Alice's Tears The sound of the violin made Alice cry. It had been so long since tears of sadness touched her cheeks. It came out of nowhere really…just sitting at a window table in a small diner…cars moving past in slow motion, ceiling fan silently turning, a plate being put in the kitchen sink, and the music. She was in that state of mind where thoughts pass through unattached to pleasure or pain…just passing through like a cloud in the midnight sky. She was thinking about kindergarten photos, walking in the grass barefoot, sitting in Joey's treehouse, hiding in her closet when Daddy was mad, and holding her sister's baby for the first time. Just then a Bluejay flew into an open window at the other end of the diner. It needed help.

Angel

The angel stretched out here hand and stroked the hair of the sad little girl. Compassionate to the end, this was the angel's first assignment, she was selected because of her patience. The angels name was Elizabeth. She arrived two weeks earlier and found it hard to comprehend being back in the world, but as a completely different being. The world seemed so different now, slower paced, quieter, and almost surreal, like a Monet painting. She thought that she would yearn to be back to her former life, but that emotion was not necessary now. Everything was ok. In fact, she now understood the meaning of life to an extent that no mortal could grasp. Elizabeth drew close to the little girl and wrapped her angel wings around her and let her cheek rest on the top of the little girls head, as she listened to the sad little girl pleaded with her mother "mommy, give me some money, I want to buy a Coke". "I'm thirsty". "Give me the money". "No dear, please just go over to the water fountain". "No, no, no, water is terrible, it makes me feel sick", "and water has no taste, and its gross" (stamping feet), and "I want a coke", "so give me some money". "No honey, just go have a drink of water, we have to board the plane in a minute". "No, I don’t want water, I hate you , I hate you, You never give me what I want, I don’t want water". "I won't get on the plane". "I want a coke". Elizabeth was clueless, she opened her angel instruction manual to page 17.

Avalanche

He stood in front of me the next big rock star…he was only sixteen…hell cut my age in half and I’m still older than him but hey I’m not bitter I mean I’ve been playing guitar with all my heart longer than he’s been alive and I never gave up the dream of original music but here he comes along playing some standard blues progressions with about as much soul as David Lee Roth and I’m stuck flying on the same plane with him except I’m working for the corporate money makers thinking about this and that bland marketing crap and wishing my heart didn’t feel like an avalanche as I think about the dream I never quite made. Maybe I should have spent less time at the office. Ah…who am I kidding…I like marketing…yeah…that’s it…marketing is my life…ah…who am I kidding.

Because

The static from the radio drowns out the tiny voice saying, “I hope all your dreams come true”. I was waiting for some sort of a sign and I missed it because I had problems hearing because I played music too loud when I was young because it felt better that way because I really needed to feel better because my heart hurt so bad because I had no outlet for my anger because society frowns on anger because it makes people uncomfortable and twitchy. Now I don’t want to judge society as a whole because I have no right to do that because I really can’t form strong opinions in my mind because I’m not very smart because I didn’t study enough when I was young because I spent too much time listening to music because music stopped the pain in my heart caused by all my anger.

Bitterman

He was an angry bitter jealous man. He ate alone. He never went out of his way to help anyone. His miserable existence kept him locked up in his apartment for eight years. The only time he left was to go to his job at the warehouse which was only a block away from his home. Eight years in a row. No friends. No family. A totally lost bitter soul of a man locked in a shell. Isolated and alone. One day the man went into his backyard with his BB gun. He wanted to kill something, anything. A bird, a squirrel, the neighborhood tabby cat. Looking around he saw nothing warm blooded to kill. He spotted an empty can of Diet Dr. Pepper over by the back fence. Ready, aim, fire The BB ricocheted off the can and hit the ground. All of a sudden out of the ground came a bubbling crude, oil that is, Texas tea. The first thing you know the man's a millionaire, but he had no friends to say move out of there, the place you ought to be is Beverly, Hills that is, swimming pools, movie stars. So instead he invested the money wisely, got a therapist, figured out that his eight years of solitude was actually depression, found some friends, and started a rock band in Arizona.

By the way

Big boy spilled his milk and big daddy frowned and walked out of the room. Hot mama grabbed a rag and set little angel on the floor. Cry baby woke up from his morning nap and kinda crawled across the room to play with one the neighborhood bullies BB gun, you know the kind with the BBs designed to shoot your eyes out. At the exact same time, the rowdy kids next door took out a Sabbath CD and cranked the volume to 125 decibels which didn't bother the deaf kid, or his overworked father, and anxiety ridden mother, but it really messed the mind of the two burnouts who just got back from the lamest school where they were goofing on the jocks, that is until the stuck up prom queen made a dramatic appearance and distracted everyone's attention deficit for a second, except for --- the real cool kids, because they have a real cool club on the other side of town, where the real cool kids like to hand around, and talk bad about the other kids. Yeah, it’s a real cool club and you're not part of it.

Brown Eyed Girl

Parker always did things her way. The things that mattered most to her were smoking cigarettes at the coffeehouse with friends, not gaining weight, and her Father. She was on her way home late one night after picking up some spray starch at the corner market when a car pulled up to the curb next to where she was walking. The windows of the car were tinted black but she could see the glow of a cigarette and hear the thump of the bass from the stereo. The window started to roll down and Parker saw a hard woman who looked like Queen Latifah coldly stare at her and before she knew what happened a gun pointed out from the backseat through the passenger window. She saw the flash from the barrel then nothing. She went straight to heaven.

Catch A Thief

Turn the corner, change your mind. No money walking into the store, no money in your pocket. Hungry, thirsty, angry, alone. Old, hurting, invisible. Grab the crackers. Listen to the jazz drummer. Hip-hop beat, no vocals. Pretty girl, blue shirt, tight, pierced ears, platform shoes. Why choose diet soda? Checker board floors making too much noise. Move out of his way. Why is he looking at me? Turn the corner tuna fish, shit caviar, put it back, tuna fish, I want bread, too big. He’s right behind me. Music changes. Drop soda pop. Pick it up. Phone rings… “hello, no, she’s here at nine”. Vegetables, fruit. Think of Mom. Mom loved fruit, eggs, what I would do with eggs. No stove. I want a place to call my own, with a wife, Sara. Hot turkey dinner. Christmas. Music slows down. Sparkles. Trance beat. What else do I want? Cereal, no. potato chips. Where are they? I need some aspirin. No, it’s behind the counter. She turned around. Why is she looking at me? “Hey mister, you dropped this”. Ten bucks. “Oh, I can get some beer”. Thank god. Go to the counter. “Nine fifty-seven”. Forty- three cents. “Thanks”. “Thanks".

Clones

The force field was designed to keep unwanted visitors out. Guarding top secret biotechnology was critical. You really didn't want any of the new super DNA cloning material to get into the wrong hands. Why if that happened the first thing you would know we would end up creating a whole set of humans that could make a difference in the world, do great works of art, provide comfort to the elderly, be a friend, race cars, become excellent sushi chefs, dance to rave music, color in the lines, bend the rules, worship false Idols, manufacture nice alarm clocks that didn't wake you up so harshly, vote for Ralph Nader, sew buttons on Oxford shirts, or be lipstick models. I punched the code into the force field eliminator, I'm in.

Close Call

Pistol shots were heard coming from the hardware store. Suzie and Bobbie sat doe-eyed in the backseat wondering if their Uncle was shot or if he was the shooter. They waited. Uncle Lloyd edged his way past plumbing supplies and hunkered down to wait. He could hear his own breath. Lola, Lloyd’s ex-girlfriend, reloaded her pistol and started for the back of the store. She was going to kill Lloyd no matter what. At this point you are probably wondering what this scoundrel Lloyd did to make her so mad. That’s not important. Lloyd must find a way to get out of there. He must get out alive. He slowly reaches over and grabs a ball of twine. He takes the twine and sets up a trip wire across the plumbing aisle. Next, he takes a bunch of sink parts and tosses them down the aisle. Lola charges down the same aisle, firing shots with a vengeance. She hits the trip wire and falls flat. Lloyd runs the other way and heads out the door. He jumps in the car and speeds off out of town. Uncle Lloyd acted like nothing happened, and told the kids he was just in a hurry. They believed him and went back to playing road trip games.

Coincidence

Fortunately for James his car was exactly where he thought he left it. The waitress from the night walked away smoking a cigarette. The radio was playing a song by The Smiths. The sun was high in the sky. A bird was eating the seeds blown to the ground by the majestic oak tree across the street from the drugstore owned by Mr. Andrews who was rearranging a Bayer aspirin display in the front window, while little girls played hopscotch while listening to The Smiths on the radio. James turned on this cellular phone and called Sue his wife at home. She answered the phone in a sleepy voice and James could hear the clock radio playing The Smiths. Chance you say. Maybe…maybe not.

Covered Wagon

I can imagine what it would be like to cross America in a covered wagon…I really can…and I’ll tell you why. When I was sixteen my brother Dave decided to drive his van from Seattle to Miami. We started really early in the morning, I didn’t even get breakfast. It seemed like we drove forever. My back was really hurting from sitting all the time. Worse then that was the rain. It started raining really hard and the wipers weren’t working well. Boy…I knew exactly how those pioneers must have felt. On the second day, we were driving really really fast on the freeway because Dave was really really hungry. I guess the only difference between our trip and the pioneers is that we didn’t have any problems with Indians. In fact, this really pretty girl who looked like maybe she could be an Apache said hi to me. Dave thought she was French. So that was my trip. I told you I was the pioneer type.

Dead End

It’s strange to sit by yourself in a coffee house ya know…no one knows that you exist…I don’t know maybe I am invisible…maybe I’m just angry at every man who put me here…any old day now I shall be released from this lackluster existence…they say that every man sees his own reflection in the light of day but I only come out at night so I imagine that any day now I’ll understand that I’m not to blame even though all day long my mind pounds out the rhythm of my lost life and I can only pray that someday I will be loved.

Delicious

When Cindy started classes at State University, she never expected to immediately start to gain weight. Now that ten years have passed and she looks back, she can see the reasons. It all started with the no smoking policy on campus. Next, the cafeteria served fatty foods at every meal, and finally, here new boyfriend preferred she was overweight, that way he wouldn’t lose her to another guy. So every time time they were together, he brought a bottle of wine, a box of delicious chocolates, and took her out to her favorite Italian restaurant for a seven-course meal. To top it off, dairy queen introduced the DQ Blizzard, Burger King made everything her way, Domino's delivered in 30 minutes or less, she lived right next door to a sweet bakery, here part time job was working a the candy factory, and here roommate was constantly leaving cookies in the kitchen. Anyway, now that she is a BBW or Big Beautiful Woman, she can see how society was working against her. She decided to take the bull by the horns and starting doing slim fast. She bought a case of Chocolate because that was her favorite.

Desperate

Turn the corner, don't change your mind, walk into the store, no money in your pocket, no money, hungry, thirsty, angry, alone, old, hurting, invisible, grab some crackers, listen to the jazz music, feel warm, hear the drummer, hip hop beat, pretty girl behind the counter, blue shirt, tight, pierced ears, find something to drink, checker board floors, stumble, move out of his way, why is he looking at me, turn the corner, cereal aisle, I'm alone, grab the tuna fish, shit crab, put it back, grab tuna, he's right beside me again, did he see me, music changes, drop soda pop, pick it up, phone rings, hello, no, she's here at nine, bye, walk past the fruit, vegetables, think of mom, mom loved vegetables, I want a place to call my own, with a wife, her name would be Sara, hot turkey dinner, Thanksgiving, music slows down, slow beat, what else do I want, I'm so hungry, I need some aspirin, its behind the counter, there's the girl, she turned around, why is she looking at me, hey mister, you dropped this, ten bucks, what, what a break, get some beer, thank god, get the beer, go to the counter, pretty girl, nine fifty seven, forty-three cents, there you go, thank you.

Detective Leonard

He could carry a side arm weapon. In fact, he was carrying his Smith and Wesson 44 when he sat down for lunch. Across the table was a non descript yet very suspicious business owner trying to sell him on a new security related software application of one sort or another. Detective Leonard would have to do some serious due diligence to make sure that there was no viruses. That could wait until after lunch. Out of the blue a voice startled the Detective and said can I take your order?" The order was placed and the Detective put his gun back in the holster. All of a sudden a waiter dropped a wine glass and it shattered into a hundred pieces. Detective Leonard's first response would have been to hit the floor then draw his weapon but luckily, he saw the wine glass slip out of the waiter hand out of the corner of his eye. it sure pays to always use your peripheral vision. You just never know. Without warning a busboy came running out of the back room holding something in his hand. It looked like a broom and a dust pan of some sort. Detective immediately reacted like he did when he was top in his training glass. He drew his weapon again but immediately saw that the waiter was simply a waiter and not a bad guy with a mask on of some sort. The room finally went back to normal. Moments later a waitress was back with an accomplice. There was something suspicious about her assistant. He mentally scanned all the mug shots that he had on the wall in his office. Nothing. They gently set the plates and silverware down in front of Detective Leonard. Upon close inspection it looked like a Ruben sandwich with a side of mixed fruit. The sound of a siren broke the atmosphere, and Detective Leonard immediately looked out the window as Fire Station 12's hook and ladder truck rolled by. He was pretty sure he saw him ex friend Wally Smith behind the wheel. Wally had an affair with the Detective's wife. He met her at the Los Angeles Museum of Modern Art, then they got a room. Thank goodness the Detective had a GPS on his wife's car so that he always track here whereabouts. Lunch ended abruptly when it was obvious to the salesman that Detective Leonard was not going to buy his software. The next day, nothing was mentioned in the morning newspaper.

Doe Eyes

Whenever Teddy saw a pretty girl look at him, he would immediately look away or look down at the floor. He would act like he was really busy, wait till a long enough period of time has passed to insure that the girl would go back to her business, then he would take a quick glance to relieve that tension that we all feel. You know, that feeling that someone is looking or starting at us. Anyway, Teddy was in this little coffee shop in Cleveland and he saw a beautiful girl across the room. She had dark smoldering eyes, and pouting lips which closed over a bit of an overbite. She wore a dark turtle neck sweater, dark blue jeans, black tennis shoes, and her hair was dark brown, shiny and straight, just past her shoulders. She seemed to be focused on her paperwork since her eyes were only about four inches from her paper. Her skin was a perfect olive color, maybe she was Italian or Greek, no French, and once in a while she would chew on the end of her pencil. The music in the coffee shop was unrecognizable, but urban cool, alternative. Teddy's mind drifted, he imagined holding her hand, they were in a quiet forest at twilight, a deer was drinking water from a brook about a hundred yards away. A soft rain was falling but was being caught by the leaves. It was warm. June 2006. Heavenly. Teddy felt love in his heart. It sure felt like he had just stepped into a famous painting, or a scene from the Garden of Eden. It was..you know..perfect. "What's wrong with you?". Teddy snapped back to reality. "Why are you staring at me?" She was right in front of Teddy. "I was in a forest with you and we were in love". She stared back at Teddy. "We were in love?". "yes", "really", "yes, really". "What's your name?". "Teddy". "I'm Michelle". "Hi Michelle". "Hi Teddy".

Don’t worry be happy

You know how sometimes when you are listening to a Marley reggae song you seem to get into this real nice relaxed sleepy rocking state of mind…you don’t worry about tomorrow…you just know everything will be all right. In fact ever since Mary heard her first reggae song she hasn’t worried about work, school, finances, her abusive father, her breast cancer, her miscarriage, 1993 Tax Return, brakes on her Jeep, alien invaders, Gods seeming ambivalence to the terror in the eyes of the girl raped in Central Park today, the dead batteries in her Walkman, tomorrow’s period, Castro’s problem with the CIA, her Sister’s alcohol problem, Indian casino gambling addiction, sports in general, her cats flea problem, the stain on her favorite work outfit and how was she going to get laundry done tonight. Maybe it was the marijuana.

Dusty and Cooky Go West

The rain clouds were building over the ridge. Dusty bedded down the horses, and set up the tarp, so that the rain would run downhill. It had been like this all three nights in a row. It slowed down the wagons. Everyone in the family was starting to get frustrated. Dusty felt like it was his fault in a funny sort of way. He was the one who convinced the twelve settlers. Four families all agreed to head to Oregon. The promise land. Now winter was approaching, and it looked like they might get stuck on the east side of the mountains. It would make for a long winter. Most families don’t make it. Everyone was busy getting ready for the storm. Everyone except Cooky. Cooky was working hard on the evening dinner. You would be amazed at what he could do with a limited supply. It was incredible. For example, tonight everyone was to share a rack of lamb with a delicate saffron sauce, tender bean sprouts marinated in an olive tapenade. Two kinds of potatoes, and a simple mozzarella salad with baby greens in a delicate vinegar sauce. Cooky picked up his culinary skills at a dude ranch in eastern Kentucky. The dinner triangle rang out, and everyone grabbed their plates and ran to their separate wagons. Cooky washed up his pots and pans in the rain. None of this is a true story. I am just really hungry.

First Love

Pass the salt, please. That’s what she said. No more beautiful words had graced Steven’s ears. Four little words and it felt like a choir of angels were singing in his head. Steven slowly reached over to grab the salt. His senses were in overdrive. He could see his fingers slowly grip the glass shaker…why he could probably tell you how many grains of salt were in the little shaker…oh the salt shaker…gentle vessel of love and tasty treat. He grabbed it like a man but held it like a baby robin’s egg. It was in the air now, moving toward her open hand. The most beautiful hand Steven ever saw - delicate, creamy, perfectly manicured, crystal clear nail polish. He could see the lines on the palms of her hands. Oh my God, she was only going to live to 43, that’s not enough time. He needed more time with her, his soul mate. Thank you, she said. Your welcome, Steven said.

French

Everyone around Toby was speaking French. All of the girls were pretty. All of the boys seemed to wearing colorful shirts. No one wore black. Toby was really out of place, but he didn’t care. He was in love with her. The girl. She sat there, so beautiful, playing with her earring. Her dark brown eyes were what you might describe as smoldering. When she smiled his heart melted. Did she even have a clue what Toby felt for her? He doubted it. It was first day at the university, and it was his first class, French. Why they heck was everyone already jibber jabbering in French? Did he miss something in the syllabus, such as “Must be French citizen”. This really was uncomfortable. His thoughts went back to her. BLAM! She was looking straight into his eyes. “Bon jour” she said. Toby froze. “Bon jour?” what? Oh my… Is she saying she loves me? Is that what bon jour means? He wanted to play this cool. Could it mean something else? His pulse quickened. He could feel sweat on the nape of his neck. “Bon jour”, yes, it means I love you. She smiled at him and said it again. “Bon jour”. His heart was filled with love. “Bon jour”, Toby said back. She smiled, reached over, and gently touched his hand. “I told her I loved her” Toby thought. “And she loves me too. This is so cool”.

Greasy

His name was Greasy. It was given to him by his girlfriend Elizabeth. Actually, he thought of it himself while driving in the car after having a fight with her. He was on his cell phone apologizing for fighting, when he ran his hand thru his hair. You guessed it, his hair was greasy, she was talking about nicknames and shazam a nickname was born. Now Greasy was no ordinary nickname, and Greasy was no ordinary guy. Greasy grew up on the bad side of the tracks. At 15, while surfing off the coast of Hawaii, He was seen talking to dolphins by one of the great oceanographers, Jacque Cousteau. Jacque, surprised at the easy rapport greasy had with the dolphins invited him to tour the Mediterranean in search of scientific discovery. Turning down the offer on the advise of Sam, the dolphin leader, Greasy swam back to shore. Jacque was persistent, and tried to persuade Greasy with luxurious dinners, free fishing gear, mermaids, and money. On the sly, Greasy took some of Jacques money. Walking into a drug store that night, Greasy bought hair care products, you guessed it greasy hair care products. The rest of the story must be told at a later time.

Happy Birthday Daddy

The frosting melted over the edge of the plate and the cake cracked an tilted to the side. Molly started to cry. How as she ever going to give Daddy this cake…it was falling apart. Maybe he would prefer a birthday pie…that would be a lot easier. No, she promised him the best birthday cake ever. She looked at the direction the the cake box to see where she went worrying. What's this, a Duncan Hines 1-800 number for help. She ran to the phone. They would know what to do. Molly dialed the number carefully, only twenty minutes until Daddy got home. Thank you for calling Duncan Hines…Can I help you….”oh Yes” said Molly…I have a problem you see…my cake doesn’t want to stand up, it keep tilting to the side and my Daddy is going to be home any minute…its for him birthday. Hold Please. Silence… All operators are busy, please hold the line, you will be help in the order you have called. Repeat ten times.

Hitman

Toby started to slowly take the pistol out of his backpack. The gun felt warm, almost hot in his hand. How in the heck did my gun ge so hot? Toby thought to himself. There’s no reason for it to get hot. Damn, it’s only a backpack. This is crazy. Toby looked in the backpack. Lets see, three books: JavaScript for the Worldwide Web, 100 Things Every Writer Needs to Know, and a science fiction book called Speaker for the Dead. There was a couple of binder clips, a notepad, 2 or 3 pens, a six foot telephone cord which would attach to his laptop computer, and a pack of Big Red cinnamon chewing gum. What’s going on, how did my gun get so hot? How? Damn this is frustrating! Oh, I figured it out. My laptop computer must have gotten accidentally turned on. I must have hit the start button. Sure enough the back of the laptop computer was really warm and the indicator light was blinking. Whew, glad I figured that on out. Toby slowly drew the pistol out of his backpack. It was now or never. Sure which I had a piece of gum, Toby thought.

Smell the Coffee

Getting out of bed in the morning was a tough thing for George. He hated the alarm clock, and it just seemed that every bone in his body was resisting the walk to the bathroom. Hitting the light switch, the reality that George was not the most handsome man jolted his mind and sent his thoughts back twenty years, back to a time when he woke gently to the early morning sunrise, the chirp of the birds talking about this and that, and an occasional click clank of a pan on the stove as his beautiful wife Jenny made him a fried egg sandwich, toast and marmalade, and some fresh squeezed juice. She would put it on a bed tray and bring it to George, giving ham a warm kiss on the forehead, It was a perfect life and George never took it for granted once. George's early morning daydream was shatter by the screaming, maniacal yelling of Cynthia, his new wife. You see, George screwed up. He made a error in judgment one day on his job two years ago, was fired, and lost everything including Jenny, who refused to stand by her man when the going got tough. Sad, broken, George worked hard, picked himself up by the bootstraps, and started his own company, The company did well and eventually George started to date again. George wanted a girl sort of like Jenny , but got Cynthia instead. Cynthia couldn't cook worth a damn, and had a wicked temper. But George figured she would stick with him in the tough times. He plashed water on his face and headed down the stairs. He could smell the coffee. Things were going to be ok.

Summertime

Andy was sitting on the porch swing. Actually, it wasn't a porch swing. I don't even know what kind of swing it was. It was kind of like a swing set but with one cushion that stretched across the chair, and it sort of glided instead of swung. Maybe they call it a glider. Anyway, it was late spring, or maybe early summer. Everything was green and the air was humid as it usually is in summer. So it must have been summer after all. Anyway, boy this is taking me a while to get to the main part of the story. Sorry. Andy's girlfriend came around the corner. She slapped her gloves together and declared that the ground was to hard to work on with just her hands. (So maybe it was Spring) She went into the house, down the stairs, and came back outside holding a rake. The kind of rake with a metal V shaped end. Actually I think it is called a hoe. Andy shouted across the yard "hey Lisa, is that a hoe?" Lisa turned quickly and gave Andy a very angry stare. "Why do you think I am a whore?", "no, no, I said is that a hoe?" "I heard you the first time, I can't take this anymore, you treat me awful, I'm thru with you." "I'm leaving!" Lisa ran into the house crying and started to pack everything she owned. Andy thought she must be joking and fell into a quick cat nap. When he woke up to the beautiful sound of a chickadee (chick-a-dee-dee-dee) outside of his window, as well as the rumble of his tummy, he strolled downstairs and noticed that his honey had indeed left him. She took everything, her clothes, records, pictures, and all of her shoes. He looked out the front window to see if she left the Ford pickup. A tornado was heading straight at Andy. Not literally.