Last month, I paid my electricity bill over the phone using one of those automated payment systems. First, I was prompted to tap in answers to various security questions, including my password and the first and fourth number of my PIN. Then, to prove I’m not a robot, I had to identify traffic-lights from a set of pictures that I could hardly see clearly on my phone. I’m not complaining, I’m glad they take the security of...
“May I interrupt you, Father Erik?” Erik looked at the young disciple in white robes standing in front of him. He wasn’t sure why they all insisted on calling him Father other than he was old. Grandfather would probably be more appropriate. Erik had been teaching math to a group of children. He suspected his job as a teacher was mostly just a way to keep him occupied and was more for his benefit than for the benefit of th...
“We are the Disciples of Eden,” Mia said as she handed him a box lunch. “We are here to help.” Perhaps Erik could be forgiven for letting his defenses down. They were nice. So very nice and friendly. And he had suffered for so long. Perhaps that was part of the plan. Eventually, he agreed to go with them. He looked back at the ruin that had been his home… their home. There was nothing for him left now. He climbed into the...
Strange, isn’t it? Those small things that get listed in the memo pad of the mind. Brief, inconsequential in their setting, and outcome, yet noted, sharp and clear as any major incidents that give our lives direction. A lifetime ago, drawn by the music, I briefly lived in the thrall of Laura. The music lives on, rarely heard today, yet, when it is heard, it becomes slyly evocative. Laura—and Benny Goodman giving out with...
29th of May - Season 3 When Angela Moodley heard her phone ring, she knew who it was before she saw the screen: TERRANCE. She ignored it. While she knew that there was no way he could know, there was that part of her mind that betrayed her, suspecting that her husband knew what she was up to. But how could he? Surely he'd stop me if he knew. Angela was knocked out of her thoughts by the lawyer closing a book with a thud....
Like most three-year old’s, my daughter accidentally drops food onto the floor. A friend suggested I introduce the three-second rule. Providing I pick the food up within three seconds, and give it a quick blow, I could safely assume it’s not contaminated and safe for my daughter to eat. Personally, I don’t think it’s hygienic. Our pet spaniel watches my daughter at meal times, patiently waiting for the tiniest morsel to h...
Erik woke up shivering with cold unsure if it was day or night. He freed his arms from the sleeping bag and pushed the quilts covering him to the side. He could faintly make out the walls of the bathroom so it must be daytime. He had insulated the walls of the basement bathroom with mattresses taken from the beds in the rest of the house. A mattress in the shower formed his makeshift bed. He groped around until he felt th...
Turning the key in the garage door, there was a satisfying click as it locked. His left hand held a claw hammer which was swung at it. It took three swipes to break the key. He nodded in satisfaction. “There, now we’re locked in,” he said, dropping the tool, then turning and walking across to a full-length Hanoi mirror, leaning against a drawer chest. In its reflection he could see the object of his disgust, Kenneth May,...
“Why not send someone else,” Laura asked, “like the sheriff or the police?” “I just have a feeling this is something I need to do myself,” Erik said. “I think that is what Daniel intended. There may be some information at Daniel’s house that could help us all.” “Don’t you think you should take someone with you?” Laura asked. “In case you get into trouble?” Laura did not mention Reapers but the scene at the Johnsons’ farm...
Ed Johnson’s son, Ben, had been shot in the driveway taking a bullet to the chest and a second to the back of his head as he lay dying. His blood had soaked into the ochre gravel of the road staining it nearly black. Large blue-black flies were swarming over his corpse. His German shepherd dog lay dead next to him. The farmhouse stood at the crest of the hill along the county highway overlooking the lush green fields and...
It had been two weeks since the Big-Shut-Down, or BSD as people were calling it, had taken out anything connected to the internet or satellite systems including cell phones, about half of the cars, and most computers. The banks, electrical power, and phones were all down. Money had been rendered effectively worthless. Erik and Laura lived on a cul-de-sac on the edge of town. It had always been a quiet neighborhood because...
Sir, Madam. German craftsmanship, combined with precision engineering is the reason I chose your eight-speed auto three-door coupe. I’m writing to complain about faults with the automatic transmission which I found disappointing! When I select ‘D’ for daytime, the car performs perfectly. It handles smoothly, the gear changes are undetectable. However, when I select ’N’ for nighttime, the performance is somewhat unpredicta...
I took it too seriously when you told me my feelings were reciprocated. I watched my own feelings intensify more quickly than anticipated. We used each other as band-aids, a safe and gentle fix Turned to each other for affection and comfort in moments of conflict. And then it had to stop, it had to shift direction. We had to redefine how we’d been participating in emotional protection. It seems you’ve moved on more quickl...
“She pretty much drives herself,” the sales associate had said. Erik had been impressed by how the car was able to steer around corners, slow down for traffic, pass other cars, and even parallel park by itself. The car had been a bit of an extravagance considering his teaching salary. He was getting close to retirement and had convinced Laura that it was worth the extra expense and the wait to get it. The car was amazing!...
“It’s declined.” “What?” Erik asked. He had been thinking about how he was going to fit all of the groceries into his car. “Your credit card is declined,” the young woman at the cash register said disdainfully. “Do you have anything else?” “That one should be good,” Erik replied taking the card out and reinserting it. “Can you try it again?” “It says it’s declined. Do you have any other cards?” She looked like she was get...
