A Suburban Mystery Wrapped in Sequins, Secrets, and HOA Drama
Welcome to Oakbend — a perfectly average town with perfectly trimmed lawns, suspiciously organized bake sales, and a mayor who may or may not have buried a sequined pink kimono in the park at midnight.
That’s not a metaphor. That’s the plot.
KIMONOGATE is a seven-part serialized short story about the weird things we hide, the nosy neighbors who find them, and the emotional unraveling of a man who just wanted to enjoy show tunes in silk.
Featuring:
- A dog named Capote with three legs and a deep sense of vengeance
- A retired schoolteacher with a bestselling secret identity
- Glitter, betrayal, time capsules, and at least one minor incident involving a cursed lawn ornament
What starts as a petty mystery turns into something stranger — and strangely heartfelt.
If you like your stories with a little surrealism, a lot of awkwardness, and a very specific kind of emotional chaos, you’re going to feel right at home.
Go ahead. Open the blinds.
It’s time to find out what your neighbor buried in their yard.
- Kimonogate
FLASH FICTION SERIES – FOWC/RDP/SoCS/FSS #203 A suburban saga of secrets, sequins, and sabotage. Episode 1: The Mayor, the Kimono, and Capote’s Forbidden Love The text the mayor received simply read, “I know what you buried, and it wasn’t just a time capsule.”He dropped his spoon into his cereal with a neutral thunk and slowly … Continue reading Kimonogate - Kimonogate 2FLASH FICTION SERIES A suburban saga of secrets, sequins, and sabotage Episode 2: Capote’s Gambit The next morning, Myrtle’s voice pierced the cul-de-sac like a foghorn with unresolved trauma. “He’s three-legged, Gerald!” The mayor stopped mid-prune, trowel frozen above a wilting azalea. “Capote is a disabled romantic, not a threat! You try balancing courtship on … Continue reading Kimonogate 2
- Kimonogate 3Episode 3: Myrtle Revealed (or, The Boney Truth) Everyone on Rosewood Lane thought Myrtle McKlusky was a cardigan-wearing, prune-juice-drinking, HOA-terrorizing widow with three jittery Chinese Crested dogs. They were only 25% right. What no one—not even the mayor, not even Capote—knew was that Myrtle was also… Tempest Fablestein. Yes. The Tempest Fablestein. The mysterious, scandalously … Continue reading Kimonogate 3
- Kimonogate 4Chapter 4: The Collector Mayor Brindle only entered Room 14 on Sundays.Not for the quiet. Not for the privacy.For containment. The room had no windows. Just four beige walls, the smell of municipal-grade carpet cleaner, and the faint static crackle of a vent that hadn’t worked in years. It wasn’t an office, exactly. It was… … Continue reading Kimonogate 4
- Kimonogate 5Chapter 5: The Kimono Reawakens It began with the sprinklers. Not all of them—just the mayor’s.At 12:13 a.m. sharp. Every night. A hiss, then a cough, then the sudden rhythmic chk-chk-chk of mechanical rain. His lawn lit up in droplets under the sodium streetlight, painting the grass silver and slick. No one else’s sprinklers turned … Continue reading Kimonogate 5
- Kimonogate 6Chapter 6: Confrontation and Confession The room smelled like burnt coffee and unspecified rage. The HOA meeting was held in the Oakbend Community Rec Center, which doubled as a yoga studio and tripled as a flood evacuation site. Rows of mismatched plastic chairs filled the linoleum-tiled room, each one squeaking indignantly as residents shifted in … Continue reading Kimonogate 6
- Kimonogate 7Chapter 7: Something Like Closure The dirt was damp with last night’s rain, soft and fragrant with that specific smell—wet grass, worms, and whatever memory felt like when it came up without warning. Mayor Brindle stood at the edge of the shallow grave, this time with permission. There was no trench coat. No flashlight. No … Continue reading Kimonogate 7
Memoirs of Madness 