Welcome, Reader, to A Traveler’s Tales. Here, you will find a collection of my fiction. I will make no pretense about quality, but I will state my objective: to tell the truth. All of my fiction is what it is; that is, it is fictional. Yet, that is the paradox of fiction: by telling stories, we step deeper into reality than we otherwise would do if we’d merely stated fact.
Being that I am a Southerner in the 21st Century, most of my stories take place in the contemporary American South. The South is perhaps not as “grotesque” as it once was in the days of Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner, but the history is not over and the South is still a haunted country, dare I say Christ-haunted. There is still something spooky in the sun-bleached suburbs and the interstate-laden cities and the kudzu-claimed countryside. There is still much to write about and a place to write from.
All this being said, I hope you enjoy. Though my ultimate aim is to, in Walker Percy’s words, “attack the fake in the name of the real,” joy is an important and necessary part of a reader’s experience. It is an invitation to receive the truth. To write boring stories would be not only ineffective; it would be inhospitable. If you are not enjoying my stories, please, read something else.
But if you do happen to enjoy them - better yet, if you happen to see some morsel of truth in them - don’t hesitate to share them with someone you think can enjoy and see something in them too. Of course, if you’d like, you can also subscribe.
A Summer in Nowhere: Davis was having a hell of a time in college, but Sophomore year is over and his dad's sentenced him to a summer internship in a no-name town. Little does he know, his life will soon have new meaning.
Lost and Found: He no longer knew who he was. So he went looking for himself in the woods. Yet, he strayed off path and became more lost than he was to begin with. Now, he must find himself and his way back home.
No Word in Death’s Favor: The Boy finally had enough of his misery and went looking for Satisfaction. Henceforth, he was no longer The Boy but became The Runaway. If only he knew what horrors lay ahead of him.
The Last Barbecue: Andy Inverness made it to the barbecue, and everyone was happy; everyone but Andy when he saw the very person he despised the most: the man who killed his daughter over 20 years ago.
World Upside Down: Mason wonders where it all went wrong, and his investigation takes him back to his childhood. There, he remembers, was where he encountered evil for the first time. Nothing after that was the same.
L.W. Blakely is a writer in Birmingham, Alabama. He is the author of The Wayfarer, a newsletter where he publishes literary fiction, criticism, and musings. Learn more about L.W. and The Wayfarer on the About page, or (if you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read) consider subscribing and sharing his work.