Sunday 160 - Remember

We feel them in our hearts. 

Mothers. 

Fathers. 

Sisters. 

Brothers. 

Friends. 

Today we speak their names 

and we remember. 

Peggy. 

Keith. 

Howard. 

Don. 

Jessie. 

Cheryl.

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If you wish to take the Sunday 160 challenge, here are the rules:

1. The Sunday 160 only uses EXACTLY 160 characters (including spaces).

2. Keep on schedule - post after 8:00 PM Pacific Time on Saturday.

3. Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site.

(Be sure to mention you have posted a 160. Provide a link if you can)

4. Visit at least one other Sunday 160 writer.

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Free Falling 55

Scan the earth below 

looking for a proper place to land.

Concrete and open, 

treed and enclosed 

or jagged and rocky.

So many options from this heavenly perch.

How does one make 

what many would think 

is a simple decision?

Jump. 

Float. 

Fly. 

Feel the weightlessness.

Watch the earth near.

Let the wind decide.

Splat.

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This is a Flash Fiction Friday 55

hosted by Mr. Knowitall.

For more 55's pay him a visit -

Mr. Knowitall.
_____________________________________________________

If you think Micro Fictions are fun. 

Come join us for a Sunday 160.

A challenge using exactly 160 characters

in a story, poem or writing of your choice.

What The Hell Wednesday - A Pointed Argument

When I am upset with service at a restaurant, I generally leave a tip that is appropriate to the level of service or if the food is not so good, I just don't come back. Some people, however, react differently as you can see by the story below.

Woman Draws Sword During Argument at Pizza Hut

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Louisville woman faces first-degree disorderly conduct and menacing charges after police said she took out a sword during an argument at a Pizza Hut.

According to an arrest report, Wynika Mason was causing trouble at the Pizza Hut on Seventh Street Road and police were called.

When police arrived, she began yelling at them.

Customers and employees were in the restaurant, and employees said they felt threatened by Mason’s behavior. Police were told Mason had a sword with her and began yelling and pulling it out of the scabbard. Mason’s brother said he took the sword from her and put it in the car.

Officers were given consent to search the vehicle and found the sword on the driver’s seat.

It appears the Wynika has issues with her communication skills. I don't care how bad your pizza is, you just don't go all Samurai in a restaurant....not even Benihana where they approve of great work with sharp objects.

Truth is, I have never had to unsheathe my sword over a bad meal. Bad service??? Well, maybe I
just toyed with the handle a bit to get my point across. But never released from the scabbard. Okay, I exaggerate - I don't even own a sword.

What really puzzles me is why are they letting her into the restaurant with a sword? Wouldn't you either ask her to take it back to her vehicle or immediately call the cops right after she walks in, slams her sword on the counter and orders up a combo with "NO ANCHOVIES, DAMMIT!" Maybe, just maybe we have anger issues here. Hmmmm? I guess I'd be angry, too, if my parents named me Wynika. Always having to pronounce it for people. Always having to spell it. Perhaps that was the issue here. After she ordered her pizza they asked her name and replied, "Could you spell that for me?" after she gave it to them. Then she went ballistic. It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Fortunately, her brother was there to separate her from the sword so nobody got hurt. Poor guy having to follow his sister around to keep her out of trouble. What a life.

One thing is certain, when Wynika pulled out her sword and began threatening people with it, a chorus of voices from every patron in the store sang out"What the Hell?"

Sunday 160 - Never Good-bye

Do we ever really say good-bye?

Emptying our mind of thoughts,

memories and emotion?

We miss the talk, the touch

and the person

but we never truly say good-bye.

__________________________

 

If you wish to take the Sunday 160 challenge, here are the rules:

1. The Sunday 160 only uses EXACTLY 160 characters (including spaces).

2. Keep on schedule - post after 8:00 PM Pacific Time on Saturday.

3. Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site.

(Be sure to mention you have posted a 160. Provide a link if you can)

4. Visit at least one other Sunday 160 writer.

____________________

55 - Is Spring Here?

Fog embraced the tree-covered hills 

and crept to the flat of land. 

Relentlessly choking color 

with its monotonous gray. 

Stealing depth 

and obscuring images 

from even the best of sight, 

its cold dampness chilled the core 

yet left life-giving moisture for shrouded 

no longer greenery. 

With winter like presence, 

Spring was suffering an identity crisis. 

______________________________________

This was the 55 I scheduled to post for last week.
Written on a day that was not very spring-like.
Apparently the Gods are Monkey Man readers
and chose to make me eat my words because since
last Friday, we have had wonderful Spring weather
in beautiful Portland, Oregon. Glad they have a sense of humor.
____

This is a Flash Fiction Friday 55

hosted by Mr. Knowitall.

For more 55's pay him a visit -

Mr. Knowitall.
_____________________________________________________

If you think Micro Fictions are fun. 

Come join us for a Sunday 160.

A challenge using exactly 160 characters

in a story, poem or writing of your choice.

What The Hell Wednesday - Curb Your Dog

As a dog lover, I am easily drawn into a story involving one of our canine buddies. However, after reading the story below, I am not so certain there was a REAL dog involved or if this was simply the kid who used the old "The dog ate my homework" excuse at school and took it to court.

Chihuahua Gets Blame For NY Bomb Scare

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y.  - A dog that wasn't quite housebroken may have indirectly been responsible for a bomb scare at a New York courthouse.

The trouble began Friday when 19-year-old Melvin Ruffin arrived at a court complex in Central Islip following a long bus ride from his home in Bellport. According to Ruffin, during the trip another passenger's Chihuahua urinated on his backpack. So, he stashed the wet bag in some bushes while he went inside to answer a disorderly conduct citation.

While Ruffin was in court, a retired police officer saw the bag and alerted security. Ultimately, the bomb squad was called in. Officers used a robot to determine that the bag didn't contain anything harmful.

Ruffin was let off with a warning to be more careful next time about where he left his stuff.

Is this a happy ending??? I guess it is, except young Melvin didn't get a bill for setting off the security emergency. He clearly had experience in this matter....after all he was at the courthouse on a disorderly conduct citation. Isn't hiding a dog urine soaked bag in the bushes kind of disorderly in itself? Especially in this age of paranoia.

There are a couple of unanswered questions here. Like....What is a chihuahua doing running around loose on a bus? And....How can such a small dog wet an entire back pack? That's one full bladder.

Me thinks dear Melvin may have been hiding his backpack for some other reason, but we may never know. Clearly the "not quite housebroken" Is that like not quite being pregnant? chihuahua was the only dog involved here....no drug sniffing dog appears to have been called to the scene. Nor a bomb sniffing dog. In either case, they would have probably tried to mark their territory over the previous mark. In which case the backpack might as well have been blown up because you could never remove that stink. 

Note to Melvin - Dude! Carry the bag in with you held at arm's length between the thumb and forefinger with your nose averted. At least the courthouse security might then ask about it and give you a chance to deal with it properly instead of hiding it suspiciously in the bushes. Does this kid kid have any reasoning power at all? Oh yeah, he was there on a disorderly conduct charge. Melvin is a regular brainiac.

So I wonder who said it first - The bomb squadder who opened the backpack to find a pee soaked sandwich, an empty baggy and unread school books or Melvin as he left the courthouse only to find his backpack being groped by local officials. Regardless, one or the other determinedly said "What the Hell?"

Sunday 160 - Old Friends

Mrs. MM found this beautiful "antique" on line and generously gave it to me as a gift. I had forgotten the wonderful sensory experience of typing on an old keyboard. The pressure, sound, even the musty odor of an old attic mixed with the slight smell of ink as keys struck the black ribbon. I hope this to be the first of many posts I will type in throw back fashion. No spell check. No easy cut and paste. Just raw "hand set type". Also, special thanks to Mrs. MM for scanning my typed paper and for taking and Photoshopping in the photo.

_________________

If you wish to take the Sunday 160 challenge, here are the rules:

1. The Sunday 160 only uses EXACTLY 160 characters (including spaces).

2. Keep on schedule - post after 8:00 PM Pacific Time on Saturday.

3. Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site.

(Be sure to mention you have posted a 160. Provide a link if you can)

4. Visit at least one other Sunday 160 writer.

____________________

55 Love Hate Relationship

Delighted with my efforts, 

I placed the final period 

after typing my 55th word. 

Proud as a parent of a new child, 

I pulled my drop down menu 

to properly schedule my post 

for 5:02 PM 

just after the G-Man 

would open the gates 

to shepherd in his ardent followers. 

Then...

BOOM! 

Blogger Exploded. 

Shit!

_________________________

Even though G called off the day's event, 

I still needed to vent. 

So why not do so in the form of a 55. 

Here's to Blogger. 

Thhpppppbb.

What The Hell Wednesday - "Hello, 911? My Butt Calling."

I really wanted to write this WTH on a Hispanic man who was wrongfully arrested for DUII and possession of 91 pounds of cocaine but the story was way too long and involved and as we all know, Monkey Man has no patience for that.

"But wait, Monkey! You can't tease us with a story about a wrongful arrest and just leave!"

Maybe I can.

But I won't.

Hispanic man had been driving cross country for 3 days to visit his sister. Woozy and exhausted from the drive, he was arrested because the police thought he was drunk. They were later proven wrong.

As to the 91 pounds of nose candy....well that turned out to be shrimp, cheese and tamale dough he was bringing to his sister as a gift. I sure understand that one. I often buy shrimp, cheese and tamale dough at the local store thinking it is coke. Jeez guys! Stop with the profiling.

Okay on to the real story.....

Cell Phone Butt Dials 911

LAY, N.Y. - An inadvertent 911 call led police to three larceny suspects overheard planning break-ins in upstate New York.

Onondaga County Sheriff said police, already looking for a suspicious person, got the unlikely assist when one of the men "pocket dialed" his cell phone's emergency number while driving near the scene of an earlier heist.

As a dispatcher relayed the conversation to deputies, the men discussed their plans, described their surroundings and even commented, "there go the cops now."

Walsh says that was enough for a deputy to turn around and stop the Kia Sportage full of tools stolen from a business in the Syracuse suburb of Clay. The dispatcher then heard the driver being asked for his license and registration.

The men arrested face grand larceny and stolen property charges.

First, a Kia Sportage??? What kind of self respecting criminals were these guys? Shouldn't they have been in a beat up 1986 El Camino or something? Serves them right for getting caught and put in the pokey. The police could have pulled them over for bad taste in cars alone AND without the help of the Butt Dial.

The Butt Dial. Ah, yes, the butt dial. Was this the hand of God at work? Nah, I prefer to think it was just Karma. These boys were going to get caught anyway, so they might as well have had a cell phone as an informant. I love how they thought they were so smart IDing the cops as they passed on the street. 

"Hey! There go the cops. They'll never catch us. We is much too smart fer them." 

Yup. Smart ass. Quit teaching your butt to use the phone and you won't get caught, dummy. I just love technology. Can't you see the expressions on the faces of these idiots as they were cuffed and place in a squad car. I am sure the owner of the cell phone, once told how the police located him, simply looked at his phone and said "What the Hell?"

Sunday 160 - Mother's Day Wishes

It's a travesty. 

It's blasphemy. 

It's wrong. 

We hold this celebration 

once a year. 

When it should be everyday 

for those held dear. 

Happy Mother’s Day. 

Everyday.

_____________________

Please pardon me if I don't visit your Sunday 160 right away. 

It is Mother's Day after all and my attention will be in its proper place - 

on the mother of my children.

_________________

If you wish to take the Sunday 160 challenge, here are the rules:

1. The Sunday 160 only uses EXACTLY 160 characters (including spaces).

2. Keep on schedule - post after 8:00 PM Pacific Time on Saturday.

3. Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site.

(Be sure to mention you have posted a 160. Provide a link if you can)

4. Visit at least one other Sunday 160 writer.

____________________