Ned

by Daniel Kelley, Linie Sherrod

Imagine… a friend and neighbor, affable but mysterious, easygoing yet also strangely intense when it comes to a personal life kept as close to the vest as possible. Who doesn’t know someone like this? Mike and Janie Howell, residents of the bucolic town of Fielding, certainly do. Ned is their friend, dropped into their lives with a bit of lucky timing, swiftly becoming a fixture at their house, along with his excitable Daschund, Rocky. But who is Ned? And why are so many of his characteristics eerily familiar to the Howells? These are the questions posed and answered – to the extent that questions like these CAN be satisfactorily answered – in “Ned”, a 7,700-word short story that explores the impossible. From the creative minds of both Linie Sherrod and Daniel Kelley, “Ned” takes a brief stroll into a magical world where things are most definitely not as simple as they appear. Enter this world, and savor a tale of what could happen to anyone. Anyone, that is, who chooses to believe in beauty, in fate, in the delicious illogicality that defies the rational mind, but enchants those willing to open their eyes to the alluring power of possibility

42 pages, Paperback

First published December 9, 2014

About the author

Daniel Kelley is an author and a music arranger. His fifth novel, Raffle Ticket, was published in October 2016. Nearly 700,000 books of Daniel’s compositions and arrangements have sold worldwide, and over 30,000 of his e-books have captivated readers. With lyricist JoEllen Doering, he also composed the music to the classic holiday song, “It's Christmas Time Again”.

Daniel mosaics, bakes constantly, annoys practically everyone with puns, is a massive EDM fan, and loves playing games of any kind, though Hearts is his current fave. In 2016, a mosaic of his won the Best of Show monetary prize at the Los Angeles County Fair. He and his wife Cynthia have three children and too many fish. Adair, Darcy and Adele are the names of the children.

Reviews

[J.S. Frankel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this short story in exchange for an honest review.

A fast moving, slice-of-life portrait of a young couple, the Howells, Mike and Janie, it depicts their meeting up with Ned, a carrot-topped young man to whom they are drawn.

Part slice-of-life and part Twilight Zone, Ned jumps along merrily, providing lots of little hints with no clear-cut answers. It is quite likable, written in a down home folksy style, easy to read and a nicely studied portrait of human emotions in the twenty-six pages it takes to tell the story.

The only reason for a four-star review is that while Ned is shown to be a rather enigmatic yet fully (as much as possible) detailed character, Mike and Janie are never really shown to be other than a young couple who wish to have their first child. While it enhances the everyperson mystique, a little description of the young couple would have enhanced the story even more.

Similarly, the commentary at the beginning of "Who was Ned?" "How did he come to live here?" might have been better left until the end of the story in the form of dialogue between the young couple. Still, this is a lovely story of friendship, birth and more, and it's quietly moving. Recommended.

[Jai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short story and I found the ending predictable but an enjoyable read.