Open Stories — Short Fiction by Hank Redding
Collected works · 1982–Present
Passing through a plains town on borrowed time, a man becomes entangled in favors, land, and quiet resistance. The Borrowed Truck is a restrained novel about obligation without ownership, the cost of standing where it matters, and leaving without believing departure resolves anything.
A town bypassed by progress agrees to become useful again—on terms it cannot sustain. Copper Notch is a novel-length Western about logistics, endurance, and the quiet cost of adaptation when systems decide faster than people can respond.
In the quiet town of Dry Haven, a newly arrived sheriff investigates the disappearance of a man who was expected to leave. As he encounters careful corrections rather than answers, the mystery deepens without resolving. Dry Haven is a restrained Western mystery about order, silence, and what a town agrees not to say.
In 1888, the Western town of Breachwater restores order through absolute clarity. Records are kept. Deadlines enforced. The town stabilizes—and thrives. Held to Account is a novel-length Western about responsibility without mercy, the cost of precision, and what survives when a system works too well.