — History remembers Coronado, who in 1540 invaded Pueblo country in what is now the United States. But few have ever heard of Xauían, who led the resistance against Coronado in America's first named Indian war. A shorter version of this article without endnotes was published in Native Peoples magazine in 2014. Read More |
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The Final FarewellIn this short story, a woman raised by her grandparents keeps a vigil by the hospital bed of her grandfather, remembering his kindness and love. Click on the title for a link to a free download of this short story. Read More |
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Woman Without a NameA woman agent for the National Security Agency arrives in Los Alamos, N.M., to investigate the death of another agent. His death looks like an accident, but she's convinced he was murdered by foreign spies who are trying to obtain secrets about the B61 nuclear bomb from Los Alamos National Laboratories. Read More |
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The Woman with a Rain PotA veteran who sacrificed a leg for his country in Iraq returns home and rejoins the county sheriff's department. Because of his artificial leg, he is no longer able to be a patrol officer and is appointed instead as a detective with the cold case unit. He is assigned the year-old case of an anthropology student who was murdered while illegally digging for Indian artifacts near New Mexico pueblos. Read More |
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The Bullet that Saved MeA Vietnam infantry veteran saved an enemy soldier's AK-47 bullet from the war. Whenever he holds it today, it takes him back more than half a century to 1969, when it was a dangerous time to be a young man in America. He remembers his war experiences, his buddies, and what it was like for all of them in the jungle warfare. Read More |
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The AncestorA Pueblo policeman is tormented by the discovery of an ancestor's skull in a housing development being built over an ancient pueblo site. Should he stand by and see the skull relocated to a museum's archive basement? Or should he shield tribal members who want to protect the ancestor's spirit journey? A story about the conflict between modern laws and traditional native customs. Read More |
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Una Turista Desaparecido en MéxicoUn cuento de misterio en San Carlos, México. Esta cuento es un compromiso entre español castellano y mexicano. Esta historia también está disponible en inglés con un título de "A Missing Tourist in Mexico." Read More |
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A Missing Tourist in MexicoHe seems a bit disorganized. But Detective Esteban Verde is ready for the challenge when an American scuba diver is reported missing at the tourist community of San Carlos, Mexico. Verde juggles the Federal Police, his own sergeant, and a distraught widow—if that's what she really is. Click on the title for a link to a free download of this short story. Read More |
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It Only Cost Two TeethA humor-mystery short story of 41 pages. A quirky newspaper columnist suspects an editor of being a spy. However, he learns the editor is far worse than that. The result is a mystery and thriller romp with a humorous touch in which the columnist encounters murder, a voodoo doctor, two U.S. presidents (sort of), kidnapping, conspiracies, a homeless ex-congresswoman, and even Billy the Kid's great-great-grandson. Click on the title for a link to a free download of this short story. Read More |
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Hunting SeasonAn Indian from Jémez Pueblo is shot and killed while hunting for rabbits to feed his family. The police think the shooting is just a hunting accident, so it's up to an Albuquerque newspaper reporter to prove what really happened. This 10-page short story won the 2004 Tony Hillerman Mystery Writing Contest and was published in Cowboys & Indians magazine. Click on the title for a link to a free download of this short story. Read More |
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Spirit JourneyWhen a newspaper reporter sees Indians from Iowa's Meskwaki tribe apparently digging up graves in a pioneer cemetery, he learns things are not what they seem. The reporter, an Indian himself from Arizona, begins a search for a thousand-year-old artifact stolen from nearby ancient Indian mounds. When he finds it, he encounters a collector willing to kill to keep what he'd dug up. Click on the title for a link to a free download of this short story. Read More |
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An Unwilling PatientA short story about an 85-year-old Cochiti Pueblo man dying of cancer, but when his daughter tries to put him into a hospital, he disappears. Sheriff's Deputy Alec Bluestone remembers the old man from his youth. Worried about him, Bluestone goes up into the mountains to look for the old man and make sure he's all right. What he discovers are timeless truths. This story, told with a light touch of humor and respect for Native culture, won the 2010 Society of Southwestern Authors Writing Contest. It was published with the original title of "Missing" in the 2010 issue of Story Teller magazine. Read More |
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The GiftA homeless shelter falls on hard times with little hope for needed cash. Then the money shows up. Many of these characters also appear in my mystery novel, A Brother’s Cold Case. Click on the title for a link to a free download of this short story. Read More |
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