“Mr. Schnitt, the prosecutor begins quietly, “please tell the court where you were on the night of February 12th.” Later, there is no quiet. “Why did you tell the police that you were...”;      “Deep knife wounds consistent with...”;      “...had followed her for several days, isn’t that what you’ve just testified?”;      “...ordered to stop, but you...”;   “Isn’t that right, Mr. Schnitt! Didn’t all of that happen?” Schnitt covers his ears with his hands, but his palm-flesh … [Read more...]

     My portrait has been painted. Not a good likeness, not very artistic; but then, my relatively lowly position does not warrant either. The Service did, however, provide an impressive gilt frame, and the artist painted me in a uniform I hadn’t quite earned.      Now I’m taking painting lessons from the local art school so I can add to my portrait medals, honors, a sword, wounds earned in war, a higher rank warranting a better artist. <END> THE THURSDAY PITCH If you liked … [Read more...]

     The king of Umbrolia ordered that an inventory of shadows be made. The royal aides assigned to this task found it frustrating, as people went into and out of the sunlight, as the sun rose and set and shadows became longer and shorter, disappeared for several hours at a time.      Contention arose among the aides. Some ridiculed the project. Some questioned the purpose of the king’s order. It was all make-work, they said. It would lead to greater taxation, others hinted, as a citizen … [Read more...]

[“Bussoftlhee, mememormee!” – Finnegan’s Wake]      Those responsible for remembering the history of our tribe were the very old ones, those who told stories around the campfire. But they often disagreed among themselves as to what had happened, who had done what, if a god was to blame, if so which one, and so on.      So we decided to vote on which old one’s memory was correct, and which others were the products of wishful thinking or doddering minds.      We made use of this process … [Read more...]

Ben Wallace wakes up in a hospital bed, tells the doctor he doesn’t remember anything about the car crash they told him about, doesn’t even remember much about his life, or even if he’s married. The doctor smiles, tells Ben his memory will slowly return. A woman named Amanda visits him, hugs him, says the kids are fine but worried about you, the boss says take as much time as you need to recover. Ben doesn’t remember her, but, he thinks, he will someday, and he will remember their children … [Read more...]

If everyone is cheating, then cheating is the rule. Therefore no one is cheating, except one who does not. # Time to hide. We must hide. Right now! But from what? If we knew that, perhaps we wouldn’t need to hide. # The god is edgy today. It seems to be angry with its slow acolytes, or perhaps with their mispronunciations of its name. SMITE, it mutters, SMITE! # The body is the mind’s avatar. # [“…loved a young man and traced the outline of his shadow on a wall.” – Albert … [Read more...]