The Holiday Special, Please

During my time in college there was a little coffee shop that I would frequent almost daily. A cozy little place, it served your normal range of beverages, plus sandwiches, soups, and other treats. It had a range of furniture, from normal four-tops to a massive 8-10 person raw-wood table, from cheap Ikea chairs to cushy recliners. Once you add in the friendly staff, it was a place I could go at any time, for any reason. And I did, a lot.

The Steam Lady

Miss Martha woke up to her small dog scratching away at her door, like most mornings.

"Pssshp!" she hissed at the dog. It stopped for a moment before resuming its assault. Sighing, Miss Martha pushed herself out of bed and let the high-strung runt into her room.

Crashahol

"Hi, I'm Jake, and I'm a crashaholic."

"Hi Jake," the dozen or so folks responded more or less in unison. We all had the same problem: Crash. Sometimes called the big KO, Cliff Dive, or Caddy, Crash was the newest synthetic to hit the streets since Snooze. And hit it did.

Watcher on the Wall

It was my duty, it was my oath. I kept watch every night for those who would cross illegally. For those who thought they were better than the law.

Bitch took my seat.

Oh, what's that I hear? Someone in the lunch room? I suppose it's time for lunch.

It's that boy from upstairs - he seems to be microwaving something. While he's doing that, I'd best get out of his way. I only have a sandwich and I wouldn't want to stand in his way while he moves around the lunch room!

Meeting People, Moving On

A few weeks ago I set up a nice evening tea with a female friend. Not a date, but an intimate conversation between two friends. I didn't expect anything to happen, but there was a bit of hope there, of course (please see earlier posts on how I feel about hope). I've been a wreck ever since.

Priorities

It took me a long time to figure out how to deal with people. My biggest fault in this area is wanting people to be a part of my life and then becoming sad that they didn't want to be a part of mine. My solution was to implement a "three strikes rule", which is the only way I've found to sort out where a person's priorities are. This isn't to say that I'm good at following my own rule, but so it goes.

The Corpse isn't the only Stiff

"Oh, fuck," I thought. "Who gets a boner at a funeral?"

Will's Adventure

It was an average day for Will. He'd just got done having a few happy hour beers and was walking the six blocks back to his house when he noticed a strange van parked outside.

The Journey

The soles of my shoes had turned from leather to vellum, but I kept walking. I was walking myself to death, but I didn’t quite realize it yet.

The Magic Shop

I... don’t quite remember how I got here. In fact, I’m not entirely sure where “here” is. All I know is that a few minutes ago I was standing in some shop and now I’m in some dungeon. I can feel cold rocks on my side. I think I hear a dragon.

The New Neighbor

John had just finished his first cup of coffee for the morning when he heard a knock upon his front door. Thinking it was his car pool arriving quite a bit early, he rushed to open it without checking first. To his surprise, he now stood face to face with an olive green mass of flesh with four arms, six eyes, and a mouth full of big yellow teeth. John stared, not knowing quite what to do.

The Climb

It was going to be a long way up, but I knew it'd be worth the trouble. I'd been looking for some new hunting grounds, and the remoteness of this spot seemed ideal. Hopefully I'd catch enough today to last me a few weeks, but I'd settle for just a good dinner.

I set out at dawn.