in the woods

by rhoda penmrq

arthur c rode down highway 3 blip blop he came to a stop he leaned his bike against a tree because he wanted all creatures to be free he entered the woods because he had the goods he sat on a hollow log because he wished he were a dog he heard a leaf fall from above because he had never known love it started to rain he thought, here i am again i have been here before in ancient song and lore he looked up and saw a bear carrying an easy chair after the initial shock arthur and the bear had a serous talk

the road from the sky

by henry johnson

my name is henry johnson i fell out of the sky i landed in a tree high and dry i climbed down from the branches as the day grew cold and met a tiger on the highway with eyes of burning gold the tiger passed me by as if i did not exist i had not been eaten but also had not been kissed i turned and watched the tiger watched the tiger go it had seen better days but went on with the show next i met a prophet with a long beard and a book but he did not honor me with so much as a look i met tyrannosaurus rex playing a video game i tried to engage him in conversation he called me a vile name i met gilgamesh and hercules buddha and joan of arc the road went on forever and it started to get dark i finally came to my kingdom and sat upon my throne i made myself comfortable and turned to stone maidens danced before me and warriors shook their spears the stars looked down upon me for a billion years some day a bird will come along and carry me off in its claws i will be one day old again according to nature’s laws

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