I came home sick.  I feel like shit.

To celebrate(?) this, here is the final installment.  Enjoy it, kids.

-79-

TAPE BEGINS: 0318 HOURS

Fumbling sounds.  Sound of water being poured.  Swallowing.  Ten minutes of silence follows, then there is more swallowing followed by the sound of a throat being cleared.

That's my story, operator.  Hope you enjoyed ( Read more... )

I burned my thumb last night, had really strange dreams that left me totally groggy and my shoulder hurts like the dickens.  So why am I going to work?  Having put it that way, I really have no idea.

Second to the last post, kids.  Almost there...

TO:  THE HONORABLE MICHAEL JOHNSON, REFEREE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT, DEPARTMENT 17

FROM:  SENIOR COURT ( Read more... )

The stretch run.  WARNING:  graphic violence a-plenty in this installment.

-71-

The living room is empty as I enter.  I drape my jacket over the back of the chair closest to the door, hang up my keys and inhale deeply.  It smells like cinnamon cake inside the kitchen.

Home sweet home.  I'm surprised to find that I actually missed it.

I sit down, light ( Read more... )

You know, I really don't like waking up early for work.  Good thing it's only for one week.

-65-

I hear him pick up the telephone in the darkness just before dawn.  Johnny’s voice is flat.  This time, I can even hear the responses.

“Cameron?  It’s Johnny.”

(hey Johnny how’s it going man)

“Not so good.  Tesla and I are in Lake Tahoe.  She’s sleeping ( Read more... )

I lied about finishing the section tomorrow; hooray for Double Shot Monday!

(continued)

"The thing is," he continues as if there had been no pause, "if things had ended there, they would have been fine.  I mean, after all, what had I really done?  We'd taken a roll of lead tape worth less than a used cassette tape, and to top it off, I had gotten ( Read more... )

Hey, happy Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Wretch Day!  The sparking event behind it is here (with my response being here), and the result of the whole shebang being a new community that you can find here.  Free stuff to read never sucks.

Now, back to our story.  This section is sort of long, so it has been divided into two posts over two days that will ( Read more... )

Yesterday was a good day; planting flowers, relaxing around the house, enjoying time with my wife.  It sure is nice to have her back from tax season.  Hope you enjoyed yesterday's installment and the plot lesson; time to get mean.

Sharpen up those teeth and jump in.

-59-

There is a bottle of champagne on the nightstand and he opens it, pouring a ( Read more... )

After I've woken up a bit more, I'll do my screed about plotting.  For now, back to Nightfall.

-55-

(breathe)

My vision swims briefly then sharpens--clear.  Too clear.  It’s like I can see every pore on his face--each one large enough to fall into--and each tiny hair on his arms--which wave like a small forest under the breath of a dragon--as the ( Read more... )

I thought yesterday was Friday, which means I should be dancing for joy today.  I am, sort of.  But very tiredly.

Fire your guns.

-50-

The rented Toyota Landcruiser rounds the corner of the mountain and, for a moment, I think we will fly off the road, over the cliff and into the calm water of Lake Tahoe below us.  It's such an utterly entrancing idea ( Read more... )

No time for an intro.

-42-

Stop.

Anxiety drains toward the back of my head.  My pulse slows.

Can you face this, Tesla?  Can you?

(I think I can I know I think I hope)

Vision blurs.  Faint.

Recovers.

I’m on the fence.  I’m somewhere between heaven and hell, waiting for--

“Go ahead, Doctor Mansfield.”

-43-

"First, Tesla, I would like to thank you for being so ( Read more... )