My Fellow Man

(Forty-five, Anteater, Karma)

I walked into the hospital room they put my son in. I was tired, kind of in shock. It was a semi-private room, holding a bathroom and two beds, separated by floor to ceiling curtains that could be drawn back. My son Donald was in the bed by the door. His appendix had burst. None of us had recognized the symptoms and by the time we realized there was something seriously wrong my husband Bill had to call an ambulance.  Bill would come in the car, as soon as he got my sister to sit with our six-year old daughter.

Supernova Part 4

Jim Rivers, a navigator, now finds himself leading the crew of the Valiant Explorer.  He has awakened everyone on board and held a conference with all the section leaders to detail the situation – their ship veered off course and has brought them into a strange solar system that is going supernova – in 3 days.  They cannot outrun it.  While everyone is shocked, a few voices of reason prevail – giving the team a possible plan to survive the explosion. 

They have decided to salvage usable parts from the ship and forge enough trinite to seal the connection points between as many modules as possible, in effect creating one very long spacecraft.   A memorial service was given for the captain and his first in command who died when a fire damaged their pods.

See the link at the top of the page for the full Supernova story. 

2 Poems

To See the Sea Again

I’ll see the big old trees again

and walk along the sand.

I’ll smell the fresh sea breeze

and then,

I’ll be walking hand in hand

Cheesy Party Bread

(Garnish, Wise, Politics)

Dear Dorothy, December 1, 1948

I was glad to get your letter in the post. It was forwarded to us by the state department. You will notice that the return post on mine is Paris, France. Yes, my dear Paul has been stationed here for four years, four years! I shall love every minute of it, do you hear? Paris!

“And They Call It, Puppy Love”

Bojangles, Vineyard, Jackalope

Carl and Martha Dubois were sitting on the porch one summer morning.  Eighty year old Martha was doing a crossword puzzle from the paper, eighty-one year old Carl was reading the sports section.

“Carl.”  She had a distinct northern accent, and sounded a lot like Katharine Hepburn in “On Golden Pond.”
“Hmm?” He absently waved at a fly.

Pet Shop in the Mall

Indonesia, Javanese, Woman

(Another one for the kids)

Berani slowly opened her eyes.  Someone was crawling over her, sticking their legs into her belly and sliding down her back.  She rolled away and rubbed her face, hiding her eyes.  She could smell wood shavings; it was a smell she always associated with hamsters and gerbils.  They were like captive mice to her, always behind glass and inaccessible.  Not the same smell as the rats that roamed the floors and shelves at night.  They were dark, furtive things that darted around the floor looking for food.  The ones that lived in the walls and floors.  She would like to run and chase and catch them!  It was a vague thought, sleepy-headed and unfulfilled.

Bound and Determined

Persnickety, Tribal, Melancholic
The characters in this story are fictional, as are the portrayals of any people, groups or chiefs.  This is only a parody and no offense is intended or should be taken.  

The elders sat around the fire, each of them squirming uncomfortably.  The Chief had served dinner to the council earlier; it consisted mainly of meat and a starchy root sauce.  It was winter and there weren’t a lot of plants around for them to eat; no fruits or berries for fiber.  While it did smell wonderful (hence the large turnout for tonight’s meeting) it did tend to leave a fellow a little… bound up so to speak.

Eyeball Soup Anyone?

Doll, stars, blind

Carmine was casing the house he planned to hit next.  It might sound cliché but it was necessary if you intended to do a job and get away clean.  So far everything he had seen pointed to an incredibly easy robbery.  The woman who lived here (alone no less) was blind.  Cut the phone lines and it couldn’t get any easier than this.  She would have no way to call for help.  This was going to be obnoxiously easy and if there’s anything Carmine liked, it was a smooth job.  He had done his homework.  

Looking Back

Birds, Waffles, Shenanigans

She sits at the kitchen table, almost nine o’clock at night, listening to her 16 yr. old daughter and her boyfriend giggle while they wrestle in the other room. The bedroom door is open, they are just playing, and she could hear them talking and laughing all the while. No shenanigans are being attempted tonight. Just two kids having fun with each other. The television is off, no music either. Just two kids. It makes her remember what it was like, that young love.

The Great Inditionater

Antidisestablishmentarianism, hemorrhage, phlebotomy

Bam!  Whizzle whizz splat!  Keen heard the noises and saw the great machine shake and shudder.  Broken pieces came out on the conveyor belt. He scooped them all up and threw them into the recycle bin.  Unfinished pieces could be tossed out, but completed works would have to be kept whether they made sense or not.  Keen had to do something, tell someone fast!  He ran to the telephone to call maintenance.