CarlHoliday

Hmm, another year, another anthology. Only this time I've been given two chances to get it right. Coincidentally, a story has been rattling in the ol' noggin that just might fit both Horizons and Unspoken. Or, rather, Unspoken then Horizons. Lambs kept for that special day when they give their all for home, or rather the Private Home where the select rams live. The Parade. The Cutting. The Chute. Water! The Net. And then something about Horizons. I'm sure I'll come up with something for that.

Did the infamous three cease to exist? They definitely ceased to be. But this is the Hereafter. That place between the definite eternal good of Heaven and the equally eternal bad of Hell. The question is how many eternal bureaucrats does it take to take care of all the in betweeners. In Peter's situation, he had three entities taking care of him before he died. Unfortunately, they didn't do a very good job protecting him from his own foibles. I'd like to think they may get a reprieve considering the workload watching the living and the dead.

Why didn't Peter opt for the park? The supposition was that if he chose somewhere other than where Suzie was going, he might end up somewhere he wouldn't want to go. Someplace other than somewhere like the BIG NOTHING. Peter was eligible for Heaven due to his infant baptism, but it certainly wouldn't be somewhere an adult believer expects. Likely as not, it might be a place in the eternal recycling bin. As far as pets go, I'm half owner of 3 wonderful dogs.

How are deliveries handled in the Hereafter? It's more of a situation of the missing bottle in the warehouse. Everyone knows it was there yesterday, but where is it today? Maybe it was Old McGinnis, who died of the Spanish Flu back in 1919, playing tricks again.

Just a hint of what was to occur in Peter's upcoming misadventure in the Hereafter.

The day Peter died began with a startled awakening from a frequent repetitive dream of a young boy running across a street chasing a fleeing blue and white soccer ball and being hit by a restored red ’57 Chevy Bel Air. He couldn’t ever remember where that image came from because he had never encountered that car at any time in his life. When he first had that dream way back on a snowy morning in his first year in college, his heart was beating so hard, so fast, he thought it was in its death thr

Peter has a big problem. It's with Andy's allergies. To figure out a solution, he takes one of his long walks in the city. During his walk he buys a dog named Suzie. His walk is interrupted by a falling overloaded 20-foot container. He doesn't go to Heaven or Hell but ends up in the Hereafter. There is a beach, tea is in the morning, a wonderful buffet is served promptly at noon, and there's an evening soiree. Also, there are three background characters who are up to no good.

Thank you for the review. It's very nice seeing thoughtful two paragraph reviews.

Christmas is just another day around here. When I moved in with my son, we used to go to his former foster family for Christmas dinner, which I felt totally out of place for. Well, it was his mother that was the major problem, but my non-interference in their battles can't be denied. Then there was our different forms of mental illness. Three crazies in one apartment does not make a happy family. Okay, enough of that. Christmas changed last year when cancer came into my life. I was totally not in the mood for Christmas, so we didn't go to the other family's Christmas party then and didn't go this year. My son is rather put out with those other people because he's gone to each of their home for various parties and such, but they rarely came here. They complain because we live so far away from them. Thirty-five miles is too far? That's the farthest. One lives sixteen miles away and that's too far for him. Oh, and this year I didn't get myself a present. Last year it was cancer surgery recovery. This year on the day after New Years I'll be going into the operating room to have six or nine teeth pulled. I can't remember the exact number. Two or three upper right, at least two lower right, two upper left, and two lower left. That's eight or nine. Hopefully, it'll only be six. What else do I have to look for in the coming year? Every three months starting in February I'll be having a procedure to see if the bladder cancer has returned. And, of course, there is a story for the Anthology. Missed last year because, well, we won't go into that. The less we talk about that, the less I have to worry. I hate to think that I'm losing the ability to put words together into something that makes sense and then have to be dropped from Signature Author rank and moved into the Classical Author bin.

Then there was Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO) formerly of Gatorade and citrus flavored soft drink fame used primarily to prevent citrus flavoring from floating to the top during shipment. Excessive consumption of drinks containing BVO can cause Bromism a condition causing serious neurological, psychiatric, gastrointestinal and dermatological symptoms due to Bromine's tendency to accumulate in body tissues. On May 5, 2014, Coca-Cola and Pepsico announced they would remove BVO from their products and as of early 2020 both companies stopped using BVO in all their products. In July 2024, the FDA revoked regulations allowing BVO revoked regulations allowing the use of BVO in food. Beverage companies have one year to comply.

And then there is selenosis: poisoning due to excessive intake of selenium. Especially cattle, horses and sheep grazing on plants with a high concentration of selenium. Which leads us to blind staggers, a severe form of selenosis characterized by impaired vision, an unsteady gait and a tendency of the animal to stand with the forehead pressed against an immovable obstacle, or a similar condition not caused by selenium poisoning. Now, there’s a phrase just begging for a story and it doesn't need to be caused by ingestion of selenium.

I'm always nervous when correcting Fearless Leader, but the most common and actually lightest, simplest isotope of Hydrogen (protium) contains one proton and one electron. The second isotope, Deuterium, contains a proton, electron and one neutron. Water containing Deuterium is called heavy water and was the basis of the 1965 movie The Heroes of Telemark. The third isotope Tritium contains two neutrons and is radioactive with a half-life of 12.32 years.

For 2,500 years, medical leeches, usually Hirudo medicinalis, often had uses due to blood being one of the four humors. Use dropped off when humoral theory fell out of practice. They reentered the medical theater in the 1980s with the advent of microsurgery with their ability to locally reduce swelling in lieu of drugs that would affect the entire body.

The best synonym for circumlocution I could find is sesquipedalians or, for the more adventurous, sesquipedalianism.

Damn, I feel so honored to be recognized this way. On the other hand, it makes me mad I wasn't able to come up with a story for this year's anthology. It's not that I didn't try. Three starts and three dead ends. Makes an author wonder if he's still got it.