Monthly Archives: September 2009

He could not believe it. The time had finally come. He had prepared his whole adult life for this very moment, and now it was here. There were times when he doubted, when he did not really believe this time would ever come. Now he knew it was not all in vain. He congratulated himself on sticking with it all these years. This was going to be his finest moment.

Or it would have been his finest moment if he had not spent so much time thinking about the fact that the time had finally come. It slipped right by him.

The silence was so thick it laid itself out like the dust and grime of decades of neglect. The silence was so silent it was maddeningly deafening.

Finally, Toni broke.

“I can’t take it any more!” she yelled and jumped out the window. Broken bits of glass, as well as Toni’s body, rained down on the streets below.

Nancy cursed at the red light which refused to turn green, despite having been waiting at the light for well over 17 seconds. Her air bags deployed 62 milliseconds after Toni’s body hit the hood of her car.

Elsewhere some music played absently.

A lone rider came up from the east.

Farmer Territ hailed the rider, “I pray thee, good sir, what news from the city of Dunwynn?”

The rider wore dirty rags as clothing and cheeks were sunken in from malnutrition. “Dreadful tidings, my lord. Barbarians attacked from the north and have completely razed the city.”

“What of the citizenry?”

“I do not know, my lord. I saw a great flame upon Dunwynn. I fear that I am one of only a few who escaped the wrath of Warlord Hazon.”

Territ paced about, “My brother and his family lived in Dunwynn.”

“My condolences.”

A barrage of explosions had dulled all sounds including their own into one low dull hum. From his foxhole Gene looked up to the pristine blue sky. For a moment he was home laying on the hill out back, looking up at the sky miles and years away from any battle or bloodshed. He focused on a cloud convinced that with enough concentration he would be transported back to that hill.

Sergeant O’Keefe’s face blocked out the cloud. He yelled something, but the dull hum in Gene’s ears continued.

The next moment, Gene woke up two weeks later in a hospital.

“Guys, seriously, keep it down. I’m trying to get some sleep,” that was the third time Alex had come into the living room, “I have to go to work in the morning. Show a little courtesy, huh?”

“Well, we’re trying to watch a movie, here,” said James, “Why don’t you show us some courtesy?” James high-fived Derrick.

“I am trying to courteous, but do you guys have to turn it up so loud? There’s a bunch of explosions and people yelling at each other.”

“We’re just trying to view the movie as the director intended: Extremely loud. Do you mind!?”

“S-sorry.”

“And your weight?”

“223 pounds,” answered Chuck.

Alyson, the health insurance agent sucked in air from clenched teeth.

“What? Is that bad?”

“Well, it’s definitely not good. Your height-weight ratio is off. We only insure healthy people. Insuring people who actually need health insurance doesn’t cover the bottom line, you understand.”

“Do you only insure professional athletes or something?”

The agent laughed, “We would never insure an athlete: too prone to injury. Anyway, there are several questions we still need to answer. Smoker?”

“No.”

“Drink alcohol?”

“No.”

“Does your body produce an excessive amount of earwax?”

“How much is ‘excessive?’”

“Any.”