A.G.E's Joint

  The windows were blacked out, but it didn't matter. No one could see in the new darkness anyway. The bosses called it the Scorpio Project and the details were nonexistent.  10:45 PM we took off over the water. Thirty minutes in, the plane banked sharply and then descended. When I got off, another suit handed me a tablet and put me in the back of a van. No words were spoken until I was let out on St. George Street and given the tablet to log corpses. I trip on cobblestones in the dim light but manage to keep my feet. Passing closed shops with their made in China trinkets, I note the displays designed to snare the tourist. Give them something to remember the trip with while lining the pockets of some far away factory owner.   At least they used to. Beggars were lined up for alms, burnt out from too much sun and too much booze. Only they were dead. with a press of a button, the program recorded the coordinates of each victim. The authorities deployed sanitation teams ...

 Ha. I made it home. And I didn't trip up the stairs. Damn, it was a great party. Lots of booze, weed, and girls dressed as witches. I think one of them slapped me, but I'm not sure. Should I have slept it off up there? Well, yeah. But the girl's roommate said I had to go, so I did. Oh, I could have crashed in the car, but security came and said they were calling the cops. I did kill a little time at Dunkin, but coffee only goes so far. I was still seeing double when I left. The drive home was a blur. Who was that dude I picked up?  The question is not what you look at, but what you see. Doesn't matter. I wasn't too big a danger to him anywho. Three locks...I'll take door number two. Congratulations! You have won entrance to your own dumpy apartment! I throw the jacket toward the hook, but it crumples over the cat. It took a minute, but his black form struggled out "Meow." "Ev'nin...What do you want?" I eat a few Pumpkin Spice Batons scat...

 Susan couldn't sleep. She stared at the naked image in the full length mirror. The dark hair was increasingly flecked with gray, but still long and soft.  The body was thicker, belly like a bag of potatoes, a butt like one of those rivet strips to let blind people know they've come to a curb. But the shape that set men on fire was still there. The breasts were the most surprising. Soft and a little wrinkled, they still held their shape. For 55, she couldn't complain. She smiled. The weekend at Hilton Head had been his idea. She'd gone along with it simply because she was tired of staring at the same old walls. Walking along the beach, a young woman jogged by in a bikini and his eyes followed. Would it all end like Julie Andrew's character in the movie "10", with her being dumped for the Delilah? There was only so much she could do to keep her looks.  The answer came as they stood on the dock, watching the harvest moon rise over the bay. He slipped a chubb...

The late-year Holidays have never been favorites of mine. I'm not a big fan of fantasy or horror, so I've always found Holloween to be underwhelming. Thanksgiving and Christmas bring back ugly memories of family fights.  Because of the above, I understood where Ebenezer Scrooge and The Gring got their attitudes.  You would think I would get better. But I dread the process of dragging the lights out again and putting on a fake smile.  It's all you can do. 

 It's Saturday night and I just got back. A stack of receipts are next to the printer on the right side of the desk. A testament of being a little Footloose. I discovered the Road to Nowhere is the I-95,295,395,495 interchange spanning the Potomac River. Old Town Alexandria is far superior to National Harbor. The Hope Diamond isn't quite as spectacular as advertised. The DC Mall is fabulous to hike in 70 degree weather. My wife is getting better at keeping up.  Annapolis is worth a day trip. Even though I dealt with rush hour traffic through the 700 miles on the way home. I'm glad I went. Crab Cakes are the bomb. 

It was still overcast as they came out. Flurries dotted their faces as they came out of the diner. It was a little early for a big storm, but Chuck had seen it happen before. He saw she was shivering.  “Winter’s coming and anyone with sense has flown south.” “I guess I’m the crazy one. I flew north for the winter.” Leaning into the wind,  Debbie slipped her arms around his waist and laughed, He was smelly and pudgy. It didn’t matter so was she.“ I hope I don’t hit an iceberg .”  “I’ve got an extra jacket in the room if you need one.”  The offer told her what she needed to know. She was back in the saddle again. “You’re sweet.”  She pecked his cheek. "Let's get out of the wind." The pay-by-the-week place was next door. Come in for a spell and stay forever. Chuck slipped the key into the lock and pushed the door open with a flourish. She could tell even in the dim light it was a typical setup. An unmade bed sat in the middle of the right wall, a cheap dresser to...

 Cue Nina Simone: It's always the go-to when I want to walk with earbuds on. Which I don't to real often, earbuds that is, because it is a safety hazard. It is always better to be aware of your surroundings or you will miss the Doe staring at you in the woods.  There is something about keeping moving that lightens my mood.  I'll keep doing it until I can't do it anymore.