Allmeyer Was Here, a novella by Matthew Bachmann. The title and author's name are hand-lettered inside a weathered wooden picture frame.

He was here. Hardly anyone noticed.

On his ninetieth birthday, Ernest Allmeyer waits beside a rotary phone for a call that comes once a year, when it comes at all. He has his routines: the crossword puzzle he never quite finishes, an early evening highball, a frozen dinner, and an aging German Shepherd who watches his every move. He also has his secrets. One his family never spoke of. One hidden under his own feet. And one that leads, quite literally, next door. What life has yet to reveal he can’t guess. He only hopes it comes soon.

Funny, tender and quietly strange, Allmeyer Was Here is a story about the worth that others fail to see in us and the marks we leave when no one is looking.

A digital novella of nearly 11,000 words

Buy the ebook

Matthew Bachmann, arms folded, wearing glasses and a gray short-sleeved shirt.

About the Author

Matthew Bachmann is a retired brand strategist and copywriter. Allmeyer Was Here is his first novella. On most weekends you can find him on a baseball field still trying to make the Major Leagues. He lives in San Diego with his wife, son, and two German Shepherd rescues.

Follow his reading adventures at decadeofbooks.com.