Mark Gagnon
Bio
My life has been spent traveling here and abroad. Now it's time to write.
I have three published books: Mitigating Circumstances, Short Stories for Open Minds, and Short Stories from an Untethered Mind. Unmitigated Greed is do out soon.
Achievements (1)
Stories (457)
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Atlantis-Found
It was in the time of Earth's infancy that there was only one massive continent. The inhabitants called this supercontinent Pangaea. This unity of continents encouraged a similar unity among species. Men and beasts worked as one, building a civilization that had never been seen before and will never be seen again. The name of this utopian civilization was—Atlantis.
By Mark Gagnon3 years ago in Fiction
The Bay of Lost Souls
17th June 1829 It was a stormy evening out at sea. Gigantic waves relentlessly crashed into the side of the sturdy wooden ship. All Amy could hear was the long loud rumble of thunder and the panicked shouts from the crew as they tried to keep the sails steady. She had left her crowded cabin below deck for a better understanding of what was happening. Amy was born with a natural curiosity. Her mother said she was too curious for her own good.
By Mark Gagnon3 years ago in Fiction
Poetry-Not for Me
I’ve been on Vocal now for over a year and a half. During this time, I’ve noticed a growing trend towards poetry. Maybe I’m old and set in my ways, but that style of writing has never held my attention. Let’s face it, no one in the real world speaks that way.
By Mark Gagnon3 years ago in Poets
Just Enough Time
When Cher sang “If I Could Turn Back Time” she had no idea that I had been doing that and much more for several years now. Time was never my friend, or so I thought, until the day of my accident. It was one of those freak occurrences I would normally laugh about if it had happened to someone else. I was on a tropical vacation, enjoying the surf and sand, when a gust of wind dislodged a coconut from a high branch in the tree I was sitting under. It hit me square on the forehead, knocking me out cold. I know, hilarious right, like something out of a 50s cartoon. The actual effect of the accident was that I was in a coma for three weeks.
By Mark Gagnon3 years ago in Fiction
Boomtown
Everyone is listening to a man standing at the podium and venting at the city council. Billy “Big Bang” Morgan, president of Boomtown Fireworks, had reached the limits of his self-control. These pompous city council jackasses were actually determined to break with tradition. Drones instead of his company’s fireworks were going to be providing entertainment at this year’s 4th of July celebration. He could not let this happen without a fight.
By Mark Gagnon3 years ago in Humor
What’s Wrong with Bad
Many non-native speakers have said that English is by far the hardest language to learn. It’s not sentence structure or other formatting nuances that confuse people. It’s all the various ways the same word is used. The word “bad” is a perfect example. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, bad means poor, unfavorable, spoiled, or dilapidated. This would be a simple word to learn if it was used as described in the dictionary, but is it? Oh, hell no!
By Mark Gagnon3 years ago in Humans
Monolith
My body felt as though it had been slowly baked on hot tiles. The pain forced my reluctant brain to reengage with the world. The unrelenting sun’s rays penetrated my closed eyelids. I grudgingly opened one eye just a slit and saw it—the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Inside my sluggish brain, the title song from that movie, “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, began playing. It’s a tune that will repeat itself over and over in my head for the rest of the day. Most annoying!
By Mark Gagnon3 years ago in Humor
The Long Con
Why are we so gullible? It’s not caused by some misguided gene. We have been conditioned from birth to be an easy mark. “From birth, really”, you might say. Sure, and it’s our parents’ fault. “How can that be”? Well, the explanation is really quite simple.
By Mark Gagnon3 years ago in Humans
It’s in Our DNA
When speaking about hypocrisy, everyone’s favorite targets are politicians. Maybe the, say one thing but do the opposite breed is much maligned because they accurately reflect, “We the people,” and our true nature. I’m sure by now many of you are thinking, “That’s not right, or he doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about,” so let me offer a few examples.
By Mark Gagnon3 years ago in Journal
