SHORT STORIES AND OTHER FICTIONS
The beginning of the flashback in which the the main character reflects on the events of that year (1990). His memories make up the rest of the novel until he’s back to where he is chapter 1, but with a new understanding.
Source: Redwood Summer Chapter 2
I’m working on chapter 13 of Redwood Summer right now and will post it soon. Redwood Summer is a story about youth, friendship, love, betrayal, loss, and takes place in 1990 Silicon Valley, an era of great change. Here is where it begins.
Source: Redwood Summer Part I Chapter 1
My summer short story! An amateur photographer, excited with new found artistic dreams, takes pictures at a Native American sun ceremony in the Arizona desert. Afterward he discovers something unexpected. This may be my most autobiographical story.
Source: Vanishing Act
First posted this short story two years ago. Made a few minor changes that improve the narrative and the dialogue. Hopefully I’ve made a good story even better.
Source: Almaden
Inspired by a prompt from Two On a Rant
Source: 99 word prompt: honeymoon
The young couple checked into the hotel and quickly dashed to their honeymoon suite. Fresh from their wedding and brimming with lust, they ripped at each other’s clothes as they commenced to make love. Their bodies entangled as they writhed around passionately on the heart shaped bed. Their hot, gyrating flesh formed into a single mass as they became connected body and soul.
“Oh, Sandy darling!” the man cried out. “You’re the best. Don’t stop! You do this so good!”
The woman abruptly stopped and looked at her husband crossly. “Dear, why are you screaming out your own name?”
(I have not written a poem in years, but I used to write poems back in the ’90’s and read them at poetry slams and open readings. My poetry is different than my prose and dramatic writings because once I write a poem I do not rewrite it, making my poetry, though imperfect, as close to pure expression as I can possibly get. This poem is still untitled, so I’m using the date I wrote it as the title.)
January 18, 2017
A silent wound
That festers
Planted long ago
Buried by time
Ignored
Expecting it to leave
But is almost impossible
To unearth
The pain that was shelved
Continued to prick
And an old memory
Comes back to haunt
“So now that I have my general ed out of the way I can really concentrate on my major,” Kathy said at the dining room table. “I’ll be able to do more work in the lab, in a year I can intern.” Jason, Christine, and David sat at one side to Kathy while mother and father were at the other and circled the table crowded with food and drink.
“That sounds wonderful, dear,” mother said.
“No more taking classes I don’t need to take,” Kathy said with relief.
“Rick’s older brother went to Cal Poly,” David said eagerly. “One time he went down there for spring break, he said there was a huge kegger in every house. Then someone started a fire in a dumpster and everybody was rolling it down the street. Got so crazy that the police had to show up in riot gear and break it up.”
“Sounds out of control down there,” father said warily.
“Wasn’t me,” Kathy said with mock innocence.
“Right,” Jason said.
“I swear!” Kathy pleaded. “I was studying that night.”
Jason no longer noticed the foreign texture of the chicken enchiladas as he ate. A platter of enchiladas were at the center of the table surrounded by a large bowl of salad, dishes of rice, beans, and rolls, and drinks.
“So who’s this guy that started the fire?” Christine asked.
“Don’t know, I wasn’t out that night,” Kathy said. “Could have been anyone.”
“I meant the one in the dorm,” Christine said.
“There was a fire in your dormitory?” mother said alarmingly.
“It was no big deal,” Kathy reassured.
“Yes, it is a big deal when the building you’re living in catches on fire,” mother countered.
“No, the building didn’t catch on fire,” Kathy explained. “All that happened was some moron in one of the rooms tried to microwave regular popcorn in a paper sack and it caught on fire, that’s all. It wasn’t like the whole building burned down.” She ate intently. “God, it is so good to eat a home cooked meal after dorm food. Thanks, Mom.”
“Isn’t there any way you can cook for yourself?” mother asked.
“Actually,” Kathy began, “I have these friends that live off campus, and they have a kitchen, washer, dryer, a bathroom they don’t have to share with a bunch of people, and I was thinking of moving out of the dorms and living with them. I’ve already looked into it, it’d be cheaper than a dorm.”
“Well what’s the neighborhood like?” mother asked.
“Yeah, is it safe?” father added.
“Of course it’s safe, Dad, you think I’d move to a bad neighborhood?” Kathy said. “It’s a small town, cops everywhere, it’s not like USC. Nothing to worry about.”
“It takes big money to go there,” mother said.
“Nothing to worry about?” father responded. “Wait until you’re a parent.”
“Should be all right as long as there’s no microwave fires,” Jason added.
“Do a lot of girls go to Cal Poly?” David asked.
“At that age, they’re called women,” Jason corrected.
“Of course, it’s a big campus,” Kathy said. “So whatever happened with Teresa?”
David looked down. “She dumped me.”
“She left David for the class president,” mother said quietly to Kathy.
“Oh my god!” Kathy exclaimed. “I’m so sorry!”
“Still hurts,” David moped.
“Don’t let her get you down,” Kathy said to David. “You can do better than her. She’s kind of a bitch anyhow.”
“Katherine, you’re at the dinner table,” mother reminded.
“But don’t you agree?” Kathy asked.
“Well, she did strike me as a bit shallow,” mother admitted.
“I thought she was superficial,” father added.
“She’ll probably end up being some rich guy’s trophy wife,” mother joked.
“See? You’re better off without her,” Kathy said to David.
“Yeah, I know,” David said. “It just sucks, that’s all.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” mother remarked.
“Don’t worry, Dave, someone better always comes along,” Jason said, then felt Christine grab his knee affectionately underneath the table.
“That’s right,” mother said. “I’m sure there are a lot of nice girls at school.”
“You should try to get with one of the cheerleaders,” Jason said.
“Good idea,” father agreed.
The familiar, casual banter continued while Jason looked around the entire table at Christine and his family and took in the whole scene as he remembered back to the last time the whole family was eating together. A wave of memories came over him and he felt a tug of nostalgia. He took in everything all at once into a single picture captured in his memory before it was gone.
“Kathy, I’m going to Aunt Delia’s tomorrow,” mother said. “Want to come along?”
“Oh, I already made plans with Heather and Tina,” Kathy said apologetically. “We’re going to check out that new, big mall in Milpitas.”
“Where the Ford plant used to be?” father asked pointedly.
“Busy, busy,” mother said.
“Don’t worry,” Kathy gripped her mother’s hand, “we’ll do something together, I promise,” she emphasized then let go. “I just need to catch up with a few friends, that’s all. I’ll be around all summer.”
“We’ll be a full house one again,” mother observed humorously.
“Too bad we only have two bathrooms,” Jason kidded.
“I sure did miss all of you,” Kathy said as she looked around the table. “There really is no place like home.”
“Ah, you’re having the time of your life,” Jason said.
“Yeah, but you do get a new appreciation for home once you’re away for awhile,” Kathy said, “especially when you have to do everything on your own for the first time ever. Funny all the things you take for granted.”
“You’re welcome,” mother said.
“I promise that I will never complain to you about anything ever again,” Kathy said to mother, “and I mean it this time.”
“That’s why I moved back,” Jason said.
“Maybe I should stay,” David wondered.
“Maybe you should start paying rent,” father said, then everyone laughed except David.
“So what are you two doing anything tomorrow?” Kathy asked Jason and Christine.
“I told Randy we’d go see a movie,” Jason said, “maybe some of the other guys will tag along.”
“Randy,” Kathy said wistfully. “How’s he doing?”
“Oh, you know, same old Randy,” Jason said as he felt himself pulled back into reality.
“God, I haven’t seen Randy, or Brian, or Todd, or Alex, or any of your friends for a year or more,” Kathy reminisced. “How’s everyone doing?”
“Doing fine,” Jason said.
“They’re always asking how you’re doing,” Christine said to Kathy.
“Yeah, they’re the best,” Kathy said, “but nobody was as fun as Randy. Remember that time when I got stood up on a date, and Randy wanted to kick the guy’s ass for me?”
“Didn’t I just say something about watching our language at the dinner table?” mother scolded.
“Our little girl sure has grown up,” father said humorously.
“If I don’t get a chance to see Randy, can you say hi for me?” Kathy asked.
“I’ll do that,” Jason said.
©2016 Robert Kirkendall
(Inspired by the peculiar election season of 2016)
CHARACTERS
LIONEL TROWBRIDGE – The interviewer
TANYA BICKFORD – The interviewee
Scene: An interview studio
LIONEL
Good evening, and welcome to Current Affairs. I am your host, Lionel Trowbridge. Tonight we’ll be discussing the entertaining, if not controversial, congressional campaign of Arnie Fowler with his most recent spokesperson Tanya Bickford. Thank you for joining us, Tanya.
TANYA
Thank you for having me, Lionel.
LIONEL
So you are the the newest spokesperson. How long have you been in the inner circle the Fowler campaign?
TANYA
Hmm, let’s see. (THINKS) Since this morning.
LIONEL
And what happened to the previous spokesperson?
TANYA
Well the police and the FBI are still looking for him. Hopefully they’ll catch him before he flees the country. Who would think that a former Wall Street lobbyist would turn out to be an embezzler. Sure had us fooled.
LIONEL
Yes, quite. So, Arnie Fowler. Last week he accused his opponent, incumbent Sylvia Brown, of being not only a sympathizer of ISIS, but a doner of money and time to the cause. He even claimed that Brown runs an ISIS training camp on her palatial estate. Now after a through search by our staff, we determined that all these claims were beyond false. In fact, the palatial estate Fowler claimed to be owned by brown is actually a two bedroom townhouse next to a busy freeway. How do you explain Fowler’s apparently false claims?
TANYA
Well, Mr. Fowler didn’t actually claim these things, he was merely speculating in the spirit of debate.
LIONEL
But debate requires two opposing sides.
TANYA
Well, yes, that’s the standard, mainstream way of debating, but Mr. Fowler likes to push the envelope of what are considered the accepted definitions of reality.
LIONEL
I see. Now let’s move on to another of Fowler’s statements. He referred to appellate court judge Margaret Tanaka as a “disgrace to the bench and women everywhere,” a “stupid broad,” and “proof that only men were capable of being judges.” He then followed these statements with a series of stereotypical karate motions and sounds in an apparent swipe at Judge Tanaka’s heritage. How do you explain such behavior?
TANYA
What Mr. Fowler said was taken completely out of context by a media that is obsessed with political correctness and doesn’t really care what the average middle American is thinking. And Judge Tanaka did rule against Mr. Fowler and his business associates planned project to revitalize the city.
LIONEL
Was that the project that was going to demolish an old folks home so they could build a golf course?
TANYA
Yes, that one.
LIONEL
Back to your previous comment, are you suggesting that middle Americans are thinking the same things and feel the same way as Arnie Fowler?
TANYA
I’m just saying you can’t know until you stir things up, and Mr. Fowler has been drawing sizable crowds. Why at our last rally a bunch of supporters all showed up in white. They were even wearing these white hoods. Very supportive, and so many of them.
LIONEL
Now that brings me to another point. At many of Fowler’s speeches, there have been verbal and physical assaults against peaceful protesters, a number of which were egged on by Fowler. And at one rally Fowler handed out cattle prods and autographed ax handles to his supporters. Are you at all reticent about working on a campaign that seems to endorse violence?
TANYA
Mr. Fowler is a man of the people, and he likes to keep that relationship close. He doesn’t need the filter of handlers and political insiders who are so called experts on campaigning. All these high priced consultants claim that all they’re doing is trying to save their candidate from embarrassing and campaign killing situations. Mr. Fowler isn’t afraid to say what’s on his mind at all times no matter the consequences. Some even say that Mr. Fowler is beyond embarrassment.
LIONEL
Hmm. Another recurring theme in the criticism of Arnie Fowler is his consistent ignorance of history and today’s news events, as well as his constant disinformation. Care to comment?
TANYA
Glad to, Lionel. People are sick and tired of being told what to do by snobby, overly educated elites. Just because they’ve studied and learned more than most people doesn’t make them experts. People want a candidate they can identify with, who’s just like them, humble and god-fearing, not some intimidating brainiac who knows how to read.
LIONEL
(PAUSE) Are you saying that Mr. Fowler doesn’t know how to read?
TANYA
He does know the alphabet. He just still has trouble with words longer than two letters. But you know what? People like an underdog. They don’t want a candidate who claims they can solve every single problem, they want a candidate who’s willing to admit his shortcomings. That’s what makes Mr. Fowler so relatable.
LIONEL
Actually Fowler has claimed to be perfect and mistake free on many occasions, and he regularly ridicules people for their mistakes and flaws. And his recent embrace of Christianity seems to go against past comments in which Fowler referred to church goers as (LOOKS AT NOTES), “dumb sheep who’ll believe anything.”
TANYA
Ah, but Mr. Fowler was merely being sarcastic when he was saying those things. Certainly the people know the difference between truth and sarcasm.
LIONEL
Interesting. Any final comments on the campaign of Arnie Fowler and why people should vote for him?
TANYA
Yes. People are tired of the same old same old. They want a fresh perspective with a new agenda that isn’t beholden to special interests like the human rights agitators and union bosses and intellectual elites. A vote for Arnie Fowler is a vote for political honesty and against political correctness. Mr. Fowler is candidate who always speaks his mind without concern of how those words words will affect others. You see, deep down Mr. Fowler has the innocence of a child, and like a child there is a purity to his demands. That’s what matters to his supporters, and that’s why people should vote for Arnie Fowler.
LIONEL
Well thank you for joining us, Tanya. (TO AUDIENCE) And thank you for watching another edition of Current Affairs. We have been speaking with Tanya Bickford, the newest campaign manager for congressional candidate Arnie Fowler. I’m your host, Lionel Trowbridge. Good night.
©2016 Robert Kirkendall
My last episode of Pacific Television Theater which was supposed to live broadcast last Saturday night was not able to broadcast due to technical difficulties. The person in charge of programming at CTV Santa Cruz was not made aware that my show is live. However the show was performed and recorded, so once I edit out a couple of parts I will be able to post episode 3, Rising Tide, as soon as possible.
The next episode of my show Pacific Television Theater is currently in rehearsal and will be performed and live broadcast on Saturday October 8! Go to the Pacific Television Theater page for more info.
