This is a very short story of the sort that one would have read in the old mystery/SiFi/mysterious anthologies which were quite common and available up through the 1970s.  Alas those days are gone but the ability to publish these stories is now available and at a reasonable price we readers have easy access to them.

It is rather difficult to fully review a story this short as you want to avoid spoilers at all cost.  The least said the better but the story opens and with a young lady riding on a bus.  She has had an emotional trauma the night before and is on her way to work.  She begins to notice red letters; a countdown clock hovering above every person's head she sees.  This young lady is not the brightest thing in the world but she soon figures out that these red numbers are actually counting down the time until each individual's death.

Overall I found this a rather pleasing read.  I have read similar stories in the past so I cannot say that the concept there is all that original but that does not really matter.  To find something truly original in this day and age is really asking a bit much.  No, while the plot may have seen a bit of use from time to time, this author has finished his story with a very nice twist, which while is sort of expected, is never the less well done. Originality was well sacrificed for the nice twist in my opinion.

Overall we have a pretty nice bit of writing here.  Yes, the story does have a few problems that could be smoothed out.  A good example is the young ladies relationship with her boss.  This bit was filler as far as I was concerned and the space could have been put to better use in giving us a bit more detail concerning the lady in question.  There were a couple of plot twists that could have been a bit smoother in transition but that is being rather picky on my part.

For a story of this length - it is indeed short; the author has handled his characters quite well.  The girl on which the story is centered is quite believable and if the author had left the boss thing out there would have been no problems what so ever in this area.

This is a nice fast read.  It is free and well worth the time it takes to read.  You time will not be wasted.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
This is a very short story of the sort that one would have read in the old mystery/SiFi/mysterious anthologies which were quite common and available up through the 1970s. Alas those days are gone but the ability to publish these stories is now available and at a reasonable price we readers have easy access to them. It is rather difficult to fully review a story this short as you want to avoid spoilers at all cost. The least said the better but the story opens and with a young lady riding on a bus. She has had an emotional trauma the night before and is on her way to work. She begins to notice red letters; a countdown clock hovering above every person's head she sees. This young lady is not the brightest thing in the world but she soon figures out that these red numbers are actually counting down the time until each individual's death. Overall I found this a rather pleasing read. I have read similar stories in the past so I cannot say that the concept there is all that original but that does not really matter. To find something truly original in this day and age is really asking a bit much. No, while the plot may have seen a bit of use from time to time, this author has finished his story with a very nice twist, which while is sort of expected, is never the less well done. Originality was well sacrificed for the nice twist in my opinion. Overall we have a pretty nice bit of writing here. Yes, the story does have a few problems that could be smoothed out. A good example is the young ladies relationship with her boss. This bit was filler as far as I was concerned and the space could have been put to better use in giving us a bit more detail concerning the lady in question. There were a couple of plot twists that could have been a bit smoother in transition but that is being rather picky on my part. For a story of this length - it is indeed short; the author has handled his characters quite well. The girl on which the story is centered is quite believable and if the author had left the boss thing out there would have been no problems what so ever in this area. This is a nice fast read. It is free and well worth the time it takes to read. You time will not be wasted. Don Blankenship
The Ozarks