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A Message from the Vault Keeper (1/2/97)
-- New Server Update --

A "Tales from the Vault" Special!
Checking it Twice
A Rock Island Group Christmas Story

The Tales from the Vault are subdivided into several Chambers. Feel free to peruse the stories at your leisure, and to contribute to the ongoing tales as you see fit.

CHAMBER ONE
Ongoing Serial Tales

Stories are numbered based on the chronological order in which they were received. If a story is not yet titled, it will be identified by the first several words. This section contains stories which are told in segments by our visitors. This storytelling method, sometimes referred to as an "Exquisite Corpse" exercise, gives each reader a chance to take an existing story in whatever direction their imagination suggests to them.

Story Number Date Begun Last Updated Title
Story 5: (6/3/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "The leather creaked as Professor Morgan settled..."
Story 14: (6/24/96) Monday, 01/06/97 "'Hurry up, Mel!' Robert called..."
Story 24: (7/6/96) Thursday, 01/09/97 "When I was a child, I used to play with the wind..."
Story 25: (7/8/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "Revelation Juncture"
Story 27: (7/8/96) Monday, 11/18/96 "Welcome aboard flight 420 non-stop to La Guardia..."
Story 31: (7/9/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "Whatever Happened in the Mist..."
Story 32: (7/10/96) Wednesday, 01/15/97 "Why I Stole the Baby Next Door..."
Story 34: (7/10/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "Split Infinity"
Story 38: (7/18/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "Artistic License"
Story 40: (7/22/96) Wednesday, 01/15/97 "Mage Training"
Story 41: (7/22/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "Whatever this thing was, it was now dead..."
Story 42: (7/22/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "The Resident Director"
Story 43: (7/22/96) Friday, 01/24/97 "Once upon a time there was a princess..."
Story 46: (7/26/96) Tuesday, 01/07/97 "Here Be Dragons"
Story 47: (7/26/96) Monday, 11/04/96 "Code 11"
Story 51: (7/31/96) Thursday, 01/09/97 "Genetic Backlash"
Part Two
Story 53: (8/5/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "Open Mind"
Story 55: (8/7/96) Monday, 11/25/96 "The Princess Slave"
Story 56: (8/7/96) Thursday, 01/02/97 "The air around me began to hum with life..."
Story 58: (8/12/96) Friday, 12/20/96 "Mogwla jumped at the sound of the bell..."
Story 59: (8/12/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "JackKnife..."
Story 61: (8/19/96) Wednesday, 11/20/96 "Memory"
Story 63: (8/26/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "Resistance"
Story 66: (9/2/96) Tuesday, 12/10/96 "Hope Amongst The Damned"
Story 67: (9/2/96) Wednesday, 12/04/96 "Tributes"
Story 68: (9/2/96) Thursday, 12/12/96 "Princess Rebel"
Story 69: (9/9/96) Friday, 01/24/97 "Writer's Block"
Story 70: (9/9/96) Tuesday, 01/14/97 "Solar Flares, Rock Rebels in Space"
Story 72: (9/9/96) Monday, 11/25/96 "The Tapping"
Part Two
Story 73:
(9/17/96) Thursday, 01/09/97 "Triskaidekaphobia Day"
Story 74: (9/17/96) Monday, 01/06/97 "The huge wooden door flew open with a bang..."
Story 75: (9/17/96) Thursday, 01/02/97 "The reddish-golden sunset flickered..."
Story 76: (10/9/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "Follow me down..."
Story 77: (10/9/96) Wednesday, 01/15/97 "Chimera"
Story 78: (10/9/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "When the alarm sounded, there was nothing they could do..."
Story 79: (10/9/96) Tuesday, 01/07/97 "The Big Plastic Ostrich and other strangeness"
Story 80: (10/17/96) Tuesday, 01/14/97 "Rythe's World"
Travellers Part Two
Story 81: (10/25/96) Friday, 01/24/97 "Catharsis II"
Story 82: (10/25/96) Thursday, 01/09/97 "Here Among Humans"
Story 83: (10/25/96) Thursday, 12/12/96 "The Virgin Continent"
Story 84: (10/30/96) Monday, 01/06/97 "Crossroads"
A Whispering Shadow Tale
Story 85: (10/31/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "Walking Shadow"
Story 86: (11/06/96) Thursday, 01/09/97 "Illusions"
Story 87: (11/06/96) Friday, 12/06/96 "Magic Night"
Story 88: (11/11/96) Friday, 01/24/97 "Unnecessary Punishment"
Story 89: (11/11/96) Thursday, 12/05/96 "Of Dark, Light and Shadows"
Story 91: (1/20/97) Wednesday, 01/22/97 "Past the voice of reason..."
Story 92: (1/20/97) Friday, 01/24/97 "Hand Painted Wings"
Story 93: (1/20/97) Friday, 01/24/97 "Confession"
Story 94: (1/20/97) Friday, 01/24/97 "The Cairn"
Submit a Beginning for a New Story


CHAMBER TWO
Mysteries of the Rock Island Group

A concept inspired by the book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, by Chris van Allsburg - a book we highly recommend! The principle is that you, the reader, are given the title, an illustration, and a snippet of text from a story. Based on this scant information, your challenge is to write whatever story these tantalizing fragments inspire you to create. You're invited to submit to us either a segment of a serial tale or an entire story, and even to submit an illustration for a Mystery of your own (please attach any illustrations or complete stories to an E-mail).
Click on a thumbnail for the complete image

On-line Ordering Information for Chris Van Allsburg: If you are interested in ordering The Mysteries of Harris Burdick or any other books by Chris Van Allsburg, you can obtain them on the Internet from Book Stacks Unlimited, Inc.

Image and Title Story Quote Stories

"Midnight Jack"		 "He ran his finger across the gleaming steel of the blade and smiled at the thought of the headlines, the baffled detectives of Scotland Yard, and, best of all, the terror of a new victim."

"The Whispering Lexicon"		 "So it hadn't been a dream after all."

"A Revolutionary New Design"		 "There was no other explanation: it had to be the shoes."

"Bridge to Valhalla"		 "The horse crossed the bridge without looking back."

"Ancient Secrets"		 "It had been thousands of years since one of her kind had walked the earth..."


CHAMBER THREE
Archives of the Vault

These are the completed Tales from the Vault, begun and finished by our contributors. Characters from these tales have been known to re-appear in sequels...

Story Number Date Begun Last Updated Title
Story 1(b): (4/22/96) Tuesday, 01/14/97 "She stood before the massive steel doors�"
Story 1(a): (4/22/96) Friday, 10/18/96 The Awakening of Amanda
"She stood before the massive steel doors�"
Story 2: (4/22/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Carson's voice was hoarse and ragged..."
Story 3: (4/22/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "The Runes of Time"
Neither was sure how long it took...
Story 4: (5/26/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Plastic Lives"
A Whispering Shadow Tale
Story 6: (5/26/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "The Hand"
From the Misadventures of Hapless Horace
Story 7: (6/5/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "States of Mind"
"The acrid smell of overheated brakes permeated the inside of my '81 Oldsmobile..."
Story 8: (6/6/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "The Night the Earth Burned"
It was eight minutes past midnight when the lone pickup...
Story 9: (6/12/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Money for Nothing"
Soft instrumental music drifted out from hidden speakers...
Story 10: (6/12/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Genetic Backlash"
"The stooped old man limped out of the hospital..."
Story 11: (6/17/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Puppet"
Story 12: (6/21/96) Monday, 11/25/96 "The Warning"
Story 13: (6/24/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Luke Short's Revenge"
Story 15: (7/1/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "The Star Killer"
Story 16: (7/3/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Experiments"
Story 17: (7/5/96) Monday, 11/18/96 "Off the Page"
Story 18: (7/5/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Chivalry is Dead"
Story 19: (7/5/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "This is not a love story..."
Story 20: (7/6/96) Thursday, 01/09/97 "Cheddar"
Story 21: (7/6/96) Monday, 10/21/96 "Chamber of the Nighthawk"
Story 22: (7/6/96) Friday, 11/15/96 "Right Time, Wrong Place"
Story 23: (7/6/96) Friday, 12/20/96 "After a long, grueling day of noisy distractions..."
Story 26: (7/8/96) Monday, 01/06/97 "The Journey"
Story 28: (7/8/96) Monday, 01/20/97 "Captain Fairlen looked at the holographic simulation..."
Story 29: (7/8/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Egg Salad"
Story 30: (7/9/96) Monday, 11/18/96 "Promises"
Story 33: (7/10/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Quicksand"
Story 35: (7/10/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Psychic Prohibition"
Story 36: (7/15/96) Tuesday, 10/29/96 "Frozen In Time"
A Whispering Shadow Tale
Story 37: (7/18/96) Friday, 10/25/96 "Catharsis"
Story 39: (7/22/96) Wednesday, 11/20/96 "Another gig has come and gone..."
Story 44: (7/22/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Time"
Another Tale of Hapless Horace
Story 45: (7/24/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Puppet II"
Story 48: (7/29/96) Wednesday, 12/04/96 "A New Life For Laurel"
Story 49: (7/31/96) Friday, 01/03/97 "Rock and Roll Halloween"
Story 50: (7/31/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "First Fall"
Story 52: (8/1/96) Monday, 12/16/96 "Crossed Worlds"
Story 54: (8/5/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "The Tapping"
Story 57: (8/7/96) Tuesday, 10/29/96 "The Experimental Music Man"
Another Experiments Tale
Story 60: (8/19/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Fourteen Days"
Story 62: (8/19/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Travellers"
Story 64: (8/26/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "I never said I loved him..."
Story 65: (8/26/96) Friday, 10/18/96 "Terror at Borden's Folly"
I had to go...
Story 71: (9/9/96) Monday, 01/06/97 "The Joy Police"
Story 90: (1/14/97) Tuesday, 01/14/97 "Strangers in the Afternoon"
Submit a Beginning for a Sequel to one of the completed Tales


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