Those little people

    Look at the tiny people. Running around, so very small. Don’t pay me any mind, but claim I impose on their lives. Just wait until I boot them around. This was my home before they got here. I am Giant, and they will pay!

Simple Simon

    “Oh geez. What the hell did you do that for?” A young man doubled over in the bathroom floor attempts to roll over. He slips, falls, and hits his head on the side of the sink. Blood flows from his nose.  “OH! Dude this isn’t funny.” Why did you put soap all over the floor? I can hear you! What the hell are you doing?”
    He wipes his nose, and blood streaks down his arm. His nose continues to run onto the floor. A grunt and he finally makes it up to the sink on unsteady legs. Both his eyes are bruised. He sees a flash of movement in the next room and he turns and says, “You’re still here! I see you.”
His dripping nose runs down his shirt and onto the floor. He creeps slowly out the bathroom, his blood making a trail of red. He grabs a baseball bat and says, “You got the jump on me earlier. I’m ready for you now.”
The front door opens, and he jolts for the door.
“Simon,” a young woman asks, “what the hell are you doing? You’re bleeding all over the floor!”
“I was playing with your dolls again. You know how they freak me out.”
   

She did what

    “No, really. I swear it happened.”

    “What happened?” A new comer to the bar asked.

    “I was just hanging out with some of my friends, that’s them over there. Wave guys. Yeah, if you want you can go ask them and they can corroborate my story.
    We were drinking some beers out in the water, and this chick starts screaming something about a jellyfish. She pulls her boob out, right there on the beach!” He pantomimes pulling at his chest and laughs. Everyone at the bar laughs. He stops them saying, “Wait that’s not all!”
    “She has this whole pack of sorostitutes with her, and they get all where shouting suggestions.  You know the one that I heard above all others? Pee on it! Pee on it!”
    A little young kid, probably snuck in with a fake id, asked, “What? Pee on it? Why do that?”
    “I don’t know,” I say. “Its something that you hear. If you don’t have any alcohol the next best thing is to pee on jellyfish sting.
    “So, back to the story. They make a circle around her, and one of them hikes her leg up and pees on her.”
    A chorus of, ews, gross, and nasty emanate from half the bar. The other half turns to see what the commotion is all about.
    The grisly old bartender looks right at the kid who looks to young to be here winks, and says, “Kid you know that’s kinda hot.”
    “Wait, its not over. She starts grabbing it in her hand, and wipes it on her boob, right there on the beach!”
    More jeers and sounds of disgust from the crowd. I even heard somebody say, “That can’t be true.”
“It’s true,” I say. I think to myself as I finish my beer, “I couldn’t come up with a better story if I tried.”

Bang Bang!

    I watch as two boys play in the street. Anyone looking would think that it is most likely some variation on cowboys and Indians, or cops and robbers.
    Kids have always played with guns. I know I did. I didn’t think it would bother me to see kids playing with toy guns. But, ever since the second civil war things have been different, at least for me. I put mine away. It makes me sad, but I know the government looks at it as training of sorts. You know, just in case there is another uprising. 

Blurred

I remember this kid once told me he added blur to this cat. Can you believe that? Blur to a cat. Wow. Thinking back on it I had to have been pretty gullible to believe it. Then again, this was before we invaded Cocamo. It was a mistake I won’t hold up some grand ideal that our past leaders knew what they were doing. That there was this big plan to help save the planet. There wasn’t. There hasn’t been one since Nixon. God bless that man. The history books say he was the most effective president to date. I believe it. I wasn’t alive then, but damn it look at the text books.
Oh yeah back to the blur. Sally Chopkizt and I were playing on the steps of our apartment building. She was a pretty little girl. Last I heard she was still attractive, but then again you aren’t a high rent hooker if you aren’t at least a little good looking. Back then she was very much the tom boy. Playing with snakes and lizards down at the creek were some of her best times. Or so I have heard. She was with me when … oh hell what was his name?
Raskle Funz! That’s it! Raskle Funz. Red head and evil, according to mom. She told me that his dad gambled and that he was going to hell. I don’t see me believing in hell much, but I believe that that kid was evil. He would pull legs off of bugs and spear the lit butts of fireflies on girls in the neighborhood. He kicked any dog that got in his path. If you were smaller than him he would be after your lunch money. Me being the heafty child that I was didn’t have to worry with him taking my lunch money, but he wasn’t nice to me either. He would come up and brag about doing this or that to some poor kid a few years younger than him self. I wouldn’t say much, not out of fear, but I am a shy guy. Or, I use to be.
Any way, Raskle ran up to Sally and I while we were playing electric toe jacker. He was freaked. He looked white as a ghost and looking everywhere. He asked if we had scene a cat. We told him we hadn’t and then we asked him why he was looking for a cat and what did it look like. He told us to watch out it was one of those tabbies, but it had been blurred. We asked him how he did that. He never answered, just looked even more franticly than before. We looked at him and got back to our game.

Come to think of it, how would you blur a cat?

-P

Lists

I love lists. Lists mean order. Lists mean things get finished. Lists mark passage of time.

Milk
Bread
Frozen chicken
Popsicles
Jelly

They keep me grounded. I can’t forget things.

Pay water bill
Pay power bill
Pay rent

They help keep me together. If I don’t write these lists I forget. I will miss something and get in trouble.

Don’t forget:

Shovel
Plastic bags
Circular saw
Bleach
Gasoline
Matches
Gloves

We should be ready to go. Wait, I forgot the duct tape. I can’t have you making any noise on the way there.

-P

Light Switch of Destiny

“This ladies and gentlemen is the Light Switch of Destiny,” the suit said.

“What exactly does it do?” a grunt from the back called forward.

“How does it work?” another called out.

“I will address those questions in reverse order. First, it works by switching it from the on position to the off position. Secondly, it creates destiny.”

An attractive young woman took a few steps forward and asked, “What if we don’t believe in fate?”

“Good question,” the suit said. “It isn’t the Light Switch of Fate. It is the Light Switch of Destiny. At the root of the word fate, it implies we have no choice. Our lives are completely predetermined, and we have no choice. The end game is always death, or doom, no matter our actions. Destiny, on the other hand, does not carry the negative connotations. While destiny does imply the lack of agency it implies that it merely steers the human condition.”

The first grunt spoke up, “That is all fine and dandy Sir, but what do the intricacies of the English language have to do with a light switch that can supposedly do something to a man’s destiny?”

The second grunt countered, “Well, many things in line are dependant upon the perspective of the observer. If an individual felt he had no choice in a matter, how would he act? If this was a tool to guide a person they would be more likely to make choices that put them in the place they wanted to be. In effect, the light switch is like Dumbo’s feather. A crutch used to convince a person they can do anything as long as they have this object”

The young woman said, “If your point is to be believed that the light switch is ‘Dumbo’s feather’ then what you are saying is that we had the power in us all along to do whatever we wanted to do, correct?”

“Yes,” he said.

“If that is the case, this light switch is nothing more than a two dollar piece of plastic from the home improvement store down the street.”

“Wait!” the suit said, “This is the Light Switch of Destiny, damnit! It can alter your destiny if you so choose.”

“But, if it alters my destiny it alters your destiny along with it, correct?” The young woman walked up to the switch and placed her hand on the switch.

The suit started to walk toward her. She held up her hand and said, “Douglas Adams once said, ‘I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be.’ I choose my actions. I make my own way.” With that she flipped the switch, and the room when dark.”

-P

Little Sharp Shooter

I’m a sleepy boy. Do you know why? It’s past my bedtime. We’re playing a game of hide and seek. I have homework to do, way too much homework. I really enjoy Math. Math helps with figuring wind speed. Dad says that’s why I’m such a good shot. No one will find me in the tower.

-P

Rocket City Rebels

A young man, a few inches shorter than normal, was adjusting the straps on his jet pack.
“Hey, Jack! Why do you have such a small jet pack?”
“More nimble.”
They take off into the sky, rockets follow them. The rockets were too fast. Two boys went up. Only one got away.


-P

Butterfly Fan

“The flapping of a single butterfly's wing today produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what the atmosphere actually does diverges from what it would have done. So, in a month's time, a tornado that would have devastated the Indonesian coast doesn't happen. Or maybe one that wasn't going to happen, does. “

-Ian Stewart, Does God Play Dice? The Mathematics of Chaos, pg. 141


****

“What’s up, Josh?”

“Not much Todd. What are you up to?”

“Just waiting on Ryan. Did he call you, too?”

“Yeah, do you know why he called?”

“Nope. He said to come over, and chill in the basement.”

Josh and Todd sat down for a game of Wii bowling. Thirty minutes and five strikes by Todd later the door burst open.
“What’s up douches!” It was Ryan. He had a gun that looked like a giant squirt gun with spinning butterfly wings attached to the front. He pointed it at Josh and Todd and pulled the trigger. The butterfly wings spun slightly faster.
“BANG BANG!” Ryan said as he shot the other two boys with the ridiculous gun.
“What the hell is that?” Josh asked as he grabbed the gun and shot Ryan with a flutter of butterfly wings.


Twenty years later:

Josh dies at the age of 36 due to a freak cloning accident. His self/son in a fit of uncontrollable anger at seeing what a slob he becomes shoots him with a crossbow
Todd dies at the age of 37 at a Guthrie’s fast food restaurant. The official report said that he choked on a piece of chicken. Unofficially, it was rumored that he choked on a piece of chicken and fell into the fish tank. In a random act of uniqueness, the Guthrie’s had loaded its tank with piranha.
Ryan dies at the age of 36 due to an advanced case of rabies. Before Ryan was put down he infected close to one hundred people. The infection spread quickly.

-P

Time Glasses

“Doctor! Dr. Odenburg I think we found it.”

“Found what Jennings?”

“It’s just what we were looking for. Time travel, of a sort.”

“Of a sort? What do you mean of a sort? There is nothing in science of a sort. Science is exact. Science is perfect. If human understanding were perfect then we would know everything. Science strives to understand these things. These things help man become more perfect. Now that the whole complex has heard me, what do you mean time travel?”

Jennings rounds a corner and guides Dr. Odenburg into a dark lab. He takes out a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and hands them to Dr. Odenburg. “Here they are,” Jennings says.

“What do you mean here they are?”

“It’s not traditional time travel, but close to it. Once you put the glasses on you can see up to two hours into the future or two hours into the past. But, you only see what the glasses would see. If they were lying face down on the ground that’s all you would see.”

“Really? That is excellent, Jennings. How do they work?”

“Just put them on.”

Dr. Odenburg turns the glasses over in his hands as he lifts the glasses to his eyes he asks, “How do you control if you see into the future or the past?”

“Its rather arbitrary. It is like they have a mind of their own. What do you see?”

“Not much looks like carpet. Wait! Someone picked them up. That’s my wife. She isn’t wearing any clothes! What the hell?”

Jennings punches Dr. Odenburg in the face, and takes the glasses. He sprints off down the hall, but not before saying, “I guess its showing the past, sucker!”


-P

Judith Part 3

    “I can help you get what you want,” the little voice says.
    “What do I want?” Judith asks as she turns around looking behind her. She turns back to the door. It is closing. As it snaps closed, it disappears.
    “To find a way home. My name is Awaif. You can’t see me, but don’t worry I can get you home again. Now these pillars move as a bishop on a chess field. Start with the third black one, and I will help you from there.”
    Judith listens to Awaif, and follows every hint he gives. As she moves the last piece into place a beam of light jumps from pillar to pillar. All the pillars disappear into the grass and the checkerboard pattern fades away.
    “Look in the grass behind the Dark King’s perch”
    Judith walks around the rock while asking, “The man in black is a king?”
    “Oh yes.  A wise and mighty king, but do not test him. He does not take well to failure. I failed him once long ago.
    Judith is looking around in the grass and suddenly finds a bow and quiver of arrows.
Awaif whispers, “Take the bow and quiver and follow the path.”
    “What path?” As Judith asks she sees a path lead over a hill and reappear farther along. She watches as it meanders off into the distance.

    Judith and Awaif have many adventures. She narrowly avoids losing an arm to the Giant Sky Slug.  She captures the Wind Compass from the Pigmy Pixie people. She obtains the Sword of Tears from the three-headed Sphinx of Ungar Pass. She studies magic under Dr. Jothan Strangle. She rescues a rare winged unicorn from the Giant’s stables on the border of the southern wastelands.

    At last, Judith and Awaif reach the Dark King’s palace deep in the forest of Everlasting Sorrow. The Dark King greets them at the gates. “Thank you Awaif. You are a good and faithful servant.”
    A beautiful young man appears next to Judith. He too is draped in a feathered cloak. His dark hair hangs in his eyes and says, “I am sorry Judith. I had to. We all want to go home and you are our path.” He steps away and into the shadows.
“You said it best. We can take you home, but you must trust your King. Quickly, the Dark King reaches for her, just as she dives off the street to the forest floor hundreds of feet below. She quickly reaches into her quiver, and pulls an arrow with a cord attached to it. She draws the arrow back and aims for a branch. It strikes just as Judith grabs the cord, and begins to swing through the trees. At the apex of her swing she lets go, grabs a branch, and climbs up to the city streets. All the while, the Dark King transforms into a flock of black birds and follows her. She ducks down an alley to catch her breath.
    “He is here.” She hears, but is too late. The Dark King appears in front of her, in one swift movement draws the Sword of Tears, and stabs Judith. She falls to the cobble stone alleyway. She looks up at the Dark King.
    She starts to fade. Things are going black.
    “Now you can join us. We love you Judith.”

-P

Judith Part 2

    “Judith would you like to have a seat?” the man in black asks. He gestures toward another smaller rock between the door and his rock.
    Judith walks over, and looks at the man in black. He is a pale man with long dark hair. He is well kept and clean as far as she can tell. She can’t see his left hand or his feet they are under his robes. The robes are so black that they reflect little iridescent shades of green, blue, purple, and deep red. The red was the same shade of the door. Blood red.
    Judith shook her head, “Mom said to not talk to strangers.”
    “Isn’t that a good little girl.”  His voice is very soothing, but not right. He continues,     “We don’t have to talk. We can just play the game.”
    “What game?” At the mention of games Judith perked up. Judith loved games. She loved puzzle games, board games, video games, drawing games.
    “Have you ever played chess, Judith?” He motions again toward the other rock. She climbs up and fans out her sundress.
    “My dad showed me how the pieces move.”
    “Good. Here is a puzzle and riddle for you. When you are finished I can help.”
    “Help with what? I want to go home.”
    The soothing man in black spoke slowly, “Where four by four line across the field they must both end where the other began. Rules to follow, none to be broken. They may pass, but not poses the same. No capture know victory. Know capture no victory.” With this the man in black stands up, and claps his hands. A checker pattern appears in the grass five spaces across and four spaces deep. Four of the five spaces closest to her have tall slender pillars that rise out of the grass. Across the pattern closest to the man in black four more slender pillars rise out of the opposing squares.  He says, “Good luck.”  Just as his foot touches the grass he bursts into a flurry of feathers. A flock of crows take off and circle Judith before disappearing into the distance.
    Judith sits down on her rock looking at the pillars. There aren’t any marking on the pillars. They look a lot like black and white versions of the Washington memorial Judith remembers from her history book, only smaller. They are slightly taller than she is. She attempts to push one of them straightforward toward a blank spot on the opposite side of the board. It will not budge. Judith walks around the pillar looking for any sign of what to do.      
    There aren’t any markings on any of the pillars or on the grass. She places her hand on the corner of a white pillar to brace herself and the pillar began to move diagonally across the field.  It moves all the way across the checkerboard and stops diagonally across from a black pillar. A bright light shot out of the black pillar and hit the white pillar. It shatters and crumbles to dust. A new white pillar takes its place back in the original position.
    She hears a faint noise. It’s coming from near her feet. She looks down and sees a very small white door on the side of the rock she had used as a seat earlier. As she gets closer to the door she hears a voice saying, “I can help you.”

To be Concluded

-P

Judith Part 1

    Judith is a girl of about eight. She is petite, blonde, and extremely intelligent. She doesn’t like being called Judith. She prefers Judy. Only her mother still calls her Judith, or she did.
     Judith is lying on the ground in a white room. It is at least as large as a football field. It is hard to determine the size of the room due to the lack of hard edges or lights. The room seems to be lit from within. The only irregularity is a door at the far end. Brighter light is coming in from the door. Judith doesn’t see or notice these things because she is still unconscious. 
     She stirs and pushes herself up off the floor. She notices the door and walks toward it. As she gets closer to the door it increases in size. The door is massive. It is at least three times as tall as she is. The massive room behind her darkens as she makes her way to the light.
     She crosses the threshold of the door and sees doors. There are millions of doors. They all line the walls of a hallway. The hallway disappears into the horizon. The doors don’t seem to end. There are no markers or numbers on the doors just a never-ending hallway lined with doors. She opens the first door to her left. Its another empty room much like the one she came from. She goes back to the hallway and opens another door. Another empty room. She continues down the hallway periodically opening doors. Every one is an empty room. She starts to run down the hall only checking every tenth or so door. She runs for hours.
    She quit checking the doors and continues to jog down the hallway. She stops and backs up. This door is different. It is white like the others, but it is worn. It looks like it has been scuffed and kicked. Red shows through where scuff marks and dings in the paint mar the surface of the door. She tries the door. It is unlocked, but stuck. She leans on the door, and it opens just a little. A thick bed of grass is the only thing she can see except for the blue clear sky. She pushes some more and finally it gives enough let her pass.
She is in the middle of a large field with only a red door standing cracked open and slowly shutting itself.  She lunges back for the door and it clicks shut. The door is locked. Frustrated Judith looks around. The field at least does seem to have an end. Off in the distance, a mountain range sweeps around the little valley with the red door. Judith is looking off into the distance so intently that she doesn’t notice a man in black-feathered robes sitting on a large rock.

To Be Continued.

-P

Who Doesn’t Like Caddyshack?

    He puts on a record, and sits down.  A real record black, vinyl, and beautiful.  The term is album. There was a pop and click. The album hadn’t picked up speed yet, and it had that lovely pitching up. Suddenly, the guitars take off.  He mumbles that he is alright. Yes, he loves Kenny Loggins.

-P 

My Name Is Joe

    My name is Joe. I was stalking this babe the other day. Well, not really stalking I bumped in to her downtown the other day. Ever since then I have kept my eye open and I keep almost running into her. I haven’t got my nerve up enough to talk to her, yet.
    See, I was downtown last week at Lucy’s, great sandwiches by the way, and she came in to get a double frappa cappa chino something or other. So hot. Well yes the coffee was hot, but so was she. I had seen her the week before at the library. Then, I saw her two days later at the Rave in Hoover. I went to go see Transformers for the third time. I understand this might seem a tad dorky, but still, giant robots fighting each other while humans get in the way. I can’t get enough of it. Oh, back to her, I saw her go in before me. I couldn’t help myself. She went into the theatre showing Chuck and Larry. Damn it. Really do we need more, gay cowboy movies without cowboys or real gay guys?
    Now that brings us to where we are today. I saw you at Wal-Mart and waited until you left. I grabbed you and now you are in my basement. In just a minute I will turn around and we can finally talk face to face. I know you are excited to talk to me too. Now when I take that rag out of your mouth please don’t scream. That guy that was with you screamed look where it got him. All in pieces.
    You know, I love you. Now what is your name?

-P

Jill's Legal Problems

    “It has been said that Jack and Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of water. That is what the media would like you to believe. That is what the defendant would have you believe. She would like the court to believe that Jack did in fact fall down and broke his crown, and that she tumbled down after him.” The prosecutor turned to face the jury. He paused. He turns back to Jill. She is seated in the witness stand, dressed in a very smart pantsuit. She looked almost proud of the prosecutor’s care in telling her story.
    “That is where the truth in your story ends, doesn’t it? Jill said in her statement and I quote, ‘Up got Jack, and home did trot as fast as he could caper.’” The prosecutor walked to the evidence table and picked up a plastic bag. The plastic bag held a ball peen hammer stained red.

    “This is Jack’s hammer is it not?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “ Do you know what this red is?”
    “No, I do not.”
    “Is it not true that it was you who had the pail, Mrs. Johnson?”
    “Yes, I had the pail. The hill was quite steep. Jack would go up, I would hold the pail, pass the pail up, and then he would help me up.”
    “So, you admit that the hill is quite steep. Why would you go all the way up here to get water when you have a Piggly Wiggly just down the street? Or, perchance water from the tap?”

    “I … ahh…”
    “Are you trying to find the words? Could it be possible that you need to say that you lured Jack up this dangerously steep hill to acquire this “excellent” water? Could it be possible that you wanted to add that you put that hammer in the pail, and when you reached the top you used it to attack Mr. Johnson. You hit him over the head with the hammer then pushed him down the hill. You tossed the hammer down the well then “tossed” yourself down the hill to attempt to hide the fact that you assaulted your husband.”
    “I… He… It wasn’t like…” She stammered and her eyes began to tear up.
    The prosecutor turned to the jury and said, “Would an innocent woman take her husband home after a fall such as this? No, a loving wife would take her husband to the hospital, not wrap him up in brown paper.”

    “It was an accident. I didn’t know what to do!”
    “If it was an accident then why did you take out that insurance policy not a week before?” As he delivered his final line, the courtroom erupted into noise. The judge slammed his gavel and called for order.
    “I rest my case,” the prosecutor said as he sat down and started to gather his materials.
   
-P

“Mortimer the Littlest Mortician”

And now an excerpt from the new children’s book “Mortimer the Littlest Mortician”

“Mom, Dad said I can’t stay in the basement. Why?”

“Well, Mortimer sometimes people come in that you shouldn’t see.”

“Like who? I won’t tell anyone.”

It isn’t that you would tell anyone, those types of things are in the paper every week. It might be someone we know from church or school. I don’t even know. You should go up stairs and play a little bit.”

Mortimer conceded and went up the stairs. He was a normal little boy in most regards. Mortimer was six. Unlike most boys of six years he did not like to play with video games, or play sports. He preferred to read or spend time with his father down in the basement. His father was a mortician and Mortimer wanted nothing, but to be just like his dad. Today was odd in that he was sent away from the basement.

Mortimer never got in the way. He was always careful to stay back and to not touch anything that he did not have permission to touch. There were also times when his dad would send him out of the room, but always added a time when he could come back. The fact that there wasn’t a specified return time bothered Mortimer.

If he wasn’t reading a book or in the basement with his father Mort loved to play with Jeffrey. Jeffrey was a strange little boy, also six years of age. He always dressed in all black, and unusually heavy clothing such as black jeans and a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled up. Mortimer thought that maybe he had a skin condition and was embarrassed about it.

As Mortimer went into his room, he saw Jeffrey sitting on this bed playing a Gameboy. Jeffrey snapped it shut and jumped up. “What’s up man?”

“Not much, Jeffrey my dad won’t let me in the basement. He also won’t tell me who is he working on.”

“That sucks Mort. Hey, on the bright side my dad took me to work with him today.”

“Cool! What did you do?”

“We went to visit your teacher!”

“What?”

***************



Watch for more of Mortimer and Jeffrey’s adventures coming to bookstores soon!


-P

Hush Money, Sweet Lois – or Else!

    I walk along the path. Once again, I am always alone. I have the ransom money in hand. The people have been paid. I was paid. I was paid well for three days of work. Not bad. Most people won’t make this much in a decade.  I guess the bad part will happen when the body isn’t where it should be. In fact, Lois and I are meeting later she will be meeting me later at the seven eleven. I won’t walk alone anymore.


-P

My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion

    It was the summer after my senior year of high school. You know the time everyone says is the greatest time of your life. A time of responsibility and no responsibility all at the same time. I met Sarah at the neighborhood pool. She was smoking hot. A “perfect 10” as my dad would say, a real looker. We did everything together. I found out we were planning on going to the same university.
    We liked the same types of things. Swimming, rock climbing, running, the occasional old school game of Wii Sports or some Mario Brothers. She was perfect.
Well, I thought she was perfect at first. She was a bit jealous. Any time another girl would even glance my direction she would go off. I am not talking about just a little bit, but full tilt crazy. There would be yelling, screaming, and throwing stuff. It wasn’t pretty. I couldn’t hang out with my friends that were girls from high school with out her freaking out. My mom thought this was a huge warning flag. I told her that it wasn’t that big a deal. Dad backed me up by saying I was old enough to make my own decisions. He also said if I made the wrong decision then I would need to just take the consequences that came with my actions.
    As a compromise, we usually hung out with my guy friends, which wasn’t that bad a deal. We went to more baseball games that summer than I had ever been to before in my life. She had this way of escalating my behavior by dares. She was real bad about doing this in front of my friends. It was like she knew they could talk me into it if she couldn’t do it on her own.
    She convinced me to sky dive recently. Mom wasn’t crazy about it, but dad was on my side again. We took the lessons and today was our first solo jump. We jumped together holding hands. It was so awesome just falling, holding her hand, and looking out over the deep blue sky. With the wind screaming past our ears, she said, “I want to be with you to the end.”
    “Me too,” I called back.
    She held me close and said, “I didn’t pack our chutes.”
    I looked at her mouthing why.
    She just said, “I love you.
    I pulled her close and watched the ground rush toward us.

-P