"Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they're here to stay" * (169 words, 1 minute read time) She lived, but less well than she ever anticipated. Youthful hopes never seemed to prevail, not for her, but only and always so conveniently for others. It was his short tolerance... Continue Reading →
~In our dreams…
... our wetish sci-fi dreams... (275 words, 1 minute read time.) Had you asked me when I was ten and building model rockets that shot to the sky, some in stages that glided home or landed gently in trees after drifting softly down tethered to parachutes that popped from their nose cones at apogee. I... Continue Reading →
~ Spring Break #13
“We were talking about the love that's gone so cold and the people,Who gain the world and lose their soul- ” * (529 words, 3 minutes read time.) >~~~~~13~~~~~< “Yes,” Gigi replied,” she is really, truly, and actually absolutely terminally dead. They even had to fly me down to Santa Fe where she’s been living... Continue Reading →
~ Spring Break #12
I say, “High”, You say, “Low,” You say, “Why?” And I say, “I don’t know.” Oh, no! * (620 words, 3 minutes read time.) >~~~~~ 12 ~~~~~< "Now, wait just a damn minute!" Suzy blurted. "Who's dead? And who the hell is William, uh, er, what was it? Wintigan? And just exactly who the hell... Continue Reading →
~ Spring Break #11
Always, no sometimes, think it's me. But you know I know when it's a dream.* (414 words, 2 minutes read time.) >~~~~~ 11 ~~~~~< It was growing late. The Snowbirds had left before midnight, having decided to run to Camping World in Barstow and have that awning installed before the weekend. The Cowboys had also... Continue Reading →
~ Spring Break #10
“Nowhere man, don't worry. Take your time, don't hurry. Leave it all 'til somebody else lends you a hand...* 407 words, 2 minutes read time. "Hennessey, neat," said Dr. Hapless. He sounded tired. He was tired. He’d just spent most of a twelve-hour shift trying to revive a comatose clergyman. Mel turned and poured the... Continue Reading →
~ Spring Break #9
"My independence seems to vanish in the haze... 537 words, 3 minutes read time. Wishing he had better news, Dr. Hapless walked into Mel's Bar to update his friend, Mel, about Reverend Bill’s condition. The doctor had yearned a drink even before the Medivac chopper lifted Bill's vegetative body to the sky, but his shift... Continue Reading →
~ Spring Break #8
"Please, don't wake me. No, don't shake me. Leave me where I am... * 465 words, 2 minutes read time. Last edited 2 minutes ago.I became ever more aware that I wasn't thinking, remembering, or experiencing anything as I should. All around me became less focused, even fuzzier than just moments ago. Completing personal thoughts... Continue Reading →
~ Spring Break #7
"And in my hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me. * 462 words, 2 minutes read time. It was the nurse, the one with the child's voice, who said, "It was his friend, a woman, she brought him in... I think her name was Mel." "I see. Thank you, Nurse," responded... Continue Reading →
~ Spring Break #6
"Sounds of laughter, shades of life, are ringing through my open ears...* 396 words, 2 minutes read time. “Hello, Sir,” said a man with a mild Indian accent. “My name is Dr. Hapless. I’ll be your overeducated Health Engineer and A.I. interpreter this evening. I will be at your service for no longer than you... Continue Reading →
~ Spring Break #5
...living is easy with eyes closed.* 404 words, 2 minutes read time. "Pardon me, sir... Excuse me, but can you help us to fill in some additional details about yourself? About your medical history? It’s going to be some time before our Health Engineer, Doctor Hapless, will be here to see you. So, is there any... Continue Reading →
~ Spring Break #4
I found my way upstairs and had a smoke, and somebody spoke, and I went into a dream...* 427 words, 2 minutes read time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Someone said, "Be still. Don’t move! Help is on the way!" Moments later, another voice: "We're connecting you with our support team." Then someone else said, with urgency, "The Department... Continue Reading →
~ Spring Break #3
He blew his mind out in a bar... 527 words, 3 minutes read time. "Oh, come now, Bill. You don't believe that. You don't believe in suicide." "Mel, I don’t know what to believe anymore. But, wait! I do believe in one thing. I believe that I love these peanuts!" I’ve been shelling one peanut... Continue Reading →
~ Spring Break #2
... a sermon that no one will hear. (679 words, 4 minutes read time.) "What's bothering you, Bill?" I had just begun to relish the first icy sip of a fresh draft beer, enjoying its full taste, savoring its moderate carbonation flowing down my throat! I'm sure I looked annoyed as I smirked and shook... Continue Reading →
~ Spring Break #1
I've had a drink or two, and I don't care, (434 words, 2 minutes read time) >~~~~~ 1 ~~~~~< Maybe it's these stupid allergies I try so hard to disclaim, or maybe the thick New Delhi smog that drifts thick here on the northern breeze. It clogs my nose, crusts my eyes, makes me thick,... Continue Reading →
Breathe, and retire early~
392 words, 2 minutes read time. I know how the world of recent has encouraged us all to become more goal-conscious than ever before. A person can barely board a bus or pay a toll without being asked what their goals are. Their short-term goals, their life goals. financial goals, you name it. And some... Continue Reading →
~ on the road to Jaipur
447 words, 2 minutes read time. There is little to entertain me during these five-hour rides from Delhi airport north to our farm outside of Jaipur. Whether we're coming or going, night or day, every trip is tedious, familiar, and seemingly perpetual. If not for the people we pass outside the windows, their faces, their... Continue Reading →
~ between destinations ~
432 words, 2 minutes read time. World travelers know Jaipur, the Pink City of India, as the jewel of Rajasthan. My wife and I are blessed to own a farm on the outskirts of this picturesque, "world destination city". We are fortunate to escape the city's summer heat and the monsoon seasons by skipping across... Continue Reading →
~ the immediacy of arrival.
272 words, 1 minute read time A number of readers and some concerned subscribers have contacted torncorners through it's parent company, Tacklebarn Press, to inquire about my series "What May Be Found?" Have I abandoned it, or simply forgotten about the serial and my readers, as I'm prone to do? I have done this with... Continue Reading →
Reyn’s interlude…
And what of time? Why allow it to remain? Time... Such a bother... You know, I try, but I will never catch those birds. They are always outside, and though I'm a cat, I'm an indoor cat. I will never manage to open the sliding glass door or break a window. I simply do not... Continue Reading →
Eat at Joe’s (part one)
(two-minute read) If we can not identify this type of bird as simply being one in the bush, then we must cross-reference it to some similar species, or at least find some way to relate it to a genome featuring related sequencing characteristics. Otherwise, we should universally call the bird Bill, short for a new... Continue Reading →
Eat at Joe’s (part two)
Filed under Quickies (a two-minute read) At first, people thought that paper money had no real value; not only did it have no bulk or substance, but it was also awkward and nearly silent to exchange. Bill developed the Billfold in which to store and carry paper money. This created methods and protocols, classic styles... Continue Reading →
No work at all
963 words, 5 minutes read time. I was interviewing for a copywriting position at WorkStress, a minor distributor for retail book giant Barnes & Noble, when this HR interrogation guy asked me, right out of the blue, right at the last minute, what had been my favorite subject in school? I thought the interview was… Continue Reading →
~skipping stones.
-1962-thirteen skips. We were playing alongside the monoliths of Stonehenge when I picked up this rock. I thought it was a trilobite. It wasn’t. It was just a flat rock. I knocked off the muddy crud that covered it and saw it to be a perfect skipping stone, so I sent it sailing across the… Continue Reading →
unrequited rants…
~Susie Cavanaugh's Journal ~~< Oh, look! One of my very few Ai creations, from before I knew any better. 12-13-23 (676 words, 4 minutes read time.) NOTE- this is a fictional, free-form write. An uncalled-for RANT. Writing without doubling back, except to stomp on Spellcheck. It's rash and has no purpose or deep meaning. It's... Continue Reading →