I touch the remote
the door rises –clears the way
for the Roadmaster
Tag: Daily Post
Daily Prompt: Fret
Danny clutched the case and pushed into the shop. Mendoza was perched on a stool at the counter caressing a Stratocaster.
“I been ‘specting you Danny, heard what happened.”
Danny set the case on the counter and popped it open. Inside was cradled his ’56 gold face Les Paul. The finish was dinged bad and the neck was bowed.
“Can you fix it?”
“I can straighten the neck and re-fret the fingerboard. The finish is probly done though. She threw it out in the rain, huh?”
“After she swung it at me; I don’t blame her, I prolly deserved it.”
Salsa
Ghostly Ship With A Spectral Crew
Daily Prompt; Unmoored – a haiku
Unmoored forever –
“The Dutchman” never asked for
a peaceful passage
Daily Prompt; Final
Daniel was standing outside the church; in the sun with his eyes closed and his face turned upwards. The heat felt good on his face and he wanted to loosen his tie and take off his suit coat. He was startled when she tapped on his shoulder.
“Hey,” she said.
It was Jeanine. She was in his chemistry class at school but he had never seen her at church before. Jeanine was one of the ‘Goth’ kids. She always spiked her hair; she had a lot of piercings and always wore short black skirts with grey or dark red tops that hugged her curves. Not today though. Today she had donned a knee length sun dress. A sun dress with a floral print done in pastel colours, greens, and blues, and pinks primarily. The hues of her dress served to deepen the violet of her eyes and he couldn’t help but stare. Her eyes were mesmerizing. Daniel had always thought she was pretty but they ran in different circles. He had never known how to approach her. Now the tables had been turned and she was approaching him.
“Uh, hi Jeanine, what are you doing here? Uhm, I… I mean I’ve never seen you here at church before. Do you come here normally or is this your first time?”
“We come here all the time but we usually come for the second service. If you’re always here for the first then it makes sense that we haven’t seen each other. We came early this week because of Mother’s Day. My brother’s home on leave and we’re taking my Mom to brunch at that restaurant on 7th Street… You know; the one down by the harbor. I got all dressed up and everything.”
“You uh, you look really nice,” Daniel stammered and he felt his ears getting hot. He knew that he was blushing and that only embarrassed him more.
“You think so?” she asked. She turned a little pirouette making the hem of her sundress flare outward. She laughed.
He laughed.
The stood awkwardly together in the bright sunshine; his hands in his trouser pockets her hands holding one another – twisting; both of them searching for something to say.
Finally she nudged his arm with her elbow, “Finals next week. I’m so excited. We’ve only got to get through these and we can graduate.”
“Oh God,” he replied, “I’m dreading them, especially Chemistry.”
“What do you mean – especially chemistry – you’ve done great in that class.” She was clearly surprised by what he had said.
“I struggle with it. I don’t really understand it. I have to memorize shit, er sorry, I meant stuff, to pass the tests.”
“Really? I thought you were a brainiac? Chemistry isn’t really that hard. I can help you study if you want.”
“You would do that for me?” It was his turn to be surprised.
“Sure… can you come to my house tomorrow after school? I would start tonight, but my brother has to go back to his boat tomorrow. I want to spend a little more time with him and my mom today. I’ll see ya tomorrow.” Janine smiled and waved at him with her fingers, turned, and wandered through the ornately carved doors back into the church.
Daily Prompt; Zip
Stepping into her
dress, she turned, “Hey, can you help?”
I reached, and pulled… zip!
A zippy little Haiku for the Daily
Daily Prompt; Heal
It’s late, or more accurately, it’s early.
I lie awake listening to her breathe, occasionally she turns beneath the linens and the quilt.
As I stare at the ceiling in the dark. Careful not to wake her.
Circumstance has placed her in a difficult position.
She is my rock, my touchstone, my support.
Vigilantly watching and caring as I heal.
I cannot thank her enough.
Daily Prompt; Translate
The year:
2003
The place:
Dallas Texas
The occasion:
International trade show
Cast:
Me and six engineers / friends from Japan
(My Japanese friends are all good English speakers, albeit English is their second language)
Unidentified Texan crossing paths with us as we walk
Fade in.
Eiji: What kind of restaurant are we going to tonight, Tn?
Tn: It’s a barbeque place Eiji. The Concierge recommended it.
Aki: Are those guys from 1st National going to be there?
Tn: No, we meet with them tomorrow night.
Unidentified Texan (pauses as we near): Skuse me, iookin fer Great Texas Facturing. Y’all know were’s Great Texas Facturing? Post ta be herebouts.
Tn: Sorry, don’t know. We’re not from around here – don’t really know the city.
Unidentified Texan: Gracias
he moves on, we move on, and after a while:
Toshiyuki: What language was that guy speaking?
Tn: I guess he was speaking Texan.
Toshiyuki: I didn’t understand a word he said.
Tn: Don’t worry guys, I’ll be able to translate for you.
Fade out.
Daily Prompt; Elegant
The scent of the desert after a summer rain
Elegant
The experience of food prepared for me by someone I love and who loves me
Elegant
The way she moves when she does whatever she is doing
Elegant
The colours on the bottoms of the clouds during an electrical storm at twilight
Elegant
My dog running joyously across an open field
Elegant
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Finely tuned machines
A plan that works exactly as it should
Pigments applied to a canvas by the hands of a master
The flight of a seabird
People doing what they love – doing it well
A beloved pet in repose
Elegant
Help Wanted
A good part of my adult life was spent working for The Firm. I didn’t drive fast cars, assassinate despots, or steal state secrets. I was more of an indoors type. I would sit in a building on the outskirts of some small, usually European town, surrounded by radio equipment, video equipment, and other electronic gizmos. My job was to monitor things. I was more of an “Electronic Spy” than a “Physical Spy”. I listened, watched, and reported.
I’ve retired now and it took me awhile to figure out what to do with my golden years. I have no family. No wife, no children. I have lots of money and speak seven languages pretty fluently. I tried arts and crafts but I can’t even draw a straight line, and don’t even get me started about the hazards of decoupage. It didn’t take long for me to donate my brushes, paints and other supplies to the VA center in the city.
Farming was the next thing on my list but that didn’t work out too well either. My career had been relatively sedentary. I sat around a lot. Farming is hard work for which I was woefully unprepared. I kept the acreage but the land sits fallow, with the exception of about ten acres along the road that I lease to Mr. Coates. He grows stuff there and it makes the property look like an active farm; from the road at least, if you don’t look too hard or too carefully.
I tried working at a repair shop in the city. I can fix almost anything electronic but it’s hard to get excited about repairing a vacuum cleaner or a stereo when you’re accustomed to working on non-linear RF spectrum analyzers and the like. So I got bored and just quit going to work. They called a couple of times but I simply didn’t pick up. Eventually they quit trying.
I think I’ve found my niche now though. I added a shop behind the house and I’ve begun to tint glass. Not like the tinted glass windows on cars but small fine optics I grind the lenses and darken the glass. Grinding the lenses is the easy work; getting the tint right is the challenge. I’m darkening these things up in order to make it safe for the user to view a solar eclipse. I find that the sales are somewhat seasonal and tend to follow the occurrences of events but the demand is high enough during those times that it keeps me busy in my shop all year round. I stockpile inventory and business is good. I’m thinking of taking on an assistant.
Ideally I would like to find someone close to me in age who spoke Sami, Vepsian, Udmurt, Frisian, and Rumantsch but I recognize that is a pretty tall order so I would settle for just Frisian, such a beautiful language.
I would be willing to train the appropriate candidate in the finer points of grinding lenses and tinting eclipse glass. Tools, room and board, along with a generous stipend, will be provided. If you think you’re up for the challenge fax me a resume at (123) 555-3690. Include a recent photo.
