I chose to be alone.
It was quiet.
I turned off the radio for the first time.
I had no access to my phone.
It was as though I were dead but alive.
If someone would have dropped a bomb the only thing I would have felt was the earth shake.
If I’m the answer or the problem I found true peace while being alone at the end of November.
The next day I went back to work. I fell back into reality.
The End of November
1. I’m thankful for the gym. It’s been a blessing to me. I’ve made it a habit to go there and work myself to death sometimes for no reason at all. I love watching the young kids play. I see a part of my youth in them. I’ve been to a few places on the East Coast of the United States, but everywhere I visit, I always want to know how the gyms are. I’ve even played a few pickup games at poor gyms and I’ve always enjoyed shooting basketballs off of the old wooden backboards.
2. I’m thankful for educational institutions. Being a veteran of the world’s most amazing Navy I found out how to work my brain until it goes numb. I spent the majority of my younger adult life learning and it nearly killed me because my brain almost shutdown completely at age 18. You may think this is a lie, but I had to read the Bible just to get well. I’ve read so many books since that time only to come to the honest belief that there is a creator and the people who publish and write books are so drunk on knowledge that we all seem to get very depressed once we figure everything out. This depression often leads us back to the belief that a creator is watching over us. The more I study, I often remind myself never to get too arrogant to the point where I forget that the Bible healed me. In that statement I keep reading it.
3. I’m thankful for the animals. At the moment that I’m writing this I’m still working at my own business. I live in a state with a lot of parks so I face off with a lot of animals. This may sound funny but I’ve been fighting with rats for the past three months. They’re hard to kill and they don’t seem to care whose property they invade. I’ve been a faithful user of traps that sometimes don’t work and when they fail it gets messy. If you’re receiving this message I don’t know how this is going to end, but at the moment that I’m writing this piece I have a wounded rat trapped inside of my bathroom. It’s been a fight. I tried to help him and he got upset so I closed the door with rat blood everywhere that he’s run to. He’s currently locked inside of the bathroom with a rat trap and I have no clue how this is going to end. The last time I checked on him he would not cooperate and literally jumped to the top of a bathroom shelf. Outside of this bad experience I’ve gotten used to feeding the cats in the back and even created cheap animal spaces around my building. The crows, sparrows, and blackbirds seem to love me. I often catch them watching me wash cars. I think they’ve become attached to me because one injured blackbird wouldn’t leave my side at one point. He died in the back of the building, I honestly believe that it was his dying wish because the New Years before he died they all sat in a tree and brung in the new years pooping on my car. They did it two times just to get my attention and just to show me that I couldn’t do anything about it. I could hear them chirping while watching me clean it. How ironic. I honestly think the animals just swing by just to see my reactions. One cat literally looked at me then darted across a traffic filled street just to see what I would do. A fox did the same thing. One Christmas before they gave hunters the okay to kill deer, a reindeer literally stopped in my backyard and gave me a head nod as if he knew me. For their continued enthusiasm in keeping me busy I’m thankful for the animals.
4. I’m thankful that some of my fellow humans seem to enjoy seeing me suffer while also taking the extra time to comeback and check on me after literally watching me climb out of a very sad situation. The key word is “some” not “all.” I seem to have spent the majority of my life trying to keep it together because of damage that other people have caused. I humbly say that this has made me a better person, but I’ve come to learn a lot about myself, my family, my friends, and most of all, I’ve come to learn why some of us are made to just listen and take a beating so that others can find their own inner strength.
Well, that’s my thankful list this year. I’m also thankful for music and all aspects of the arts. Creativity is a powerful gift that the good lord gives us because just like him we can create.
Now that I’m done with this list I guess I’ll go check on the bloody rat that’s locked in the bathroom. One of us has to win this brutal fight. Sadly, this rat is paying no bills and has literally ruined my weekend, but even in this fighting back and forth to get him out of my building I’m still thankful.
I’m assuming this must be just like the Indians and Cowboys felt fighting over territory. I’m assuming that the pilgrims were just serving their purpose in what we now call the Americas and the United States.
In all of the wild and crazy experiences, I guess I’m thankful to be a part of this grand experiment. I’m also thankful for my grate grandfather who received a Purple Heart in World War 2 I believe. So maybe God does have a plan. What’s the odds of me serving the country and surviving to tell about it? In this wild-Wild-West I don’t know what tomorrow will bring but I guess that’s why they coined the phrase “In God We Trust.” I’ve spent three long days fighting with a wounded bloody rat that’s locked in my bathroom, but even if I lose this fight. If you’re reading this message, I’m still thankful.
The End.
“On this island everything you do and say stays here,” Epps explains.
“Oh my God is that,” Kelly says before he’s cut off.
“Quiet, relax, and take your clothes off,” Epps says kneeling in front of a horned statue.
Women from all over the world of all ages shapes and sizes enter the room as everyone begins the ritual. In the distance a baby sits in the middle of a five point star as candles burn around him.
“Is that a child? Sir, I think I should be going,” Kelly says before he’s interrupted again.
“Friend, you were chosen, we need your energy. You will get used to it after a while. The child is one of us. Here; drink. Just relax, the pleasure is divine. Carl, give him the good ink, tattoo a triangle on his back. We will need you to relax okay,” Epps says trying to calm Kelly down.
Half naked, Kelly sees complete freedom on this island. He sees a lot of people that he used to see on Television. He sees young girls not of age all in a room with men twice their age. Deep in his mind Kelly feels his conscience setting in.
“Sir, I think I should be going,” Kelly says while feeling a hand touching his leg.
“Let him enter you,” Epps says.
Completely freaked out Kelly feels the urge to jump through the window to escape but it’s too late. The drugs enter his bloodstream.
“Now you see what we see okay, Diana, he’s your’s now. Give him the maximum pleasure treatment. No less than twenty girls at a time. Drain him until his voice changes. Break his conscience, purge his soul into complete submission. We can use him, he’s strong,” Epps says as Diana takes Kelly to the upper level.
In a robe and flip flops, Epps takes a drink and finishes his fruit bowl while taking his seat in front of the huge statue of a goat with horns. He watches like a king as the sex party begins. He feels relieved that Kelly now knows his place, a new soul lights the flame and Epps feels gratified.
The Files
When she went to bed she fantasized about big daddy John. She dreamed of the two of them dancing the night away drinking smoothies. Even while performing with Ricky, John was on her mind. Eating lunch with Steve she remembered the first time John called her Sweet Chocolate. It was a love affair, but when she went home it was her husband not John. In the midst of making passionate love with her husband she screamed out John’s name. Sweet Chocolate had been slowly melting and her obsession with John was becoming evident. She’d owned everything and had everything that she always wanted except John. After a long conversation with him she begged him to attend her show but he refused. In his rejection she collapsed on stage thinking about John. She needed him, she wanted him and the more he rejected her the crazier the obsession became. Sadly, craving attention, she started taking nude photos and still John paid her no attention. When she found out that John was getting married she desperately tried to ruin the wedding. At the moment John said “I do,” Sweet Chocolate went crazy. She became dangerous. Smashing her fist through the mirror she knew exactly where his wife would be that night so she wrapped up her hand, got into her car and began to drive. It soon began to rain and at the moment she saw John and his wife kissing under the restaurant awning she snapped. Off in the distance she parked her car but left the engine running, trembling with jealousy she could feel her phone vibrating in her pocket, but she ignored the call. It was her husband, the rain began to come down stronger as John’s wife began to walk across the parking lot. It appeared as though she forgot something in her car. Seizing the opportunity, Sweet Chocolate put the car in drive, pressed down hard on the gas and ran John’s wife over. Witnessing the tragedy, John saw his life destroyed in a hit and run. He literally saw the love of his life flip over a car hood only to fall bloody and lifeless in the parking lot. Sweet Chocolate then drove her car over a cliff and took her own life as well. John never felt vindicated after the tragedy, he spent the rest of his life paranoid at the evils of the opposite sex. After becoming a priest, he finally found the courage to read about the obsession that Sweet Chocolate had for him. One woman possessed by the illusion of being with John made him a better person. It drew him closer to God. Sweet Chocolate, the lady of the night, brung him to his knees, but she did not break him. If she did anything, she made him a better man. Her psychotic tendencies to steal a man’s heart and soul turned him into a man of God who devoted the rest of his life spreading the gospel of Christ. John learned a valuable lesson, this lesson made him wiser. This lesson made him spend the rest of his life celibate.
The End
“Oh the raven,” Edgar says dropping the microphone.
Darius shortly takes the stage, “Free! That you know what owes me money. How can I get over it? Bang, bang.” He too drops the microphone and exits stage right.
The room gets quiet.
Marcy who is hosting the event picks up the microphone.
“Anyone else want to say anything? We still have the place for thirty more minutes,” she says.
Curtis and Brenda stand in line.
“You can go first,” Brenda says.
Curtis gladly grabs the microphone, he’d been waiting for this moment since he lost everything and got ripped off by his brother who fraudulently claimed his veteran’s benefits.
“Am I the president? Or am I just a soldier? Who do I complain to? I think I’ll pay for my free meal. I think I’ll take my clothes off and stand outside naked for freedom,” Curtis places the microphone on the stand and starts taking his clothes off. Brenda hurries and stops him.
She grabs the microphone,
“It’s a hard knock life, please pay him no attention.”
At this moment the audience thinks it’s a part of the act so Brenda hurries and hugs Curtis before he pulls down his pants.
“I love you Curtis,” she says as the curtain closes.
The place erupts with clapping and laughter.
The End.
A room filled with veterans and poets.
