KM Zafari

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About KM Zafari

I'm busy but friendly, so feel free to keep in touch with me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/thebatinthehat), where I often post free microfiction, or contact me on my site (http://thebatinthehat.com). I'd be glad to hear from you!

Why The Bat in the Hat? Poe and Seuss are my literary heroes. What you will see of my writing will likely be a mix of the two. Plus, I love bats - and I love hats!

Note to libraries and schools:

I do not impose an expiry date on my work.

Now available on Kindle:

-Time (a Flashdogs' anthology)

-Nibbles (Snack-Sized Stories Vol 1)

-Jippā (a short horror story)

-The Tears You'll Never Cry (a poem for mourning the loss of a child)

-The Cask of Amontillado Common Core Standards Lesson Plan

-The Tangi Bridge Common Core Standards Lesson Plan

-The Tangi Bridge (a very short story)

-A Comprehensive Guide to Finding Free and Inexpensive E-Books for Your Kindle

Coming soon:

-The Executioner

(short - historical fiction/mystery/horror)

A young journalist discovers more than he anticipated when he is sent to cover the county's first electricide.

(Poe fans may like this one.)

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Author Updates

Titles By KM Zafari

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The Tears You'll Never Cry (a poem for mourning the loss of a child) Mar 17, 2013

by KM Zafari

( 34 )

$0.00

This poem is for anyone who has lost a child. You are free to use it in non-commercial endeavors, such as memorial tributes; please include my name as the author, and please do not alter it in any way.

It was written on 17 December 2012, for the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre.

Allison Wyatt, 6
Ana Marquez-Greene, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Catherine Hubbard, 6
Charlotte Bacon, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Daniel Barden, 7
Dylan Hockley, 6
Emilie Parker, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Jack Pinto, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Jesse Lewis, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Madeleine Hsu, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Olivia Engel, 6

Taken from those who loved them on 14 December 2012.

I pledge to donate 100% of my proceeds from the sale of this poem to charitable organizations benefitting those who have lost children.

Excerpt:

"I would give up my every breath,
if I were able to,
for just one second of the time
I'd thought I'd have with you.

Left wishing for that moment,
one more chance to say goodbye.
Left, alone, to shed for you
the tears you'll never cry.

No more skinned knees or lost balloons
or wishes not come true..."

Nibbles: Bite-Sized Stories for a Fast-Paced, Super-Sized World (Snack-Sized Stories (short and super-short fiction)) Oct 31, 2013

by KM Zafari

( 2 )

$2.99

From the winner of the "Writer's Digest" Shortest Short Story Contest comes a collection of Twitter-sized microfiction!

The stories come in a variety of topics, styles, and genres, ranging from macabre to humorous, so (hopefully) there should be something for everyone.

-----

"The cowboy pushed up the brim of his hat with his six shooter, savoring the last drag of his spent cigarette. He was ready."

Drac shook his head. "Kids these days, getting high from huffing garlic." The worst thing he did in school was drink from hippies."

-----

Includes:

150 Nibbles (140 Characters or Fewer)
5 Bites (99 Words or Fewer)
3 Nuggets (299 Words or Fewer)

Also includes three bonus short story Snacks!

The Tangi Bridge
Jippa
Taedium Vitae

------

This version has optimized for Kindle and formatted for readability.

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

The Culling of the Wolves: a short story Apr 3, 2022

by KM Zafari

$0.99

A short sci-fi drama with light suspense, clocking in at 1584 words.

Excerpt:

Ruddy Martian clay caked the soles of her bare feet and filled the webbing between her toes as she ran across the barren plains towards the edges of the woods. She slowed, then paused for a moment to lean against a small boulder and attempt to quell the labored heaving of her chest.

It wasn't just that she'd been running night and day - the child growing inside her was pushing up into her lungs, leaving her gasping for air as exhaustion threatened to creep inside her shaking limbs.

But there was no time to rest.

She was certain they wouldn’t be far behind, given the slowness of her condition, and her only hope of escape lay in the dark shadows of Pavonis Mons. Sweat prickled at the back of her neck, but the thought of being alone in the woods at night sent a shiver down her spine.

The wolves were there.

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Munchies: Snack-Sized Fiction (When You Need Just a Little More) (Snack-Sized Stories (short and super-short fiction)) Apr 7, 2022

by KM Zafari

$7.99

Contains:

Nibbles (a curated collection of 17 author-favorite Twitter-sized, super-short stories, also available in Nibbles)

Cheapskate
Closure
Connoisseur
Dinnertime
For Sale By Owner
Miscommunication
New Heights
Prince
Savory
Secret
Shadowland
Six Bullets
Strangers on a Train
Telegram
Trick or Treat
Unrequited
When Life Hands You Lemons
Whiskey Sour

Bites and Nuggets (58 stories around 100-300 words, ish)

1984
Absolution
Adelgunde
Aftermath of Neptune
Ah, L’Amour
All Good Things
Amelia
Anonymous
Arecibo
City of Angels
Club Dead
Collateral Damage
Conflagration
Dalliance
December Mourning
Delicious
Deliquescence
Dream
Fear and Loathing in Los Angeles
Festival of Love
Five Little Gangsters
The Foreman
The Happiest Day of My Life
Help Wanted
Heresy
Hide-and-Go-Seek
Home
Homecoming
I, Tiger
The Lee of the Stone
Legacy
Line of Duty
The Long Farewell
Mementos
Miscalculation
Missed Connection
Monarchy
The Night He Became a Man
Not a Merlot
One Year, Five Months, Thirteen Days, and Seven Hours
Portrait
Reason
Reflection
The Regular
Salaasil (Chains)
Salvation
Shadows
Skeletons
Sniper
Stages of Love
Starmaker
Sunbathing in Rio
Taboo
Vampir
Waiting
What Would Freud Say?
Word of Dog
Zhànlìpǐn (Trophies)

Snacks (mostly 1000-2000 words, also ish)

Aiko
Apotheosis
The Artist
The Culling of the Wolves
Jippā
The One with the Dead Girl and the Pizza Guy
Recovery
Taedium Vitae
The Tangi Bridge

Stories span most genres, so there is likely something for everyone!

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

The Artist: A short thriller/horror story May 12, 2018

by KM Zafari

$0.99

The metal table was cold and smooth, giving it the illusion of being wet, and the chill seeped in through her skin until her body began to shiver.

She was aware of this before gaining full consciousness, before she could see.

Fear settled in as she tried to will herself awake. But she was trapped, a prisoner in her own mind, unable to move, vulnerable to anyone and anything that lurked beyond the darkness.

Sound was becoming clearer, now, as the unmistakable cadence of footsteps approached.

“Help…” she murmured, unsure if the word had even reached her lips, let alone escape them.

A figure loomed over her, and a quiet yet assertive voice echoed through her head, as if miles away. “Shh. Don’t speak.” A firm hand stroked her skin with the gentle, reverent touch of a lover. “It will wear off soon. It always does.”

This man was her captor, not her savior...

Clocking in at just under 2200 words, this short tale of suspense and horror tells the story of a woman who wakes up on a stranger's table and discovers that her captor is an artist and she his latest canvas and muse.

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

The Tangi Bridge (a very short story) Mar 12, 2013

by KM Zafari

( 5 )

$0.99

A very short story! It's only about 850 words, but it has been lovingly crafted.

This is the story of the night patrolman on the Tangi Bridge. Fans of "The Lottery" and "The Lady or the Tiger" may enjoy this one.

The Tangi Bridge
(excerpt)

"He didn't always see them jump, but the sounds were unavoidable. Some screamed on the way down; some went in dignified silence. But their lives always ended the same - with a loud, sickening splash.

A few chose to go at it alone, but most were grateful for his presence in their final hours. Several talked at length of their lives, although many were content to simply sit quietly beside him until dawn. Then, after steadying their nerves, they launched themselves off the creaking, wooden bridge and into the water below.

He had been told never to watch, but he always did. How could he not? The least he could do, he felt, was to be with them in those final, fleeting moments so they knew that they hadn't been alone, that someone would remember them.

Those who accepted the calling - really accepted it - went without fear. They were the fortunate ones, their calmness and serenity helping them recall what they had long been taught in school - how to hit the water at the ideal obliquity required for the fastest and least painful death.

The screamers were much harder to watch.

They frequently flailed on the way down, hitting the water, hard as stone, at an odd angle, crushing most of their structural bones. Survival instincts always kicked in, and they would splash around in a panic - helpless, thrashing sacks of broken limbs.

Whether they succumbed to the cold water or invisible injuries, eventually, they stilled, often floating in pools of dissipating wine as the impartial river swept their bodies out to sea."

Comprehensive lesson plans are also available.

Also available:
Jippa (a short horror story)

A longer short story, "The Executioner", is scheduled for May 2013.

FlashDogs : Time: Volume III Feb 8, 2016

by The FlashDogs, Mark A. King, Tamara Rogers

( 4 )

$0.99

Time may wait for no man, but The FlashDogs shepherd it with aplomb in their third anthology of flash fiction. Let this intrepid pack of cutting-edge writers fill your mind—and your hours—with their super-short stories of past, present, and future. Featuring an impressive roster of flash-fictioneers old and new, this collection has a bit of everything--romance, dystopia, comedy, tragedy--all spread across a changing timescape inspired by three photographs.

Read these stories and join The FlashDogs in support of the only form of time-travel yet available: reading.

All proceeds go to a literacy charity.

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Jippa (a short horror story) Mar 23, 2013

by KM Zafari

( 12 )

$0.99

This short horror story is based on a nightmare I had some time back.

Excerpt:

No one believed him that the monsters were real. His uncle grew frustrated and impatient with the nighttime fears the boy should long have outgrown. His aunt was more sympathetic and well-intentioned, but she dismissed them as being merely nightmares.

Only he knew that, at night, the truths always revealed themselves.

After the lights went out and all was dark, the silence of his room was broken by quiet scratching and moans. He covered his ears against the screeches, but they grew louder and louder until they filled the air, and he could feel them even in his lungs.

Then, when a scream threatened to burst forth from his throat, and he could bear it no longer, there was silence. Not one sound. It was the same disquieting nothingness as in a forest filled with animals that sensed a new predator.

The monsters were still, but he knew they were there.

He uncapped his ears and glanced at his little sister, asleep in the bed next to his. Quiet and undisturbed, she’d slept through it all. He envied her peaceful slumber; she always looked like an angel.

Then, there was another noise. Whispers. “She’s coming,” they said. “She’s coming. She’s coming.”

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KM Zafari

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