I had a dream that told me to walk. The dream has possessed me, no instructions, just walk. I have been walking for more than five years. I have outlived everyone I have ever known. I’m not lonely, my dream keeps me company. The dream is like my instruction manual…

The deep-red sun was just clearing the horizon. — In flight from a mountain outpost, BOSS came on Com. It was hard to hear over the Whop-Whopping of the blades, the turbo whine of the engine. “We’re going in for a Medi-Vac. Two miles out. We have ten squads pinned down. Heavy fire from NVA and VC. …

Blind Bowling and Seagulls. — Blind Bowling: A bowler is standing, toeing the line, and prepares to bowl. The manager comes from behind and ties a blindfold over the eyes of the bowler. “You got two chances, go for it.” The manager says. The ball rolls down the alley. Pins get hit. The bowler waits to…

It was my second step on a fifty year journey. “Hey, Old Lady.” “Hey, Old Man.” “My first Disability Check was in the mail.” Her eyes got wide. She turned her head to the side, looking at me. “How much was it?” “It was $8,400.” She ran to hug me…

I was there when Fetcher freaked out. — What you have heard is true. I was in the Sweat Lodge when Fetcher ‘Freaked’. The Leader of the Sweat was yammering on about how he ran sweats. I could see Fetcher two spaces to my right. He looked confused. The Fire Keeper was tending the stones in the fire…

Writing is hard work. Writing can be fun too. — On the MOHS scale of mineral hardness from 1 to 10; 1 is the softest mineral, Talc (the easy stuff). To number 10 being the hardest, a Diamond (the hard stuff). The hardest thing about writing is the writing. “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down…

From watching Television commercials? — Standard Broadcast Television is worse than bad. It is not just a “Vast Wasteland”. It is a vacuum. And it sucks like a flush toilet sucks. Your brain goes down the drain. I was looking for story ideas from television programs. There was nothing to see or hear. My mind wandered into an internal dialogue about how awful Broadcast Television is. One thing that took me from the mindless doldrums was commercial advertisements. Wait! It was the structure of commercials that I was seeking.

From a journey with his dad to graze the family sheep — It was early May 1940. Already, it was getting too hot for the sheep. Fred was only six years old when his dad took him to the high plateau of the Navajo Reservation, like every year since he’d been a toddler. But this year was going to be different. The…

While waiting for my wife to arrive. — Walking from the parking lot, signs were everywhere ‘Wear A Mask’. Who is in charge of this asylum, the patients? The arrival flight was due in less than five minutes. I waited in front of the kiosk looking for the arrival time to be posted. Twenty minutes later the kiosk…