crack - 16. the 236 club

by nick nelson

part 16 of ?

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to begin at the beginning, click here

ali took the elevator one floor to the 236 club. the 236 club was a small establishment located on the second floor of a largely deserted building a few blocks off the main square. it served the small portion of the population that liked to converse and argue with their fellow citiezns dace to face rather than on their phones or other devices. balthazar was the only customer, seated at one of the four small tables. shelly, who ruled the club with an irron hand, was staring iinto space behind the counter. bathazar was ali’s best friend, and ali was balthazar’s best friend., even though they did not like each other much.. ali sat down across from balthazar, who did not look up from his phone. shelly awoke from his trance,and shouted across the tsix eet from the counter to the table -to ali- the usual? yes, the usual, ali replied. the 236 club had a limited menu - cold tea and cold tea, ham and cheese sandwiches, bacon and cheese sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches. the tea and coffee were the same except that the tea contained a little more water, and the sandwiches were all made from the same ingredients. i just had my review, ali announced to balthazar. i know. how do you know? i just came from there. i meant, you told me you were having the review. i am flattered you remembered. are you going to ask me how it went? how did it go? did you engage your enemy and totally destroy him? no, he was not in the mood. he seemed to have something else on his mind. something more interesting than you.? i guess. that must have been humiliating. it was, a little bit. bit i am used to it. shelly grought ali’s usual to the table the door opened and william wilson walked in. william looked around. he was a stranger to the place. cm i help you? shelly asked him. next

late night special

by dog e relaford

last night i had the strangest dream drifting down the old mill stream apple banana cherry ice cream kept on coming till i wanted to scream dog elephant paris france shine my shoes and press my pants flower gorilla iron maid take it easy and sit in the shade casey jones in his little red wagon went downtown and slew the dragon st george cut down the cherry tree because he was no better than you or me someday everything will come true the clouds will be white and the skies will be blue all the zombies will be young and all the songs will forever be sung

the number

by nick nelson

barlow woke up. the number flashed into his head. he got up and wrote it down before he forgot it. it was 12 - 15 - 93 - 674 - 93. then he called the number department. this is the number department of control central. this call is being recorded. i have the number. what is your name? barrington barlow. what is your number - your number , not the number. do not give us the number over the phone. 90675-43806 - 432. what is your date of entry? 3-13 - 33. a vehicle will be at your residence in fifteen minutes. thank you. barlow dressed and was out in the street in eight and a half minutes. the night was cold. his heart was pounding. this is it, he thought. at last, this is my chance. the black sedan came around the corner. there were two people in the front seat, a heavy set man at the controls, and a stylish young woman beside him. they were both dressed in gray. mr barlow? the young woman asked. yes. get in the back. they drove off. you have the number recorded? the young woman asked. yes. i have it recorded, i have t written on a piece of paper, and i have it memorized. good. they drove in silence. they drove a long way, out beyond the outskirts of the city. it began to get light, revealing vast expanses of flat land with no buildings on them. barlow began to have second thoughts. what do they need me for? he wondered, after i give them the number? a low flat roofed building came into view. the car stopped. the building had windows, but they were dark. there was no sign of activity , outside it or inside it. the man and the woman both got out of the car. stay here, the woman told barlow. he waited. obviously, he had nowhere to go, and no way to get there, out in “the middle of nowhere”. they are going o kill me, he thought. i will give them the number, they will have no more use for me, and they will kill me...

henry morton stanley 2

by nick nelson

henry morton stanley was a sight to behold his eyes were made of ivory and his teeth were made of gold he had a hundred gorillas that he fed green grapes and a castle full of concubines of all sizes and shapes he had a thousand footmen to announce his every move and to set off fireworks when he got in his groove they came in carriages to acknowledge his high station but when they drove away he felt curiously little elation they drank his whiskey and they drank his wine but at marrying their daughters they drew the line

henry morton stanley

by nick nelson

henry morton stanley had a splendid black mustache he dined at delmonico’s and always paid cash the roast duck on tuesday was his favorite entree he ordered oysters on the half shell most other days he strolled down broadway with a gold headed cane the peasants cheered him lustily because he felt their pain he traveled to africa on a slow boat to spain and found doctor livingstone again and again

crack - 15. tell me a story

by nick nelson

part 15 of ?

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

william gripped the pen uncertainly in his fingers what do you want me to write? a story. a story? i don’t know how to write a story. just write something . it doesn’t have to be a literary masterpiece. but - why can’t you just tell me something to write? we have our reasons. do you want to take the test or not? you don’t have to do it. how long does t have to be? not very long. how much time do i have? friday looked at her phone. i will give you ten minutes. give me about a hundred words or until the ten minutes are up. william looked down at the blank pad. do i need a title? you can just call it “a story”. * it was night. it was dark. this guy was walking down the street. his name was joe something. he was just a guy. a guy just like millions of other guys, wandering the earth, wishing he was somebody, even though he was really nobody. it got darker. suddenly he saw something lying in the street. it was a little bit shiny. it looked like a credit card he bent down to pick it up. just as he reached for it, he thought, this is some kind of setup. i am being played for a chump. suddenly everything went dark. when he woke up he was in a strange room. he did not know where he was. the room had no windows. * william’s hand started to cramp up. he had never written so much with a pen or pencil in his life. is this enough? he asked friday. yes, that is enough. she took the pad and the pen from him. can i go now? yes. will i hear from you? probably not. your case is closed. if you want to appeal, fill out the form i gave you and return it within 30 days. the address is on it. next

harry and darrell

by nick nelson

harry was a horse darrell was a dog they took a slow boat to china and got lost in the fog harry had a dream he turned into sherlock holmes darrell was moriarty and collected chicken bones the collection was renowned throughout the universe and beyond darrell took to fame like a frog to a pond they walked along the beach picking up smooth stones when harry woke up he was all alone

application

by nick nelson

adam had an apple he banana’d it to chuck chuck bought a dinosaur and an elephant for luck frank had a gerbil he promoted it to head cook the gerbil ran way with the spoon frank wrote the book george had a washington abe lincoln had a yellow dog they hitched a ride to the county fair and slept in a hollow log i am sorry to inform you your application has been denied in my personal opinion you should switch to the other side joshua hocked his trumpet for a dollar and fifty cents and lost the money in a monte game so he could not pay his rent elvis was not only the king of rock and roll a star rose over easter island to lead him to his goal roger had a sunburn tom had a cigar they got together in amarillo to hold up uncle bud’s bar virtue is rewarded a wind blows from the west the highway is deserted and you know the rest

crack - 14. case closed

by nick nelson

part 14 of ?

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to begin at the beginning, click here

the day was coming to a close. constantine and friday sat in a small one table conference room at headquarters. constantine took a sip of water from a paper cup and glanced at a small pad in front of him. i think we are done with our friend mr wlliam wilson. i agree. i will call him in, and do the usual. unless you want to. no, you can handle him. all right. i think his friend mr smith is a more interesting case. so do i. but we have nothing on him. he is an employed citizen, with no complaints against him. not even from mr wilson. but i will double check with mr wilson on that when i call him in. yes, do that. * good morning, mr wilson. have a seat. thank you. detective constantine and i have reviewed your case, and, unless you have something to add to it, we have decided to close it. oh. you have the right to appeal the closing. here is the form you can use to appeal. you have thirty days to do so, if you choose to. of course, if you feel you have any new information, you can always contact detective constantine or myself. or any member of the police. do you understand? i guess. why are you closing the case? we have no evidence. except that provided by yourself. what about the note? you provided it. do you think i wrote it myself? now that you mention it, it did occur to us that you might have. your case is far from unique, and in many such cases the complainant did in fact manufacture the note or other evidence provided. do you want a sample of my handwriting? you can give us one if you like. so the case would remain open while you checked it? no, handwriting, by itself, is not considered proof of anything. except in stories. oh. then why bother? it can be considered corroborating evidence. do you still want to give me a sample? yes. all right. friday took a small pad of paper and a pen out of the top drawer of the desk she was sitting at. next

station

by nick nelson

johnny went down to the station to buy his dog a bone when he got there the cupboard was bare and mama roo had turned to stone mary went down to the river to buy her lamb a chop but the fish had fled with black hats on their heads so she opened her own shop omar went out in the desert to pick his camel some flowers before he had enough a genie woke up and imprisoned him in a tower sinbad sat in the harbor searching the horizon for a ship nobody showed with a boat or a load so he decided to go for a dip genghis rode across asia on the slowest horse he could buy the grass had not grown he was all alone so he let out a mournful cry salome awoke at midnight and danced to the music in john’s head the king wore a frown the queen brought him down and all the wedding guests had fled

ribbon

by nick nelson

johnny had a ribbon he cut it with a knife he escaped into the desert to redeem his worthless life mary had a little lamb at 45th and main she bought it from the queen of sheba and sold it to the king of spain william had a business he sold it to phil phil caught catfish down by the old mill bigfoot stole a bicycle and rode it to the moon if the police catch him he will sing a sad tune henry ford and woodrow wilson sitting on a branch henry shot a cannonball woodrow bought the ranch i will do better, mother exclaimed miss sara lee the major may be a gentleman but he is not too good for me

crack - 13. how bill met william

by nick nelson

part 13 of ?

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here

friday took out her phone and set it to record. why don’t you tell me how you met william wilson and formed this curious relationship with him? there is not much to tell. good, then this will not take long. i had a long day at the office. one client in particular had tried my patience and i had barely kept my temper and refrained from summoning security to remove them. so when the day was over i decided to go for a walk in the street to wind down, something i often do. how late in the day was this? was it night, or still daylight? it was night. it was very dark. was it raining? or windy? it was not raining. i do not recall that it was particularly windy. probably not many people in the street. no, there usually are not. were you stopped and questioned by the police? two policepersons who i knew from my frequent walks stopped and said hello, and we talked about the coming social upheavals. do you want their names? probably not. go on. as i started home i heard - or felt - someone coming up behind me. i heard someone say, excuse me, mister, and i turned around and there was william. whom you did not know and never seen before? i did not “know” him. so far as i knew i had never seen him before. he was - and is - very ordinary looking. yes, he is. go on. he said, excuse me, mister, do you know where i can rent a room around here? did you think that was kind of odd? i thought it was a little odd. to ask a stranger in the street like that. i asked him, a room for what? i thought he meant a room to run some sort of little business.. but he said, just a room to live in. so i asked him, why don’t you go to the housing department like everybody else? he said, i have my reasons. and i thought, why not? i have an extra room and i could use a few extra dollars if he does not make any trouble and he looks like he will not. you did not press him about not going to the housing department? no. i know from dealing with all kinds of people in my job that it is more common that people think. as a police officer, you must know that too. people fall through the cracks. they sleep on friends floors or couches , whatever. or on the parks or in alleys.. exactly. so you had an extra room? j yes, it was my room before my grandmother died. then i took her room because it has a nice view of the skyline and forgot about the one i had. interesting. friday made a note on her phone. next