The second drive in the rusted out pick up was as quiet as the first, but not nearly as uncomfortable. Amber was not sure what would happen once they arrived at Bernard’s; nor was she sure what she wanted to happen. Part of Amber felt guilty for having agreed to go to his place, like she was perpetrating some sort of betrayal. She knew it was absurd to feel that way. There was nothing to betray.
( Caution, Nakedidity ahead... )
She rinsed her mouth and ran her tongue over her teeth to make sure she hadn’t missed a spot. She found a bit on her front lower teeth that wasn’t as smooth and squeaky clean as the rest of her teeth and resumed brushing. It is just Bunny, she told herself again. You’ve known him since grade school; there is no reason to be nervous.
( Too much text, not enough pictures, swing dancing, and Chariots of Fire..... )
( Read more... )
Amber went to the cupboard, poured me a glass of scotch and sat it in front of me. I downed the entire glass in one and pushed the glass back to her across the island counter.
“Another please,” I croaked.
Amber looked apprehensive.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “You still have to go to work.”
“I’m sure.”
While Amber poured, I picked up the next item from the yellow envelope. It was a ragged, faded envelope addressed to my father. It was post marked December 1978.
Amber handed me my second glass of liquid sanity and I drank it down. Bolstered by artificial sense of bravado that comes from drinking fine 15 year scotch, I emptied the tattered envelope of its secrets.
( Read more... )
I was lazing about, a few hours before having to leave for work. Sprawled across my bed, staring at the ceiling, I tried to decide how to get the hero of my novel out of a particularly sticky situation. I had put Andy down for her nap and the house was quiet. It was the perfect time for such a mental excursion. I finally decided that what my hero really needed was a tattoo of a great red dragon across his chest. I was contriving a way in which hero could acquire such a tattoo (and bust some heads in the process) when the phone rang. I lunged for the handset on the bed side table and caught it after the first ring.
“Hello?”
I looked in on Andy to make sure that her sleep had not been disturbed. She looked up when I entered the room but quickly lost all interest and went back to sleep.
“Hi Pascal, It’s Amber,” said the voice on the other end.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“I was wondering, I know you don’t have to be at work for a while yet and I wanted to know if I could come over a bit early. I have a few things I need to give to you.”
“Really?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine what she might have that she would need to give to me.
“Uh, sure, that’s not a problem” I told her. “Do you wanna come over for some lunch? I was just about whip up some bachelor chow.”
“That would be great.”
I could tell she was excited but, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why.
( Read more... )
Amber was sitting on the floor with Andromeda playing with the Wibbly Wobbly Wabbit Head when there was a knock at the door. She hadn’t been expecting any deliveries or any visitors. She put Andromeda in the Pack ‘N Play with her Wobbly Wabbit Head and went to the door. Standing on the other side of the glass was a bachelor’s dream come true; a lovely young girl in a French maid’s costume. Amber thought for a moment that it might be a strip-o-gram for one of the guys. The girl’s skirt was almost obscenely short. The tops of her black thigh high stockings peeked out beneath the frilly black skirt. Amber considered not answering the door for a moment. She didn’t want to be stripped for, at least not by someone of the same gender. As offensive as she found the idea, Amber opened the door to greet the young woman.
I was elated as I left work. The worries and fears of the past few months were finally gone and I had the weekend to devote entirely to my daughter before the worries of the next big project began..
I announced my triumphant return to the bunker with open arms, as if expecting a hug, and shouted, “Lucy, I'm home!”
( Read more... )
Finally!
“You think I’m crazy, don’t you,” she asked.
“No. I think you are probably quite sane.”
“You believe me?”
“Maybe. Tell me what it looked like.”
“It was just like something out of one of those old UFO movies from the fifties. It was a round disk with yellow and red circular markings. There was a ring of green lights around the outer edge of the disk and the lights all flashed in sequence around it. That was the flashing light I had seen.”
( Read more... )
Morning broke over the seemingly peaceful desert haven of Strangetown. Birds twittered in the palm trees. Butterflies glided on perfumed breezes over the flowerbeds. Sleepy eyed children woke to the smells of blueberry pancakes. The sun crested the distant mountains to the east, bathing the tiny oasis town in golden beams of light. A dog barked a playful warning to a passing mail carrier and a cat pounced from a neighbor's windowsill onto a feather fluttering in the breeze. Lazlo Curious stood naked in his bathroom and wept.
Thanks to the help of Circe, Nervous, my brothers Lazlo and Vidcund, and one Sophie Miguel from ‘The Nanny Van’ our lives resumed some semblance of normalcy after several weeks. It was a huge adjustment for us all. We managed by using a dry erase board to schedule each week so someone would always be home. I had arranged it so that I could continue working from home most days and the days I had to be at the lab Sophie stepped in to care for Andromeda. Lazlo pitched in by caring for Andy on his days off. Vic even seemed to warm up to her, I know I caught him snuggling her at least a couple of times.
After about six weeks I had become accustomed to being awakened by hungry wailing several times a night, therefore I was very surprised to be awakened in the wee hours of a Tuesday morning by someone pounding on the front door.
( Read more... )
It had only been three months since my father's death when our old family home was sold. It would be strange to live across the street from our childhood home, but not have our parents living there. I hadn't met the woman who bought the house, but Vidcund had on the day she moved in. According to him, we were all invited to a party she was going to have so she could get to know some of the people in our neighbor hood.
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