Thriller fiction and Non-fiction
A short video of my return to diving following open heart surgery. Just over six months after my surgery, and a few days after my 49th birthday, I returned to diving. Better yet, I was able to dive with my dad a few days before his 78th birthday.
Visit the Heart Disease and Diving page to see the entire story of my diagnosis, recovery and getting back in the water.
Inspired by writer friend Loren Eaton’s Advent Flash Fiction collections, this is the third year I’ve asked fellow writers to give me their spooky stories for Halloween. Each year it seems to grow a bit more and a few more writers step up to contribute.
This year, we made it all about Flash Fiction. The criteria for these Halloween stories was 100 words. No more. No less. It’s an interesting challenge to write something that short. You have to imply a lot, because you can’t say it. That’s the beauty of it.
Take a few moments and check out each of the following writer’s take on Halloween in 100 words. You’ll be amused, amazed and maybe a little creeped out.
Come back from time to time. I’ll add more as writers send them to me.
Happy Halloween!
Exhibit S and Tronie by Loren Eaton
Two Short and Shivery Tales by Susanna Connelly Holstein: Left Behind and Separation
Halloween Decorations by Leanne Stowers
3 Halloween Stories By Cat Pleska
The Stairwell by M. Lynne Squires
Alas… poor Yorick by Eric Fritzius
Previous collections and Halloween stories
I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been awed by a lion at one time or another; either at the zoo, the circus or in the wild. They are truly majestic animals, although not always as noble as we like to make them out to be. I had the opportunity to get close to a pride of lions on a reserve in South Africa a few years ago. For the record, these photos are not of Cecil.
A few days ago we learned where a man (and I use the term loosely) decided to pay a large amount of money to bring home a trophy. He didn’t do it for food or to provide for his family. He did it for ego. The lion turned out to be a local favorite and the incident has brought lions into our short-term consciousness.
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here is tremendous moral outrage at the moment directed toward this guy. I hope we don’t forget about Cecil in a few days when the next thing to obsess about on social media pops up. I hope we learn to channel that outrage to the support of conservation efforts. The reason places like Zimbabwe allow lion hunting on a limited basis is to generate income. They know the rich and foolish will pay large amounts of money to feed their egos. African lions face extinction by 2050. Sport hunting for lions happens in 16 of 20 countries in which lions exist. And don’t imagine this is an isolated incident. The importation of animal trophies from Africa is on the rise.
If you haven’t watched it, I invite you to check out Jimmy Kimmel on YouTube hear his thoughts on the situation. If you’d like to donate to the wildlife preservation group who had previously been keeping track of the lion, please visit http://www.wildcru.org/. Maybe your donations will help these places to realize there is more money to be made from lion tourism than from allowing lion hunting for trophies. They are worth more alive than dead.
I’ve been amazed, and humbled, by the reaction I’ve gotten to this column. I’ve had people recognize me on the street saying “You write that thing in the paper, right?” or “I see your face every week.” I’ve had people at church or other places stop me and tell me they really like what I write and to keep it up.
A couple days ago, I stopped by Jeff’s Auto in Quick to renew my car’s safety inspection sticker. Jeff greeted me, as he does everyone, and asked how things were going. And then he launched into something that was on his mind. He said “Not to tell you what you should write about, but you need to write about supporting local businesses or there won’t be any left.” He went on to explain that people come to him for the barest of basic services, like putting air in their daughter’s tires, but then go out to a big box store when it is time to replace those same tires. In other words, they want him there when they need him, but don’t even think about giving him business when it comes to bigger items.
Obviously, this issue has been going on a long time. When larger department stores opened, they drove the small mom and pop stores out of business. When the mall opened, it killed the downtown business. Southridge has hurt the mall as people chase convenience and economy. And, of course, online shopping is changing everything as people go to stores to look at items and then go home to purchase them online.
I think the basic issue is the same as the Made in America campaign on the evening news. No one expects everyone to avoid the big box stores the same way no one expects every clothing item or electronic gadget will be made in America. But next time you’re shopping, consider buying it from a local business. Consider dinner at a restaurant that isn’t part of a chain. If we look out for each other and support locally-owned businesses, the money we spend stays in our community. Of course, the thing that those locally-owned businesses can offer is service. I hadn’t been in Jeff’s place in a while, but he remembered what car I drove as I walked through the door.
We can all complain about big businesses and greedy corporate executives and the bonuses they receive whether the business does well or not, but the answer is pretty simple. We all have a voice and it starts when and where we open our wallets..
If you think about it, we have seen an incredible amount of change in this country in the 239 years since the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence July of 1776.
Even that event, though pivotal, was just a single event in a greater conflict. The Revolutionary War began more than a year earlier and wouldn’t end for seven more years: April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783.
The Declaration of Independence itself was more of a process than an event.
Even though it didn’t all happen in one day, the document, and the Constitution that came later, set up the United States as something unique in the world. I don’t know if Americans are actually “special” as some suggest, but I know we were given a mandate and head start that no other country in the world can claim.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
When you’re celebrating the Fourth of July and listening to patriotic music or watching the fireworks, I challenge you to remember and think on those 35 words from the Declaration of Independence. Events in the news make us realize that even though our Creator may have created us equal, we don’t do such a good job of living up to that. We have the right to Life and Liberty. And no one ever promised us happiness, but we were promised the right to pursue it.
That’s more than enough.
Happy Fourth of July..