Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts

2025-12-27

claude knows story: an introduction to the Avatar Academy series characters

I fed all the novelettes into claude and asked it to create a character chronology, assuming the first event of the story occurred on April 22, 2025. Here is its response, unedited except for formatting.

Avatar Academy Series: A Comprehensive Chronology

Starting Point: April 22, 2025 (Earth Day — a fitting irony)

This timeline synthesizes events across all four novelettes, tracking characters and noting which story each event appears in. Stories are abbreviated as:
- AS = Awesome Sauce
- BSTW = Baltimore Saves the World
- VDPS = Venus Dreams Plastic Schemes
- HMF = His Mom Friday

PREHISTORY (Before April 2025)

The First Avatar Mission — Date Unknown

Source: AS, HMF, BSTW (referenced)

Factor Sonnof becomes the first Avatar Operator to teleport from Venus to Earth
His target host is Yuval Prime, associated with Victory Construction in Baltimore
Factor’s Avatar Pod Controller malfunctions during the mission
Factor becomes trapped in Yuval Prime’s body on Earth; his Venusian body remains in stasis
His official status is listed as “Unknown” on his Hall of Heroes plaque
Nona Sonnof is left to raise their son Bevers alone while serving as Mayor of Venus City

Characters introduced: Factor Sonnof, Yuval Prime, Nona Sonnof, Bevers Sonnof

PHASE ONE: THE CRISIS BEGINS

April 22, 2025 — Earth Day / Venus Doomsday

Source: AS (Chapter 1: Venus’s Voltage Vacancies)

VENUS — The Observatory
- The AI Governor (holographic dodecahedron) convenes an emergency meeting - Solar panel failures have reached critical levels; power cycling events are constant
- Mayor Nona Sonnof and Sergeant Tobar Sidel attend
- Key revelation: Earth has massive quantities of unrecycled plastic that could fuel PolymerPower reactors
- The Venusians watch footage of an Earthling (later identified as Lenny Kremer) praying in a parking lot — they mistake this for “praying to the plastic God”
- Decision: Deploy Avatar Operators to Earth to acquire plastic - Ethical concerns raised about hosts achieving “Attained Negative Life Status” (ANLS) upon operator return
- Solution: Target hosts in high-crime areas where deaths won’t raise suspicion
- Baltimore selected as primary target zone due to underfunded police and criminal activity

Characters introduced: AI Governor, Sergeant Tobar Sidel, Lenny Kremer (observed)

April 23–24, 2025 — Mobilization

Source: VDPS (Chapters 1–2), BSTW

VENUS — Government Chambers
- Emergency protocols enacted; plastic conservation measures ordered - All plastic items (posters, benches, art installations) to be replaced with Cardbordium
- VEATT 2.0 (Venus-Earth Avatar Teleportation Technology) development accelerated - Governor orders Avatar Academy expansion and new cadet recruitment
- Bevers Sonnof’s application transferred from defunct VEATT 1.0 program to Avatar Academy 2.0
- Nona objects but is overruled by the Governor

EARTH — Baltimore
- At Gilbrain Recycling, Abel and Linda Gilbrain dream of buying the bankrupt Putt-Putt Planet mini-golf course
- Etern Fletcher delivers “No Plastic Left Behind” merchandise - Ramon Ortiz files paperwork in the cluttered office
- Abel’s parents, Ursel and Urielle Gilbrain, prepare for a vacation to the Poconos

Characters introduced: Abel Gilbrain, Linda Gilbrain, Etern Fletcher, Ramon Ortiz, Ursel Gilbrain, Urielle Gilbrain

April 25, 2025 — Lenny’s Bad Night

Source: BSTW (Chapter: Praying to the “plastic God”)

EARTH — Baltimore Ramada Hotel - Lenny Kremer attends Tuesday Night Speed Dating - Disastrous dates with Euphemia (flees to bathroom), Bromhilda (texts her mom about him), and Martha (dismisses alien theories) - Lenny remains hopeful despite zero romantic success - He works as a polymer monitoring engineer at the Baltimore Plastic Recycle Processing Facility - His two passions: waste management data and UFO research

Characters introduced: Euphemia, Bromhilda, Martha (speed dates)

April 26–27, 2025 — Poster Crisis / Coffee Shop

Source: AS (Chapter 3: Nona’s Plastic Poster)

VENUS — Perfect Protocol Percolation Coffee Shop - Nona and Jetta Sidel (Tobar’s mother) have coffee - City maintenance worker Wally removes Nona’s campaign poster for fuel - Nona accepts this as “the needs of the many” but is clearly troubled - New posters read: “Conserve Plastic! (Or We’ll All Die!)”

Characters introduced: Jetta Sidel, Wally

PHASE TWO: THE AVATAR ACADEMY

Late April 2025 — Cadet Training Begins

Source: AS (Chapter 3: Keen Clutzy Cadets), VDPS

VENUS — Avatar Control Facility - Five new cadets train under Sergeant Sidel and Technician Xena Xanner - Cadets: Thalia Ridel (extroverted, crush on Bevers), Sharada Nassof (shy brainiac), Spinozar Bentov (philosopher), Moma Tommov and Mathezar Tommov (married couple) - Bevers sneaks into training late, trips over a trash can - A mysterious webcam feed appears showing 10 tons of labeled plastic at coordinates in Baltimore - Xena teleports the plastic directly to the PolymerPower fuel bay — success! - Rules of Avatar Operation taught: “If you don’t know, answer a question with a question” and “Don’t get caught”

Characters introduced: Xena Xanner, Thalia Ridel, Sharada Nassof, Spinozar Bentov, Moma Tommov, Mathezar Tommov

Late April 2025 — The Gilbrain Takeover

Source: VDPS (Chapter 3: House-sitting)

EARTH — Baltimore - Ursel and Urielle Gilbrain leave for vacation to the Poconos - Abel and Linda house-sit, immediately begin scheming about the mini-golf purchase - The Tommovs are assigned to permanently hijack Ursel and Urielle Gilbrain - Moma-as-Urielle and Mathezar-as-Ursel take over during the vacation - The Gilbrain parents return “changed” — more efficient, orderly, obsessed with TV trivia

Early May 2025 — Bevers’s First Real Mission (Dan Uris)

Source: BSTW

VENUS — Avatar Control - Governor takes “direct interest” in Bevers’s career over Nona’s objections - Bevers is assigned to avatar into Dan Uris, an aggressive man who works at the Baltimore Waste Processing Plant - Alternative host (rejected): an elderly robbery victim with a broken leg - Bevers climbs into Pod Controller labeled “Bevers Sonnof/Dan Uris” - Teleportation successful — Bevers experiences Earth gravity for the first time

EARTH — Baltimore Waste Processing Plant - Bevers-as-Dan arrives, disoriented by the heavier gravity - He meets Lenny Kremer and supervisor Cedric “Smitty” at the facility - Bevers-as-Dan’s mission: locate large quantities of plastic for teleportation

Characters introduced: Dan Uris, Smitty (Cedric)

May 2025 — World UFO Day Events

Source: BSTW

EARTH — Baltimore - Lenny notices statistical anomalies in plastic waste data — impossible drops in pollution levels - He suspects alien involvement but can’t prove it - Bevers-as-Dan struggles with coordination; his erratic behavior raises eyebrows - Dan Uris achieves ANLS (dies) when Bevers returns to Venus - Bevers feels genuine guilt about Dan’s death — unusual for Venusians

VENUS — Perfect Protocol Percolation - Bevers meets Nona and Jetta after his mission - His Venusian body is still calibrated for Earth gravity; he stumbles, knocks things over - Nona is pragmatic: “They’re biodegradable. Why not just leave them?” - Bevers is sent for mandatory debriefing

May 2025 — The Second Invader (Smitty)

Source: BSTW

VENUS - Bevers is assigned a new host: Smitty (Lenny’s friend at the plant) - Mission continues: locate larger plastic quantities

EARTH — Baltimore - Bevers-as-Smitty works alongside Lenny - Lenny becomes increasingly suspicious of strange behavior from coworkers - He meets Lucy Mateo, a graduate student researching microplastic extraction - Lenny and Lucy bond over environmental concerns and, eventually, over Lenny’s UFO theories - Bevers-as-Smitty helps identify the Victory Construction criminal operation as a source of concentrated plastic

PHASE THREE: VICTORY CONSTRUCTION

Mid-May 2025 — Criminal Underworld

Source: AS (Chapters 4–5)

EARTH — Victory Construction Warehouse - Victor Ng (“Victor the Vicious”) runs a criminal operation disguised as a construction company - Key employees: El Toro (enforcer), Wilt Chamberlain (receptionist, no relation to basketball legend), Tommy Takony (good-hearted associate) - Tommy pitches Victor on starting a legal cannabis dispensary — rejected - Victor notices plastic disappearing from his scrap piles; suspects theft - El Toro punches Tommy over the missing vinyl (Tommy is innocent — Venusians teleported it)

Characters introduced: Victor Ng, El Toro, Wilt Chamberlain, Tommy Takony

Mid-May 2025 — Ivan the Insane

Source: AS (Chapters 12–13)

EARTH — Baltimore - Ivan Broomfield (“Ivan the Insane”) returns from a trip, greeted by his daughter Isolda - Ivan is a devoted father despite his criminal profession - He participates in Isolda’s tea party; she puts makeup on his face - Bevers neural-hijacks Ivan; Bevers-as-Ivan goes to work for Victor - Chitty the Chipper (owner of a wood chipper, psychotically cheerful) joins Bevers-as-Ivan and Tommy on errands

Characters introduced: Ivan Broomfield, Isolda Broomfield, Chitty the Chipper

Mid-May 2025 — Finding Factor

Source: AS (Chapters 13–15)

VENUS — Avatar Control - Sidel works frantically to repair Factor Sonnof’s damaged Pod Controller - Cadets discover Factor’s host (Yuval Prime) is connected to Victory Construction - Mathezar proposes avataring into Victor to get close to the plastic cache

EARTH — Victory Construction - Factor-as-Yuval is being held captive by Victor - Mathezar-as-Victor neural-hijacks Victor; his eyes flash blue - Factor recognizes the signs of a Venusian avatar; Mathezar identifies himself - Bevers-as-Ivan arrives with Tommy and Chitty - The three Venusians reveal themselves to each other (but not to Chitty or Tommy) - Father-son reunion: Bevers and Factor embrace in their human host bodies

Late May 2025 — The Toy Tinkers Heist

Source: AS (Chapter 15: The Plastic Pile-up)

EARTH — Demolished Toy Tinkers Site - Factor-as-Yuval, Bevers-as-Ivan, and Mathezar-as-Victor drive to a massive pile of vinyl scraps - They climb the mountain of plastic to transmit GPS coordinates to Venus - The beacon is activated; the plastic glows blue and vanishes - Problem: they’re standing on the plastic when it teleports - All three hosts fall to their deaths (splat)

VENUS — Avatar Control - Tension as Sidel and Xena monitor the situation - Power coupling fails again; Sharada and Spinozar rush to fix it - Three Pod Controllers glow blue — successful return! - Bevers, Mathezar, and Factor emerge alive - Factor orders the teleportation of remaining plastic; mission success

Late May 2025 — Family Reunion

Source: AS (Chapters 15–16)

VENUS — The Observatory - Nona is in a meeting discussing funding and solar panel failures - Factor sneaks up behind her, covers her eyes - Emotional reunion; Nona is overjoyed - Governor offers Factor a tenured position as Professor of Earth Protocol at the Avatar Academy - Grand celebration at Venus City Civic Center - Multiple couples form: Spinozar & Sharada, Bevers & Thalia, Moma & Mathezar (already married)

EARTH — Baltimore - Funerals for Ivan the Insane, Victor the Vicious, Yuval Prime, and El Toro - Chitty is the sole mourner at each, bored and fake-crying - Wilt inherits Victory Construction; Tommy opens a cannabis dispensary - Police have no leads; deaths attributed to “climbing accidents”

PHASE FOUR: OPERATIONS CONTINUE

June 2025 — Thalia’s Tribunal

Source: VDPS (Chapter 8)

VENUS — Avatar Control Facility - Thalia Ridel faces a tribunal for “terminating her host” during a mission gone wrong - Sergeant Sidel presents damning pie charts and statistics - Nona defends Thalia passionately: “She’s a weapon. You don’t throw away a weapon just because it misfired once. You recalibrate it.” - The Governor agrees; Thalia is reinstated with conditions: Ethics in Teleportation Seminar (twice) and snack bar ban (one month) - Thalia and Bevers exchange meaningful looks

Summer 2025 — Bevers’s Demotion

Source: HMF (referenced)

VENUS - Bevers provides a load of plastic fuel, but it contains impurities - Processing causes extreme power fluctuations - Governor demotes Bevers from First Class Operator back to Cadet - Nona is frustrated but supportive

Summer 2025 — Movie Night

Source: HMF (Chapter 1: Movie night)

VENUS — Sonnof Family Apartment - Factor, Nona, and Bevers settle in for family movie night - Feature: His Girl Friday (1940), streamed from Earthnet - Nona made “Earthling popcorn” with “aroma of mommy-love” - Power cycling interrupts mid-film; a four-minute delay - Nona calls the Governor to complain; conversation reveals ongoing crisis - Factor is now home, but the family worries about Venus City’s future - Bevers defends the Avatar Academy: “The Avatar Control Facility now has separate power reserves” - Reference to Thalia and Sharada’s thermal power converter invention

Summer 2025 — The P.L.A.S.T.I.C. Discovery

Source: HMF (Chapter 2)

VENUS — Avatar Academy Training Room - Thalia and Sharada play Venusian ping-pong at superhuman speeds - Spinozar and Jakov watch; Spinozar philosophizes about whether beauty exists - Thalia reveals her discovery in the P.L.A.S.T.I.C. database (Plastic Logging Automation for Sorting, Transporting, Identifying, and Cataloging) - Container-loads of pure PVC are shipping from Cartagena, Colombia to Baltimore - 20+ glorks (metric tons) per container; thousands of containers per ship - Redacted entries suggest criminal activity or deliberate concealment - Thalia: “Not if we teleport it off that rock first”

Late Summer 2025 — Operation Plastic Fantastic

Source: HMF (Chapters 3–9)

VENUS - Bevers proposes a mission to intercept the PVC shipment - Nona forbids his participation; he’s still a cadet - Target hosts identified: Alan Jackson (corrupt shipping worker) and Wendy (fellow smuggler) - Twist: Nona decides to go with Bevers, avataring into Wendy

EARTH — Baltimore Shipping Yards - Bevers-as-Alan and Nona-as-Wendy infiltrate the criminal plastic smuggling operation - They navigate Baltimore’s underworld while maintaining cover - Police officers Linda and Rodney investigate suspicious activity - Climactic scene: Bevers and Nona locate containers labeled “PB-437” - They operate a crane to reach the containers and transmit coordinates - 27 containers of PVC teleported to Venus — enough fuel for 3+ months - Both hosts fall from the crane and die; Bevers and Nona return to Venus - Linda and Rodney find the bodies and confiscate cell phones as evidence

VENUS — Avatar Control Facility - Bevers and Nona emerge from their pods, triumphant but shaken - Factor rushes to embrace Nona: “You did it!” - Governor announces: 540 glorks of fuel acquired - Bevers is promoted to head the new Earth Resource Acquisition Division - Celebration in Venus City Park with artificial auroras - Factor to Nona: “You’re my girl Friday” - Bevers: “She’s my mom Friday”

PHASE FIVE: EQUILIBRIUM

Six Months Later — November 2025

Source: VDPS (Chapter 9: Final Jeopardy)

EARTH — Gilbrain Residence, Baltimore - The Gilbrain living room is immaculate — aliens value efficiency - Mathezar-as-Ursel and Moma-as-Urielle watch Jeopardy! obsessively - They dominate planetary science questions (“What is Venus?”) - Abel and Linda have been demoted to “Senior Retrieval Specialists” — truck drivers - The recycling business is thriving; plastic “shrinks” mysteriously overnight - Abel whispers to Linda about a new scheme: an alpaca farm - “Their wool is recession-proof, Linda. It’s hypoallergenic.” - Linda squeezes his hand: “I love socks.” - The cycle of Gilbrain chaos continues, now under alien management

One Year Later — April 2026

Source: BSTW (Epilogue: Baltimore, one year later)

EARTH — Baltimore - Environmental miracle: plastic pollution in the Chesapeake watershed down 78% - Scientists accuse each other of fraud, incompetence, and witchcraft - A heron catches fish in clean water; a mother duck has 12 surviving ducklings - Dolphins appear in the Inner Harbor — reporters are shocked - News attributes the cleanup to Lucy Mateo’s microplastic extraction research - (In truth: she reverse-engineered alien technology as a backup system) - Smitty’s UFO podcast reaches the top 1000; he claims dolphins are Venusian scouts in “bio-suits”

EARTH — Baltimore Park - Lenny and Lucy jog together, engaged - Their dog Ramis is trained to pick up litter and deposit it in recycling bins - “You trained him to recycle!” — Lenny’s two loves merged into one

EARTH — The White House - The President learns plastic pollution is down dramatically - Advisor: “Apparently it’s due to some scientist named Lucy Mateo from Baltimore” - President asks what to do with $40 billion freed up from pollution cleanup - Decision: “Build me a bajillion bombs”

VENUS — Surface - Bevers stands in a spacesuit on the scorched Venusian plains - He checks a solar panel, looks up at Earth (a bright pinprick in the yellow sky) - He waves a thankful salute

“Wait — you didn’t think ‘Baltimore saves the world’ meant the Earth, did you?”

CHARACTER TRACKER

The Sonnof Family

Character	Role	Stories
Factor Sonnof	First Avatar Operator; Professor of Earth Protocol	AS, HMF
Nona Sonnof	Mayor of Venus City	AS, BSTW, VDPS, HMF
Bevers Sonnof	Avatar Cadet → Division Head	AS, BSTW, VDPS, HMF

Avatar Academy Cadets

Character	Role	Stories
Thalia Ridel	Cadet; Bevers’s love interest	AS, VDPS, HMF
Sharada Nassof	Cadet; shy brainiac	AS, VDPS, HMF
Spinozar Bentov	Cadet; philosopher	AS, VDPS, HMF
Moma Tommov	Cadet → Permanent Operator (Urielle)	AS, VDPS
Mathezar Tommov	Cadet → Permanent Operator (Ursel)	AS, VDPS

Venusian Officials

Character	Role	Stories
AI Governor	Holographic dodecahedron; planetary leader	AS, BSTW, VDPS, HMF
Sergeant Tobar Sidel	Avatar Academy commander	AS, BSTW, VDPS, HMF
Jetta Sidel	Tobar’s mother; socialite	AS, BSTW
Xena Xanner	Senior Avatar Control Technician	AS, BSTW

Earth Characters — Baltimore Waste Facility

Character	Role	Stories
Lenny Kremer	Polymer engineer; UFO believer	BSTW
Lucy Mateo	Graduate student; Lenny’s fiancée	BSTW
Smitty (Cedric)	Lenny’s friend; podcast host	BSTW
Dan Uris	Supervisor; Bevers’s first host	BSTW

Earth Characters — Victory Construction

Character	Role	Stories
Victor Ng	Crime boss (“Victor the Vicious”)	AS
Yuval Prime	Criminal; Factor’s host	AS, HMF (ref)
Ivan Broomfield	Criminal (“Ivan the Insane”); father	AS
El Toro	Enforcer	AS
Tommy Takony	Associate → dispensary owner	AS
Wilt Chamberlain	Receptionist → new boss	AS
Chitty the Chipper	Psychotic chipper owner	AS

Earth Characters — Gilbrain Family

Character	Role	Stories
Abel Gilbrain	Son; serial entrepreneur	VDPS
Linda Gilbrain	Abel’s wife	VDPS
Ursel Gilbrain	Father → Mathezar’s permanent host	VDPS
Urielle Gilbrain	Mother → Moma’s permanent host	VDPS
Etern Fletcher	Employee; Bevers’s early host	VDPS
Ramon Ortiz	Employee	VDPS

Earth Characters — His Mom Friday Mission

Character	Role	Stories
Alan Jackson	Smuggler; Bevers’s host	HMF
Wendy	Smuggler; Nona’s host	HMF
Linda	Baltimore police officer	HMF
Rodney	Baltimore police officer	HMF

TIMELINE SUMMARY

Date	Event	Story
Pre-series	Factor’s first mission; trapped in Yuval Prime	Background
April 22, 2025	Energy crisis summit; Earth invasion planned	AS
April 23–24	Mobilization; Avatar Academy expansion	VDPS, BSTW
April 25	Lenny’s speed dating disaster	BSTW
April 26–27	Poster confiscation; plastic conservation	AS
Late April	Cadet training; first plastic teleportation	AS, VDPS
Late April	Tommovs take over Gilbrain parents	VDPS
Early May	Bevers’s first mission (Dan Uris)	BSTW
May	Lenny meets Lucy; UFO research	BSTW
Mid-May	Victory Construction infiltration	AS
Late May	Factor found; Toy Tinkers heist; reunion	AS
June	Thalia’s tribunal	VDPS
Summer	Bevers demoted; Movie night	HMF
Late Summer	Operation Plastic Fantastic	HMF
November 2025	Gilbrains watch Jeopardy; alpaca dreams	VDPS
April 2026	Baltimore environmental miracle	BSTW

“The universe, it seemed, had a truly bizarre sense of humor.”

— END OF CHRONOLOGY —

2024-01-08

Richard Matheson and "The man who invented the world" (1954)

Richard Matheson (1923-2013) is one of the most well-known of modern American writers. Matheson wrote novels and short stories in the genres science fiction, horror, fantasy, and suspense.

Richard Matheson in 2008 (age 85), from wikipedia

Many of his stories were adapted for film, such as "Twilight Zone" TV episodes (like "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"), Steven Spielberg's "Duel" (1971) was based on his short story of the same title, "The Last Man on Earth" (1964) (two later adaptations were "The Omega Man" (1971) and "I Am Legend" (2007)), and "Legend of Hell House" (1973), based on his novel "Hell House" (1971).

Matheson also published, in 1954, a short screenplay, "The man who invented the world", which has lapsed into the public domain. In case anyone want to stage it as a play or shoot it as a short, I typed up the screenplay in standard format and posted it here: pdf, fountain. Download and best of luck! (For typos, please email me at fablestofilm@gmail.com.)

2022-10-04

Frank Daniel's 5 essential elements of a "good story well-told"

Frank Daniel (1926–1996) was a screenwriter, film producer, screenwriting teacher and mentor to many, including David Lynch, Miloš Forman, and Terrance Malick. He is the originator of the "eight sequence method" for outlining a screenplay.

"I am sorry to say he died not long ago, and I have to tell you that he was my only teacher. He gave much to other people, he helped many people. He was a noble-minded and non-egoistic man, and no one understood the art of film-making as he did. He understood it and truly loved it – his criticism was always constructive and never purposely offended anybody. He was open about saying what he didn't like, but he did it in a way that would help you. And that cannot be said about most of the critics in USA. I am very sorry he is not here." — David Lynch

In D. Howard and E. Mabley's book The Tools of Screenwriting, Daniels gives his essential elements of "a good story well told"

The story is about somebody with whom we have some empathy.
This somebody wants something very badly.
This something is diffcult, but possible to do, get, or achieve.
The story is told for maximum emotional impact and audience participation in the proceedings.
The story must come to a satisfactory ending (which does not necessarily mean a happy ending).

2022-03-20

Notes on "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" by Shakespeare et al

Most scholars agree that William Shakespeare's play Pericles, Prince of Tyre was co-written with George Wilkins. It is believed that Shakespeare wrote acts 3, 4, and 5, while Wilkins wrote the first two. Their plot was, in turn, based on an earlier poem by John Gower (who is a character in the play), among other sources.

See wikipedia for links to where the text of the play can be found (free, online).

Characters Pericles main character list:

Antiochus, King of Antioch (who's revealed early on to be evil)
Thaliard, a Lord of Antioch (who is assigned to kill Pericles)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Helicanus and Escanes, two Lords of Tyre
Simonides, King of Pentapolis
Thaisa, Daughter to Simonides (who eventually marries Pericles)
Marina, Daughter to Pericles and Thaisa
Lychorida, Nurse to Marina
Cleon, Governor of Tarsus
Dionyza, Wife to Cleon
Leonine, Servant to Dionyza (who is assigned to kill Marina)
Cerimon, a Lord of Ephesus (and a skilled physician who saves the life of Thaisa)
Philemon, Servant to Cerimon
Lysimachus, Governor of Mitylene (who helps Marina and Pericles reunite)
Pandar (male brothel owner, in Mitylene)
Boult, his Servant
Bawd (female brothel owner, in Mitylene)
Diana, the Greek goddess (who helps Thaisa and Pericles reunite)

The protagonist is Pericles, but he has several antagonists, for example: Antiochus (and Thaliard), the fierce storms at sea, and Dionyza (and her servant Leonine, as well as her husband Cleon). He also has allies, for example: Helicanus, Cleon and Dionyza (who later turn against him), Cerimon, and the Greek goddess Diana.

Notes on the character of Antiochus (adapted from Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare): In the time of the play (around 200 BCE), Shakespeare’s Antiochus fits the actual leader Antiochus III (“Antiochus the Great”). However, the text of the play suggests that Shakespeare’s Antiochus was modeled instead on his brutal son Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Some of the conflicts of Antiochus IV are described in the Book of Maccabees, for example, the revolt of the Jews (this is of course before the origin of Christianity). For example, Antiochus IV wanted everyone to worship the Greek god Zeus, which was unacceptable by the Jews. This revolt is associated with the Hanukkah holiday that everyone knows. As Helicanus says in Act II, scene IV:

"A fire from heaven came and shrivell’d up
Their bodies, even to loathing, for they so stunk
That all those eyes adored them ere their fall
Scorn now their hand should give them burial.”

Compare that with 2 Maccabees 9:9 in discussing the punishment and death of Antiochus IV:

The body of this impious man swarmed with worms, and while he was still alive in hideous torments, his flesh rotted off, so that the entire army was sickened by the stench of his corruption.

Locations The cities used by Shakespeare as locations for his play are, at the time the play occurs, real places - they are all located on the western part of the Mediterranean Sea. However, their use in the play may put them in ficticious locations.

Actioch: Act I, scene I
(There, Pericles meet the evil Antiochus and escapes, fearing for is life.) This was a city in modern day Turkey. Its ruins lie near the current city of Antakya.
Tyre: Act I, scenes II, III, Act II, scenes IV
This is a city in modern day Lebenon.
Tarsus: Act I, scene IV, Act III, scene III, Act IV, scenes I, III, IV,
(Pericles saves Tarsus from famine and later leaves baby Marina there to be protected and raised. It turns out the Governor and his wife cannot be trusted...) This is a city in modern day Turkey.
Pentapolis: Act II, scenes I, II, III, V
(Pericles meets his wife Thaisa there.) Pentapolis in the play is a collection of 5 cities located in modern day Egypt and Libya. Some are in ruins and some have survived until today.
Ephesus: Act III, scene II, IV, Act V, scene II, III
(The coffin Pericles' wife Thaisa is washes ashore and she is saved by a skilled physician there. She is unaware of where Marina is.) This was a city in what is not the country of Turkey. Its ruins lie near the current city of Izmir.
Mytilene: Act IV, scene II, V, VI
(This is where pirates took Marina after kidnapping her in Tarsus before she was almost murdered by the wife of the Governor there.) Mytilene is a city on the Greek island of Lesbos.
On Pericles' ship: Act III, scene I, Act V, scene I
(Pericles' wife Thaisa appears to die in childbirth there and is buried at sea in a coffin.)

Locations, in scene order More precisely, in the order of the play's acts and scenes, the locations, with characters, are as follows. The presence of Gower, the narrator of the play, in a scene is omitted.

Actioch: Antiochus (king), Pericles, Thaliard (a lord of Antioch and one who wants to kill Pericles for Antiochus), the daughter of Antiochus, Messenger
Act I, scene I
Tyre (in the palace): Pericles, Helicanus (a lord), Escanes (a lord), Thaliard Pericles leaves Helicanus in charge, so Helicanus is now Governor of Tyre?)
Act I, scenes II, III
Tarsus (a room in Cleon's house): Cleon (governor of Tarsus), Dionyza, a lord, Pericles
Act I, scene IV
Pentapolis (by the seaside): Pericles, three fishermen
Act II, scene I
Pentapolis (by a pavillion): Pericles, Simonides (king), Thaisa (king's daughter, to be Pericles' wife), knights, their squires, various lords
Act II, scene II
Pentapolis (in a hall of state, a reception for Pericles): Pericles, Simonides, Thaisa, Marshall (organizer of the reception?), knights, ladies, various lords
Act II, scene III
Tyre (a room in Helicanus' house) : Pericles, Helicanus, Escanes, three lords
Act II, scene IV
Pentapolis (in the palace): Simonides, Thaisa, three knights
Act II, scene V
On Pericles' ship: Pericles, Lychorida (nurse to Marina), an infant (Marina?), two sailors
Act III, scene I
Ephesus (room in Cerimon's house): Cerimon (a lord of Ephesus), Philemon (In Cerimon's staff), two or three servants, and some shipwrecked sailors, two gentlemen, Thaisa
Act III, scene II
Tarsus (room in Cleon's house): Cleon, Dionyza, Pericles
Act III, scene III
Ephesus (room in Cerimon's house): Cerimon, Thaisa
Act III, scene IV
Tarsus (near the seashore): Dionyza, Leonine, Marina, three pirates
Act IV, scene I
Mytilene (room in a brothel): Pandar (brothel owner, male), Boult (his servant), Bawd (brothel owner, female), the pirates and Marina
Act IV, scene II
Tarsus (room in Cleon's house): Cleon, Dionyza
Act IV, scene III
Tarsus (near the monument/tombstone to Marina): Pericles, Cleon, Dionyza
Act IV, scene IV
Mytilene (street in front of the brothel): Two gentlemen (johns leaving the brothel)
Act IV, scene V
Mytilene (room in a brothel): Pandar, Boult, Bawd, Lysimachus (governor of Mytilene), Marina
Act IV, scene VI
On Pericles' ship: Two Sailors (eg, Tyrian Sailor), Helicanus, two gentlemen, Lysimachus, Lords (eg, First Lord), Marina, Pericles, Diana (as a godess in a vision)
Act V, scene I
Ephesus (temple of Diana): Thaisa, a number of Virgins, Cerimon, Pericles, Lysimachus, Helicanus, Marina, a Lady
Act V, scenes II, III

2021-04-05

Sinclair Lewis on writing with little time

In 1921 Sinclair Lewis wrote a short essay entitled "How I wrote a novel on trains and beside a kitchen sink." (Nine years before he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.)

I first saw this article referenced in a quote by Tom Wolfe on the craft of writing. I googled for it and found it referenced in a blog, where someone commented on where it appeared. I tracked down the issues of The American Magazine (in the public domain and posted on the internet archive. Then I downloaded the huge psd and extracted the pages for the Sinclair Lewis article. You can download the three page article (as a pdf) by clicking here.

2021-01-26

Howard Hawks' narrative story structure

Some notes on narrative story structure employed by Howard Hawks, as gleaned from Gerald Mast’s biography Howard Hawks, storyteller.

Howard Hawks is famous for using Ben Hecht or Charles Lederer or William Faulkner as screenwriters on his films, and is not well-known as a screenwriter himself. None-the-less, he write many of his earliest films, and was known to rewrite many others. For example, the idea to make Hildy female (as in his version of The Front Page that Hawks titled His Girl Friday) was his, although Charles Lederer (and uncredited Ben Hecht) wrote the script. A quick look at his filmography will show you he kept writing into the 1960s (fyi, he was born in the 1890s). Mast’s book describes Hawks’ four part screenplay structure:

Part 1: The prologue. This part either (a) establishes conflict in the past or present of the major characters, or (b) initiates a conflict among the major characters.
Part 2: Develop this central conflict from the point of view of one of the major characters, or let the perspective (or lifestyle) of one of the major characters dominate the action.
Part 3: Either (a) allow another one of the major characters to dominate the action, or (b) develop conflict by allowing two (or more) major characters to work together.
Part 4: Resolve the central conflict, often by returning to the physical setting in the prologue, but now the opposing characters see each other in a new light.

The first and last part match up well with most other “screenplay structure” suggestions, parts 2 and 3 seems to me like more of a stylistic structural component that he superimposed on a script. In any case, here is an example using one of my favorite movies. Example: His Girl Friday. Part 1 involves (a) Hildy’s divorce from Walter and her planned marriage to Bruce, (b) the important to-be-written newspaper story of the execution of an innocent man. Part 2 involves Walter scheming behind Hildy’s back to (a) get Hildy to work on the newspaper article for him, (b) to block Bruce’s efforts to get him out of town. Part 3 involves Hildy writing the article (and in the process discovering how much she loves being a good reporter) and helping to save the innocent convict. Part 4 involved Bruce leaving, and Hildy and Walter becoming reunited.

2020-10-21

All the children were blue (short story 29)

* A blue-colored little girl Lena, who’s tall for a 10 year old, enters a rusty metal building with Bee-tou, a short stocky Blue who always wore a knitted cap even when it was hot. Their clothes are shabby, torn, and patched, in dark reds, browns, greens and blues. The structure is made of corrigated metal shaped like a half-cylinder on it's side. Lena thought it could have once stored farm equipment or maybe it was once a hanger for a prop plane. It had electricity, but not much. Enought to heat one small section, and to power dim lights here and there. Mostly, it stored boxes and was a place for the Blues to meet the Wise Man. The Wise Man, looked at them as they approached the heated section he sat in. His eyes we impassionate, but he greeted them with a warm smile. This made Lena more nervous but Bee-tou smiled back. “Please make yourself comfortable,” Wise Man said, pointing to a sofa and chair close to him with cushions. Wise Man gets some bottles out of a cooler. He gives one to Bee-tou, “Call me Woosa. You at the protector Bee-tou?” Lena took the chair and Bee-tou takes the sofa. Bee-tou nods. “Thank you.” As he gave Lena a bottle he asked, “So you are Lena, the one with the bad dreams?” Lena nods nervously and sets her bottle down. Bee-tou drinks and says “She can be shy. That’s why I came with her.” “Of course, you are her protector.” “Not the only one. The others are outside.” “Of course” Woosa says and smirks at the door. “She calls them visions, not dreams,” Bee-tou says with a corrective tone. “Do they scare you?” Wise Man asks Lena. She nods and looks away. “Well, relax, you’re safe here. These dreams are normal. Your brain processes the stress and strain of everyday life. It’s not natural for our kind to live like this, is it? Scrounging for food, fuel, electricity. Keeping eyes peeled for Reds. We go into survival mode. Therefore, when you sleep, your dreams carry these scary, stressful images. Nothing to worry about. Would you like to talk about them?” Lena shakes her head. “I understand. Has she told you about them?” Wise asks Bee-tou. “A little. They involve Red attacks,” Bee-tou. “Exactly my point. When was the last time we fought the Reds?” “Months ago,” Bee-tou says. “Was Lena scared?” “Oh, yes.” “It’s quite possible the Reds now want peace. We don’t know. But, in any case, that explains it. Lena was scared in the Red attack and her subcounscious processes that fear as dreaming these scary visions during her sleep. Basic psychology, right?” Woosa smiles and nods to them both. Woosa gets a small pill bottle and hands it to Lena. “Take these for a few nights. They will help you sleep.” Lena takes the bottle. “Thank you,” Bee-tou says. He looks to Lena. “Ready?” Lena nods and gets up. “Thank you,” she says shyly. “Absolutely my pleasure,” Woosa says with a smile, watching them walk out. As they shut the door he turns Red and his smile vanishes.

* Lena and Bee-tou walk a path between crumbling buildings and junk. large and small. Abandoned relics, tossed aside by the Elders just as they did with their children. They look around then, seeing no one, enter the rear door of a rusty car parked too close to a long crumbling brick building. Lena goes in first, and slides over the vinyl seats, then Bee-tou. He shuts the door behind them. It's quiet and, because the windows are tinted, darker. Then they open the door on the other side, which doubles as a hatch into the building. They are greeted by another stocky Blue, who nods and helps Lena step out into the building. It’s clean and on the other side, there’s a well-lit space with lots of little Blue girls paired with their stocky Blue protectors, all dressed in the same drab colors. As Lena and Bee-tou approach them, one Blue girl asks “How did it go?” “He said not to worry,” Bee-tou says. “He gave me these,” Lena says, handing the bottle to the smallest Blue girl. Deesha. Deesha tries to open it but can’t. She looks to her protector, Gee-doo, who takes it, opens it and hands it back to her. Deesha sniffs it, shakes her head at Lena, then tosses the bottle in the trash. They all look to Lena with an unspoken question. Lena looks at each one of the little Blue girls then says, “I know what I saw, call it a dream or a vision, whatever you want. We need to be on alert.” Each of the Blue protectors looks at their girl with concern. “I’m going to make a food run. We sleep here tonight and move at first light,” Bee-tou says.

* That night, they are all sleeping soundly, even Lena and, not far away, Bee-tou. Lena’s head jerks and her eyes open. She gets up, the sound waking Bee-tou, who watches her carefully. Lena quietly tip-toes to each of the little Blue girls, touching each one on the shoulder. They wake when touched, look at Lena, and nod. Bee-tou coughs. All the Blue protectors’ eyes open at the sound. They look to Bee-tou, then to Lena. Bee-tou points to the exit, a hole in the wall leading to a car door. They all quietly head to the exit.

* Outside, it's dark, the way lit by the flashlights held by the protectors. They walk in single file along a path between junk and abandoned buildings. Lena turns to look behinds them. The sky, once dark blue, starts to turn red, like a strangely colored sunrise. “We need to run,” Lena says. They run reaching a large parking lot, where they spread out and run as fast as their small legs can go. The Protectors stay between the girls and the Reds in the sky behind them. Once in a while, a couple of stray Blues boys come out of the shadows to join them running. They fall behind, whether by intention of lack of speed. The Reds are visible in the distance behind them. The closest Red, flying at the height of a small building, throws a red translucent small cloud at a Blue stray. He collapses in the parking lot, dies and turns Red. The Protectors see this and re-organize to keeps themselves between the Reds and the little blue girl they are in charge of. Bee-tou yells at little Lena, “Hurry.” They speed up as fast as they can. Another Blue stray dies in a red cloud. Bee-tou yells at even louder, “Hurry.” Three Blue strays die in red clouds. As far as the eye can see, there are Reds flying towards them, a rag-tag bunch of scared little Blue kids. Now Bee-tou is loudly yelling ‘Hurry”, so loud Lena starts to cry. The little blue girls look to Lena, reaching out to her, all the girls touching Lena. Lena stops running and, sobbing, she drops to one knee. She raises her head to the sky and screams a long high-pitched scream. The girls hold each other tighter. The Blue Protectors surround all the girls, facing outward towards the approaching Reds. As the Reds, en mass, descend for their final attack, a translucent blue cloud condenses and grows around the girls, spreading to the Blue Protectors. They look at each other mystified and Lena's scream continues impossibly long and loud. The cloud condenses and grows and expands wider and wider. The Reds throw red clouds at it, which simply dissolve into mist and fade away. Each little girl starts to scream, joining in the terrible scream coming from Lena. As each one starts to scream, the blue cloud grows. Finally, Deesha too screams and the blue cloud explodes to infinity. As the edge of the massive blue cloud passes through each Red, they turn Blue and drop from the sky to the ground. For what seems like hours, the sky rains Reds, who drop to the ground and turn into a Blue adult. Asleep at first, one by one they wake and look around at their new world. The little blue girls vomit when it’s over. Then they all collapse in exhaustion. Eventually, they get up eventually, leave their Protectors. They know they must search for their parents, who once abandoned them and became Red. Their parents are somewhere out there, among the fallen.

2020-09-30

Detour, revisited (short story 28)

* Roberts has his thumb out and his ratty old sports jacket buttoned up as best as he can. His fedora is pulled down to try to keep out the cold. It’s only in the 50s but the wind is blowing along this long flat stretch of highway in South Dakota, which makes it seem colder. An old guy in a rusty old Ford 150 pulls up. “Where are you headed?” the old man asks. “LA,” Roberts says. “Sounds good.” “Okay, hop in then. My name’s Sam.” Sam unlocks the door. “Thank you,” Roberts says climbing in. “Al Roberts.” Roberts takes off his hat, placing it on his knee, and unbuttons his jacket. “It’s getting a bit chilly out there, compared to Kentucky.”

“You started out in Kentucky? Ain’t ya a little far north for LA?” “Yeah, but I hitched a ride from a trucker in Kentucky and this is where he was going. It was west, so I stayed with him.” “Yeah, South Dakota is west of Kentucky, I’ll give ya that. I’m going to Montana.” “So, you're from Kentucky?” “No, I’m from North Carolina, near the coast. Born and raised.” “Why leave? What’s in LA?” “Movies. I want to be an actor.” “You done any acting in movies I've seen?” “I did some community theater. And I did some commercials.” They chat off and on until they’re a good ways into Montana. Not one thing Roberts says is true. Sam didn’t believe him, or care much anyway. Sam didn’t think much of hitch-hikers. After Rt 90 joins Rt 94, Sam pulls into a truck stop. “We’re just outside Billings. This is where it ends for me. You can hitch a ride on Rt 90 to Butte then get out and hitch a ride south towards LA on Rt 15.” “Thanks much, Sam,” Roberts says, getting out. Roberts thought about killing Sam but just couldn’t get in the mood. Besides, Sam’s truck smelled funny and he didn’t want to drive to LA in a smelly truck. As Roberts gets out, Sam looks behind him at the truck bed. The top of Janice’s knitted cap sticks out of the tarp. The blood is visible from his angle, but not Roberts'. Janice was the last hitcher. Sam makes a mental note to readjust the tarp when he stops for gas. He liked riding with Janice more than with Roberts, and was glad to be rid of him. There’s a bus station down the block. After Sam drives away, Roberts walks to the bus station and buys a ticket for a bus to Butte, then goes into the men’s room to wash off.

* Roberts has his thumb out and his ratty old sports jacket buttoned up as best as he can. His fedora is pulled down to try to keep out the cold. Behind him is a sign for Rt 15. In short order, two girls up front and a guy in back, all in their late teens stop next to Roberts. “We’re going to Reno,” Betsy says. She's blond with a pink t-shirt. “I’m headed for LA, but Reno sounds good to me,” Roberts says. “We’ll give you a ride if you buy food and gas,” Ginger says. She's a red-head with hard expression and a temper. “I can do that.” The guy unlocks the back door. “Are you a serial killer?” George asks with a smart-alecky grin. George seems charming and easy-going. It's a good act. “How did you know?” Roberts laughs. “I’m Al.” “I’m George, she’s Betsy and she’s Ginger.” “Thanks for picking me up.” They chat, tell jokes, eat in restaurants, all the way to Reno. Roberts makes sure they all order dessert in the Applebee's they stop in located 10 miles outside Reno. On the road, Roberts hears faint, muffled yells and bumping sounds coming from the trunk. He notices George eye him after each one, so Roberts launches into a new joke or riddle to deflect the attention. He figures it was someone who didn’t pay the bill. He’d do the same if her were them. They drop him off at a truck stop in Reno.

* Outside that Reno truck stop, Roberts has his thumb out and his ratty old sports jacket flipped over his shoulder. It’s a nice day and he’s looking all cleaned up after a hot shower in the truck stop bathroom. A preacher with a blue clerical shirt and tab collar drives by in a beat up old Toyota. About 30 yards down the road she stops and puts the car in reverse. Roberts walks towards her to meet her halfway, and is a bit shocked to find the preacher is a woman. "Rubenesque" is the phrase that pops into Roberts' mind. She's a big woman, big arms, big hips. She cranks the passenger window down, as the car’s too old for electric power windows. “Would you like a ride?” she asks. “I’m going to LA,” Roberts says. “So am I. I passed you by but felt sorry for you.” "Thank you." Roberts gets in. He notices a dog asleep in the back on a blanket. "That's Betsy, my old yorkie-doodle. She's twelve," she says. “Sweet dog. I love terriers. I’m really glad you stopped. Are you a preacher?” “I’m Reverend Helen Ratchet of the Episcopal Church of Bakersfield, but you can call me Helen.” “Al Roberts. I got a degree in philosophy from UVa but didn’t have a course on religon per se.” “The University of Virginia?” “In Charlottesville. I was born there.” “A long way from there to Los Angeles. What’s in LA for you?” “I’m visiting my brother. I save money hitch-hiking. Little known fact: if you want to be rich, don’t get a degree in philosophy! Ha, ha.” Reverend Helen laughs at that too. “I know what you mean.” They chat off and on until they’re just outside LA. Besides disguising her annoyance at Roberts smell, which she’s good at, not one thing she says is true. But Roberts lies about everything too, which she sees clear as day. After a long day of driving, she pulls over on a deserted section of a highway near a cliff. “... and so the bartender says, ‘Is the Pope catholic?’ Ha, ha. I love that joke. Well, Al, here we are. LA’s not far now. Thanks for the company.” Al just stares blankly at the dashboard. “Let me help you,” Reverend Helen says, getting out of the car and walking around to the passenger side. She opens the door. Roberts has a huge knife sticking out of his chest. She leans him towards her and twists him around so she can grab him under his arms. With a heave-ho, she pulls and drags him out of the car over to the cliff, then pushes him over. Reverend Helen gets back in the car. Betsy wakes up and stretches. Helen pets Betsy behind the ears and and drives off. “The liars have a certain smell, don't you think Betsy?” she says to herself. She pulls out a pine scented spray can from under the seat and sprays the passenger seat. “Much better.”

2020-09-05

On Albert Bester's "The Demolished Man"

I was motivated to read this novel after hearing a story by David Mamet in his masterclass on writing. I described the story in my blog post on his class.

Alfred Bester (1913-1987) wrote science fiction, but also wrote for TV, radio, and comic books. He was an editor for a travel magazine for many years. In 1936 he married Rolly Bester, the actress who played the first Lois Lane on the radio show Adventures of Superman.

Among his many short stories and novels, Bester is perhaps best known for The Demolition Man (1952) and The Stars My Destination (1956), both serialized in Galaxy magazine. The 1952 novel won the first ever Hugo Award given at the 11th World Science Fiction Convention.

I'm not a lawyer but here is some information which suggests both of these novels are in the public domain. The Internet Archive has The Demolished Man, scanned from it's publication in Galaxy, (part 1, part 2, and part 3, and likewise for the 1956 novel). While there is an indication that Bester renewed the copyright (see this search item for the 1952 novel, and this item for the 1956 novel), the copyright page of Galaxy indicates that Galaxy owned the copyright and so it seems to me, as a non-lawyer, it is Galaxy that had to renew it. (I base my reasoning on the section "Who May Claim Renewal" in this copyright.gov pdf.)

I've typed all of The Demolished Man into latex, including the original artwork, for fun and to learn Bester's writing style by forcing myself to pay attention to the details. A really terrific novel by an excellent writer.

2020-08-31

Goodbye Buddy (short story 26)

In the back seat of their big old sedan sit three kids, 7 year old Tommy, 5 year old Carol, and 3 year old Debbie. Tommy and Carol are buckled in, while Debbie’s in a car seat staring out the car window in wonder. Tommy and Carol act silly. Tommy calls Carol a “Carol-Barrel-Feral-daryl-big-barrel” and Carol calls Tommy a “Tommy-orgami-commie-big-dommy.” When they both laugh, that’s Debbie cue to join in with her own high-pitched laugh.

Fred and Marcie are in the front seat, somber. It’s a humid, overcast day, and looks like rain, but it's holding back. Marcie strokes the greying hairs of their beagle-mix Buddy, who she holds in her arms. Buddy’s awake and stares blankly with his foggy grey eyes. He’s been blind for a few years and has been going deaf recently.

Fred pulls in the parking lot of the Animal Hospital. “I’ll be right back,” Fred tells his kids in the back. Fred gets out and Marcie opens her door. Fred somberly takes Buddy in his arms and carries him inside. Marcie sniffs, shuts her door, and watches Fred and Buddy go inside.

“What’s wrong, Mommy?” Tommy asks Marcie. “Nothing,” Marcie says without looking at Tommy. Carol tickles Debbie and pokes Tommy in the arm. This starts another sequence of silly laugh-inducing behavior from the back seat, that continues until Fred returns without Buddy.

Fred gets in the car, pulls out of the parking lot, and heads back home the way they came.

Eventually the silliness in the back seat dies down and Tommy asks, “Where’s Buddy?”

“Buddy was sick, sweetie,” Marcie says.

“Is Buddy at the dog doctor?” Carol asks.

“We had to put Buddy to sleep,” Fred says, almost apologetically. “What does that mean?” Tommy asks. "He's sleeping?"

“Is Buddy sleeping at the vet’s?” Carol asks.

“Buddy was sick. The vet put him to sleep permanently. He’s not coming back,” Fred says.

“Buddy’s not asleep, he’s dead?” Tommy asks.

“Yes, sweetie, I’m sorry,” Marcie says. Carol starts to cry. Then Tommy starts to cry. When they both cry, that’s Debbie cue to start her own high-pitched, loud wailing.

“Couldn’t you wait until tomorrow?” Carol asks.

“It was his time, honey,” Marcie says.

“No it wasn’t!” Carol said, snot running down her nose.

“He’s not asleep. Why did you say he was?” Tommy asks, in between sobs.

“It’s just an expression,” Fred says. “He was fifteen. That’s a very old age for a dog.”

The rest of the ride home was like this - crying followed by occasional sobbing questions - but, deep down, Tommy didn’t believe Buddy was gone. Buddy has been around the house ever since Tommy was born.

That night, Fred came into Tommy's bedroom to tuck him in for bed.

Tommy told his dad about thhe times he teased blind old Buddy, picking his up and placing him in front of a wall then loudly calling him from another room. Buddy would walk into the wall and Tommy would laugh like the immature, sometimes cruel, little snot he was. He thought nothing of making fun of Buddy, when Buddy was alive. Now that Buddy was gone, he couldn’t stop thinking of how mean he was. This started a new round of crying.

“I’m sure Buddy’s in heaven and he forgives you,” Fred says, handing Tommy another kleenex.

“How do you know?” Tommy asks in between sobs.

“He was a nice dog, don’t you think?”

“He was the best.”

“It’s in his personality. Are you going to do that again, if we get another dog?”

“Never, dad. Will God forgive me for being mean to Buddy?”

“You know it was wrong and you promise to do better in the future, right?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“I think God forgives you and Buddy forgives you. And you mom and I forgive you. I love you, kiddo. Get some sleep and let Buddy live a happy life in your dreams tonight.”

“I’m going to dream about playing with Buddy.”

“Good night,” Fred says, kissing Tommy on his forehead, turning out the lights and softly closing the door.

Outside, the rain finally stars pouring. And Tommy starts to cry again.

2020-08-17

An episode of "Gracious Gardens" (short story 25)

Gracious Gardens is a soap opera for senior citizens. It's on TV or the web or cable or something. You've seen it. As you know, it takes place in a two story nursing home and hospice care facility in the Baltimore-Washington corridor called Gracious Gardens. Actually, it’s three stories if you count the basement, but that’s underground, for storage only, secured by sophisticated electronic locks, and only accessible by a special key card.

Stay tuned the latest episode...

On the first floor, in the nursing care wing, Alfred Jones is alone with Stanley Johnston in Alfred’s room. No one calls him by Alfred, he hates that. Everyone calls him Jonesy, even the staff, well except for the very busom, very uptight, and very by-the-book Mrs Margery Farnsdale, the head caregiver. She insists on Mr Jones.

Jonesy is an 82 year old with a bad back, prostate problems, and heart arhythmia. He walks with a walker, but that’s really just an act. He can walk fine. Stan has bad knees, poor circulation, and high blood pressure. Stan uses a cane.

“Stan the Man! I got percoset, tylenol with codeine, vicodin, generic cyallis, viagra - the real thing, twenty-three joints of medical marijuana –” Jonesy says.

“Give me a vicodin, three cyallis pills, and two joints,” Stan says.

“You got it. Who’s the lucky lady?” Jonesy asks. He gets the pills and joints from a hidden compartment in his dresser and hands them to Stan.

“Brenda,” Stan says. Stan hands Jonesy a roll of bills.

“Have fun,” Jonesy says, counting the bills and then putting the money in his hidden compartment. “Leave the door open,” Jonesy tells Stan as he exits.

Leslie Smart enters and shuts the door. “At it again?” she snaps. Leslie has diabetes and cancer but as far as Jonesy knows the big C is in remission.

“I provide a public service,” Jonesy says. “How are you, Lee? Did your screening come back okay?”

“Public service my ass.”

“What did the sonogram say?”

“It said fuck you,” Leslie says and hobbles to the door. “Leslie, what was it?”

“Fuck you, you fucker.” Leslie opens the door and leaves. Jonesy uses his walker to get out to the hallway. He watches Leslie limp away.

Bill Harding comes up behind him and pats him on the shoulder supportively. Jonesy turns and greets him. “Hey, Bill.” Bill’s had a series of mini-strokes but gets around with a walker. He thinks and speaks okay but has problems processing TV. Somehow the audio and video don’t sync together in his brain.

“Wanna talk?” Bill asks.

“Not in my room,” Jonesy says, heading to Bill’s room next door. Bill follows him in.

“I heard her cancer’s back,” Bill says.

“She told you?” Jonesy asks. “No, she told Marge. Do something for her. Flowers, whatever.”

“She wants a puppy.” Bill laughs.

“No way in hell. They aren’t even getting a comfort dog in this place. Marge is allergic to dogs.”

“That battleaxe? I thought she was bulletproof.” Jonesy says.

“Everyone's got a chink in their armor, Jonesy. Maybe even you” Bill hands Jonesy a roll of bills.

“What can I get you?”

“Vicodin." ...
It’s 2:15am and Jonesy’s alarm buzzes him awake. He pulls out a small flashlight, flicks it on and pulls an ID smart card out of his hidden compartment. The picture on the face looks nothing like him. Because it isn't. He pockets the flashlight, cracks open his door and looks out. He knows the shift change is now and they are having a staff meeting of the guards, so no one is monitoring the security. He goes down the hall to the “No Admittance” door and swipes the smart cart. It clicks up and he slips down the stairs to the basement. He cracks open the basement door and walks to the storage room. He opens it and swipes the card again on the refrigerated medicine cabinet. He grabs a few pills from each of the bottles and puts each different type of pill in a separate baggie. Then he retraces his steps and hides the stolen pills in his hidden compartment.

Lastly, he grabs a huge wad of cash from his stash of bills and stuffs it in his pocket. It’s all his money, and he’s been saving for awhile. He uses his walker to go out to the front desk. A bald guy, in a Gracious Gardens monogrammed jacket, is manning the phones.

“Busy night, Smooth?” Jonesy asks.

“Hey Jonesy, what are you doing at this hour? It's past curfew.”

“I gotta request.”

“Shoot.”

“A puppy for Leslie. Flowers for Marge. White roses.”

“Roses for Marge?"

"So she'll stay quiet about Leslie's puppy."

"About that puppy? No way.”

Jonesy pulls his roll of bills on the desk. “Count it.” Smooth counts it and whistles softly. “Wow.”

“You and the missus can take a trip with the kids.”

“What kind of puppy?”

“The cute kind. And deliver it tomorrow night after lights out.” Smooth nods.

Jonesy hobbles back to his room with his walker. He’s crying. Everyone's got a chink in his armor. Even Jonesy.

2020-08-14

Zander and Zoe get a "C" (short story 24)

One fine fall day at Pinewood University, mad Professor Mu hands out his midterm test to his class. One question is

Kappa the kitty cries more loudly the higher she climbs in her favorite tree. Her volume changes at a rate of f (h) = h + h2 decibels per meter, where h is Kappa’s height above ground measured in meters. Find the integral of f(h) from h=1 to h=5 and explain what it represents in the context of this problem.

Another question is

Adam the Ant stands at the origin. He begins walking 1 unit in the +x-direction and then turns 45◦ counterclockwise counterclockwise and walks 1/2 units in that direction. Adam Ant then turns another 45◦ counterclockwise and walks 1/3 units in that direction. The ant keeps doing this endlessly. How far is the ant’s final position from its initial position?

He hands out one test to each of his 23 students, included the worst of them, Zander and Zoe. Zander has a scratches and insect bites on his face and neck. Zoe has cat scratches on her arms and insect bites on her face and neck. What are those from?

The previous week, Zander and Zoe separately roamed through the stacks in one of the upper floors of the school library. Each wears a book-bag slung over their shoulder, and neither has yet earned the scratches they wore to the midterm. Zander listens to music through earbuds attached to his cell-phone. Lots of students are studying in small cubicals, but a few cubicals, full of books, have been abandoned. Presumably the student studying there went to the bathroom or to go get a coffee from the kiosk on the first floor. Zander and Zoe make a round and meet by the stairs.

“There’s one near the zoology section,” Zoe says. “Looks like a calculus book. New.”

“I saw a chemistry textbook by the oversized books,” Zander says. “I’ll take the zoology desk.”

“I’ll take the oversized,” Zoe says.

The next morning, they go to the textbook store and trade in the chemistry, calculus, and several other textbooks for cash.

They go straight to Yuri’s room in the international dorm. His door is open and his girlfriend Yancy is doing yoga. Zander knocks on the door frame.

“Que pasa?” Zoe asks.

“Buenos dias. Come in,” Yuri says.

Zander and Zoe enter, and shut the door behind them. “How’s molly?” Zander asks, using their codeword for MDMA.

Yancy smiles. “She just arrived from Barcelona,” Yuri says, as he pulls a baggie of pills from Yancy's purse.

Minutes later and now high, Zander and Zoe walk through the nearby suburban neighborhood along a street lines with elm trees and brick single family homes. Soon they hear a “meow” and look up. A cat is stuck in the tree.

“Poor thing,” Zoe says.

“I gotta help it get down,” Zander says. Zander climbs the tree, grabs the cat, who scratches him in the face and neck. Zander yells and drops the cat.

Zoe thinks Zander is yelling at her to catch the falling cat. “Here kitty,” she says, arms raised to the falling animal. She catches the cat, who scratches her arms. “Ahhhh! Dammit, cat!”

The cat runs off. Zander loses his footing and falls, out of the tree. THUD! He lands on the grass with a groan.

Unfazed, Zander and Zoe wander over to a wooded park a few blocks away. Students often use it to hook up for sex at night, but this is the daytime.

“Feeling frisky?” Zander asks Zoe.

“Let’s go behind that big tree over there,” Zoe says as she heads deeper into the woods.

Behind the big tree, an elm by the looks of it, Zoe and Zander settle into some very passionate kissing.

Zoe scratches her legs, takes a breath, and returns to kissing. Zander scratches his back, then gets back to business. Soon, Zoe and Zander scratch a lot more. They both break away from each other at the same time.

“What the fuck?” Zander says, seeing a ton of ants swarming all over both or them.

“Ahhh!” Zoe yells. They both stand up and try to shake, slap and stamp all the ants. “Dammit, ants!”

So that's how they got the scratches.
*

Back in the classroom taking the midterm, Zoe and Zander have no idea how to answer the test questions. They look at each other with panicked eyes. Zander shrugs and starts writing a but of bullshit. In response to the Kappa the Kitty question, he tells the story of the cat in the tree. Zoe shrugs back and, in response to the Adam Ant question, tells about the aborted sexcapade in the woods. She even scratches her legs, the memory being so vivid.

That night, after a marathon grading session in which he, of course, gave both Zoe and Zander an F, Professor Mu had a dream about his crazy mom and dad.

We need a little background on his poor old parents. Mu would visit them every week in the mental institution they were confined to. Usually Dad thought he was god or George Washington or Humphrey Bogart. Usually Mom thought she was god or Florence Nightingale or Lauren Bacall. The days he visited when they both thought they were god were bad days. But one day he visited when his dad thought he was Humphrey Bogart and his mom thought she was Lauren Bacall. That was a good day. That's the background.

Professor Mu wakes up from his dream because, for some reason he can't fathom, Zoe and Zander reminded him of his mom and dad. He gets up, erases their Fs, replaces them by Cs, then goes back to sleep. He dreams of his mom and his dad - he's Humphrey Bogart and she's Lauren Bacall.

2020-08-08

Even Steven for Steve (short story 23)

Over a year ago, as an exercise, I started writing one short story a week. This was something Harlan Ellison (I think) suggested to one of his fans, his reasoning being "You can't write 52 bad short stories in a row." I'm not sure about that, but here's one of those stories.

*
Steve doesn’t like his neighbor Rudy. There were lots of reasons. Some- times Rudy would go into his garage while Steve was at work and “borrow” something. If it was gone, Steve knew where to go. And it doesn’t matter if Steve tells Rudy to ask first. Rudy does what he wants when he wants to. Sometimes Rudy would dump his yard waste behind Steve’s bushes in the back of his yard. Is there any point in listing all the reasons? Not really. The point is, Steve doesn’t like Rudy.
Don’t think Steve was an anti-social type, nor that he’s just a stingy miser. His friend Leon comes over frequently, and when he’s over he eats from the friedge like it’s his food. The point here is that Steve also goes over to Leon’s and acts the same way. Even Steven, as the cliche goes (yes folks that pun was intended).

In fact, just the other day, Steve made a big pot of turkey soup and vegatables and invited Leon over for a meal. “Good, but a little plain,” Leon says.
“Add what you want,” Steve says, pushing salt, pepper, spices across the table.
Leon adds a lot of pepper, “That’s it,” Leon slurps with a satisfied smile. Steve looks at the amount of pepper Leon added with disapproval.
“Say, can I borrow a tupperware bowl and take some home with me?” Leon asks.
“Why not just come over? I love sitting down with someone else over soup,” Steve says. “Or, just come over can grab some yourself, if I’m working in the yard or something.”
“Hey, thanks Steve. You’re cool,” Leon says. Leon lives in the house behind him, and can just cut through their backyard.

So when Rudy “borrows” something from Steve without asking, or has his pets take a crap in his yard, Steve takes offense. It’s rude. So, to teach Rudy a lesson, Steve’s has taken to devising an appropriate response. An eye-for-an-eye sort of thing.
When Rudy took a hammer for the third time without asking, Steve pounded a nail into one of his tires. Then, Steve’s the first to tell Rudy about the “vandal attack.” Steve walks over to Rudy’s house, and knocks on the door politely.
Rudy opens, “Hi Steve, what’s up?” Rudy asks.
“Did you see what some asshole did to your car?” Steve asks. “Come here.” Steve leads Rudy to the back left tire of Rudy’s car. There’s a flat tire with a nail in it, and a hammer lying nearby.
“Holy shit!” Rudy says.
“I know. Hey, is that my hammer?” Steve asks, picking it up. “I thought it was lost.”
“Oh, I might have borrowed it from your garage and forgot to return it.”
“No, problem,” Steve says. “Sorry about your tire.” Steve walks back to his home with his hammer.
You get the idea?
Later that day, Steve has some soup. Leon wasn’t around, so he ate alone. Then he got a tummy ache.

Was it a guilty conscience related to his vandalism, he wondered? He'd hear of these psychosomatic illnesses. He's a little worried.
But the Rudy’s car vandalism also gave Steve a sense of calm, as though the balance of the scales of justice has been restored. Steve says to himself “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” He thinks of himself as the arc. So when Steve got a stomach ache after the latest action of his moral arc, he figured maybe that's the price he has to pay to balance moral order in world.
The next day, after Rudy took a power drill for the second time without asking, Steve drilled several holes in each of Rudy’s Bonsai trees decorating his back porch. Steve walks over to Rudy’s house, and knocks on the door politely. Rudy opens, “Hi Steve, what is it this time?” Rudy asks.
“Did you see what that damn woodpecker did to your Bonsai garden in your back yard?” Steve asks. Steve leads Rudy to Rudy’s back yard.
“They’re all going to die now,” Rudy says. “They took years to grow and cultivate.”
“Bummer, dude. Hey, it that my power drill?” Steve asks, pointing to Rudy’s picnic table.
“Oh, maybe I borrowed it from your garage and forgot to return it.”
"Why is it wet?"
"It rained last night. Maybe I forgot to bring it in."
“Water under the bridge,” Steve says. “Sorry about your tree.” Steve walks back to his home with his drill. Later that day, Steve has some more soup. Leon wasn’t around, so he ate alone. Then, as before, he got a tummy ache.

Again, the nagging question, does he deep down feel sorry for killing the bonsai trees? He's a lot worried now. He calls up Leon. Leon would know. “Hey Leon, I have a question for you,” Steve says into the phone.
“I’m glad you called, I wanted to thank you for the soup,” Leon says. “You already did, the other day.”
“No, for lunch. You were over in Rudy’s back yard, so I helped myself. I love it with lots of pepper.”
“You added pepper to my soup?”
“Yeah, it’s too plain, don’t you think?”
“No, pepper gives me a tummy ache.”
“I’m sorry dude. Did I put in too much?”
Now Steve knows, it’s not a guilty conscience, it’s just pepper. Steve realizes where his tummy ache is coming from and is happy it isn’t from guilt at all. “Thank God for the pepper,” Steve says.
“What? You like pepper or you don’t?” Leon asks.
“Don’t woory, man. I’ll make a new pot of soup tomorrow. Come on over,” Steve says, hanging up the phone and smiling. He goes to his window and looks at Rudy’s house. “The moral arc of the universe is long and it bends towards fucking you up some more, Rudy you asshole.”