A.G.E's Joint

“ It had been raining for day s” Everyone cringed as the chalk scraped along the board. Ms. Stachowiak’s flowered skirt swished in time with the screeching. Billy dutifully wrote the phrase on his paper, while the sound of hoops and whistles echoed from down the hall. Couldn’t he be down there? It would be more fun than listening to this dead rose talk. The ticking of the clock bled through the cloud and he looked up. Ugh. Ten minutes to go. The teacher rattled on about the sentence being in some tense, present perfect. Or was it perfect continuous? He shrugged and suppressed a yawn. She droned on about how use of language was the difference between success and failure. He tugged his black t-shirt collar and shrugged. What does this dried up hag know about success? She was the one teaching a bunch of misfits. And nothing she said sounded like anything he’d ever use outside of class. There were only two things that kept him interested in being here. Music and Julie. She was trans...

Note: this is a rewrite of a story from several years ago. It fit the prompts and I wanted to go back and revisit it. The cabin was a weathered gray stack of sticks sitting squat on the bluff near the inlet. There were four rooms and a dock on the side. The boards on the porch were groaning under the breeze. It had been gracious of Jack to let him use the place for a few days. They had had their differences over the years, but guilt and shame have a way to loosen these kinds of favors. It wasn’t every day your daughter twists the knife into her ex and made you pay for it. He sat in an Adirondack on the screen porch, watching the tide flow out to sea, like his life. It felt like astral projection , this trip to Kiawah. He’d killed a half a bottle of Wild Turkey and the rest of the case was in the trunk. Somehow, he kept it between the lines and the State Patrol was none the wiser. The breeze freshened. Gun metal clouds were gathering on the northeast horizon, lightning flashing u...

A random post. Did a trip in the Lullwater Preserve. Wonderful.

"Am I Beautiful ?" He snored in the bed behind her, his scent permeating the room. The image in the mirror stared back. Nobody had watched me before. Now, I am watched. The hair was increasingly flecked with gray, but still long and shiny. She'd become thicker, no doubt about that. Belly like a bag of potatoes, butt like one of those rivet strips to let blind people know they've come to a curb. But the shape that drove men crazy was still there. The breasts were the most surprising. Soft and a little wrinkled, they still held their shape. She smiled and thought of last night. He'd come up behind her last night on the dock. She had been smoking, thinking of Julie Andrew's character in 10 who had been dumped for the Bathsheba on the beach. And here they were in Isle of Palms , away from the city that was so distracting. Was he thinking about doing the same? There was only so much she could do to keep her looks. As the chubby arms surrounded her, he ...

It’s Saturday. The story scrap stares. It isn’t a screen play, Not even a vignette. A lump that beyond words . It went up like a lead balloon. A classic slapstick gag been done by many. It should have been easy. But, it wasn’t. When the movie credits roll , Alan Smithee will be my name. But for now, SPLOOOOSSSHHH! It wasn’t even good for toilet paper. Hand me the plunger. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Topic- Elaine E. Chaix Pic- Sallon Newlove Pic guesses: Up (in blog), Float away, Up, up and away, Sea of Flowers, Fly away, Marty Poppins, Around the world, 99 red balloons

Come talk to me Theory makes no sense Doors of perception Of deception Come talk to me Distract me from vanity From everyday life Fretless, neckless electronics Flash before my eyes Come talk to me Mirror Negative White from black Woman from man Short from tall It’s all the same Come talk to me Rewind the tape My grip is surely slipping Under the blue winter sky ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Topic- David Schrader Peter Gabriel Lyrics Used: Come Talk to Me, My grip is surely slipping Pic- Tyler Myrth Pic Guesses-Doors of Perception (in blog), Mirror negative (in blog), Fractal, Shards, Rearview, Blue winter sky (in blog), Cloudy, Wormhole