fragment, part 2

by dog e relaford

part 2 of 2

click here to read part 1

where he had pitched hay as a lad and life had not been so bad but an inchoate longing had driven his carcass to the metropolis he wanted to wear a suit and tie and work in a building touching the sky and never again set foot in a barn thought barns had never done him any harm oblivious to mr frank’s panic peg, with a smile so sweet and satanic began, it gives me great joy to inform you i am leaving your employ i am in love with a boy named hal who would sweep off her feet any gal we will be married in two weeks and move to where our fortune he seeks almost too stunned to reply mr frank avoided peg’s eye and replied, as casually as he could so, are you traveling to hollywood? peg laughed to beat the band and waved her shapely hand what made you say such a thing? such strange thoughts up you bring no sooner had she uttered these words than a rumbling in the earth was heard peg’s dreams, and jonathon’s, and mr frank’s suddenly drew a blank - who was hal. anyway? he had ruined mr frank's day and jonathon’s too but what else could a poor boy do? end of part 2

fragment, part 1

by dog e relaford

part 1 of 2

jonathon jones was a regular guy with a song in his heart and a twinkle in his eye he had a wart on his foot and a tattoo on his arm and he didn’t mean no one no harm jonathon woke up at dawn and put his go to town clothes on on the first day of the rest of his life to ask peg brown to be his wife peg brown worked at the bank under the watchful eye of mr frank mr frank had a smiling face but in his brain strange currents raced deep in his dreams when he was alone he had marked peg brown for his own but he knew that peg would look askance at anything like a direct advance mr frank enjoyed his comfortable existence and yet with unrelenting persistence thoughts of murder and carnal obsession of his fevered brain took possession seeing peg brown on her cashier’s chair so young, so beautiful, so fair, mysterious as an odalisque put his uneventful life at risk may i speak to you for a moment, mr frank? peg asked one morning with an expression blank mr frank was seized with alarm and wished he was back on the farm part 2

everything

by nick nelson

william james (1842 - 1910) was walking down broadway on a sunny day in 1893 when he saw a man with a large head who looked like cornelius vanderbilt ii (1843 - 1899) but was not really corneliius vanderbilt ii standing on the corner talking to a man who looked like theodore herzl (1860 - 1904) but was not really theodore herzl the man who looked like corrnelius vanderbilt ii was weeping and saying over and over again i lost everything i lost everything william james had the distinct impression that the man who looked like cornelius vanderbilt ii was referring to losing everything in a fire in a boarding house although he did not actually refer either to a fire or to a boarding house through the years william james often suddenly recalled this encounter and found himself wondering what was the “everything” that the man who looked like cornelius vanderbillt ii had lost?

crack - 12. bill's job

by nick nelson

part 12 of ?

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

the great western education and entertainment company was not officially a department of control, but a “subcontractor” of it. it was hired to keep a database of persons who would be classified as “group c” in a situation control determined to be “priority 3”. 3 out of 6, with 6 being the most urgent priority and 1 the least urgent. all citizens were required to be classified by priority. the first classification was made at birth by an official department of control. the second classification was made at age twelve, also by control. a third and final classification by control was made at age thirty-three. all citizens were encouraged, though not required, to constantly seek “counseling” by “contracted” agencies like the great western education and entertainment company, which passed their information on to control, who might then use the information to readjust the clsssifications. most citizens were happy, if not eager, to do this, as they enjoyed talking about.themselves. the minority who never sought “counseling” were randomly checked up on by a police department created and staffed for that purpose. the whole purpose of the priority classification system was to determine the “necessity” of each group’s survival in the event of both forseen and unforseen emergencies. it was accepted that a tiny handful of people, like william wilson, might fall through the cracks. they were considered to be in group 1, the least “necessary” nobody expected that any such “emergencies” would ever arise. disasters and emergencies were often portrayed in movies and books , but in these the classification system was never mentioned. a hero or heroine always saved the day. the whole system , if it was thought about at all, was seen s a bureaucracy providing employment for people who wished to be employed. it amounted to the third largest bureaucracy under the control of control. “health and drugs”. was the second largest. the police were the largest. * friday shook her head. thank you. but that was a little too deep for me. let’s get back to serious business - our friend mr wilson. to be continued

l-12 wakes up

by rhoda penmarq

l-12 woke up usually, when they woke up, a word flashed into their brain which would tell them what to do for the rest of the day and who they were for that day today the word was - orangutan l-12 was not sure what the word orangutan meant they got up and put their best face on and their running shoes in case they had to make a quick exit and went across the hall and tapped discreetly on the funny man’s door the funny man did not answer right away so l-12 tapped a little louder and a liitte louder and a little louder suddeny l-12 remembered what an orangutan was so they gave up tapping on the funny mans door and went back to the chinese embassy with the bag of acorns that they had forgotten the previous day now everything would be back in its proper place the way it was meant to be strawberry milkshake good one harry dementia private upside down

street of dreams

by nick nelson

long ago and down the way an unwise man was heard to say everything that happens, occurs the second time is usually worse albert one woke up at morn wondering why he had been born he lived next door to betty two who hair was brown and eyes were almost blue down the road lived carlos three whose pronouns were i and me further down was dora four who had the whole world to explore don’t tell it to frankie five whose dream was barely kept alive and in the mix still asleep, was dylan six eddie seven felt rotten he had almost been forgotten and helen eight was ready to fly right and get straight ibrahim nine was ready to shine but jessica ten hated men ken eleven dreamed of power even at this early hour laura twelve was still asleep but had a nine o’clock appointment to keep suddenly the telephone rang and the world ended with a bang no one laughed and no one cried and the universe let it slide

the duke in the jungle

by nick nelson

the duke rode into the jungle on a horse made of tin with a box of chocolates under his arm and was never seen again the horse showed spirit and thew the duke off he awoke in a feather of moonbeams and heard a discreet cough what have we here? a smooth voice enquired he looks fairly respectable but his contract has expired i would like some refreshment the duke heard himself say bring me a cup of sparkling sunshine on my favorite silver tray not so fast, fellow the voice reproved you are my prisoner and must get in the groove you must put on this yellow bow tie and this suit of pepper and salt but whatever happens after this it will all be your own fault how has it come to this? the duke cried in despair all i wanted was to be free and all i wanted was my share the voice grew silent and the door clanged shut and the river went on running beside the little hut