Stand Up Johnny

By Joseph D'Agnese

(Note: Stand Up Johnny is a short story that is also available in the larger collection, Daggyland #1, by the same author.)

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The old man had big plans now that Johnny was back home.

But there were going to be some rules around here from now on.

Johnny had some rules, too.

First off, don’t make Johnny angry.

This short story first appeared in Plots With Guns.

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“D’Agnese writes the most unusual and interesting books.”—Bookviews

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joseph D'Agnese
• Release date: Sep 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781941410134

Joseph D'Agnese

Joseph D’Agnese is a journalist and author who has written for children and adults alike. He’s been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Wired, Discover, and other national publications. In a career spanning more than twenty years, his work has been honored with awards in three vastly different areas—science journalism, children’s literature, and mystery fiction. His science articles have twice appeared in the anthology Best American Science Writing. His children’s book, Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci, was an honoree for the Mathical Book Prize—the first-ever prize for math-themed children’s books. One of his crime stories won the 2015 Derringer Award for short mystery fiction. Another of his stories was selected by mega-bestselling author James Patterson for inclusion in the prestigious annual anthology, Best American Mystery Stories 2015. D’Agnese’s crime fiction has appeared in Shotgun Honey, Plots with Guns, Beat to a Pulp, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Mystery Weekly, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. D’Agnese lives in North Carolina with his wife, the New York Times bestselling author Denise Kiernan (The Girls of Atomic City).

Book preview

Stand Up Johnny

Stand Up Johnny

A Short Story

Joseph D’Agnese

Nutgraf Productions LLC

STAND UP JOHNNY

Published by Joseph D’Agnese at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2013 Joseph D’Agnese

NutGraf Productions LLC

First digital edition: September 2014

Cover design by GoOnWrite.com

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Stand Up Johnny first appeared in the Winter 2013 issue of Plots With Guns.

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This e-book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this e-book may be reproduced in whole or in part, scanned, photocopied, recorded, distributed in any printed or electronic form, or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without express written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

josephdagnese.com

In this e-book

Stand Up Johnny by Joseph D’Agnese

The old man had big plans now that Johnny was back home.

---

But there were going to be some rules around here from now on.

---

Johnny had some rules, too.

---

First off, don’t make Johnny angry.

---

This short story first appeared in Plots With Guns.

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Stand Up Johnny

When Johnny came home he slept for three days and on the third he woke just long enough to sip some of Natalia’s soup. He saw his old man standing cocked in the doorway watching them both. Then Johnny’s eyes slammed shut again. He slept a good bit longer and when he woke, his old man was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor.

He had on a hat and some boots. He was a Texas man, which meant he was sad to be living in the middle of these here Cackalacky mountains. He’d done it for love, and he’d do so again. Had a streak of sentimentality in him that you could stir with a wooden paddle.

Johnny rubbed his eyes and hitched himself up against the pillows.

Sometimes people need permission just to live, his old man said. "Never understood it. If that’s you then I ’spect I’m going to be disappointed. But