tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22948503223518622024-03-13T00:11:10.949-04:00Crumbling AsphaltThe blog of author Hank KirtonHank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-91522457728705236472020-11-11T15:49:00.000-05:002020-11-11T15:49:08.252-05:00CLARA’S KNOTS <p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f243e; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pBhFzyVZs6Q/X6w6WzW44JI/AAAAAAAACL8/uXiXJSaMKjwOnBMtXR1GNFXgu5wM63xDACLcBGAsYHQ/s300/skull-xray-image-edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="300" height="435" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pBhFzyVZs6Q/X6w6WzW44JI/AAAAAAAACL8/uXiXJSaMKjwOnBMtXR1GNFXgu5wM63xDACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h435/skull-xray-image-edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #fcff01;"> </span><p></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Clara hadn’t looked at her reflection in almost three years. She hated her
face. Couldn’t bear to look upon it or allow others to glimpse it. Her little
visage made people sick. Grown women cried quietly at the sight of her. On the
street people hid their eyes, as if the shock of Clara’s complexion might
scorch their retinas. Or worse, what if her appalling condition was contagious?
</span>
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>So she stopped going out.</span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Almost twenty years ago her mother,
Estelle, gripped by contractions and racing to the hospital, lost control of
her Buick Regal and smashed into a jagged pile of granite boulders at the old stone
quarry off Harris Ave. It was a miracle they’d both survived. Luckily, a police
cruiser spotted the wreckage and called for an ambulance before blood</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> loss brought the final curtain down. At the hospital, Estelle, while being
treated for deep lacerations and several broken bones gave birth to her
daughter through a screaming cyclone of trauma and pain. They almost died, but
didn’t. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>However, they were not
undamaged. Estelle still walked with a limp and had shocking scars all over her
body. She refused to talk about the accident. Sometimes she denied it ever
happened. She found the subject uncomfortable to the point of physical distress.
To speak of the tragedy was to court vomit.</span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara was born with a fractured
skull that didn’t heal right, causing her to mature into a hideous and grotesque
gargoyle. Eventually she hid from the world. From everyone. From THEM. <span> </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>And now her ugliness was
finally infecting her soul. She had bad ideas. They were like poison ivy vines
slipping oily tendrils around her body, whispering black thoughts. Thoughts of
spectacular suicides. Of going on an armed rampage. Murdering her mother with
an ax. The black thoughts were what experts called “intrusive.” They intruded
all right. Sometimes her bruised brain projected personal horror movies full of
violence, deformity and dance. And Clara was the star. <span> </span>She didn’t know how or why such dark fantasies
occurred to her. She didn’t even <i>like </i>horror
movies<i>.</i></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara had not left her bedroom
in three years.<span> </span>She spent most of her
time under her (queen size) bed communing with divine dust bunnies. Clara loved
dust and it blanketed her room. Pledge was forbidden. In some areas the dust
was so thick she could play in it like snow. There were magnificent drifts and
dunes everywhere. </span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>She wrote down her dark,
lacerating thoughts in spiral notebooks that she stacked in front of her
window. There was an expert term for that too—graphomania. She wrote in a tiny,
tiny hand that you’d need a magnifying glass to read. <span> </span>She closed the book she was working on and
brought it to the window. Clara never looked outside for fear of glimpsing her
reflection in the glass. </span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>She voided her bowels and
bladder into an antique chamber pot that her mother dutifully emptied for her every
morning. Her mother also brought her three square meals per day. She left the
tray of food outside Clara’s locked door and then padded back downstairs to
wait while Clara crawled out to claim the tray like a skittish alley cat. </span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Estelle hadn’t seen her daughter’s face in three years. They talked through
the locked door. Her daughter was difficult, unstable. Estelle needed to keep her
hidden from the depravity of the outside world. They would take advantage of
her—a fate worse than death. Estelle had felt genuine relief when Clara decided
to hide. It was at her insistence that she became a recluse, a shut-in. Her
mother was willing to oblige. It was in keeping with her plans. Estelle told
people Clara was away at college in New Jersey (Princeton). Not that anyone
asked. The arrangement was mutually advantageous. Estelle maliciously lorded
over her secret, sensitive daughter and Clara remained hidden to practice her
Art in ascetic solitude. They had an understanding. They relied on each other
to live. They were bound by NEED and BLOOD. But the relationship was exhausting.
Clara had a temper that could ignite and burst at the slightest
provocation.<span> </span>Estelle had no choice but
to keep her distance. She knew Clara was a danger to both of them. There may be
no limit to her burgeoning ascendancy.</span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Estelle started thinking about
guns and Lucien and about what was about to happen. She had pushed things into
motion. There was no turning back. A drama was about to unfold. She felt a cold
current moving through her veins. Her stomach was tight with anticipation. </span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Clara lay under her bed, trying to exit her body and float downstairs. If
she concentrated hard enough, she could do it. She’d done it before. She closed
her eyes and pictured a pinpoint of light in the middle of her mind. Like a
diamond prism casting colors from refracted sunlight. She remained motionless,
humming a long, single note and she felt the weight of her body relax and
release her. There was a soft tearing feeling and she let herself slip slowly
downward, sinking as if in warm water and when she opened her eyes there she
was, hovering above the living room, light as a helium balloon. She had passed
easily through the floor. She wondered if this was what death was like. Just
floating around waiting for God to issue a transfer. She felt like a ghost. She
looked at her hands. They were emanating a warm yellow haze and she wondered
what that meant. Clara didn’t learn her magic from ancient grimoires or even pop
guides to witchcraft. She was self-taught; her magic intuitive. A lot of her
powers went over her head. </span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Her mother was sitting on the
old threadbare couch, eating Pringles and watching television. Clara hadn’t
watched TV in three years. It was probably a whole new world now. Clara let
herself drift out of the living room, passing through the north wall of the
house and then she was outside.</span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Don’t go too far,” said a
friendly, familiar voice. “You don’t want to get stranded out here...”</span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>It was the voice of Sir Scurvy,
a wise errant knight who helped her sometimes. He was fussy and kind of a nag
and a figment of Clara’s fecund imagination but she loved him like a TV sitcom dad.
</span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>The merciless sun was beating
down on the yard, turning everything dry and fiery. She almost expected the
bushes to explode into flames like in the Old Testament. </span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara drifted like a dream into
the trees, rising and gaining altitude. Then suddenly, <i>Whoa</i>, hold on. She had climbed to a height that made her nervous
and a spike of doubt suddenly stung her and she was jerked roughly down and
back, through the wall and into the ceiling and then she crashed back into her
stiff, leaden body and opened her eyes. </span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>She was back in her room, under
the bed. She felt sick. She felt something warm on her upper lip and realized
her nose was bleeding. It happened sometimes. Astral projection was hard on the
old coconut. She felt a punishing migraine coming on and she began yanking
hairs out of her scalp to try to circumvent the mounting pain. Each quick pluck
brought her relief. A welcome respite from the strain her (madness?) power had
inflicted upon her mind and body. It reminded her that she was human and not dead (for
now). She tugged out another lock of hair. The expert term for this disorder
was </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">trichotillomania
(trik-o-till-o-MAY-nee-ah).</span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Sir Scurvy whispered something
important in her ear and Clara began to focus on her hideous face and the
bruised brain behind it. She pictured herself. She looked at herself with a
brave, unflinching eye. Or maybe it was mere masochism. Clara could only look
at herself from the inside, where it was dark and cold and everything moved
like mucous. <span> </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Estelle trudged into the kitchen for another beer. It was two o’clock in
the afternoon, too soon for scotch but a couple of—a loud, sudden thud above
her derailed her train of thought. What on earth was that devil doing now?
Something strange and dangerous no doubt. Felt like the whole ceiling was going
to crash down. Clara was edging toward violence. It was almost inevitable that
she’d eventually attack Estelle. It was only a matter of time.<span> </span>Clara had a lot of scary, deadly stuff in her
arsenal. </span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara had been diagnosed with a
dysmorphic disorder in high school, three years ago.<span> </span>Convinced she was a hideous mutant, Clara
retreated from life; ending friendships, giving up on college, exiling herself
to her room like a shell-shocked soldier in an underground bunker.
Estelle thought it was a real shame; such a smart, young, attractive girl. She
had sabotaged her future, her whole life, for the obsessive pursuit of occult
power. Magical power that they both believed lay contained like a slow-burning
fuse within Clara’s battered brain. Estelle had wanted to take her to a
doctor—psychiatric or otherwise—but Clara would have none of it. She’d launch
into a violent temper-tantrum at the very mention of the idea. She would
release harmful invisible things into the air, making her mother run. Clara
couldn’t be forced to do anything. So that was that. Estelle didn’t have the
means or the willpower to commit her. Not that she could. It would take a small
army to drag Clara to a mental hospital. And there would be casualties. <span class="e24kjd"></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Estelle wondered how far
Clara’s mental disorders (abilities) would reach. Would she be able to cast
things from great distances, making it impossible to flee? <span> </span>She just kept getting worse and worse and more
powerful and enigmatic. Estelle felt frightened and overwhelmed. It was like
living with an erratic sorcerer. Spells and curses permeated the atmosphere of
their home like simmering potpourri. <span> </span>Estelle felt plagued, tortured; she never knew
when she might discover a weasel drowning in the toilet or a rain of dead
garter snakes on the roof of the house. Strange faces whispering in unknown
tongues. Filthy pilgrims straggling into town wearing their hard-won misery
like medieval armor. All they wanted was to see her, maybe she would touch
them. And then they would disappear, continuing a journey that would not end
until tiny white mushrooms sprouted from the dirty creases in their old weatherbeaten
faces.<span> </span><span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara’s magical madness
attacked Estelle whenever she entered the house. It was never the same place
twice. It had become <i>Clara’s house</i>,
polluted with her black essence. Estelle hated to use the words <i>evil</i> and <i>crazy</i> with regard to her daughter but there were no other apt adjectives.
And Estelle was sure the house was sucking up her negative energy like electric
protein. Storing it like nuclear waste. For what? Estelle looked at the clock
and thought about Lucien again. She’d warned him about Clara’s powerful
proclivities but he scoffed at her caution. He told her he didn’t believe in
sorcery.<span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara had turned their beloved dog,
Samson inside-out for barking one night. When Estelle got up and saw the quivering,
leaking mass of dog guts she’d screamed her whole soul out. <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>The dog coughed up a clot of
foul-smelling black slime. It hit the wall with a slap, and then slid gently to
the floor. Clara collected and stored the ichor in a glass jar, placing it
under her bed with the rest of her chemistry lab. Clara was an aspiring
alchemist. <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara’s solitude and ascetic
lifestyle had opened the door to a magical realm where space, time and reality
played by new rules. HER rules. Clara was shamanic. She existed in a perfectly
safe delusion. An ever-changing illusion. And if nothing were real you could
get away with all kinds of nefarious and pleasurable activities. </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Estelle looked at the clock
again. Lucien was soon.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Clara lay on her stomach under her giant, cavernous bed, threading hairs
plucked from her scalp into a spider-shaped talisman. She would imbue it with
energy and use it as a tool. A secret confidant. A wise spy to guard the gold.
A fortune, a weapon. <span> </span>A rat whose only
job was reconnaissance.<span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>CLARA THOUGHT</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>A carpenter ant crawled toward
her and she communicated with it using chittering insect telepathy. The ant brought
strange news from the nest. Clara gathered her thoughts together and projected them
to the ant with sharp, almost painful focus. Her thoughts were white-hot
needles transmitting vital information to the receptive little bugger. <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Sir Scurvy said, “Remember, you
can’t always trust ants.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Oh be quiet. I can trust this
one. Look at him. He’s such a cute little fella.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span>Sir Scurvy went, “Humph,” and floated off.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>The ant’s tiny antennae
twitched, then it crawled away, heading back to the nest to relay Clara’s
message to the Queen. Clara went back to work, weaving her dark hair into the
soft black spider that would scuttle through her dreams like paramecium in a pond.
She hummed while she worked; smooth yet staccato tones. The sound was soft and
soothing. Warm. Healing. She felt a nervous excitement as she realized her
growing power. Her stomach tightened. Her bowels tingled like something big was
coming.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Anything was possible.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Three years ago Clara had been diagnosed with acromegaly, a disease that
deformed her face and hands. Her features grew heavy and swollen. Twisted. She
knew she was ugly. But behind her lumpy, landscape face her black-and-blue
brain could do wondrous things. It <i>let </i>her
do wondrous things. Things that would bring loss and injury to the annoying
people in her life. </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Sir Scurvy reminded her that since
loverboy Lance had been dispatched, she only had one other person in her life.
Her mother. An enemy of one.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>No matter. Clara’s incubation
period had not yet concluded. She still had things to prepare. But it was hard.
Hard work. She was monstrous to look upon and so she had to hide. She had to
hide her face, her plans. It all took a grim toll. Solitude, empty places, they
all possessed power and if she moved into the right place at the key moment the
universe would reward her with mystical shit. Clara knew all the sacred places
in her room. They charged her like a battery when she grew weak. Her room was
central to the new universe. It was wired directly to the heart of the matter.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Soon there would be an
unveiling even more shocking and scandalous than her graduation stunt. She
would reveal herself again and astonishment would deform the world. Or at least
the town. She would demonstrate her power and women would faint; grown men
would leak in their pants.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Just thinking about it made her
smile (inwardly). She didn’t allow herself to smile with her mouth; revealing
her black, jumbled teeth. No way.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Estelle poured her first scotch of the day and turned on <i>Three’s Company</i>. After she got a buzz
on, she would fix Clara’s dinner. She just needed to stabilize herself first.
Work up the courage to tackle the chore. Whiskey was a good motivator if you
limited yourself to a responsible, regulated dose. It was like medicine.
Whiskey conquered fear. Whiskey gave her ambition. Whiskey energized even as it
eased her brain away from all the petty, nettlesome concerns that plagued her
life. Whiskey even tempered the occult presence in the house. Made it more
palatable. Less frightening. She could resist Clara’s mystical shenanigans when
she was drunk. She could just <i>poof </i>them
away and disregard her daughter completely.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>But, of course when the whiskey ran out
she was plunged back into a life of fear and she'd run from the house for more provisions.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara ate the same thing every
evening: raw mushrooms with truffles, beets, and a small steak cooked so rare
Clara could slurp the blood off the plate. Clara insisted on this meal. It was
important to her in a ritualistic sense. Any variation, no matter how slight
and she would scream and threaten to burn the house down. Clara could
accomplish such arson with ease. She could conjure fire, filling her hands with
balls of flame. Estelle had seen it. Fire was her friend. Her weapon of choice.
There were black singe marks all over Clara’s old crib. When Clara was three
(3) she was playing with her fingers and they ignited like blue-tipped matches.
She’d screamed and the flames jumped to her head, setting her hair on fire. <span> </span>Luckily, Estelle smelled the burning hair and quickly
smothered the flames under an adorable Shriner’s blanket. Clara received
third-degree burns on her face, turning it into a ghastly, scar-ravaged fright-mask.
She’d worn a black veil to school all the way through to graduation. Many of the
other students were nervous about her as she moved through the halls or sat
like a black mannequin at the back of the class. She moved like a faceless phantom.
She wore only black. Her appearance was vampiric, unsettling. Her school didn’t
even have a goth contingent. Clara was THE weirdo. She was it. Nobody stared at
her directly. They were afraid. She could do things. They had heard things. She
was like a malevolent character in a Medieval folk tale. She was never bullied.
No one would dare. When she climbed the stage to accept her diploma, she
removed her veil, finally revealing her scarred appearance to the entire
school. It was the greatest moment of her life. Gasps of shock and a few
choking screams. Nobody clapped. <span> </span>Some
cried. She was saying goodbye on her own terms, as <i>herself</i>. And, as an added benefit she got to shock the shit out of
the pathetic parents with her perfectly dreadful self-reveal. If Clara had been
able to smile, she would have. <span> </span>Smiles
were just too damn hard for her. Smiling revealed her broken teeth and naked skull.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>After the ceremony Clara walked
home and locked herself in her room forever.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Now, as she lay under her bed,
she savored the memory. Her debut in polite society. They were probably still
talking about her. She pushed her musings aside to concentrate on her important
scientific endeavors. </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>At the moment she was exploring
the vast, detailed terrain on a puff of dust. It was the size of a cotton ball
but as big as a planet to her. Clara wanted to live there and was working on a
plan. Sir Scurvy was doubtful about the logistics but said nothing. He was
loyal. Clara studied the miniature lakes and rivers, the tiny pine trees and
snow-topped mountains and deep ravines. She observed cities, small communities
with buildings, bridges and roads and then suddenly there was a KNOCK KNOCK at
the door, then a quiet moment and then POUND POUND POUND. Her wretched mother
was banging for attention.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Estelle had plated Clara’s dinner of portabella mushrooms, beets and steak
and carried it upstairs. She also carried a glass of warm milk. Clara insisted
on warm (not hot, not room temperature) milk. The steak was raw in the middle
and a moat of blood expanded around the slab. Clara loved blood. She had finally
stopped cutting herself, much to her mother’s relief. She got all her blood
from cows now.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Estelle placed the plate
outside Clara’s door and then knocked: two sharp raps with her knuckles. A
rest. Then three more knocks with the ball of her fist. It was a secret code
Clara insisted upon. She was convinced that enemy agents were everywhere. They
hid like cockroaches with tiny microphones. They could burrow into her thoughts
with advanced and immoral equipment. She was sure they had a thick dossier on
her. She was a danger to the government. Hell, she was a threat to the whole
planet.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Estelle heard shuffling inside,
then footsteps.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Yeah?” Clara said.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Dinner’s ready.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Okay. Thanks. Go away now.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Are you okay?”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Go away now.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“But honey, we haven’t talked
in weeks, I just want to know how you—“</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO
AWAAAAAAAAAY!” And Clara began to beat her fists against the door. “GO AWAY!”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Okay, I’m going. I’m sorry
honey...”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Go away.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Estelle retreated down the
stairs, moving toward her scotch and beer and TV. Her heart raced. Her hands
were trembling. She hated upsetting her daughter. It was dangerous. For both of
them. There was no telling what kind of malignant entity she might release into
the air.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Lucien, soon.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>After several minutes she heard
Clara’s door creak open; heard Clara crawl like a lizard to capture her food. <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Then the door shut with a
muffled <i>thump</i> that transmitted a
brief electric jolt to Estelle’s spine. Clara would be silent for the rest of
the night. Estelle could relax in the brief calm before the storm. <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara worked and lived in a
forest of strange invisible puzzles. Everything was fraught with significance.
Everything was a test. <span> </span>Everything just <i>seemed</i> random, she said. There were
precise schematics for everything if you knew where to find them. There were
blueprints for hope and dignity and lust. Every fraction of a second was a vast
Rube Goldberg contraption.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>A lot of what Clara believed
was incomprehensible to Estelle. She’d tried to follow Clara’s scientific
lectures but pretty soon she’d be lost in her own color-coordinated daydreams. </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Estelle poured a shot of scotch
down her throat and turned on <i>Laverne and
Shirley</i>. <span> </span>She wouldn’t have to deal
with Clara until morning when she’d clear the plate, empty her disgusting
chamber pot and bring her a breakfast of peanuts, snails and yams. </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>But wait a minute, she suddenly
realized. None of that was true anymore. She had to remind herself that the
usual itinerary was null and void. Clara would be dealt with well before
breakfast. </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Once, while Estelle was dealing
with Clara’s messy chamber pot she discovered small bones and tufts of red hair
in the stool. Clara’s hair was black and long. The red hair was short, coarse
and thick, like animal fur. Had Clara killed and eaten a fox? The idea was, of
course, impossible, ludicrous. But Estelle was sure she had not yet witnessed the
full horror of Clara’s magic.<span> </span>She was
still growing, nourished by madness, informed by infernal texts. Progressing
toward something seismic. </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: center 3.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Gathering power to hurt the world.<span> </span><span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Estelle began to feel honest
dread. She thought about Lance and his suspicious disappearance...</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;">For a (short) while, Estelle’s boyfriend Lance lived with them. Lance
drank a lot of vodka. He got blackout drunk. Lance collected gross, violent
pornography (which he</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> forced her to watch) and large brass belt buckles. He was a Pisces. He
settled arguments with his fists.<span> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>And he was monumentally
creeped-out by Clara. Seeing Estelle clean Clara’s chamber pot made him angry.
It made him gag. Clara didn’t bathe and the rank smell of her body travelled
like raw sewage out of her room and into the rest of the house. He considered
putting a move on Clara (he thought she was kind of cute in an offbeat way) but
god the stink. It held him at bay like a force field. And then one night he got
blind drunk and his anger and animosity seized control. It was night and he
quietly slipped upstairs and quickly picked the lock, gaining access to Clara’s
room. The stink of the room made his eyes water. </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>So, Clara didn’t want to bathe?
Okay. Fine. He would take matters into his own hands. Clara slept on top of her
bed back then. In those days. He listened to her breathe for a while. She
looked so innocent. This little demon. This stinking hellspawn with her black,
omniscient eyes. He stood by her bed, watching her sleep. Then he revved his
anger and splashed hydrochloric acid in her face.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara screamed, loud and long.
Her skin started sloughing off her skull immediately. In a split-second Lance
had turned her from a monster on the inside to a monster on the outside. Now
her face matched her evil soul. While Clara screamed and thrashed, Lance
staggered back downstairs for more vodka. Estelle was locked in a deep whiskey
sleep and Lance shook her awake. “Yo, Estelle you need to tend to your
daughter.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“W-wha?” Then Estelle heard her
daughter’s agonizing shrieks. <span> </span>As she bolted
up the stairs she heard Lance shout from below, “And don’t you go inviting the
police over here or you’ll regret it! I got more of that shit!”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Estelle gathered Clara and
drove her to the hospital but the doctors couldn’t save her face. Out of pure
fear, neither Clara nor her mother pressed charges against Lance. They claimed
it was accidental.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara would deal with the
bastard after her rehabilitation. They performed several surgeries; skin
grafts, transplants, trying to cobble together a less monstrous appearance. They
did their best and then they sent her home.<span>
</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span>
</span>Lance’s whereabouts remain unknown.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;">As soon as she’d finished sewing the spider, Clara heard back from the
ants. Sir Scurvy floated over to the bed to eavesdrop. The same black carpenter
ant crawled over to Clara. Its movements were erratic and it performed several
loop-de-loops on its way to her face. Its tiny compound eyes rotated dizzily.
Girl and ant exchanged mute pleasantries and then began to converse with the black
chattering gnaw of formicidae telepathy. <span> </span>The news from the nest was not good: “</span></span><span class="e24kjd"><i><span style="line-height: 200%;">Aphidshoneydewdyingtreerotten”,</span></i></span><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> the ant told her. They
planned to relocate the colony from the rotting oak tree to the house. The
Queen had decreed it.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara merely shrugged. “Do what
you gotta do,” she said but she warned him that she was planning to burn the
house to the ground at some point. It would happen. So, plan accordingly.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>The ant vibrated its antennae,
clicked its mandible, and departed, walking straight this time—no looping. She
had scared the ant straight. Gave him something to chew over. The Queen would
not be pleased.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span>
</span>Sir Scurvy laughed. “I guess you showed those ants. I believe they meant
to cause you consternation by moving into the house. You foiled them most
admirably.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“I wasn’t trying to <i>foil them</i>. I just told the truth.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Of course my dear. How’s the
spider coming?”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara held it up. “It’s done!”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“By Jove so it is!”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Now I just need to go to sleep
and dream.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Ah yes. Luckily that’s never
been a problem for you. You can slip into...”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara was already asleep. She’d
placed the spider under her chin. Sir Scurvy floated away to give her privacy.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara’s dreams bled into wet,
warm reality. Even now, without having achieved deep REM sleep, soft knots of a
plastic-like substance lay scattered around her slumbering form. Like small,
smooth piles of modeling clay. They resembled novelty dog turds. She had
dreamed them into existence. Their contours and colors came straight from her agitated
brain. They were like psychic fingerprints. Knots of her subconscious. Fleeting
dreams made manifest. Solid.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara shifted, turned over,
punched her pillow and opened her eyes. She lifted the flounce and looked out.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>A tall man with a twisted face was
moving toward her.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Estelle drank another shot of scotch and chased it with a full-throated
swallow of Bud. After a long satisfying belch she heard footsteps above her.
They were the heavy footsteps of a large man wearing boots. </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>It was actually happening!
Right now! The footsteps crossed the room several times. They plodded, moving
at a relaxed pace. It was frightening. Estelle poured another shot and then
wondered how he’d gotten into the house. </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>The footsteps stopped at the
edge of Clara’s bed. <span> </span>Estelle held her
breath. Listening. <span> </span>The thing to do, of
course, was CALL 9-11! <i>There’s an
intruder in the house!</i> Yet Estelle did nothing. She sat at the kitchen
table, grabbed a deck of cards and dealt out a game of solitaire.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Upstairs could be heard screams
and a violent scuffling on the floor. And then the screams ceased and there was
a loud gunshot followed by a heavy THUMP on the floor.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>It was done. Finally. Estelle
had rescued the world.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>She scooped up the cards,
shuffled them, and then laid out a new game.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>There was silence above her.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span>
</span>She placed a queen of diamonds over a king of spades.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Then the heavy booted footsteps
crossed the room. Clara’s door creaked open. Estelle leaned back, reached into
the silverware drawer and removed her Beretta M9. She held it under the table
and waited. Just in case. She’d invited a ruthless killer into her home.
Certain precautions were indicated and justified.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>A tall man with a disfigured
face entered the kitchen. His name was Lucien and that was all. Estelle had met
him in Hap’s Bar and after much flirting and heavy drinking, he let it slip
that he was an ex-green beret and a contract killer. Lucien told her, “I’ve
done dozens of hits. All over the country. Satisfaction guaranteed. I may cost
a little more but it’s worth it. I go the extra mile for my clients. I’ve even
done hits for the government.” </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>She hired him on the spot. </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Now, in Estelle’s kitchen he
said simply, “Done,” </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Thanks,” said Estelle. “I
appreciate it. She give you any trouble with her magic?”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Money first,” he said.
“Discussion later.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Estelle got up, went to the
freezer, and removed a heavy cardboard box filled with stacks of hundred dollar
bills. All the money her mother had left her.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Here you go. Worth every
penny. Don’t spend it all in one place.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Lucien grunted and received the
box of blood-money. Then he moved toward the door.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Hey, where do you think you’re
going? The job’s not finished until you clean up all the clues.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Lucien looked at her. His eyes
were like black pinholes leading into cold space. <span> </span>He grunted again, as if the mere act of
speaking was as grisly and taxing as the meatier aspects of the job and said, “I’m
coming back. I told you not to be here for the execution. I suggested you plan
an airtight alibi, But noooo you had to be here. Couldn’t stay away from the
action.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Estelle bristled. “So where are
you going then?”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> ”I need to pick up some tools and cleaning supplies.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Why the hell didn’t you get that
stuff already? What kind of a half-assed hitman are you anyway?”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“I didn’t know exactly what I’d
need before. Now I do.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“I don’t like this. It’s too
messy. I wanted things to be neat and smooth. Remember when I said that? <i>Neat and smooth</i>.” <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“I hate to break it to you lady,
but this is as neat and smooth as these situations get. Murder is messy. It
just is. We can and will make corrections for that. Now just sit tight and wait
for me to get back. <span> </span>And put away that
stupid gun.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>And then he was out the door
and gone. She would never see him again.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>The house was silent.
Different. <span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>She considered coffee. No, one
thing she didn’t need was an accelerated heart rate. She thought of her
terrible daughter, dead upstairs. She wondered what was up there. What did the crime scene look like? Lucien had
done the deed with such ruthless precision and speed. A single shot. She began
to pace. She wished she smoked. The suspense slashed at her. She continued to
pace and then she couldn’t stand it any longer.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>She grabbed her gun and <span> </span>moved quietly up the stairs. She had to find
out if the deed was done. She wanted to look upon her daughter one last time.
To make sure she was dead. To prove that she was finally free. She would stand
over Clara’s lifeless body and gloat<i>. I
won. You can’t scare me or hurt me anymore...</i></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>When she reached the landing she
heard this: </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Hello? Mother?” </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara was standing in her
doorway. Her eyes.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Clara. You’re okay,” she said,
hoping her shock didn’t inform the timbre of her voice. Remain calm.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Estelle said, “I thought...”
and that was all.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“You thought your hired hit man
killed me?”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;">HURT</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara held up a bullet, turning
it over like a precious gem. “You and your boy underestimated me. Bullets? Did
you really think bullets would cause my demise?” She dropped the bullet to
the floor. “You might as well shoot jellybeans at me,” she said and laughed.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span>“But how?” Estelle said.” It’s impossible...”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Nah, it aint hard. You just
remove the bullet’s velocity. You slow the bullets down so you can catch them with
your bare hands. It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book. It goes back to vaudeville and wild west shows. But I have another
<i>new</i> trick for you.” </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Please,” Estelle moaned.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“You hired a hit man to kill
your only daughter.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span>“No! It was a misunderstanding! I have nothing
to do with it. I don’t even know that guy. And and...”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara raised her hand, “Don’t
even try that little miss innocent routine on me. I’m not an idiot. You
conspired with that Lucien guy to murder me. And you failed.”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“What are you going to do to
me?” Estelle asked, close to tears.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Don’t worry. I have plans for
you. I want you to meet some friends of mine.”<span style="background-color: black;"><span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Estelle lay on the floor of Clara’s bedroom, naked and hogtied with sturdy
cables that Clara had conjured from her sleeping mind. They were as strong as steel
and soft as fabric. Estelle would never escape, no matter how much she
wriggled. Hell, not even Houdini himself could wriggle free of Clara’s knots.
Clara looked down at her mother with her ugly face and laughed. <span> </span>Sir Scurvy looked on nervously. He knew what
was coming. </span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Clara, please,” Estelle said.
“I’m sorry! Please don’t hurt me!”</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Clara looked at Estelle and
snapped her fingers.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Estelle screamed as the ants
attacked her.</span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;">
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</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span class="e24kjd"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;">
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</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></p><span style="color: #fcff01;"></span><br />Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-19255025970311752202020-10-17T13:56:00.000-04:002020-10-17T13:56:46.026-04:00The Encounter Group<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vpELW5SNfxg/X4sq3B78VzI/AAAAAAAACLM/lsdYgfYQU_kCIDfEYf8oV6Tds8pQ9jF1QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1696/Back.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1696" height="362" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vpELW5SNfxg/X4sq3B78VzI/AAAAAAAACLM/lsdYgfYQU_kCIDfEYf8oV6Tds8pQ9jF1QCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h362/Back.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">So Agnes (32) reluctantly joined an encounter
group called Massaging the Human Heart over in South Ploughsborough. It was a
small group, thank god, because Agnes suffered from several active issues that
sprang from her basic loathing of people.<span>
</span>There were ten members of the group plus Brad. Brad was the “leader.”
Mr. Sensitivity. Mr. Open-Your-Heart. Mr. I’m-Feeling-a-Lot-of-Love-in-This-Room.
Mr. Calm. Mr. Articulate. Mr. Asshole. </span></span></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Agnes
hated Brad and everything he stood for but she had to admit he was a handsome
man. Easy on the eyes as they say. He looked like a model in a stereo ad or
something with his feathered hair and groomed mustache. He had a cleft in his
chin you could store files in.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Agnes
didn’t know about the others but <i>her</i>
attendance was mandatory if she wanted to keep her job (which, frankly, she
didn’t). Agnes worked as a receptionist at an insurance company and when she
quit taking her medication people started to complain about her lousy work
ethic. She was too curt with the customers. She wouldn’t smile. She sighed a
lot. She jumped when the phone rang and IT RANG ALL THE TIME. An important
component of the job was forced friendliness and she just couldn’t fake it
anymore. Her boss—an obnoxious little weasel and creep—told her he was reaching
the end of his rope with her bad attitude so he ordered her to attend a
“sensitivity seminar” or she’d be dismissed. Summarily. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>So
here she was, sitting in a circle with nine other losers. Brad walked into the
room smelling of pipe tobacco and spearmint and took the seat opposite Agnes.
Oh great, Mr. Eye-Contact was going to harass her tonight. Mr. Emotions. Mr.
Personal Growth.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span>
</span>“Hello there Agnes,” he purred in a sugary voice. “And how are we
feeling today?” He spoke like a kindergarten teacher, like she was a child or
something. Mr. Condescending. <span> </span>Mr. Smarmy.
Mr. Fuckface. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Well,”
Agnes began. “Today I feel open to new concepts and challenges. I feel like
solving my problems and I want to participate in the group and really explore
my emotions,” she said with as much false sincerity as she could shovel. She
knew she was overdoing the sarcasm but she didn’t care. Mr. Mind Games didn’t
know who he was dealing with. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>She
wanted to break him. <span> </span>Disrupt the
meeting. Wipe that smug expression off his patronizing face.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span>
</span>“Well, Agnes. We get the feeling you’re just telling us what we want to
hear.” He leaned forward, staring at her with his ice-blue eyes. “Now why don’t
you knock off the bull-stuff and tell us how you really feel. Or we’re afraid
we’ll have to turn you around again.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Mr.
Taskmaster punished insubordination by making members face away from the rest
of the group. It was like being shunned. It was stupid. Agnes had been turned around
twice so far (for refusing to participate). Three strikes and you were out and she’d
get a bad evaluation. She had to present her weasel boss with a positive report
to keep her crappy job. God she hated the men in her life. She hated life in general.
</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Perhaps
stopping Zoloft had been a misguided idea.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“I’m
sorry,” she said. “That was rude of me. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by
things right now, to be honest.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>He
plastered a look of pity on his face and said, “M-hm. Good. Honesty is what we
strive for here. Tell us what you feel overwhelmed by.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>She
was going to mention her current fears and frustrations regarding her
impossible job and rocky relationship (Tom had served her with divorce papers
and she’d have to move out of their house) but couldn’t summon the will to
spill her guts so instead she said, “This stupid waste of time and you, you
asshole.” She felt a tingling frequency of pleasure rise inside her. God that
felt good. What was wrong with her?</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Some
of the other members gasped and averted their eyes but Brad’s smooth expression
didn’t change. He waited several dramatic beats and then gave her a wisp of a
grin and said, “We sense a lot of rage in you. And that’s okay. Your feelings
are valid and you express them in a clear and frank and blunt manner. We think
you’re learning it’s unhealthy to keep your emotions bottled-up. Even the
negative ones. This is progress. Let’s congratulate Agnes on a major
breakthrough, everyone.” The other members clapped half-heartedly. It was the
textbook definition of “a smattering of applause.” It was sad.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Agnes
sighed. “Aren’t you going to turn me around?” She hadn’t planned it but she
suddenly wanted to embarrass the whole rotten group.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Do
you want us to turn you around, Agnes?”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“I
don’t really give a shit what <i>we</i> do.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Brad
looked at the young woman to Agnes’s right. “Marsha, do you think we should
turn Agnes around?”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span>
</span>Marsha looked struck. “Uh, well, I don’t know. Maybe? I don’t know...”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Come
on Marsha, don’t equivocate. Give us a clear, decisive answer.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Then
I say, uh, yes? I mean, I guess so...”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span></span>“Thank you Marsha. Why don’t we take a vote?
Raise your hand if you think Agnes should be turned around. But keep in mind
that this would be her third strike and she’d be expelled from the group
permanently. Let’s see a show of hands.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>It
took a few awkward seconds for every member to raise their hand. It was
unanimous. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Agnes
laughed. “I’m feeling a lot of hate in this room. And you can all go fuck
yourselves.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span>
</span>“That’s enough Agnes,” Brad said in a calm, even voice. “Please turn
your chair around and face the wall.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“Are
you kidding? You think I’m going to stay here just so you can kick me out? Get a clue, Brad.” She stood up. “I’m out of here. Meeting adjourned.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>“I’m
sorry you’re leaving in such an angry, agitated state. We think the group could
have helped you with your copious crises,” he told her. Mr. Guilt. Mr. Petty.
Agnes wanted to smack him. Instead, she walked out of the room, fighting the
urge to slam the door.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span>
</span>Bastards.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span>As she made her way across the parking lot
she was struck by the fierce fact that not only would she have to move, she’d also
have to find another job. It was too much. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>When
she was on Zoloft she couldn’t cry. Her emotions had been blocked. Locked up. <span></span>But now, sitting in her Honda Civic, the tears
flowed salty and hot and she actually considered returning to the meeting and
apologizing to the group. She felt helpless and lost. Her defiant attitude had
evaporated. But who was she fooling? She couldn’t face Brad and the others again.
</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span>Mr.
Full-of-Himself. Mr. False Sympathy. Mr. Dickhead.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>No, she
had burned that bridge.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>They were
probably having a grand time talking shit about her.<span> </span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>When she
was under better control she started the car and drove slowly toward home. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span>She turned on the radio and found some
hard, violent music.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span>Her brief crying jag had been cathartic and as
she pulled onto highway 93 she noticed she was almost smiling. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Welcome
back.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-48279966050442312562020-10-15T21:14:00.008-04:002020-10-15T21:18:40.738-04:001978<p> This is an excerpt from a novella I wrote recently. </p><p> </p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Tommy and Kent finally reached the sandlot. Jimmy and
Raymond were throwing rocks into the brackish swamp that bordered the
east side of the sandlot. Throwing rocks was still important. Being able to
run fast was important. Being able to wrestle was important. They would enter
high school in the fall and that’s when these skills got REALLY important. Or
didn’t. It was assumed Tommy would run track because he liked to run and was
the fastest kid at Busey Middle School. But Tommy had other ideas. When asked about
his plans vis-à-vis athletics he was evasive, even misleading. He let people
believe he was destined to be a jock without actually acknowledging anything. He
could think of nothing that was less important to him than athletics. He dominated in gym class but hated to compete. He knew he would
face pressures in the fall. He’d have to be ready for that. He hated to let
people down but he also had to stick to his own plans. And they just didn’t
involve sports.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>The
four boys greeted each other with slapped hands and then Raymond and Jimmy led Tommy
and Kent to a small clearing behind a boulder and Raymond, a tall goober of a
kid with thick glasses, reached into his pocket and came out with a
tightly-rolled joint. It was like a magic trick. “Jesus there it is,” said
Kent. “Hey Lemme smell it!” </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Raymond
held it under Kent’s nose and he sniffed. “Mmmm,” he said. “Nice.” The other
boys laughed.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“Your
brother’s gonna kill you,” Tommy said.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“Nah
he won’t," Raymond said. "He'll just think he lost it or smoked it. He doesn’t know what’s going on in
his life he’s so wasted all the time. This joint is just a drop in the bucket
to him.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>Jimmy, a short, big-headed kid nicknamed “Germ” because of his small
size said, “Well let’s go. Spark it up.” Germ was the only one of the crew who
had gotten high before. He’d smoked with his cousin a bunch of times.
At least that was what he claimed. Nobody had ever met this mysterious “cousin.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>“Take it easy, Germ,” said Raymond. “You gotta do this with a certain
degree of finesse.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Tommy
burst out laughing. “Man, you are so full of shit, I love it.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>Raymond gave Tommy a friendly but not-too-light punch on the arm. “Takes
one shithead to know another one.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“Hey,
are we gonna smoke this thing or what?” said Kent. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>“Yeah, yeah hold your water.” Raymond dug a pack of matches out of his
back pocket. The other boys leaned in close. Raymond plugged the joint into his
mouth, struck a match and held it to the twisted end of the joint. He inhaled
deeply and as soon as the smoke invaded his lungs he coughed it out, gasping. A
string of drool fell from the corner of his mouth. “Jesus,” he gasped. “That’s
harsh...”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>“That’s because you just inhaled paper,” said Kent. “Pass it over here.”
He took the joint from Raymond. “Didn’t you guys ever see <i>Easy Rider</i>? You inhale it and hold it in both lungs for as long as
you can. Observe.” And he sucked a deep hit from the joint, held it for about a
millisecond and coughed it out.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span><span> </span>“Easy Rider, huh? Yeah, okay,” said Tommy,
laughing.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>“Let’s see how you do, Bob Marley,” Kent said, still gasping. He passed
the joint to Tommy.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Tommy
looked at it. “Hey, Raymond.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“Yes
dear?”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“What
flavor is this?”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>“Flavor? It’s grass. Grass flavored.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“Yeah, I know but what kind of grass? Acapulco Gold? Panama Red?
California Sinsemilla?”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>Raymond gave Tommy a sideways smile and said, “Okay, connoisseur just
take a hit. Let’s see what you got.”<span> </span><span> </span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Tommy
took a small hit, managed to hang onto it for a second, then it whooshed out of
him, followed by brisk staccato coughing. “Uhg, man.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span><span> </span>“Gimme gimme,” said Germ. Tommy gave him
the joint. “It’s all yours, Germ. Ack, that shit’s awful.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>Raymond said, “That means it’s strong. The worse it tastes the more
fucked-up you get. You guys feel anything yet?”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Germ
took a long hit and held it. And held it. And held it. Everyone fell silent, astounded.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>“Whoa! Go Germ!” said Tommy.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>Finally, Germ let out the smoke. “Well,” he said, without coughing. “I
have determined what strain of marijuana we’re dealing with here.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“Oh
yeah? What?” Raymond wanted to know. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“It’s
dirt weed. Homegrown donkey dirt.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Raymond
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</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“Your
brother didn’t. We did.” He looked at the half a joint in his hand. “We can’t
get high from this.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“Hey
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</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span><span></span>The others returned to the sandlot. </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> Jimmy the Germ
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</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>“Susie Parker’s birthday tomorrow.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Tommy
deflated. “Oh, that. Yeah, I guess I have to. My folks want me to go. Mrs.
Parker sent the invitation to my mom.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
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chuckled. “Sounds like you did get high off that dirt weed, Germ.”</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
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<![endif]--></p><p><br /></p>Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-51840979292280962112020-09-10T13:18:00.000-04:002020-09-10T13:18:59.398-04:00Stung! at Expat Press<p style="text-align: center;"> Stung! is a short story about a guy getting stung by hornets. Dig the link below.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://expatpress.com/stung-hank-kirton/">STUNG!</a> <br /></span></b></u></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BbQQ3Z6bZbg/X1pexZVj-gI/AAAAAAAACKo/153JzEmscNw--pPWrBJzarljmr52GQ-UACLcBGAsYHQ/s649/10697192-6781997-A_giant_hornet_has_been_discovered_on_the_border_between_China_a-a-1_1551973758882.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="614" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BbQQ3Z6bZbg/X1pexZVj-gI/AAAAAAAACKo/153JzEmscNw--pPWrBJzarljmr52GQ-UACLcBGAsYHQ/w379-h400/10697192-6781997-A_giant_hornet_has_been_discovered_on_the_border_between_China_a-a-1_1551973758882.jpg" width="379" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-33177596469883743292020-09-07T12:08:00.003-04:002020-09-08T07:59:29.670-04:00After the Haircut/The Waitress Brought Nachos<p> My short story, After the Haircut is up on The Daily Drun<span style="font-size: small;">k! Gin! Dinosaurs! Revenge! Follow dis link!<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><a href="https://thedailydrunk.com/f/after-the-haircut" target="_blank">AFTER THE HAIRCUT</a></b></span> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">And, if dat ain't enough, here's another one...<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><a href="https://thedailydrunk.com/f/the-waitress-brought-nachos">THE WAITRESS BROUGHT NACHOS</a></b></span> </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I_hyBPPM1T8/X1aGqqZOhAI/AAAAAAAACKU/AHdE_VZqAd0uRo4lWYIxT4rn-z9fbUxsACLcBGAsYHQ/s177/reading-is-fundamental.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="168" height="276" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I_hyBPPM1T8/X1aGqqZOhAI/AAAAAAAACKU/AHdE_VZqAd0uRo4lWYIxT4rn-z9fbUxsACLcBGAsYHQ/w263-h276/reading-is-fundamental.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vkbsuoNcW7U/X1aHRWOgU7I/AAAAAAAACKc/nbDQLBEnMt8HN_u9vImWuV3dcLDEGU2UwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/doberman.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="246" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vkbsuoNcW7U/X1aHRWOgU7I/AAAAAAAACKc/nbDQLBEnMt8HN_u9vImWuV3dcLDEGU2UwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/doberman.gif" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p>Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-35715749696289120662020-07-23T21:41:00.000-04:002020-07-23T21:41:06.379-04:00Narcotics Anonymous Part II
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;">I was working on a two-week binge, drinking
nothing but Gold Robitussin and Pepto Bismol when my dentist appeared at my rectangular
door to hold an intervention.<span> </span>He arrived
with seven hygienists. My dentist, Dr. Carr, is tough. He has a face like a
landscape. He confiscated my Hydrox (the cookie, not the general) and then the
hygienists started to do a frenetic Twist to no music. <span> </span>One of the hygienists reminded me of Sam
Waterston (her carriage, not her face) and then a hygienist with a nametag that
spelled, <i>Bambi</i> approached me like a
sound wave. She smiled. She had meat in her teeth. I was afraid. She
materialized a length of black dental floss and began flossing, flicking shreds
of masticated steak at me. One of them caught me in the eye, making me squint
and through this squinting I saw how pointless my life had become. How empty. I
had achieved none of my goals; I never became a goalie. Dr. Carr approached me
holding a drill. My face was covered with little steak spitballs courtesy of <i>Bambi.</i> He looked right at me and said, “I’m
not here to fill your teeth. I have come to awaken your inner antelope.” I
rubbed the steak out of my eye and said, “Wha?” He said, “I understand if
you’re skeptical. And it takes some getting used to but I’m quite sure you’ll
enjoy the change. Now, I’ll need to drill into your kneecaps to drain them. The
knee sap will then be utilized in the antelope ritual.” “Okay,” I murmured. <span> </span></span><i><span style="color: grey; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 127;"></span></i>
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<![endif]-->Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-54441413963504168952020-06-23T14:08:00.000-04:002020-06-23T14:08:50.682-04:00Everything Dissolves<div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><font size="5">Everything Dissolves is a collection of my shorter fiction, published by Horror Sleaze Trash. Order it <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08B7KJBVL?fbclid=IwAR1BHiQuOyST0tCvDGgRlibshpn1XeFDIxLBLT6s9FlM4JM4_I3Frv-c3AU">riiiiiight here.</a><br /></font></span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fx4gfyPGAcQ/XvJEnnYuGBI/AAAAAAAACHk/yp5i_eRV40MhbNoc9yx5ZTbZauwBl1XAwCK4BGAsYHg/s3607/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3607" data-original-width="2400" height="500" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fx4gfyPGAcQ/XvJEnnYuGBI/AAAAAAAACHk/yp5i_eRV40MhbNoc9yx5ZTbZauwBl1XAwCK4BGAsYHg/w333-h500/1.jpg" width="333" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A3-aT_Uq8ok/WYxLbPm3TkI/AAAAAAAABOk/KURDnAhek1sxij7eXvSPAHHpv9uaVYjEQCK4BGAsYHg/s218/ezrdr04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A3-aT_Uq8ok/WYxLbPm3TkI/AAAAAAAABOk/KURDnAhek1sxij7eXvSPAHHpv9uaVYjEQCK4BGAsYHg/ezrdr04.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></div>Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-80160832749464465302020-06-12T10:23:00.000-04:002020-06-12T10:23:49.244-04:00Quarantine <div>I wrote this eons ago. It was nothing to do with recent events. I just wanted to exploit the title. From my book Pancreatic Carburetor<font size="6">.<br /><br />I run into my friend Tommy at Subway and ask him about our mutual friend, Gary, whose sorry-ass I haven’t seen in a while. <br /><br />“Where’s he been lately?” I ask. “Homeless?” <br /><br />“Didn’t you hear? He’s in the hospital, under quarantine.” <br /><br />“Quarantine? Really? What for?” <br /><br />“I dunno. Something he picked up in a swamp, I think.” <br /><br />“Is it serious?” <br /><br />Tommy shrugs. “It must be for them to isolate him like that.” <br /><br />Tommy’s wife Janice comes out of the bathroom holding their one-year-old son, Jeremy, whose shrill screams echo around the restaurant. “Thomas!” Janice says. “Come on, let’s go!” She marches toward the exit with the squealing baby. <br /><br />Tommy puts his hand on the side of his mouth, leans toward me and mutters, “Wish I could catch whatever Gary has. I could use a little isolation myself.” <br /><br />“Ain’t that the truth,” I say only because it’s expected of me. <br /><br />“Thomas! Now!” Janice yells. <br /><br />I want to wish him good luck but don’t want to get him into any more hot water with the missus.</font><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--></div>Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-91141257981520490212020-06-08T16:07:00.000-04:002020-06-08T16:07:26.664-04:00Pipsqueak! <div><font size="6"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><a href="https://horrorsleazetrash.com/2020/06/08/hank-kirton-6/" target="_blank">Cults that Kill</a><br /></span></font></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qp8YWnSFMIk/XlJ4jUW8o2I/AAAAAAAACBA/nEezGnRZ4So7vQkMYHeU0dHg3WWjrbh_gCK4BGAsYHg/s2048/hst_pink.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1138" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qp8YWnSFMIk/XlJ4jUW8o2I/AAAAAAAACBA/nEezGnRZ4So7vQkMYHeU0dHg3WWjrbh_gCK4BGAsYHg/s320/hst_pink.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tCauwJQhwlM/VR5_T33TfYI/AAAAAAAAA6M/TOHYEECdskMHXduZJ3ZUcquHtSoSSn-0gCK4BGAsYHg/s720/The%2BLost%2BWeekend.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tCauwJQhwlM/VR5_T33TfYI/AAAAAAAAA6M/TOHYEECdskMHXduZJ3ZUcquHtSoSSn-0gCK4BGAsYHg/s320/The%2BLost%2BWeekend.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JsQxuvKI1es/VMofldjhXbI/AAAAAAAAA3E/gE4KlB1ASg4Xu_cUrEEJ9ujDsUwQUlGqwCK4BGAsYHg/s400/laughing-monkey-lol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JsQxuvKI1es/VMofldjhXbI/AAAAAAAAA3E/gE4KlB1ASg4Xu_cUrEEJ9ujDsUwQUlGqwCK4BGAsYHg/s320/laughing-monkey-lol.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /><font size="6"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"></span></font></div>Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-83971991978506101992020-06-06T14:39:00.002-04:002020-06-06T14:41:45.127-04:00Dead Flies<div>I've been posting these little flash fiction vignettes for a while now and I've had a lot of fun but I've recently blundered into a larger project. What began with a short throwaway sentence has bloated to thirty pages and over 10,000 words. The fiction has ceased to be flash. The story, reflecting these troubled times (as it should) has consumed me for days. I don't know how it'll end (if it does) but I'm compelled to see it through. But I also want to keep posting here so here's an old story about LSD and shitting maggots.</div><div><br /></div><div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qd88vBINfVM/VEI_pDuBQ9I/AAAAAAAAAoQ/acF53LwUoGIfovUUT_L1R8ZXAoTHW5bXQCK4BGAsYHg/s391/maggot_maggots_thumb3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="391" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qd88vBINfVM/VEI_pDuBQ9I/AAAAAAAAAoQ/acF53LwUoGIfovUUT_L1R8ZXAoTHW5bXQCK4BGAsYHg/s320/maggot_maggots_thumb3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #b51200;"><font size="6"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia", "serif";"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia", "serif";"> </span></span></span></font></span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">1969 <br /><br /> Flowerbud sat in the corner, crying over the <br /><br />graves of her dead flies. <br /><br /> "How much acid did you give her?" said Dan. <br /><br /> "Just one," Paul said. "I don't know what's <br /><br />wrong with her." <br /><br /> Flowerbud picked up one of the flies, <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">weeping. <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"> She gazed at its tiny frozen legs, its fragile, <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">rice-paper wings. <br /><br /> She began to wail a low mournful wail. <br /><br /> Paul was searching the overflowing ashtray <br /><br />for a left-behind roach. <br /><br /> "She's gonna drive me nuts if she keeps that <br /><br />up," said Dan. <br /><br /> Flowerbud tried to breathe life back into <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">the fly, gently blowing on it. Its legs vibrated <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">and for a second she thought it was coming <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">back, but no, it was only her breath that stirred <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">it. <br /><br /> She placed the fly in a line with the four <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">others, sobbing. <br /><br /> "Shut the hell up!" Dan yelled. "For Christ's <br /><br />sake they're DEAD FLIES! Get a grip on <br /><br />yourself!" <br /><br /> Flowerbud picked up another fly. She <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">turned it over, shifting it from one hand to the <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">other, crying. <br /><br /> Paul gave up the roach hunt and sat down <br /><br />on the floor. "Leave her alone. She's into a <br /><br />heavy trip." <br /><br /> "Shit!" Dan stormed over to her. He <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">stomped on the flies, mashing them to tiny, <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">black smears. <br /><br /> Flowerbud began to scream, shrieking like <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">a woman in flames. <br /><br /> "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Dan yelled. He <br /><br />tried to snatch the last fly from her. She <br /></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">cupped her hands together, protecting its <br /><br />delicate insect corpse and said, "Leave me <br /></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">alone!" <br /> "Gimme that fucking thing!" Dan said, <br />trying to pry her hands apart. "Open your <br />hands!" <br /> "Noooooo!" she screamed. <br /> "Open! Your! Hands!" <br /> Flowerbud forced her voice low and calm and said, "Okay, okay. I will. Get off me first." <br />Dan backed off. <br /> Flowerbud opened her hands, popped the fly into her mouth and swallowed. <br /> Dan looked down at her, disgusted. "Jesus. <br />You're a crazy little bitch." <br /> Flowerbud smiled at him. She could feel the <br />fly coming back to life, tickling the soft walls of <br />her belly. <br /> She would shit maggots in a day or two. <br /></font></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JiudZzNVUoc/VBLsPuBVp1I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/wiNtQklmjZsdEwKtxNicoERbOzLGfX3FQCK4BGAsYHg/s800/800px-Sarcophaga_ruficornis_fleshfly_mating.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JiudZzNVUoc/VBLsPuBVp1I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/wiNtQklmjZsdEwKtxNicoERbOzLGfX3FQCK4BGAsYHg/s320/800px-Sarcophaga_ruficornis_fleshfly_mating.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><font size="1">P.S. This new Blogger isn't very good, sorry the thing looks so wonky. My patience ran out.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"> Dead Flies originally appeared in The Membranous Lounge. Still available. <br /> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--></p></div>Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-58688309779200228762020-06-02T16:42:00.002-04:002020-06-02T19:14:27.392-04:00Norman <div><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;">From a great height he descended, did Norman Johnson,
a man who thought he had nothing to live for anymore. Annie, his wife of thirty-two
years had succumbed to painful pancreatic cancer and the loss was a violent
rupture in the sweet center of his being. It was like watching Willy Wonka &
the Chocolate Factory and having snuff/atrocity footage suddenly spliced in. <span> </span>It was that sudden. It was that rough.</span></font></span></div><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>So Norman
plummeted. He was sure Beth, his 26-year-old daughter wouldn’t miss him.
Despite their battling past she was still in his will. Her share should keep
her in heroin for the rest of her life (meaning not long). Norman knew she
wouldn’t use the money wisely; use it to fix her situation. She’d have enough
to buy a house, but she didn’t seem to mind living in crab-infested flophouses.
Letting sweaty repulsive junkies take advantage of her. What money that doesn’t
get sucked into her squabbling veins will go to her lowlife squabbling friends.
Beth was gifted with a generous spirit. She always shared her toys when she was
little. Now she gave it all away.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span><span> </span>So Norman plunged. The lion’s share of the
inheritance would go to his little brother, Albert who would probably lose most
of it at the dog track. Oh well, it’s not like Norman would care by that point.
And that’s it, all his money would go to the two last living members of the
Johnson clan. <span> </span>And he was sure they’d
both use it to fuck everything up.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>So
Norman dropped. Going through Annie’s illness, all the things he had to do to
get her through Hell—and Hell it was—changed Norman in a profound way. It
demonstrated how weak and afraid and ineffectual he was. He couldn’t save her. Every
day she slipped further away until she was gone. How ironic was that? Norman
Johnson, successful oncologist couldn’t even save his own wife. Let the
nattering commence. His drinking problem was well known. There had been
incidents. He couldn’t do surgery anymore because of his shaking hands. He
wished for one last drink now. He wished for Annie. He didn’t believe in an
afterlife. This was it. This was unbearable.<br /></span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>So
Norman descended. <span></span>He’d climbed the stairs to the top of the
medical building and stood on the roof, looking down at the forty stories of
relentless gravity below him. Then he closed his eyes and stepped off the ledge.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>Norman fell. </span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span> </span></span></p>
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<![endif]-->Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-78462725601700899992020-06-01T16:08:00.002-04:002020-06-02T13:06:49.078-04:00Schmeckled
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font size="6"></font><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ULIw71VVAuo/VCuzLbh4mnI/AAAAAAAAAgM/iFAH3Qay6l8nBhWPQeonpq7a2Jz6LYHAgCK4BGAsYHg/DickYorkphoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="337" data-original-width="387" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ULIw71VVAuo/VCuzLbh4mnI/AAAAAAAAAgM/iFAH3Qay6l8nBhWPQeonpq7a2Jz6LYHAgCK4BGAsYHg/s320/DickYorkphoto.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;"></span><span style="line-height: 150%;">“Why did you
hang up on me?” the woman inside the phone says. Her voice sounds familiar. It
has a metallic taste.</span>
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“I didn’t hang up on you,” I say, which is
true. I don’t know what she’s talking about.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“Don’t treat me like I’m dumb. I’m not
that dumb!” she says and I suddenly realize she sounds like my
great-grandmother Judith, only meaner. <span> </span>But since Granny Judy died ten years ago, it’s
probably not her.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“I’m sorry. I think you have the wrong
number,” I say, which is true.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“I said not to treat me like I’m dumb! I’m
not dumb!”</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>I begin to wonder. “Sorry,” I say and hang
up on her, sort of again. </span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>I think, Boy, the real guy who hung up on
her is going to get an earful now!</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>The phone rings again. I stare at it
through five rings and then pick up. I do so with great trepidation.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“Hello?”</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“Listen, you ungrateful bastard,” she
says, sounding more metallic, less Granny Judy. “You may think you can treat me
like this, with all your high falutin’ money. But I’m a person! You can’t walk
all over me! I’m a human being!”</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>I’m momentarily shocked into
speechlessness. She’s supremely pissed. I gird my loins and tell her, “Look, I’m
sorry but you really do have the wrong number.” I’m starting to feel sorry for
her. I could be a wise-ass and prank her, pretend I’m the guy she’s calling and
give her shit but she’s just a confused old woman. My mean-streak has mellowed
over the years. </span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>So I do the unthinkable. I hang up on her
for the third (2<sup>nd</sup>) time.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>I was on my way out but now I can’t leave.
I sit down to watch the phone.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>It doesn’t ring. </span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>It doesn’t ring again. Maybe she finally
gave up. Or maybe she finally dialed the right number. That poor schmuck.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>It doesn’t ring again. I stand up, ready
to head out. Halfway to the door and the phone starts up again. I should just
let it ring, let the machine pick it up if she makes it to seven rings. </span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>On ring six I lurch for the phone and pick
up. “Hello?”</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“YOU FUCKING DIE!” she shrieks and I slam
the phone down.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Okay, I’ve had enough; I’ve got troubles
of my own. I don’t need telephone drama from perfect strangers. There was
something obviously wrong with the woman. She might have dementia,
schizophrenia, who knows? She was obviously in deep distress and calling me
wasn’t helping things at all. I grab my keys.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>And the phone rings. <span> </span></span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Oh no.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>I move toward it. Another ring. I stand
there. Another ring. I stand there. </span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Another ring. </span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Oh fuck it! “Hello?”</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>“The calls are coming from INSIDE the
house!” screeches out at me followed by uproarious laughter. “You’ve just been
schmeckled!” And a horn honks and another voice says, “I didn’t hang up on you!”
mimicking me. I slam the phone down.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> But </span>I smile as I don my jacket. That was a
pretty good prank. </span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
</font></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>I guess the joke’s on me.</span></font></span></p><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><font size="6">
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<![endif]-->Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-72492020873516650232020-05-20T11:22:00.000-04:002020-05-20T11:22:32.928-04:00Elmer--at Horror Sleaze TrashMy story, Elmer is right below! Thanks to Horror Sleaze Trash! <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://horrorsleazetrash.com/2020/05/20/hank-kirton-5/" target="_blank">ELMER</a></span></b></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qGrf25qLpxo/XsVKpE0UenI/AAAAAAAACDU/Bv4esb4Xt1IgrK81BifkrJNTvD8sN9eeQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/7c99b3dadb4a7001030d929cbd0c7e11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="329" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qGrf25qLpxo/XsVKpE0UenI/AAAAAAAACDU/Bv4esb4Xt1IgrK81BifkrJNTvD8sN9eeQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/7c99b3dadb4a7001030d929cbd0c7e11.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></b></span>Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-33380173103916169802020-05-15T06:30:00.000-04:002020-05-23T18:59:14.130-04:00Head Case<br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;">He was abrupt
with people. Many people didn’t like him because he was so abrupt. He answered
questions with a hatchet. He urged you to stop wasting his time. His name was Karl and he was eighty-seven
years old and he worked as a greeter at the local Wal-Mart. He was abrupt with
the customers. “Yeah, just get in.” “Okay.
Great.” “Keep walking.” He had a metal plate in his skull (he’d incurred a
serious head injury in Vietnam) and had been struck by lightning four times in
his long arduous life. He blamed the metal in his head for attracting
electricity and for his abruptitude. </span>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “Does it hurt to get struck by lightning?”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> With deep rich sarcasm, “<i>No</i>.”
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Karl died on the job. Cerebral hemorrhage.
He expired in the store. Those who saw him collapse swore that sparks shot out
of his eyes. Davey Jones (23), a nearby cashier still maintains that his
wristwatch stopped the second Karl’s brain misfired. Davey likes to tell his
coworkers his dreams. He dreams a lot. The night after Karl’s collapse he
dreamed of meeting a beautiful woman in a grocery store. “I like my men
tortured,” she told him, standing next to the grapes.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “I’m tortured,” he said.</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “Then you’re for me, sweetie.”</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> She enveloped him in a warm hug.</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> He went to work anyway.</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> So he kept it to himself, hoping guiltily for
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<![endif]-->Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-78061717893797876202020-05-14T18:08:00.000-04:002020-05-14T18:08:14.060-04:00ADIPOCERE <span style="font-size: xx-small;">Peeled from the pages of Pancreatic Carburetor!
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Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-79594091866674749882020-05-11T09:21:00.000-04:002020-05-17T15:14:03.500-04:00The Chatter of Dragonflies<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
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Sandra hung around the Dumpsters every day all day that summer, recording the
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dragonfly “sentences” (as she called them). It took her five long painstaking
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mentioned Vincent Bugliosi. </span></span><br />
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<![endif]-->Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-2714432341661070742020-04-28T16:56:00.001-04:002020-04-28T16:58:55.274-04:00Two Links That Will Take You To Two More Stories...<span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://horrorsleazetrash.com/2020/04/08/hank-kirton-2/" target="_blank">Romita via Horror Sleaze Trash</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://horrorsleazetrash.com/2020/04/13/hank-kirton-3/" target="_blank">Johnny Cag's via Horror Sleaze Trash</a></span><br />
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Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-51428338980694988412020-03-31T19:37:00.000-04:002020-03-31T20:09:36.180-04:00Changing the Channel<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">I </span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> ate three powerful mystery brownies I’d
copped from Glen and sat watching TV and waiting forever to feel the effects
and eventually the remote control began to change. Right there in my hand. I
quickly tried talking sense to myself but it was fruitless. The remote kept
changing. The buttons were wet and squishy, like Jell-O only warm. And then the
next thing I knew they were like ice—hard and cold and slippery on my fingers.
Somehow I kept holding onto the thing even as it writhed. It became a clump of
dry, unruly hair. It felt like a face. I didn’t dare look at it and kept my
eyes peeled on the TV screen that kept flickering through channels at a rapid
rate. I was still hitting the buttons with a frantic hand. Only now they were
eyeballs. And now they were lactating nipples. And then the very concept of the
remote control changed. It was a rainy Sunday morning. It was a speech by
Hitler. It was a sour taste, a sharp pain, a dull pain, a Mark Twain witticism,
a mailbox on fire, an arc of light on a broken toilet seat. Changing changing,
the faces on the screen bleeding into each other through a snowstorm of altered images.
Whirling confetti—each tiny paper square an art museum. And it just kept going
until I thought my brain would burst from the overload. The pressure kept
building. I cursed Glen. I tried, again, to reason with myself, remind myself
that it was merely the brownies and that it would wear off and things would
return to normal but Lyndon Johnson was whispering warm light into my colon and
the fear that my bowels might leak occurred to me and I dropped the remote
control into the breathing, tangerine shag at the roots of my feet and the TV
screeched to an abrupt halt smack dab in the middle of a prison documentary. </span>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"> A
guy with tattoos all over his face was complaining about the food. I wished I
could give him one of Glen’s infinite brownies. That would also combat the
boredom and claustrophobia of the cell. </span></span></span></div>
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Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-39035238433782799892020-03-30T20:59:00.000-04:002020-03-30T21:00:16.747-04:00The Paralyzed Man-Ape<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 115%;">Joey was the only kid in
the neighborhood that had a jungle gym in his yard. If the other kids wanted to
climb a jungle gym, they either had to go to the park or the grounds of Herbert
Hoover middle school. Or they could climb Joey’s jungle gym in his backyard.
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 115%;"> The Paralyzed Man-Ape was his game. And it
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 115%;"> Joey would play a “pre-humanoid anthropoid”
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grassland, he would climb to the top of the jungle gym and the other members of
the “tribe” would throw rocks at him. Joey had instructed them to, “Huck `em
hard!” and they would, aiming for his face. Pelted with rocks, Joey would
topple from the jungle gym, pretending to shatter his spine. He would just lay
there, immobile, until the saber-toothed tiger attacked him. Joey’s Man-Ape
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shreds under the tiger’s huge, knife-like teeth. Then he would die. That was the
signal for the other kids to drop their rocks and then they were
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 115%;"> But if they could get a ride to the park,
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Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-30302155461547116422020-03-30T07:19:00.000-04:002020-03-30T07:19:49.207-04:00Dr. Boots<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I
call my orthopedic surgeon “Dr. Boots,” because she wears these sexy boots that
stand in sharp contrast to the plain white doctor jacket she wears. They’re
like biker boots or something, I don’t know. Black leather and high-heels and
faux-fur around the tops. I don’t call her “Dr. Boots” out loud. Not to her
face. It’s a private joke, just for me and the warm interior of my head. <span> </span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>While I’m sitting on the examining table,
waiting, I inventory the room.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>A poster that says, <i>Finding Answers so you can Reach Your Full Potential!</i> It shows
people jogging, biking, rock climbing, etc. A lot of lens flares. There’s a
desk with two chairs, a computer, a third chair that rolls on casters, a
telephone, a used-needle receptacle, a hazardous-material hamper, a suture kit,
a box of sanitary wipes, Purell hand sanitizer, a sink, a children’s book
called <i>Venus and Tara and the Big Game</i>,
a <i>Cosmopolitan</i>, a <i>National Geographic</i>, and the examination
table adorned with a crisp paper tablecloth. The room smells like cotton and
gauze and the ghost of a disinfectant. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>There is no clock as I sit and wait for
Dr. Boots. I realize my nickname for her is a lame attempt at control, a way to
diminish her status as an authority figure. I need to take these doctors down a
peg. I feel ashamed of myself.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>She arrives carrying a clipboard; a list
of my secrets. “Hi, sorry to keep you waiting,” she tells me. She gets behind
the desk. I take a seat across from her.</span></span></span></div>
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</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“Oh, that’s okay.”</span></span></span></div>
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</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“Your blood pressure is a little high. Are
you nervous?”</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>“Always,” I say, forcing myself.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span> </span>She examines my messed-up elbow. In two
weeks she will be cutting it apart and operating on my <i>bones. </i></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span> </span></span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;">You would think I’d have
more on my mind than her boots.</span></span></span></div>
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Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-86433742746010223872020-03-28T06:04:00.000-04:002020-03-28T06:04:48.241-04:00In Haste<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">So Joyce finally hit her limit and asked
herself, <i>Why is that depraved, depressed
little weirdo still in my life?</i> It had been twelve everfucking years now. Twelve!
Longer than most marriages! Longer than most lozenges. Their relationship should
have faded away long ago. Fade away or collapse. Or explode. Or was <i>implode</i> the correct term for the
fucked-up situation they had situated themselves in? Their relationship was
hard to describe. That sound you get from the bottom of a glass when your straw
sucks up the last of the liquid. THAT was the sound of their relationship—a lot
of air and a speck of taste. A not-very-satisfying final gurgle from the bottom
of the glass.<span> </span>A flat, tepid death-knell.
<span> </span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Flogging
the dolphin. All that was left to do was acknowledge that this final (?) ordeal
came out of nowhere. Again. Well, in truth there’d been several small skirmishes
along the way but Joyce and Walt inevitably teamed up again and cleaned up the
caustic, hateful debris they’d hurled at each other like pizza sauce, and
returned to the weird relationship that didn’t make sense to either of them but
was—for some loony reason--important. But Jesus, sometimes he was just
exhausting. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>But they needed each other, right? Christ, maybe not. Walt hated to
think it might all come crumbling down due to a ringing phone in the middle of
the night.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Everything
was done by telephone. Walter and Joyce had met on an online writing community
and their relationship never moved beyond that. At least in a geographical, spatial
sense. They were 1,314 miles apart yet obsessively close together. They talked
and laughed and wept and fought and fucked and got as close as two people could
get without actually meeting. They helped each other through trauma and loss:
The death of a pet. That time Walt got cancer. When he lost his job. When Walt
was lost in the hospital, arms sore and punctured like a voodoo doll, <i>hers</i> was the number he wanted to call.
When Joyce went in for one of her endless <span>arteriograms (Joyce had a blood-sucking hole in her brain) Walt tried his
best to make her laugh. Tried to make it seem less frightening. They played
like children sometimes to alleviate, if only for a few dewdrops, the horror of
existence. They</span> were as close as they <i>wanted</i> to be. Neither one was booking flights or planning a
cross-country drive. Their magic moved through the sizzling intimacy of
telephone lines. <span> </span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>The freakish</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2294850322351862#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="line-height: 150%;">*
magic that held them together was borne out of some mysterious alchemy forged
from transmission signals and electronic membranes. Migraine headaches. <span> </span>Drunken foolery. Frenetic, sugary, disaccharide
molecules flavored the air they breathed, air that transmitted delicate
personal information. Boy did they know each other. They felt like invisible,
forever-babbling entities, and spent hours sharing their lives and analyzing
things. It was easy to share long-distance. They didn’t have to look each other
in the eye but they could never hold hands. A lot of stuff was made up. They
wanted to hire the Banana Splits to play at their wedding. They spent long
hours dissecting the behavior of serial killers. The songs on their (imaginary)
jukebox would part your hair. They agreed that <i>No Reply</i> by the Beatles was about a creepy, possibly homicidal
stalker and not a song about lost love. They quoted lines from <i>The Texas</i> <i>Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Taxi Driver</i>, (1976) and <i>Goodfellas (1990)</i>. They both used the
Marx Brothers as directed—to stave off fear and despair. They developed verbal
shorthand which started to morph into a new, private language. Sometimes their
conversations were so short-handed and kinetic it made their hair stand on end,
their compass needles go weird, their bunnies flee, and once, even TIME ITSELF
sat down and slowly froze to death like crazy Jack Torrance in <i>The Shining</i> (1980).</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>There was power to their friendship. In the early days they’d talk for
eight or ten hours. Batteries would die. They couldn’t get enough of each
other. They would recite poetry or favorite passages from favorite books and
Walt still remembered with fondness their first phone conversation. They talked
about <i>A rebours </i>with such giddy, delighted
surprise. They felt like they had found someone new and revelatory yet
strangely familiar. They were in their 40’s when they “met” but turned into
teenagers in each other’s company. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>All over the phone. Give it up for Alexander B.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span><span> </span>But things were different now. The word <i>impasse</i> came to mind and Walt tried to
sweep it away. He didn’t want to dwell on his many mistakes, how freaked out he
was to talk to her. All the times he tried to run away or push her away, all
the times he was weak and pathetic in front of her. The times he confided his
darkest impulses... </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Joyce was forcing herself to get exercise
(for some arcane medical reason) by walking around Lake Walnut. Her doctor—a
devout, bald man—recommended she take up jogging. She said, “Okay,” but knew
jogging wasn’t in her future. She refused to jog. It was a matter of dignity
and self-worth. All those women straining and sweating and struggling up and
over endless, merciless hills. And don’t even mention power-walking. Every time
a power-walker passed by, Joyce wished for a sniper in the trees, aiming at the
walker through the scope of an<span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span> assault rifle.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>Joyce was the kind of gal that used to sneak a smoke during gym class,
hiding on the distant side of the track. Once, in art class, she and her best
friend Rita managed to share a joint simply by opening a window (which wasn’t
allowed) and releasing the smoke through the screen. It was audacious and scary
(if caught they would have been royally screwed) and they got away with it. Of
course they did. They were fearless. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>Joyce smiled at the memory, remembering Rita. It was only half a mile
around the lake (Lake Walnut should have been called Walnut <i>Pond</i> or, better yet, Walnut Puddle). A
gaggle of chatty women ran past her and Joyce remembered the term “runner’s
high,” something to do with endorphins producing euphoria. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span>Joyce
had been addicted to Percocet for several years. She knew all about euphoria
and was quite sure she couldn’t achieve it by running around a puddle.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>She walked around the pond once and then bounced. She fled the scene in
her red Mazda Miata, tires spewing pebbles and sand behind her. That was enough
for today. She wondered if Walt would call. She really read him the riot act.
Would he even remember? Everclear abuse had worn holes in his head. They both
had holes.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Walt was at work. Walt was hungover. Walt
worked at FedEx. The Graveyard Shift. He took packages and moved them around.
He placed them according to lettered codes on the labels. For example: JBC went
to Franklin. PVD went to Providence. You would think WST would go to Westboro
or Worcester but no, it went to Providence too. It was best not to ask too many
questions. Walt worked in what was called <i>The
Sort</i>. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span><i>The Sort </i>was housed in a big building
full of machines growling and grinding. There were conveyor belts and chutes
all over the place. Guys drove forklifts, guys handled hazardous stuff, guys
stood way up on scaffolds scanning barcodes<i>.
“Guys</i>” meant women too. There were a lot of women that worked on <i>The Sort</i>.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>Walt was standing at his spot in front of a conveyor belt and packages
going past. Walt stood there and read the codes on each box that glided by. He
had three codes that were his responsibility: HYA, BDL and good old JBC. When a
package came by with one of those codes, Walt would shove it off the belt and
it would slide down a chute and then it was the next guy’s problem.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>There were people that the managers selected to be “team leaders.” They
could boss you around. Walt’s immediate team leader was a black, mountain of a
man named Jesse. Some of the package handlers hated him, others feared him.
Walt was somewhere in the intimidated middle. Jesse always seemed to be under
tremendous stress. He could kid around and laugh but mostly he just worried and
barked orders. He had to. He was a team leader. One of Walt’s coworkers, a
friendly, verbose guy who drove a white panel van, told him that Jesse’s
personal life was as miserable and stressful as his job and he spent his
off-hours alone, swilling whiskey in the dark. Yeah, but Panel Van Guy’s gossip
couldn’t be trusted. He hated Jesse and once confided to Walt that he wanted to
stab him in the face, the eyeballs. Like a prison hit. Walt just nodded and eased
away.<span> </span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>Walt looked at the clock even though it was pointless. The shift ended
when all the freight had been sorted and shipped. Walt looked at the clock
again anyway. It was two o’clock in the morning and he had never needed a drink
more ruthlessly. He needed to talk to Joyce with such desperation he felt
embarrassed by himself. But he was afraid to call her. He had seriously fucked
things up (again).</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>See, Joyce lived with people now. Walt couldn’t just get drunk and call
at all hours anymore. People were sleeping. He had become a natural disaster. Unpredictable.
A befuddled invader. Joyce was right to be furious. No one needs a screaming
phone at two in the morning. And Walt was no help. He couldn’t remember a
thing. He looked at the clock again. It was still two o’clock in the morning.
Endless packages, endless time.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Joyce couldn’t work because of her
condition and passed the time doing scrimshaw. She used bone instead of ivory.
She could lose days etching and scribing into the bone. Her current project was
carving the cast of <i>The Mary Tyler</i> <i>Moore Show</i> into a moose hip. Scrimshaw
ate hours. <span> </span>Sometimes her hands hurt from
repetitive motion. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>She had left home at 16 and moved in with her pot-dealer boyfriend,
still managing to complete her education. Now, at 50 she was living with her
parents again. She started to tackle Gavin MacLeod, etching his head into the
polished bone.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">When Jesse the Team Leader finally yelled,
“Third shift all set!” Walt felt close to collapse. Package handling was hard
work. It was hard on the body, all that activity and heavy lifting. He punched
out and urged his aching form out the door and into the pre-dawn dark. It was
three o’clock in the morning. Birds were screeching in the trees. “I hate those
fucking birds,” said a disgruntled guy behind him.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;"><span>
</span>When Walt got home the telephone was sitting there. He cracked open a
beer and turned on the TV. Looking at the phone. Calling Joyce was impossible,
of course. He wanted to talk to her, tell her about his workday. A new guy had
lost three fingers to a conveyor belt. A hazard guy had to clean up after him
wearing a spacesuit. It was exciting. The guy who lost his fingers remained
eerily calm as he reported the accident to the dispatchers. We figured he was
still in shock. That would explain his calm. Three fingers, Jesus. An
amputation too mangled to repair. Walt drank his beer, casting an occasional
glance at the empty phone.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">1,314 miles south, Joyce decided to call it
quits. She put away her scrimshaw tools and then hit the hay. She wondered if
Walt would call. He didn’t. Neither one of them was reachable anymore.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br clear="all" />
</span></span><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2294850322351862#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
Freakish here is used as a positive attribute.</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-91287767337271157112020-03-02T14:13:00.000-05:002020-03-02T14:13:31.016-05:00Pinhole<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">pinhole</span></span>Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-24834581068829827332020-02-23T08:06:00.001-05:002020-02-23T08:06:49.835-05:00Amy's Arms <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qp8YWnSFMIk/XlJ4jUW8o2I/AAAAAAAACA8/QNydZuECnjYYBLZ6te_ZSprIYIK_HRavACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/hst_pink.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="1600" height="177" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qp8YWnSFMIk/XlJ4jUW8o2I/AAAAAAAACA8/QNydZuECnjYYBLZ6te_ZSprIYIK_HRavACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/hst_pink.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My poem Amy's Arms in Horror Sleaze Trash!</span><br />
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<u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://horrorsleazetrash.com/2020/02/23/hank-kirton/" target="_blank">Horror Sleaze Trash</a> </span></b></u><br />
<br />Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-19242988801328463962020-02-20T11:40:00.000-05:002020-02-29T20:03:20.404-05:00God's Little Miscarriage - Part One<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l6Z1z_YzV48/Xk6-wkLo3tI/AAAAAAAACAs/vPZx9B_DUx4EnVj6crwGq1IXV7m2N-aWACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/s-l1000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="745" data-original-width="1000" height="238" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l6Z1z_YzV48/Xk6-wkLo3tI/AAAAAAAACAs/vPZx9B_DUx4EnVj6crwGq1IXV7m2N-aWACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/s-l1000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Joe discovered the big green fetus beached on the
edge of a small, heart-shaped lake in the littered thicket behind Fontaine’s
Shopping Centre. It was the size of a Saint Bernard, glowing with a green haze.
It was obviously dead (or possibly dormant? Best not to think about that...).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A thin
drizzle settled like poison over the trash-strewn woods. It was a cold, misty
morning. The sky was a sagging gray tarp. Fog disguised the landscape. Joe, who
had been picking through the Dumpsters behind the buildings, was heading home.
The Dumpsters gifted him with nothing. Aside from a few crushed soda cans, they
were bankrupt; spewing worthless paper and rotted garbage. Nothing he could
pawn or use or eat.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He
approached the giant glowing fetus warily, his heart pounding with arrhythmic
fury in his chest. By God, it looked human. Joe felt too old for this kind of macabre
shock. His ordinary life was grotesque enough. He reached down and brought up a
muddy, broken crutch. He held it like a lance, moving closer until the thing’s
full, monstrous details emerged.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Its eyes
were black and open. It was swathed in a gelatinous coating of green slime and
emitted a dim glow. Its huge, awkward head was pale, bulbous, and running with a
tangled <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">network</span> of purple blood vessels. It was posed like a pugilist, its bony
back hunched, hands curled into fists. It had ten tiny fingernails. Joe could
make out the hazy shapes of dormant organs under the glossy, opaque flesh. It was also male, he saw.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He
wondered where the hell it might have come from. It looked
ancient, primordial, and possessed a power that traveled through time. But there was also something vaguely familiar about it, as if it had slipped loose from a damaged dream.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He poked the giant fetus with the crutch,
prodding it like a curious kid and for a split-second he thought it moved and he
almost screamed and took off running. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">But no, it
was still dead. He poked it again, feeling resistance in the meaty mass. The
drizzle had turned to light rain, transforming the gray lake into millions of
ripples. Joe wiped moisture from his thick gray beard and thought about how he
was going to get the thing home.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The idea
of taking it just occurred to him—popped into his hungover head. He didn’t
wonder why. It was just another thing he needed. He didn’t want the empty day to be a
total loss.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He dropped
the crutch and placed both hands on the monster. It was cold and wet and dead.
It smelled like sulfur and rotted beef. He tested it by gently pushing against it and was
surprised at how easily it rocked back. The thing looked heavy as a bull, but
it was light, as if composed of nothing more than faded contours and empty air.
Joe looked around to make sure he wasn’t being watched and then embraced the
thing with both arms. He lifted it, guessing it weighed around a hundred pounds.
He held it like a bridegroom holding a bride and took a few hesitant steps. The
rain increased. He headed back to his shack hidden deep in the woods. He
carried the thing easily, across two pathless miles. He walked over wet leaves
and rocks and roots yet his sneakers never slipped. He didn’t falter or pause or stumble.
It was as if he held a guardian angel in his outstretched arms. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He made it back to his home; a jumbled
shack he’d hammered together from discarded debris. He was a scavenger <i>par excellence</i>. He carried the thing
inside.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He set
about lighting his lantern and then stopped when he realized that the thing
gave off enough illumination to light the room. He sat on his mattress to
admire it. For the first time he wondered if it might be valuable. Maybe he
could sell it to some sideshow impresario. It was a freak of nature, like a
three-headed mule. People liked stuff like that. Whatever it was, it was
important. Like a space alien or a sea monster or a god. God’s holy
miscarriage. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">His
discovery might make him famous. Or at least get his name in the news. He
imagined himself showing the thing off on The Today Show. It was better than a
yeti.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He removed his cap and saw that it was full
of his coarse white hair.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">What the
hell? </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He reached
up and brushed his hand across his scalp, coming away with a fistful of clumps.
He tugged his beard, likewise filling his hand with hair. He moaned and felt
his teeth suddenly loosen and move. He spit a tooth to the floor. And then
another. And another until he was staring down at nine dead teeth. He slid his
tongue over slick empty gums.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He began
to panic.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The thing
in front of him seemed to glow more brightly. Was the damn thing radioactive?
Was it killing him? Leaching away his energies? He looked at his trembling
hands. His fingernails had abandoned their anchors and began to slip off the
ends of his fingers. He shook his hands and the nails clicked into the pile of
teeth on the floor. God, he was falling apart. His eyesight dimmed.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A heavy
weakness stole over Joe and he fell back on the mattress. He could feel his
muscles atrophy and dissolve. He felt his bones settle into themselves and then
crack and fracture and wither away.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">And then
he felt nothing at all.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
glowing thing quivered and blinked. Its huge heart stammered to life.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Another one.
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294850322351862.post-76415315929808391042019-12-06T14:11:00.000-05:002019-12-08T07:24:12.761-05:00HIGH IN THE RAIN IN THE RAIN HIGH<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aAlmmxJ4RX0/VDd9k__tKOI/AAAAAAAAAkc/O3Ia14d2MqUiTQjCwHXyG9l3ti43pncAgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/cropped-praying-hippy-kids1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="1120" height="144" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aAlmmxJ4RX0/VDd9k__tKOI/AAAAAAAAAkc/O3Ia14d2MqUiTQjCwHXyG9l3ti43pncAgCPcBGAYYCw/s640/cropped-praying-hippy-kids1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;">HIGH
IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN
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THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH
IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE
RAIN HIGH IN TH0E RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH
IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN TH0E RAIN HIGH IN TH0E RAIN HIGH IN TH0E
RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN IN THE
RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE RAIN
IN THE RAIN HIGH IN THE </span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"></span><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"></span><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"></span><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"></span><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"></span><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"></span></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;">By</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;">Hank S. Kirton</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;">Joseph
remembered the time he got high with his mother. It was a weird, painful,
bleeding memory. It taught him nothing. He was fifteen. His mother, Estelle, worked
over at the lightbulb factory in Chelsea. She worked third shift. His dad had
died when Joseph was four. He’d been a janitor at the high school and sometimes
Joseph felt grateful that he had died so he wouldn’t have to say “Hi,” while
his dad mopped up puke in the hall. He felt guilty about these feelings but
there they were. Joseph couldn’t always control his thoughts. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Joseph had been smoking weed sporadically since
the sixth grade. It was no big deal. He didn’t smoke often, usually just with
his friend Billy, and sometimes Raoul and his sister Shjma.. He never got high
alone. He got high by himself once and it horrified him. He saw his whole
personality. Besides, weed was an expensive commodity and hard to come by. Billy was the
only other kid he knew who had a drug connection. And even that was pretty weak
and unreliable. They called it “Acapulco Gold” (whatever that was supposed to
mean) But the product was grassy and harsh. They did a lot of coughing around
Billy’s rip-off crabgrass. The high was barely existent. Billy stole the
rag-weed from his parents and had to be discrete; he had to be stealthy as shit.
You didn’t fuck around with Billy’s parents. No sir. His folks cultivated the
stuff in the basement and they did it all wrong. But hey, it was better than
nothing</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Joseph kept his drug activity hidden. He
sneaked around his mother’s antique, Audubon world, snickering to himself in
his sneaky little head. He honestly enjoyed the keen feeling of getting away
with something forbidden.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> One drizzly Wednesday afternoon, Joseph
got home from school to find his mother sitting at the kitchen table, drinking
coffee. “Hi honey,” she said, in an odd, deep voice that was out of character. And what was she doing up? She should be in bed, warming herself with the glowing stories on the television. Resting before another
shift with the lighbulbs. But she was up now. Strange.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “Hey, mother.” Yes, Joseph had been
trained to call his mother “mother.” He was often ridiculed by his friends for
this weird formality.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;">
His mother was wrapped in her ratty gray bathrobe, her eyes swollen from
sleep. She had just gotten up. Her work schedule was upside down. She lived
like a vampire.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> She said, “I know what you’ve been doing.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Joseph grabbed a can of Coke from the
refrigerator, snapped it open and took a quick slurp. “What?” he said.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “It feels good, doesn’t it?”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “Uh, what are you talking about?”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> She
swept strands of oily hair out of her face. “I know you’ve been smoking grass,
Joseph.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> He was stunned for a second, then he
lowered his head and said, “Oh.” He saw no reason to deny it. Getting caught
was always a danger. It was part of the thrill. But how did she find out? He was
so careful. He didn’t have a stash in the house. In fact, he hadn’t smoked
since he and Billy Rodgers got high behind the sand pits. That was weeks ago.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “What do you think I should do?” she said.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Joseph shrugged. “I don’t know.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> She stood up. “Come with me. I have an
idea.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> She led him outside to the back porch.
They stood under the green canvas awning. The rain came pattering down. They
faced each other. Joseph’s hands turned into fists. He braced himself for her
verdict. There wasn’t much she could take from him. Getting grounded wouldn’t
break him either. No way would she get the police involved.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Then she smiled. “I have something for
you. You can think of it as a punishment or a reward. The choice is yours.” She
reached into the pocket of her robe and removed what looked like a fat,
tightly-rolled joint. She had a blue Bic lighter in her other hand. She plugged
the joint into her mouth, lit it, and took a long drag. Then she held the joint
toward Joseph and said “Here.” The word came out in a croak as she held the
smoke. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Joseph looked at the joint, shocked. The
familiar smell of the pot was so incongruous to the situation he felt like he
was dreaming. He had no idea what to do. He’d never seen this side of her. It
was new.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> He hated it.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> His mother finally released the smoke and
said, “Go on. Take it.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> He slowly shook his head and said, “No
thank you.” His voice had lifted, gotten higher. He sounded afraid. Hell, he <i>was</i>. The situation was scarily surreal.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> She scowled. “Joseph! You listen to your
mother. Smoke this fucking joint, NOW!” She stabbed the joint toward his face
as if trying to burn him and he flinched. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> He took the joint. He looked at his mother
and said, “Really?” Everything seemed warped, sliding to a burning afterlife.
He wanted to run. There were demons behind him.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> She nodded. “Yeah, <i>really.</i>”</span></span></div>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;">Joseph’s
mother was thirty-six years old. She was a tall, attractive woman. Her hair was
jet black, her eyes as dark and bright as polished anthracite. Joseph’s friends
thought she looked like a witch (a <i>real</i>
witch, not the silly old-crone Halloween kind) and frequently brought up the
fact that she was beautiful (hot), much to Joseph’s embarrassment and dismay.
Joseph’s mother had received her BA in contemporary literature from Brown
University but was afraid to teach, so she took a job as a human resources
manager at Brite Electric. She didn’t date even though she was single. She was
still mourning her late husband and Joseph’s father, Harry. Harry suffered a
stroke and collapsed in front of Estelle and Joseph in February of 2008. He was
forty-two. He just groaned and crumpled and then he was gone forever. Estelle
decided she’d never get over the tragedy and moved through her days in a kind
of moping, morbid fugue state. Her coworkers were concerned at first but now
they just avoided her. Even at work she gave off witchy vibes. She also had a
habit of saying inappropriate things; but what could they do, go to human
resources? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “You’re not supposed to just hold it,
Joseph, you’re supposed to smoke it,” she said.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Joseph nodded. “I know.” And then he put
the joint to his lips and sucked in smoke.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “Hold it deep down for as long as you
can.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Joseph held the smoke as long as he could
then it hushed out of his lungs. He coughed.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> His mother said, “You’re supposed to pass
it back after you take a hit, you know.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Joseph handed the smoldering joint back to
his mother. The familiar feeling of a marijuana buzz curled around his tired
mind like a warm snake. It was a bad, vaporous, paranoid feeling. Yet he began to
feel calmness and soothing relaxation. But, yet; this was not right, he
thought. This was not normal. His fucking family was fucked the fuck up. He
felt very small and very helpless indeed.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> His mother sucked another hit. Not wanting
to look her in the eyes, he moved his gaze to the ground. His mother was
wearing flip-flops. She had pretty feet. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “Here you go, kiddo. Your turn.” She held
out the joint.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “I don’t want any more,” he said. His
voice pinged and reverberated in his head like someone playing a triangle
underwater... </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Whoa, he was stoned. After one puff.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “You don’t have a choice. Have another
hit, kiddo. You’re the reason we’re here.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> He plucked the joint from her fingers. He
took another hit. Okay, he thought, You wanna see me get high, let’s get high.
Then he realized his defiance was misguided. After all, she <i>wanted</i> him to smoke. She wanted to make
him sick and freak out and never touch the stuff again. He took a third hit,
watching the rain, looking at the muddy ground. He noticed an earthworm. He
looked at tough bunches of crabgrass. A bent bottle cap. There was a whole
other world down there in the mud. A scary, bizarre world. He moved his eyes
back to the safety of his mother’s feet. Everything felt threatening.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “Once again I have to remind you to pass
me back the fucking joint. What’s the matter with you? Didn’t I teach you to be
polite? Where are your manners? Is it my fault you’re so rude? Am I a bad
mother?” </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;">He
handed her back the joint. “I’m sorry.” He looked at her eyes and immediately
regretted it. His entire existence and his mother’s constant presence in his
life were soft, bleeding concepts leaking from her black galaxy eyes. He tasted
desolation. Small moments of his life bubbled and churned. Millions of images.
That time he walked in on her on the toilet. The shock of it. How she screamed
at his father, telling him to kill her, holding out a knife for him. “Here! Kill me!” When he was ten she kicked
him out of the car for misbehaving, making him walk the eight miles back home.
Memories like papercuts. The horrifying fact that his mother was locked forever
in his mind, in his fucking DNA smashed him across the face like a baseball
bat. The mere fact of her existence was like an alien parasite inside him. He
was part her! Forever bound by a double helix and, Oh god oh man this was a
total fucking nightmare. She was his mother! He lived inside her once! She used
to spank him. She worried about him. Taught him. Potty trained him. Provided
for him. Loved him. Everything inside Joseph was screaming like the suffering
of millions. He wanted to run away and
kill himself...</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “Here you go, kiddo,” his mother said,
holding out the joint. She was smirking at him. Her smile was evil, poisonous,
filled with dark history. She had gone crazy but she was still smart. Oh yes. She
knew what she was doing. She was diabolical. She stared at him, reading his
thoughts. He wanted to kill her. Whoa, he almost said that out loud. He could
see his mother seeing him and he felt like he was trapped in a funhouse hall of
mirrors. Reflections of memories were battling each other for supremacy but
every reflection lies. Joseph felt sure she was rifling through their shared memories.
Like; she used to attach a towel to his shoulders to make a cape. Then he would
run around the yard like Superman. He was five. One day, while playing
Superman, he stepped in a hidden hole and snapped his ankle. It took his mother three days to get him medical attention. His mother finally got sick and tired of his screaming and crying. He had to get a
cast and they gave him crutches. School. Joseph couldn’t do math no matter how
hard he tried so they placed him in a remedial math class for retards and
fuck-ups. But Joseph was a near-prodigy in English (thanks largely to his
mother) so he was well-spoken and had a vast vocabulary, which meant he got beaten
up a lot. It wasn’t until he entered
high school that the harassment stopped. They had better security at his high
school. Of course, that didn’t mean it was better or safe. If a student carried
a grudge (against whatever) he could still wreak havoc with firearms, despite
the metal detector and the black cameras staring from the ceiling. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> He took the joint, took a long drag,
passed it back. His mind was a river.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> She received it and inhaled another hit,
then passed it back. Why wasn’t she as baked as he was? Dancing and the
imprecise words were covered in sloppy
mud and he wanted to die yet she seemed straight as a t-square. He’d had
enough. There wasn’t much left to the joint and he flicked it into a puddle.
There. He was done. He kept his eyes on the mud, though. He couldn’t look his
mother in the face again, not right now. He had never gotten this fucked-up
before. And his own mother had done it to him. It was insane. It was obscene. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> He was standing over a Roman coliseum. The
wind blew. He heard trumpets. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> She said, “You never throw the roach away,
Joseph. You save them so you can pool your resources later, when times are
tough. You never know what’s coming. Waste not want not.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Joseph had nothing to say. All he could do
was nod. He felt like his head might fall into the mud. He wished it would. His
mother laughed. “How you feeling, honey?”<br />
There were strange, translucent butterflies fluttering above her glowing black
halo.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> He shrugged and felt the motion with
almost painful sharpness. His shoulders felt like jagged wheels. His mother’s
face kept changing. How many people was she?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Joseph’s mother laughed again and said,
“It is REALLY good weed, isn’t it? Better than that cheap skunk-weed you get
from Billy. But guess what! I put my own secret ingredients into the mix. And do
you know what the main ingredient is?”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> Joseph managed—somehow—to shake his head.
The sky was black with locusts. He felt his sneakers beginning to melt.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “Love,” she said. Then she smiled and
leaned toward Joseph and kissed him on the lips. He kissed back and the word ETIQUETTE
flashed like black neon in his doped-up brain. He felt her skittish tongue
flicker over his own, then his lips, and then she withdrew, still smiling .The
entire episode had taken a few seconds but it would last for the rest of his
life. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “And that’s why I have to punish you. You
wanted to do drugs? Well, there you go, kiddo. You got it. Now I’m going back
in the house. You will remain outside until you start to come down. Which
should be in about ten hours.” She laughed again, seemingly unaffected by the
drug(s?). </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> “I’ll see you when I get back from work. I
hope you learn your lesson. I wouldn’t go anywhere if I were you. Do yourself a
favor and stay in the yard.” Then she turned and went back into the house.
Joseph heard the clack of the bolt. It sounded like a gunshot. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> He slowly turned and faced a dense,
tangled jungle filled with giant, starving predators and scavengers hunting for
flesh.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;">
Memories and reflections. He was all memories and reflections. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; line-height: 150%;"> He wished he had a gun so he could destroy
all the ugly things in his life.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SEUqG9LK3Ak/VOzT7rgOx-I/AAAAAAAAA4Y/h2nFaHaWbg83Qg2awBtsjM7tGM0KjxaTACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/i-d8817a76f8ec8d302ecaea6802bc4921-sandpipers-shorebirds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="500" height="230" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SEUqG9LK3Ak/VOzT7rgOx-I/AAAAAAAAA4Y/h2nFaHaWbg83Qg2awBtsjM7tGM0KjxaTACPcBGAYYCw/s640/i-d8817a76f8ec8d302ecaea6802bc4921-sandpipers-shorebirds.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<![endif]-->Hank Kirtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580876588523387164noreply@blogger.com0