A Jagged Web

by Benjamin Brindise, JT Lester (Illustrator)

Mike has run a successful auction house for nine years. So successful, a major network has made it the subject of a T.V. series. Since the show, Mike's been used to receiving all kinds of items for auction, from the mundane to the very strange, but with one week until the next televised auction, Mike receives an item unlike any a hand-carved, antique Ouija board. An odd design lines its border, and as time ticks down to auction day, things begin to come unhinged in the normally ordered shop. He tries to chalk it up to nerves, over-work or bad luck, but when the Ouija board seems to be involved he begins to wonder about the odd design around its border - the one that resembles a jagged web.

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 20, 2013

About the author

Benjamin Brindise is the author of the chapbook ROTTEN KID (Ghost City Press, 2017), the full length collection of poetry Those Who Favor Fire, Those Who Pray to Fire (EMP Books, 2018), and the short fiction micro chap Secret Anniversaries (Ghost City Press, 2019).

His poetry and fiction has been published widely online and in print including Peatsmoke Journal, The Hooghly Review, Buffalo Spree, and the My Next Heart: New Buffalo Poetry anthology. He has represented Buffalo, NY in the National Poetry Slam in 2015, 2016, and 2018, and the Southern Fried Poetry Slam in 2023, helping Buffalo to place as high as 9th in the country.

He has been a guest speaker and workshop facilitator at high schools and multiple institutes for higher learning throughout New York State and Canada, giving talks such as Transparency: On Being Understood (Creative Mornings, Oct 2016), Speak, Poet: How to Write a Spoken Word Poem (Williamsville East High School, Oct 2023), and Diversity via Poetry (University at Buffalo, Buffalo State) among others.

Recently, Brindise has ventured into playwriting, having his first script "Everything You've Ever Loved Will Rust" produced twice in 2019 and 2022. He is currently in the process of editing his second novel, Ketchum.

Reviews

[Janet Dreitlein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting story, I enjoyed this novella

[Lisanne Lester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating! Grabs you right away, well written thoroughly enjoyed!