It's Author Fun: 2011

Stars and Stripes (Working Title) 4

...

The night was uneventful after his odd dream. Erik studied the stars and mapped the meteor showers. High tech slow motion cameras caught everything on film that could be seen from one end of his sky to the other. He would have more time to pour over the details later. With all this equipment Erik was able to just relax and enjoy the show himself. The equipment would capture everything he needed. He settled into his chair and gazed through his open roof at the night sky. After natures fireworks ceased he shut up the room and fell over his bed. He didn't even bother to get under the covers. He fell asleep dreaming about meteors and space travel.

Over the next week results poured in from all over the globe regarding what was seen and studies about what was recorded. Erik poured over his data and compared it to the studies coming in. There were the usual comments about UFO sightings because apparently drunk rednecks can't tell the difference between a comet and meteor and a flying saucer.

Then a report out of Colorado caught his eye. A well respected astronomer noted some out of order comets at around 2:37 am MT/ 1:37 am PT. Erik pulled his recorder and focused on the half hour before and after this time note. In fact there were a few streaks of light that seemed to be contrary to the pattern. They would stand still, follow the stream, go against the stream. Then they would streak across the landscape. It was interesting. He pulled the high resolution camera footage and found the same thing but they have the distinct shape of being perfectly round with no clear tail/trail behind them.

This footage wasn't entirely unusual. Various records over the decades had shown that when several meteors collide with each other on large scale showers that some can bounce off in different directions while entering earths atmosphere causing light to steak in various directions. What was odd about this set was the frequencies of these anomalies and the few that seemed to stand still for moments at a time. This could be a result of gravity, much like a plane flying against the wind can appear to be standing still for a few moments before either accelerating or changing course.

This would require more looking into. There was a knock at the door that interrupted his thoughts. He didn't recall ordering anything to be shipped today but it was unlike him to forget sometimes, he had so many orders out there from time to time. When he approached the screen door there were two kids, high school age from the looks of it, wearing black and metal. Piercings showing on various facial extremities. They seemed to be quite nervous about something. He approached cautiously. "How can I help you?" He started.

"Are you Erik Schelding?" the kids asked timidly.

"Yes, I am. What can I do for you?" Erik felt that they were more afraid of him than he was of them, that gave him some power and he approached the door.

"We visit this hillside from time to time, there is a camp we go to during the summers. We were told to come talk to you. One of the other kids said you know a lot about science and stars and stuff." They still seemed quite nervous. Erik opened the door and motioned them inside.

"You could say I know a thing or two about science and stars... and stuff... what can I do for you?" Erik offered them a seat and some soda.

It had been a few months since he'd tutored anyone, although he doubted that's what these two had in mind. Still it could be fun to see where this intrusion was leading.

"We saw the meteor shower last night and something happened..." They turned and looked at each other and then back to Erik. "... We don't understand it, but maybe you could help."

Where could this be going? Erik held their stare for a few moments. "OK, you have my attention, spit it out, what happened?"

"I don't know where to start..."The young man said, the girl held his arm tight. "... we were alone and doing playing a game. Suddenly there was this light flash and she... " pointing to the young lady "... disappeared."

"I see..." Erik felt the blood drain from his face. More light flashing and weird things? So it wasn't just him.

"That's weird enough." the girl took over but when the light flash I was not at the camp anymore. I was on a cold hard metal bed, in a dark room, with a blinding light in my face. I could make out shadows but that's it."

"Normally..." Erik interrupted "I would stop you there and say that you two had been drinking and be done with you... but there just so happens to be a few strange things going on in this mountain today so I'll hear you out... then what?"

Well I could make out these shadows and they looked like... well... I don't want to admit this... I'm a straight A student... They looked like aliens. Straight Roswell stuff." Then she sat back and fiddled with her fingers. The boy prodded her to continue. "They told me that there were people on this planet holding back the evolution of our species and they may be forced to remove them if we don't get them in line."

"Well... " Erik sat back and pondered... "is that all to the story?"

"Yes, pretty much. There was another flash of light and I was back with him. She motioned. The boy nodded.

"I'm sorry to ask this, but were you drinking?" Erik asked.

"Yes... but only one beer each, far less than our usual weekend night." the boy replied.

"Around what time did this occur?" Erik questioned further.

"Well that's the weird thing. Both our watches stopped working at the exact same time last night, we assume it was after the flashes." They handed over the watches... both digital. They weren't off or blank. They were simply stopped. 1:35 am PT. That was too much of a coincidence. "Would you mind if I kept these for further analysis?" The kids both said that he could keep them. They didn't want to see them anymore, too weird.

"What assistance do you believe I can be in this matter?" Erik asked.

"We're not sure, but we didn't want to tell the kids at school, or our parents, the police would laugh us off... some of the other kids from the camp grounds that we trust thought you might help in some way to help us grasp what happened. We felt like we needed to tell someone. Now that we did we'd just assume forget it happened and move on... too weird man... to weird..."

Erik took out a piece of paper and wrote down their contact information. "Where are you staying up here?"

"Off of Sulphur Springs Rd. at Horse Flats." the young man replied.

"I didn't catch your names?" Erik asked.

"John Buchner but everyone calls me JB. And this is Lucy Tartanion."

"JB, Lucy, it was an interesting time I had here, pleasure meeting you both. If I can be of any further assistance let me know. I'd like to take some time to look at these watches and get back to you." Erik said.

They nodded and left.

This trip up the hill was just getting weirder and weirder... unfortunately, unlike the kids, he wasn't so inclined to brush it off and pretend it didn't happen. He wanted to know more.

...

Stars and Stripes (Working Title) 3

...

It was now 11:33pm... and Erik suddenly woke up. He was wide awake. As though he hadn't been sleeping at all. The coffee machine wouldn't be starting for another few minutes and the alarm wouldn't be ringing for at least 15 minutes or so. But he felt awake. Wide awake. More awake than he'd felt in a very long time, as he typically only slept a few hours a night and worked incessantly.

Erik sat up in the chair and looked about the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Nothing seemed disturbed or moved. But he suddenly felt very, very awake. He also felt a strong sense of anticipation combined with foreboding. At the same time he didn't feel like some stalker would burst through the door at any minute or anything like that. Then, faintly at first, a small light appeared in front of his eyes. He thought that a firefly must have gotten through the screen door. But the light grew brighter and brighter.

Then with a flash it was so bright he couldn't see anything, at all. Eyes open or closed, it didn't matter, he saw nothing. Then as quickly as it came it was gone. His eye sight started to return and the room came into focus. Erik sat back and rubbed his eyes and waited for the room to quit spinning in his mind. He closed his eyes and opened them several times. Finally his vision cleared. As he started to sit back the silence was broken by a soft low voice coming from the couch across from him. "Hello Erik." Erik jumped; nearly out of his skin! The voice wasn't shocking in and of itself. It was actually quite calm. But he had been alone. Who was there. He turned to look at the couch and there was a man, dressed in a white suit with blue and red pin stripes. It could have been a patriotic suit, but it was also first class. There was nothing tacky about it. He wore a matching bowler cap and one hand rested on a cane. At second glance the cane looked like a walking stick more than a cane. It was longer than the average cane.

The man sat back, comfortably on the couch and let Erik adjust to the sight. He was too stunned to say anything. "Don't worry, your not crazy..." the man said. "No I'm not here to attack you either..." the man said. It was as if he was responding my very thoughts. "Yes I'm really here..." Ok now that was just weird how did he know... "Because I can read your thoughts as though they were spoken."

A moment of silence then passed as the two men examined one another and stared into each others eyes. There was something kind about this man's eyes. As though he were older than he looked and maybe wiser. "OK..." Erik started. "I'm not crazy, or hallucinating, or whatever... " How did you get in here and what do you want? And what sort of device creates a flash that bright? Who do you work for?" Erik realized that was too many questions and the man must have a point in being here so he stopped and waited.

The man in the suit spend a moment or two studying Erik before responding. "I work for me. There is no device. How I got here is not important." The man let that sink in. "In fact, who I am in not important either, for now. You wouldn't understand right now anyway. Let me just say that I am well connected and I've been watching you for some time. What I'm interested in is truth young man. Nothing more, nothing less. You are talented beyond the skill of others in your field. You have insight that surpasses those within the limits of government bureaucracies. However..." The man took a few moments to let that settle. "I am not interested in your talents or education as much as I am interested in your insight. You have been created with the ability to see what others fail to see. But you give too much credit to that which you see and fail to see things that are right in front of you. Therefore that which you see could lead you to believe that, that which you see is true when it is in fact false. Do you see?"

"I think so?" Replied Erik

"Good!" the man continued with a lift of excitement. "You don't yet but you will. I came here to warn you. You are about to see things that are not what they appear to be. Take a healthy and liberal dose of skepticism into the next few months. Don't believe your eyes, your instruments, or your colleagues. However, trust your heart and your belly. When you get the gut feeling that something isn't right, don't just brush it off. Follow that instinct. You will find more than you saw at first. Trust that feeling. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I believe so." replied Erik.

"Good!" the man said again with a warm grin, he was an excitable fellow if ever there was one. He waited a few moments and studied Erik's face again. "Your coffee is waiting for you, enjoy the meteor shower ok?"

FLASH! Again with the bright lights...

Erik woke up to the smell of expensive Colombian coffee and a buzzing sound coming from the granite counter top. It was his alarm going off. It had been a dream! But it felt so real, more real than any dream he'd ever experienced. It must be the mountain air combined with a few bottles of Guinness. It was time to get up and get the recorder on before the meteorite shower started up.

The dream quickly faded but something gnawed at him about it still. He'd have to reconsider those dream books and see if your mind really did try to communicate with you through sleep. What could it mean though. What was with the red, white, and blue? "I guess I need to take fourth of July more seriously..." He mused to himself.

...

Stars and Stripes (Working Title) 2

...

It was on a Monday after locking himself away for 10 days solid that Erik decided to come up for air. It was a cool evening and the stars were just coming out. He hopped in his trusty Dodge Ram, packed full of star gazing equipment, and headed up the mountain on Hwy 2 to his cabin in the Angeles Crest Mountains. He was receiving enough income from his books, published works, and speaking engagements that he didn't have to work on any specific thing at the moment. That didn't keep him from staying busy and working on projects. Erik bought an entire hillside in the mountains for himself just to keep away from the lights of neighbors. That way he could work with the sky at any time of year. He also built a modest observatory. Nothing fancy mind you, but it was enough.

After stopping at Newcombs Ranch Restaurant and Bar for quick bite to eat he worked his way up to his secluded mountain top. He turned his cell phone on silent and never bothered installing a land line. Who wanted to be reached in a place like this? Besides he used internet network phones to check voice mails from time to time just in case an important message came through.

It was about 8pm on a cool summer evening. The stars were starting to show, although on top of the mountain it stayed light a little later because the sun had no where to hide. It was now starting to darken as the stars became brighter. There was no moon tonight. Perfect, clear skies. As he set up the equipment he noticed a letter he had nearly forgotten about. He didn't know why he kept it. After all this time. These was one girl that he let himself get attached to. She wrote him a letter to break it off because he was so wrapped up in his projects that he didn't even notice her pack and leave that day. He can't say that he regrets the incident. He was on the verge of a new discovery, he was always on the verge of a new discovery. She was important to him, but he just didn't have time for her. She figured that out too. So she left. Still... there was a tinge of guilt and sadness at the sight of the letter. Mostly, he kept it around, he guessed, to remind himself not to get caught up in these types of relationships again. Too costly. Too distracting.

After everything was set up he sat back on a reclining lazyboy and waited. It would be three hours exactly before the meteor shower would begin tonight. In fact meteors were known as meteoroids when in space and meteorites when entering earth's atmosphere; but people generally called them meteors and Erik wasn't such a stuck up geek that he couldn't oblige a common name for ease of conversation. A very exiting one it was made out to be too. Projection were that this years shower would be heavier and more visible in his part of the sky than every before. Erik decided to take a few hours and rest. The alarm on the desk would wake him and start the coffee machine a few minutes before so he could get right to work. With that he closed his eyes and imagined what it would be like to work on the Enterprise.

...

Stars and Stripes (Working Title) 1

In and around you is a world you've never seen, but you always knew it was there. It wasn't obvious to your physical senses but you've had the feeling that there was more. You never really understood it, never knew what to believe. There are so many opinions. So many documentaries. So many "sightings". What do you believe?

Eric Schelding didn't know what to believe either. It was the summer after his last year of college. He graduated Summa Cum Laude (with highest honor) from MIT. Eric was a major in EAPS (Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. Eric was a serious student. He spent very little time fraternizing with other students. Although all his fellow graduates were considered the best of the best they all thought too small. Eric felt their biases were too many to make them worth spending too much time with. He kept to his books and reports. He had already published 137 major scientific papers on space science and 13 books on the subject of space and space travel.

Eric was skeptical of any of the UFO sightings common people bought into, however he couldn't help conjecturing that with so many star systems some must also have sparked some time of life. The mathematical odds of any life evolving to be self aware and developing twice were literally astronomical. It was highly unlikely at best. The more likely scenario was that base organism existed somewhere that could be comprised of elements not yet known to humans.

Nevertheless, he would stare into the stars and dream of making space travel a reality. Government bureaucracies were too inefficient to rely on. The USA was still using space shuttles that were designed in the 1950's and 60's because they refused to invest in new technology that had already been designed and tested in smaller scales. Eric was convinced that if anyone was going to experience travel to distant parts of our own solar system, not to mention other galaxies, in his lifetime it would have to be private funded and researched.

Erik's one distraction and non serious pursuit was being a fan of star films. Any star film. Star Trek (All versions), Star Wars, and any other film he could get his hands on. Lost in Space was always good for laughs. He even found Space Balls amusing. When questioned about his one less than serious pursuit he would dismiss it as research. He was smart enough to know that science imitated art as often as art imitated science. He was a much better doer than dreamer. If someone else could dream it for him, he would set his mind to making it happen.

The iPhone's first release was due in great part to Erik's participation during a summer work assignment at Apple Headquarters. He sat watching Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Geordi La Forge use tricorders and thought to himself "Hey... good idea!" He spend the rest of the night drawing out schematics and processing equations. That project turned into the iPhone and revolutionized the industry. Of course he was interned and all the credit went to Steve Jobs. He doesn't receive any royalties as it's company intellectual property. But they agreed to provide a free iPhone as often as he needed a new one and lifetime free cell plan for his work. He figured that was worth more than any royalty anyway. He was of course called on from time to time to work on later editions of the newest phones too. Being oddly self serving, as he would be getting one for free he was more than happy to oblige at no extra charge. It's not often one has a hand in fashioning a device that is so intricate to ones own daily life.

... DW

Opening Scene of Job 2020

Job 1:1

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job;

and that man was blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned evil...

Jebediah Orion Blackburn is the wealthiest man alive according to Forbes and Wikipedia. His family called him Job for short. He never took to any of the other nicknames and eventually he made it his moniker of choice. The press even caught on to it and began to publish articles with titles such as: "Job Strikes Oil Again". No one really knows for sure what Job is actually worth. He owns six of the top ten fortune 100 companies. He is a major share holder in real estate, entertainment, cruise lines, resorts, technology, weapons and arms, and many other fields. Disney has turned to him time and time again for help establishing their theme parks. Job has held the top defense contracts for 20 years running; out preforming and out bidding every competitor at most turns.

Today he is making the hardest decision he makes every day... which tie to wear. The silk tie collection boasts of over 100,000 choices. His dressing room is larger than some people's houses and the hangers rotate on a voice command. There is a touch screen image catalogue of every tie, but Job often prefers to see them up close instead. Normally there is hardly any hint of indecisiveness. Job would rather fix a mistake than loose an opportunity. Despite the enormous lifestyle he carries he still goes to the same church he has since he was a boy. The First Baptist Church of Dallas, thanks to his generous tithe checks which primarily go to the church, has also grown with him. He still finds time to serve on the board once a month and although he is too busy and too protected by media types to serve during service he still teaches a small class in the mornings on Christian Financial Principles to a pre registered limited class. Today he will be giving the offering message and despite the fact that he talks to much larger groups and audiences in his business life, speaking at the church still makes him as nervous as a little boy each time and today he just can't seem to find the perfect tie.

His wife and children still attend the church too, all seven sons and three daughters. They don't really attend because they want to, but rather because they don't get their allowance without sitting right next time him every Sunday morning no matter how hung over they feel from the night before. Their allowance is extremely generous and doesn't stop no matter how old they get. The oldest is 25 and is only permitted to miss only when he is on deployment for the military.

As he straightens the red and white tie he chose and brings it into it's perfect knot. There is a knock at the door. The limo is here and it's time to go. During the drive downtown, some kids are playing in the streets and he thinks back to the times that he and his best friend Abram would ride bikes and shoot the imaginary bad guys. Abram moved to Israel over 20 years ago, with his father and nephew, and doesn't make it back to the states as often as they'd like. He too became quite successful and in fact is the only real challenge in the world to taking Job's wealth status away from him. They still meet at conferences from time to time, but the meetings are always business and usually require them both to leave shortly after. They haven't had a good chat in a long time.

During the Limo ride the news speaks of the fatalities in Israel and the struggles going on there. He says a quick prayer of protection over his friend. The radio is turned off with a waive and a nod leaving silence for the rest of the ride to church.

Toilet Paper Novels

Nortahn Antivilus found himself in the situation several times a month. His psychiatrist has tried to help with therapy and medications but to no avail. He had used the restroom just before leaving the house but found that he now had to use the restroom again. In this particular case he would have to sit, which of course he could not do because he was terrified of touching anything others had touched. He wasn't just afraid of germs, he was afraid of everything, obsessive compulsive to the core. He didn't like the idea that there could be scracthes on the seat that could be hiding extra germs.

Nortahn pulled off about 25 sheets of brown rolled paper towels from the dispenser walked to the stall, he pulled on his latex gloves and began the long process of locking the door, unlocking, and locking it several times. Methodically he folded the paper towels and laid them across the seat making sure to cover any possible area that could contact his skin including the very front where his thighs and legs could touch.

He took one last paper towel for entertainment as he would be here for an hour of more. He began folding the brown paper as he'd learned through his training in oragami. This time he choose to fold and a tear and turned it into a small booklet. For the first time it occured to him that a book with no words just wouldn't do for a meticulas man such as himself. He took a pen and carefully began to write. His doctor had advised he write about his life so he could work through his troubles. He finished penning his story about his odd childhood, and being locked in the closet when he forgot to pick up his room and his loss of his mother at 5 and his father at 10. He explored his days at prep school during his post middle school years. Much better, here, no more closets, only strange kids who he had no problem pretending he wouldn't like to know. He never made a friend. Truth be told, nobody would have noticed if he disapeared.

He placed the booklet into his inside coat pocket and doned another pair of gloves to comlete his task at hand. He hated the fact that some new grunt store employee would have to clean up after him since the 20 some odd towels would not properly flush along with two pairs of plastic gloves, but he also could not override his compulsive need to flush it all either. He quickly left ingnoring the knowing stair of a long time manager.

Plunger

In the grimy forgotten corner of a restroom, resting against the tile, was a white handle, nicked and dinged from use. At the bottom of the handle was a black rubber base, now turned green from age or use one couldn't tell. The grout had turned a brownish black over the years. The water ran a steady slow stream from a faucet in disrepair. The restroom, like the store, was a forgotten area. Used daily but never really tended to.

This particular restroom was located in the back of...

Paper

He stood before an audience of 3,000. He took out a blank notebook and slowly, ceremoniously, ripped out a piece of paper. The sound carried across the auditorium through his lapel mic. He never tired of this demonstration. He held out this paper over his head. Walking down passed the first 100 seat section, he stopped in near a disinterested young man in his late teens. “Excuse me, young man,” He prodded. “could you tell me what this is?” The teen looked up as he handed him the paper. “It’s a piece of paper” The young man replied un-amused. “It is?” the speaker replied. The speaker prodded further, “Is that all it is? Is that all you see?” The teen looked it over, and turned it around a few times. “A blank piece of paper?” The teen asked as if he wasn’t getting the question.

“Does anybody else see anything differently?” the speaker took the paper back and held it up again. He waited a beat before moving on. “I don’t see a blank piece of paper. I see money!” The teen must have thought it an interesting thing to say as he sat up a little straighter and leaned forward. He removed his hood to reveal a snake tattoo rotating around from his ear around his neck to the opposite shoulder and large holes in his ears.

“Potential” the speaker began to expound. “All things big or small begin as potential. This paper could be a battle plan for an expert tactician, a play in the play book of a head coach, or a new hit song or popular novel. This paper could just as easily…” he began to rip strips of paper off and crumple it before tossing it over his shoulder to the floor behind. “…be trash. Yesterday’s big ideas. How many people ever envisioned something only to see it on the market later. How many writers considered small electronic handheld devices that could carry a voice and images over distance to other hand held devices before the first cell phones hit the markets? Ideas are not enough. They must be carried out.” He held one last strip “This is a new invention” and he crumpled it u and flicked it at the teen. “Young man..” he turned. “Please examine that”

He waited as the teen turned it over a few times. “Would you like to keep it or toss it?” The speaker asked with a wink. “The teen was not appreciating the attention and threw it at the speakers chest. “Toss it!” the teen replied. The paper hit his chest and landed on the floor in front of him. “OK, the young man doesn’t want to be an inventor. Anyone else care to examine the trashed idea?” A few moments of expectant silence followed. Finally a young girl, about ten, stepped into the aisle a few rows back. “I would” she said. Her mother motioned her back but the speaker had already motioned her forward and she was stepping up to the paper, smiling. She looked at the wad of paper as though at any moment it might explode into fireworks or some great magic.

The speaker winked at her and smiled, he kicked it with his toe at her and turned to walk away. The young girl stepped up to it and picked it up from the floor. “I think” she began, and the speaker stopped and looked back over his shoulder, “I see a cave” she said finally. “Really?” the speaker turned all the way back to her. “And?” Her small face contorted into an exaggerated look of concentration. “Inside” she began again “ see a Dragon. He is a tall Dragon, stately looking, but with a broken wing. He is green and he is hiding from a man in the cave.”

The speaker then pressed her further, “Is the man in the cave or the Dragon?” To which the girl replied “The Dragon of course.” She smiled. “I DO believe this young girl may be the smarted person in the whole room today!” he exclaimed. He waited a moment to let the rooms attention build. He turned back to her, egging her on to produce more details and finally he yelled as though we really were on a mission to protect this very real Dragon… “HURRY! Enter the cave! He must be protected at all costs!” It was now he and she in the room. He treated the rest of the room as though they didn’t exist for the moment. The girls expression was dramatic and excited she opened the wad and stopped suddenly. The whole audience was enraptured with the scene.

She examined the wad as she pulled out from it’s crevices a small bit of green. “We have found the dragon!” he said triumphantly. It too was paper and she revealed it to the audience as she unfolded it. A $100 bill. “That” he said softly over his mic, “is for having a vision my young girl. Go find your dragon and get me the rest of that story.”

15 years later

25 year old Victoria De La Corazon sat huddled over a desk, cheek pasted to her notebook. The other cheek was lighted softly by the blue hue of her computer monitor. She was still wearing her sever uniform from Denny’s, she didn’t bother changing when she got home because she wanted to get to her desk immediately, back to her dragon. She had fallen asleep as fire was clashing against shield. The first signs of morning now showing against her far wall, Vicky as they called her, began to stir. She grabbed her notebook and loaded her school bags and rushed for a quick shower and change.

She had spent 7 years working on her degree from the local State University. She had to attend part time, as she worked full time to pay for school and apartment. One week from now she would graduate. She already had 5 major publishers giving firm offers for well paying jobs as an editor and book reviewer, due in no small part to her dear professor Charles Stanfield. She was among his best and brightest students. She could still recall the day she met him, in an auditorium full of people. It wasn’t the $100 that sparked her love for him, it was his belief in her. Now she was studying under him. As images of street signs and store fronts passed her through the window of the public bus she rode to school each morning, her thoughts drifted to another world, full of mystery and dragons and fighting for survival.

Professor Charles, now President of the “Creative Writing Guild” and Head Dean for the school of fiction authors at the university, was now reclining in his dungeon.

Driving

Erik Liechter was driving the family home from a long day out and about. They had worked there way so far into the other side of the metroplex that it would now take an hour to get home, he was on the final stretch of that hour and getting quite tired. Wife and kids were asleep a half hour ago.

Erik was distracted by many thoughts about things he wanted to do in life but hadn't, and things he intended to do but never got around to, and duties of tomorrow morning. He tried not to bring work home with him, but nevertheless, he did.

It was somewhere in those thoughts that he found himself drifting into a sea of emotions and images and when he began seeing a images of flying people and impossible things happening all around him... The bumping and jarring of the vehicles snapped him into reality and he realized he'd been dreaming. The next few moments were like slow motion. His heart full of rushing incoming adrenaline began to pump faster and his mind pulled out of the sluggish haze it had succumbed to. Through his blurred vision he could see that he had veered off the road into the overgrown side fields, he glanced around to see his whole family still asleep, and all this happened within fractions of a second. He turned forward just in time to see the car headed towards a tree and realized that he wasn't even holding on the wheel. He tried to grasp for the wheel but it was too late the tree was coming and he put his hands up preparing for impact, he let out a quick "Please GOD! NO!" before the moment came he closed his eyes... nothing, darkness, dreams, void.

When he came to himself there was light warming his cheek and he stirred. At first he thought he must be at home but then images of last night came to his mind and he didn't want to open his eyes to see what carnage awaited. He couldn't feel anything broken and he sat forward and rubbed his eyes and opened them, the bright light around him stung and blinded him so he closed them again. As his vision returned he found himself not in the drivers seat of a Lexus SUV but on the ground in a sleeping bag. He turned to see his family around him, also in sleeping bags. The material made of old, musty cloth.

His mind was still processing and confused, he turned around all about him, no car, no road, just his Wagon and Horses and campfire... Wagon and Horses?!? He felt srongly that these were his, but had no idea why. Just then his son, Kenny age 6, stirred and sat up, he must have had the same reactions by the looks that went through his face in just moments. His wife and younger son and daughter still slept. Kenny stood up, "Where's the car Dad? What happened?" Erik shrugged, "I have no idea what's going on here son, but stay close." The two stood up and looked all around. No car, no road, nothing that smelled of civilization. That's when they noticed each others clothes. They each looked like something out of a Mid-Evil Times Show. Nothing made sense. It wasn't funny but out of nervousness they both laughed...

Full Circle

Fashion. Couture. Money. These summed up the life of Jacques Sose'. The fact that he was born "Bobby Joe Smithe" in the backwaters of a Louisiana swamp to a deep Cajun family was known to very, very few. His own family, those that still lived, didn't know he was still alive and wouldn't recognize him if he walked in the house with all the changes he'd undergone in the last 10 years. Among the few who did know about his origins were his lawyer, who assisted with the new identity and kept it well hidden, his sister, Emma, who also left her past behind, and his partner Lazo Kalrian, who didn't know the details only that he had left some things behind.

It was on the road between airports and meetings on the few occasions that he could find no travel with him that the memories of those days came back. Today he is driving from LAX to a GALA show in Palm Springs, CA. A beeping sound was a welcome intruder to the flash backs, accept that the beeping came from the gas indicator showing well into E. Jay, as his close friends called him, pulled off the road somewhere past San Bernardino.His mind was still full of visions of a history that he'd paid good money to supress. Apparently he'd fogotten to check the gas gauge at the last major city.

This area gave him the chills. It wasn't quite the cajun swamp lands, but it still smelled of trailer parks, lucky strikes, and bud light. It took all the strength he had to put his highly paid Psychiatric medication to work in order to pull into the gas station. He pretended to be fishing for something in the car as a pan handler passed by asking for change. The man nearly knocked on Jay's window before being interupted by someone offering money accross the way.

Shivering, from the filth not from the cold, he stood at the machine and threw a small fit when his card would not work. "Please see attendant" may as well have said "Go see swim with hungry sharks". "OK... OK..." Jay got a hold of himself "This isn't the gladiator ring in Rome this is just a gas station. You can do this. Just walk in, and pay, pump and go." He quickly strode accross the parking lot to the store to "see the attendant", chiding himself for neglecting to notify his bank of this trip to prevent his card from being declined.

Jay stood in line behind a woman with a pink monster truck T-top and her two fighting kids and in front of a man with a tattered hoody that smelled like a sewage tank. He paid his for his pump in cash and rushed back to the car. He pumped, returned the nozzel, and got in. Filling out his milleage and gas log for his tax preparer Jay was suddenly distracted by a commotion in the store. The hoody wearer was flailing his arms about yelling at the attendant... gun in hand. The scene shocked him so much that he couldn't move. The man ran outside, glanced over the parking lot and headed... straight for Jay's car! Before he could think to put the car in gear and go the hoody had gotten into the backseat. "Drive!"

At first Jay didn't move but at the sound of the round entering the chamber, he put the car in gear. It had been 10 years since he'd heard that sound. Cajun people all use and carry guns. He could probably still take one apart and put it back together blindfolded like his uncle used to make him do. "Where to sir?" Jay asked. "Anwhere else! Move it!" so they headed out and onto the highway toward Palm Springs. Maybe he could still make his meeting and the man could have this nice car afterward...