Another hammer stroke broke the silence.
“Really?” Paul yelled his disgust. That was the third bird to crash into the windows in as many minutes.
The white noise of the pellet stove did little to mute the clang of the unexpected collisions. The pounding of Paul’s heart sympathized. There was nothing like sudden impact to get the blood racing. Continue reading
“Forgotten what?” Gordon struggled to squeeze the words into reality.
“Your nature.” The reply roared in his ears with deafening purpose. His mind, his memories were scathed by the simplicity of the world around him. The complexion of all life evolved from a single instant. That conception had a guardian. Continue reading
Gordon turned and thought he had found God. He had escaped the religion of his youth unscathed, and while not an entirely spiritless person, he considered himself a good deal more pragmatic and realistic than the average soul. He grounded his beliefs in reality and what he could perceive.
So what the fuck was he looking at exactly? Continue reading
“Well I hope she puts on ten pounds because of it,” Andi said.
“And anger the bear with a sore ass that much further?” Carl replied.
Andi winced sideways and shook her head in her usual I-suppose-not routine. Her head tilted back the other way and she stared at him with that look that had captured his soul. The cookies had a hold of him, true enough, but for her, Carl would forego them until the end of days.
“How do you convey that out loud though?” he said, out loud. Continue reading
“You’re shitting me.”
“No ma’am,” Carl said, “Kaye actually fired off a couple of battle preps, thinking something big was incoming.”
Andi covered her mouth and tried not to laugh. She was not very successful.
“It’s okay, you can enjoy it,” he said, “Hell knows we did when the truth came out.” Continue reading
Cleaning house. An interesting turn of phrase that embodies getting one’s shit in order, tightening up the ranks and rectifying a long standing obstacle or wrestling one of the monkeys latched onto your back. The exhilaration felt after a good house cleaning always seems to overshadow the perceived weight of the task which had loomed insurmountable. Yet, we never seem to see the freedom which awaits around the next bend, more content to rationalize the status-quo of the burden. There is always so much else that requires management on the ever scrolling list of priorities. Right?
Bullshit. Continue reading
“Nothing’s ever easy.”
One of my father’s favorite dadisms. He had many, as most dads do, but this adage seemed to adhere to my life lessons and their application more than many others. We shortened it to N.E.E. for more poignant usage, and on many occasions it has been expanded into “Nothing’s Ever Fucking Easy.” Not as fatherly as the original, but you get the gist. Continue reading
Gordon was all too aware that he was very likely trespassing. The approach to the vicinity was easy enough, but there were clear barriers between where he was and the tent which summoned him. “Fuck it,” he said. His mental demons trespassed without care, and he was going to confront them one way or another.
He parked his car in the shadow of the golem, a flippant dare if ever his mind saw one. But what was going to happen? Was the hulking figure going to take a stony shit on his car? No, he didn’t think so, but the image lodged in his mind all the same. He was chuckling as he walked toward the speedway. Continue reading
What an outstanding word. Cattywampus. Cat-tee-wam-pus. I would work it into every sentence if I could, if it were cattywampus to do so. That usage might have been a little cattywampus.
Words are potent. Words carry power. Words can transport you. With so many goddamn words available in this astounding gift we call language, please strive to appreciate the nuances that each carries. Realize the value of this craft which sets us apart from the animals. Language. Words. Power.
Grammar’s nice. It keeps us all moving in the same direction and prevents literary chaos. But you know what? I would choose a legion of unique chaotic wordslingers over a regime of mundane grammar Nazis any day. Communicate, in whatever way best suits you, but stretch your mind when you do so, or you’ll bore the donkey shit out of everyone.
The wind vibrated through the frame of Kevin’s Element. A smirk formed on his lips as the boxy car wrestled with the elements for which it was named. Aerodynamic it was not. Versatile like a motherfucker though. He had hauled more shit in this vehicle than he could recall. That they stopped making this model didn’t sit well with him, and his eyes flicked down to the odometer. The numbers had just rolled over a hundred thousand this month. What was he to do when he needed to find another car?
The wind abated some when he cleared the bridge, but mother nature was not playing around today. The clouds glowed with that eerie incandescence which sang of severe storms. He was hoping to catch some serious lightning strikes, but he doubted his luck of late.
Traffic was thicker than he expected, and the throng of vehicles at the red light did not promise a timely transit. The eighteen wheeler he coasted up behind added its own malevolence to that foretelling. Continue reading