CarlHoliday

I can only say thank you very much for your positive comment.

As I inferred to Wesley8890 above, Chapter 25 is beginning to loom over the reality of this story. I do hope you have positive feeling toward my work when the storm hits.

Ah, I wish I could tell what is to occur in Chapter 25, but I think we'll wait for that inevitability to take care of itself.

Jerry’s POV I awoke in an uncertain state. My nose hurt like hell and my head didn’t feel much better. Slowly, I became aware of a cold sensation on my nose and forehead. I opened my eyes to see Steve staring down at me. “Are you okay?” he asked. “You fainted and fell on your face. Your nose is still bleeding and Billy has gone for Mrs. Campbell.” I nodded to indicate my understanding, but I felt a sharp pain in my head when I did that. I looked around as much as my eye cou

Just started Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. When I was researching a movie I'd seen a number of years ago, "7 Faces of Dr. Lao" starring Tony Randall, I decided to order it from Amazon. They suggested the movie Something Wicked ... , but further research led to this book, which in turn led to the conundrum of watching a movie or reading the book. Since I'm already a fan of Bradbury, I decided to read even though Bradbury wrote the screenplay.

Tonight, I started the first chapter of a new story. The working title is “The Black Scandinavian.” The lead character, Troy, comes from the last chapter of “319 Winesap Lane.” Yes, that book is finished, although two chapters remain to be published. (hint, hint, Sharon!) Many of my readers probably will not like the last chapter, but I will not let the cat out of the bag today. Troy has an identity problem, which is identified in the last chapter of “319.” I won’t reveal it now because, well, it’s a bit of a stretch for me as a writer and some may not feel I should impinge on the obvious cultural appropriation. But, the psychological manifestation in Troy’s mind leads him into lots of situations, many of which are not pleasant. Whether or not Troy comes out at the end of the story in a correct frame of mind will depend on a number of factors, many of which have yet to be imagined on my part. The story will take place in the boroughs of New York City; a city I have often wished to live in. On the home front, my son has finally gone back to work after being on paid administrative leave from his job for four months. It’s nice to be back to normal. Guitar lessons on hold because I’ll be having cataract surgery sometime in the next month or two. I won’t be having it at the VA medical center because they have no regard for their patients. Going in for a 11:00 a.m. appointment and not being seen until I left in a huff at 3:00 p.m. is simply not right. They agreed to arrange for me to be seen by an outside ophthalmologist. As best as I can forecast, I won’t be able to start guitar lessons until January or February. Nana is still spinning; actually, she’s in a spinning fit right now as I’m writing this. Of course, most of it is due to boredom—after all, German Shepherd Dogs are the third smartest canine, behind Border Collies and Standard Poodles—but with one owner who’s manic-depressive and the other who is medicated for anger management issues, it’s a wonder she hasn’t run away from home. Now that we’re approaching the solstice, I have to take her out into the backyard to pee on a leash, otherwise she’ll turn it into dark playtime and I’ll end up having to go out with a flashlight, treat, and leash to get her back into the house. I suppose the worst part of it is she selectively listens to what I say. She listens to my son better, but he’s not here and I have to do what I have to. Last week my shrink informed that, per VA directive, I am not to see her on a long-term basis, so she’s arranging me to see an outside shrink. She asked if I’d be willing to do video conferencing with the new shrink. I said I’d prefer a face-to-face visit, but would be willing to try it on my laptop. Also, she’s weaning me off Depakote because the Seroquel I’m taking as an antipsychotic can also aid in mood stabilization. It’ll be interesting to see if I go nuts without the Depakote. Been there, done that, and it wasn’t fun. Nutso is not a good state of mind.

Thank you for the kind words about my story. There were a lot of places this story could go at the end, but a happy ending is a lot more satisfying than the alternative. I'm sorry you haven't had luck in love, but maybe Mr. Right just hasn't come along, yet. May Eros bless you with good tidings.

Thanks for the good words about the operation. Although my mother had hers done twenty years ago, I'm going into this cold. I can only accept what the surgeon said and hope it all turns out okay.

Well, it’s official. I have now entered old age. Last Thursday, I went to the VA medical center in Seattle to see an ophthalmologist about a previous bleeder on my left retina. Luckily, there was no evidence that it had re-occurred. Unfortunately, the cataract in my right eye has worsened to where it is now operable and I will be going under the knife sometime next month. During the past couple months, I’ve had a esophageal barium exam and a laryngoscopy to determine why I’m having a tickling sensation in my throat and larynx. The technical term is globus. I was worried I might have throat cancer, but that was ruled out by both examinations. The shrink is cutting back my Depakote dosage in favor of an increase in the Seroquel dosage, which is supposed to be an effective substitute to bipolar treatment. I’ll be returning to see her next month to report on how the decrease in Depakote/increase in Seroquel is working out. As far as I’m concerned everything is going okay, except for the continued tremor I’m experiencing in my arms and hands. The shrink says it is called essential tremor, but quite frankly I do not consider it to be essential to my life and I think it’s time to get rid of it. I was going to start jazz guitar lessons next month, but with cataract surgery on my eyes occurring over the next two to three months, I probably won’t be able to begin lessons until sometime in February. In the meantime, I’ll continue trying to teach myself with lessons I found on the web. I’m particularly interested in adapting boogie woogie to guitar. There is at least one song (Guitar Boogie by Arthur Smith), https://youtu.be/_nbK-AI-31I but I want to figure out how other songs can be arranged in the boogie woogie style. Most boogie woogie is played on the piano because you can lay down a bass rhythm with the left hand while playing a treble line with your right hand. https://youtu.be/wvx_UsJ2U5c or, the very talented Luca Sestak (at fourteen): https://youtu.be/3ojt7e88g2I If I wasn’t troubled enough, the IRS finally accepted an installment payment plan proposed by the firm I hired to resolve my $30,000+ tax debt. I should have it all paid off in about five years. Finally, with all this occurring in my life I should still have Chapter 24 of 319 Winesap Lane completed in the next few weeks. (hope, hope, hope!) So much going on I can only wish I can keep up.

Well, Jerry was supposed to turn up in this chapter, but Ian's story needed to be told and his entry fit in nicely during Jerry absence. Promise, Jerry will headline Chapter 24.

I will endeavor to write at least one future chapter that maybe bereft of tragedy.

“Now, you know what you’re supposed to say when the welfare people get here,” I said to my younger half-brother and half-sister who were sitting on the sofa while I stood in front of them. They were born after Mom married Willy, but I considered them to be full blood relations in some circumstances; unfortunately, this wasn’t one of them. “But, we want to come with you,” Karen said. She was the youngest and had the softest blonde hair you’ve ever seen. At seven she was a cutie pie.

Just finished the recently published The Ends of the World by Peter Brannen, which explores the scientific understanding of the past six mass extinctions afflicting the biology of the Earth. Considering the extent the Earth goes to extinguish life on this rock, our collective future here doesn't have much of a chance in the long run.

Eleven-year-old Denny Larson sat in Mr. McMillan’s sixth grade English classroom looking out the window at the old Victorian farmhouse up on O’Reilly Hill. It was Halloween and he was devising his strategy for amassing the most candy of all the kids who were going out for the first time by their selves. The farmhouse was an enigma in all of Morton Bay. Some said it was haunted, but Denny knew old man Snell still lived in the house because almost every year a few brave kids went up there and were

Tween Denny Marsden is planning to be a pirate when he goes out with his friends for Halloween. In his English class, he is so focused on the night ahead he starts to dream of going up to old man Snell’s farmhouse standing on O’Reilly Hill for more than he will get at any other house in town. Much to his horror old man Snell is not as nice as he imagines.

Thank you for your comment. Jerry has a plan. He only needs to make it work.

Thank you for your comment. David was always there in the unmentioned background, so I don't think it's unreasonable for him to reach out to Jerry. What we have to worry about is what happens next.

Thank you for your comment. Steve will probably fade into the background in the foreseeable future as the other characters' lives progress.

Thank you for your comment. With Steve being so young and cute, it's very difficult to imagine any harm coming to him, but one never knows.

Thank you for your comment. I actually knew someone much like Jens who contrary to all positive evidence continued to despise an individual both of us once liked very much.

Thank you for your comment. Sometimes I just don't know what to do with Geoff.

Thank you for your comment. There is always hope for Jerry, but one never knows what dangers lurk on the streets of Warnton.

Thank you for your comment. Yes, it does seem Jerry is on the way to recovery, but one can never be certain of anything at 319 Winesap Lane.

Thank you for the comment. That's the thing about writing stories segmented into chapters, you just have to wait until the next story posts.

Jerry’s POV “Jerry, how are you today?” “Alright, Dr. Avianca.” “What has been going on with you during the past week?” “Well, the A Corps has invaded the B’Nethean Empire and many men, women, and children were slain in the name of the God of Perpetual Harvests.” “Who are the A Corps?” “I cannot say lest they become manifest in our reality.” “Jerry, do you really believe the A Corps has done this evil deed?” “You see Dr. Avianca there is n