Bill W

Another compelling and well plotted storyline that drew me into this tale like being sucked into a giant, high powered vacuum cleaner. However, unless Nigel told his father precisely who'd molested him, Darnell's grief and loss didn't justify his randomly choosing his targets from the sex offender list. That irrational decision made about as much sense as King Herod's ordering his soldiers to kill every male child two-years- old or younger, merely because he'd heard a new King of the Jews had been born and feared that child would replace him. Anyway, @Lee Wilson, thank you for this little gem of a detective (PI) story, but will PI Saggio now go back to being Detective Saggio again?

Another interesting, but gruesome story, from the bizarre mind of Lee Wilson concerning one of his recurring characters, Detective Gennaro Saggio. This story is about a case that had been assigned to Saggio in the past, but the return of the alleged subject of the crime will probably haunt the Detective for the rest of his life. To find out why, you'll have to read this short story, but I'd suggest you do it on an empty stomach and possibly have a little nip of something to help calm your nerves before you get to the end of this tale.

A lunatic and a cast of disposable characters, possibly including the fish -- and the final tally is three lives ruined with one dead, one carrying physical and emotional scars that will haunt him forever, and one psychologically scared. Another disturbing, but thrilling story from the unorthodox mind of Lee Wilson, although this one lacked any of his delightful humor. However, I'm surprised Lorcan's tortured mind didn't seek out his brother Lowell first, since he was actually the cause of his being locked up for so long, and Lorcan had to know that he wouldn't emerge from this alive, once he carried out his act of revenge on Gennaro. I'm glad I read this during the day and not late at night, because I need the sunlight to bleach the vivid images from my mind of Ted losing an ear and then having to endure a painful cauterization of the wound before meeting his maker. And then to add insult to injury, Ted's body was then tossed down the cellar steps like a piece of trash. An interesting, but gruesome story, my friend.

The word pervasive comes from the Latin. The English adjective was formed by combining the past participle stem pervās- (from pervādere) (meaning "to go through" or "spread through") with the English suffix -ive ("tending to", "having the nature of" or "relating to"). It describes something that spreads throughout or permeates everywhere, and it's often used to describe "odors", "ideas", or "influences". According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the earliest known use of the adjective "pervasive" in English is from 1736, and the citation comes from the writings of Aaron Hill, a writer and entrepreneur. The word was formed by adding the suffix "-ive" to the Latin past participle stem pervas- of the verb pervadere, meaning "to spread or go through". The OED also records the earliest uses of related terms: The adverb "pervasively" is first found in 1854. The noun "pervasiveness" is first found in 1862. Examples of "pervasive" used in a sentence: "It's a pervasive attitude that goes well beyond politicians." "The smell of garlic is a pervasive presence in my house when my wife is making sauce." "And while the nursery is clean and filled with caring staff, there is a pervasive sense of sadness." "Although his own career faded, his influence remained pervasive in the work of other performers." "There was a pervasive feeling among the staff that none of the hospital administrators cared about their problems." "The teachers on the second floor were complaining about the pervasive smell of sulfur coming from the chemistry classroom."

Hi, Joe, and welcome to Gay Authors. I think you'll find this a very welcoming, supportive, and friendly community. I wish you all the best and hope you'll find what you're looking for here. I look forward to reading some of your stories.

The word "searing" comes from the verb sear, which derives from Old English searian, meaning "to dry up" or "wither", linked to a Proto-Germanic root, saurajan (source of dryness), explaining senses like "wind-seared". The meaning evolved to "brand" or "burn" (c. 1400) and then to cooking (scorching meat) and intense feelings/criticism (like "searing pain") in later centuries, with the adjective searing appearing in the mid-1600s. The term "searing" (as a noun) was first used in English in the Middle English period (1150-1500), with the earliest evidence in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) dating from 1395. Other forms of the word have different initial usage dates: "Sear, v." (verb, meaning to dry up, wither, or burn) has evidence from the Old English period (pre-1150). "Seared, adj." (adjective) first appeared in a dictionary by Thomas Elyot in 1538. "Searing, adj." (adjective, meaning extremely hot or powerful and critical) is first evidenced from 1665 in the writing of Richard Brathwait. Examples of "searing" used in a sentence: "She felt a searing pain in her foot." "She made a searing attack on her political enemies." "The adobo has a mild kick to it, but not a searing heat." "I winced from the searing sting of pain through my neck." "He deftly finds her lips and bends her in a long, searing kiss." "Both goals came from searing crosses to the back side of the goal." "He could feel a searing pain in his head and his vision was blurred." "There was no shade, so I couldn't get away from the searing heat of the sun"

Chances are, he will, but you'll have to read the next chapter to see what he actually does. 😜

I think if Devin has a choice between eating mice as a bird or fast food as a human, he'll take the latter. 😜 Yes, Mac made an error in judgment, but hopefully he'll be ok.

Yes, Mac was injured, but I didn't kill him off. However, if that happened I'm not sure which choice I would have made, since the story is about their relationship and future.

I'm not sure it's something Devin is adamant about, maybe just curious, but I doubt it will become an issue. As far as Chick-fil-A's hiring practices and requirement, I have no direct knowledge, but I assume they try their best to weed out any undesirable characters and select only good church going applicants.

We'll soon see, but I believe he feels he won't be noticed as a bird, so let's hope he's correct.

Chapter 30 – The Stakeout When we went on stakeout again the following night, I hadn’t been on duty very long when I saw a bus pulling onto the campus and it parked near one of the athletic facilities. That set off alarm bells in my mind, because there were many expensive items at that location which would definitely attract a group of thieves. I flew closer and landed on a nearby building so I could get a better look, because I was thinking the thieves might be using a bus this time. I

The word insolent comes from Latin insolēns, meaning "unaccustomed, unusual", combining the negative prefix in- ("not") with solēns, the present participle of solēre ("to be accustomed"). It entered English through Old French in the 14th century, evolving from meaning "strange" or "unfamiliar" to specifically describe "rude, arrogant, or disrespectful behavior" that disregards social norms and authority, essentially acting "out of custom". According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the word insolent first appeared in English around 1386, notably in Geoffrey Chaucer's writings (like the Parson's Tale), meaning someone contemptuous or proudly disdainful of others, originating from Latin. The sense of "contemptuous of rightful authority" became common later, around the 1670s. Examples of "insolent" in a sentence: "His insolent stare made her feel disrespected and angry." "With an insolent grin, the villain ignored the hero's warnings. "She couldn't tolerate his insolent remarks and told him to leave." "The captain punished the insolent soldier for talking back to his superior." "The new employee's insolent attitude towards the manager quickly got him fired." "This shows how Kate has a mistaken identity because she appears rude and insolent."

This is a very detailed story, with a large cast of characters, that recounts the events of what happened during one of the most memorable events of the 21st century. It is the personal story of a young staffer, from a political family, who gets a job working for a Congresswoman on January 6, 2021. The information comes from news reports and one side of the political aisle, but give it a read, no matter your political leanings.

Wow, that was one detailed recounting about January 6th with a large cast of characters. Very impressive. I hope our discussion about your story doesn't get us drawn and quartered because they're done outside of The Pit, but I think we're safe since we're talking about your story. However, I will keep this comment generalized, just in case. I know we have a large collection of conservative members, so I hope you don't get blowback about this being liberal propaganda, although I don't think any of them are political revisionists that will try to rewrite what happened on that day.

Just in case any of you were wondering, pluck is not an abbreviation for pot luck.

The word "pluck" comes from Old English pluccian, meaning "to pull off", from Proto-Germanic plukkōną. It is related to words in other Germanic languages like German pflücken ("to pick"), Dutch plukken ("to pluck"), and Norwegian plukke. It potentially stems from Vulgar Latin piluccare, related to Latin pilus ("hair"). Meanings evolved from physically pulling (feathers, hairs, strings) to metaphorical senses like "pluck up courage" or the noun for animal organs (heart, liver, lungs) removed by plucking, which led to the slang for "guts" or courage. It also is used in euphemisms such as "Pluck a rose" for going to the necessary house (toilet) in the garden, attested from the 1700s. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the verb "pluck" ("to pull or tear") appeared in Old English (pre-1150), while the noun "pluck", initially meaning "pulling the heart/viscera from an animal", first appeared in Middle English (1150-1500), with the earliest known use around 1440 in Promptorium Parvulorum. The noun meaning "courage, boldness" in a figurative sense into boxing slang around 1785. Examples of "pluck" in a sentence: "I plucked a lemon from the tree." "He plucked a stalk of dried fennel." "I have to pluck or wax my eyebrows." "He plucked the baby out of my arms." "I plucked off a little crunchy chunk of meat." "Jill rose, plucking bits of straw from her clothes." "She was plucked from the corps de ballet to take on Juliet." "After you kill the chicken, you must then pluck its feathers." "It must have taken a lot of pluck to walk along a path that was marked “Danger." "The agency plucked her from obscurity and turned her into one of the world's top models." "After being pummeled throughout the entire fight and knocked down five times, the boxer showed a lot of pluck by finishing the the ten round match."

It may not kill anybody, but it can sure distract them during class so they miss out on what the teacher is saying or what they're working on. That could end up affecting their grade.

Sorry, I guess I overlooked Baxter at the end of the list.

From what I've heard from my grandchildren, students don't shower after gym classes and many, if not all, of those playing sports don't shower after practices or games. I find that to be both concerning and unhealthy, and I wonder how many students have to sit near a smelly classmate who had PE during a period earlier in the school day.

If you like Sci-Fi and don't mind wading through a fair amount of technical information, then this story should be a must read for you. As usual, you'll find @Lee Wilson's tale creative, with well developed characters, an interesting storyline, and his usual wit and zany outlook on life. This means you won't be disappointed if you're familiar with his other stories, so sit back and enjoy, because I know I did!

I loved this story Lee, but then I love Sci-Fi stories. However, you did confuse me at one point, so I have to ask you to explain. You wrote: Cashman was the largest. We figured the doctor was the most important of our little family. Schmidt was the second largest, Turner and Haas were next. Due to his prohibition of leaving the ship, the smallest was named Baxter. Gold and Cooper were the fifth and sixth largest. Now, if Cashman was 1, Schmidt 2, Turner 3, and Haas 4, shouldn't Baxter have been 5? That would have made Gold 6 and Cooper 7. I thought I could check the list that followed to clear this up, but Baxter wasn't listed in the list. What happened to Baxter? Just clear that up for me, if you will. Thank you.

@Summerabbacat, I'm 77 and don't have a problem reading the European dates, such as 30 September (30/9) or 4 July (4/7) to American (although when both the day and month are less than 13 it can get a little confusing if I don't know which system is being used). That's why I always write out the month in my stories, but other than that, I'm not sure why you find it so confusing.

I thought of the same thing, @drsawzall. No matter how much time the earth has before the sun envelops it, those in charge of these missions better check out potential future home planets better than what was done of this mission.

As someone who spent the summer of 1973 in the UK, this article helped me understand a little better why so many of the older shopkeepers had difficulty making change when someone purchased something. They had spent their entire lives working with the old system and couldn't figure out how to covert the new coins to something they could understand. It was definitely a challenge dealing with any of them, and I found this not only true in London where I spent most of my time, but also all around the entire UK. Not only did I take short trips away from London while I was there, but I also spent the last few weeks I was there renting a car and driving around and exploring the rest of the UK. Thanks for the enlightening and humorous explanation.