To start off the fiction section of this Substack I thought it would be interesting to go back to one of my first stories. It might be the first fantasy short story I’ve ever written and it is definitely the first story I’ve written to make it into an indy magazine.
I wrote A Tiger in the Garden one night sitting at my kitchen table with my wife behind me in the living room watching television. At that time we lived in San Diego, in a University Heights apartment that was a bit larger than what most would consider a studio.
I was reading a lot of Fantasy and Science Fiction around that time and thought that I might use these characters in a series of novellas. Of course that never happened and over the years I’ve realized that even when I write fantasy it turns into horror. Even in this story, horror and mystery elements push their way through.
The other interesting thing about this story is that it comes out of my obsession with the South Pacific, Jungles, South East Asia, ancient temples, and 18th -19th Century inspired fantasy. In the following years after writing this story, I traveled all over the South Pacific and Asia, visiting Malaysia, Timor-Leste, and Papua New Guinea.
Enjoy this old story. It’s a bit fantasy, a bit mystery, some adventure, and a hint of horror.