Peter Pan

With two broken legs and one arm in a cast, George had a hard time doing what most people take for granted. For instance, flipping channels with the remote made him really thirsty, so he drink two large glasses of tea. A little while later he realized that wasn’t such a good idea as now he had to recycle that tea.

He called his wife and she started pushing him down the hall. About halfway to the bathroom he yell, “I ain’t gonna make it, there she blows.”

His wife grabbed the bedpan and threw it at him yelling, “Peter Pan. Peter Pan. Peter Pan.”

And that’s why they are redecorating the hallway. Now you know the rest of the story.

Dishes

She stands at the sink, doing the dishes again. The window over the sink gives her the perfect view of him walking up the sidewalk. She heart skips a beat just thinking of being in his arms again. She sloshes suds over the plate and stares out the window, her mind thousands of miles away. She imagines him sitting in the sand, water bottle in hand, and laughing with those gathered around him. He was their class clown, and she knew he would be making all those around him laugh, he would be lifting their spirits for a few minutes anyway.

She puts the dish down, her eyes blurring with the tears that never seem to dry up. She turns and walks into the living room and over to the fireplace. On the mantle is his picture, how handsome he is in his uniform. As she places the picture back, she picks up the black case beside it and opens it. Inside placed on the gray lining is his purple heart and gold star. She then runs her hand over the tri-folded flag and realized he would never walk up that sidewalk again.

Why I Don't Write Poetry 2011-5

My contribution to the prompt given by teacher extraordinare Ann Linquist: "The Gatekeeper":


“I am the Gatekeeper,” his voice boomed,
“Do not precede or you will be doomed.”
I look at him with a weary smile,
“Do not fear, I carry no guile.
I am on a essential quest,
And I must continue my journey west.”

He repeated his greeting phrase
“I am the Gatekeeper, I do not faze.
At your own peril may you approach,
It is my territory that you encroach.
So, leave, go as you came,
This is not some adolescent game.”

“My quest, it carries me on,
I refuse to retreat for I am not your pawn.
Move to the side and let me advance,
I must go, it can’t be left to chance.
For the Gatekeeper you may be,
But I must go to Grimly Reap.”

Recycled - My Obit

Feeling green this week so I'm recycling this from 2009

When times comes for me to be worm food, this is what my obit should say:

It comes as not much of a shock
Here lies the remains of Walk
Born a pipeliner's son
He never owned a golden gun
Instead he turned to the pen
And wrote of mice and men
Words was his prey
Until he fell into the bay
He sank like a rock
Our good friend Walk.

Alumni Reunion

All you alumni from Beginner's Writers Workshop with our favorite teacher Ann, please go to her site (in the favorite blog column at the right) and drop her a message. She'd like to know what y'all have been up to.

Why you're at it, jump in one of the discussions and leave a bit of your writing behind.

See ya there.

Book Review - Baer Truth

Another cyber friend, Linda McMaken, has published a book, "The Three Baers, Book One: Baer Truth". Like my last review of Linda Yezak's Book "Give The Lady A Ride" this is a modern day Cowboy romance. And like Linda Y, Linda Mc's (confused yet) characters are well defined and lovable, in fact I'm in love with Tessa, when you read it you'll figure out why. There are several laugh out loud parts, which come at unexpected times, a very enjoyable read. It is the first of a trilogy about three brothers, which has it's twist in itself, the oldest, Joe, is the hero in this one. This is Linda's first book, but she has written articles for several magazines, she the Senior News Editor for Reader's Entertainment News, Senior Media Marketing Manager, and scriptwriter for COS Productions, and she also has a blog which you can click on over on the right in my blog list.

Linda, good job, I'm waiting patiently for book Two.

A Long Dark Highway - Finally

He awoke to the smell of stale cigarette smoke and pickled herring. He immediately lost all bile that was in his stomach, causing his head to fill with pain. "That's it," he thought, "I finally made it to hell." He tried opening his eyes, but all that was there was darkness. He searched for any small trace of light that might indicate a door or window, but all he saw was darkness. "I'm blind." he said out loud, the sound of his voice made him jump. He felt around and came to the conclusion that his room was about six feet wide and 10 feet long. What he thought was the door was in the middle of one of the six foot walls, but no hinges, or no door knob. He felt the crease in his forehead, it was still moist, slowly oozing blood and sweat. He put his back again the wall opposite the door and sat down. "It's another fine mess you've gotten me into Stanley."

The sudden screech of an eagle over loud speakers caused him to jump to his feet. He immediately fell to his knees as he became light headed because of his head wound. Lights flashed on and off, her laughter boomed, echoing off the wall, then the worst came as she started playing Lady Gaga. He put his hands over his ears but the noise was just too loud. Then her voice came boomed, "Give it to me. Give it to me," over and over and over.

"No! You'll never get it. Never," he yelled at the top of his lungs. The noise stopped immediately and the door cracked open. She stood there with his Glock in her hand, up to the temple of his best friend.

"Give it to me. This piece of trash is all that cares for you. Are you going to give that up for it?"

He stood there looking into the two pairs of eyes. One full of hope, one full of hatred. "Ok, you win. I put it next to your collection of Bibles, I knew you'd never find it there."

"It had better be there, or I'll hunt you down and next time I won't just graze you." She threw him his gun, "It's not loaded anyway." She laughed all the way out the room, and headed straight to her study. After moving a dusty pile of Bibles, she saw it, "That clever SOB, I'd never would have looked for it two feet from my desk." She slowly picked it up and ran her hand over it. The hairs on her arms stood on end as her excitement climaxed. "Finally, my very own copy of Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure."