July 2010
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Day 30 of 30: Going Off the Menu
The days ran together since the helicopter landed and the medical crew checked me into Metropolitan Hospital. Surgeons diagnosed x-rays. Nurses monitored charts. And I got a steady diet of pureed foods, juice and gelatin. Although I did get to watch as much television as I wanted.
My bones healed, the stitches dried up and I learned more details of that night in Scarlborough. The white hat...
June 2010
29 posts
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Day 29 of 30: Fixing a Hole
I woke up to the rhythmic chopping of helicopter blades. My arms and legs couldn’t move, and I tried blinking away the cobwebs. A voice rambled on beside me. Shifting one eye to the left, I saw a rotund woman with curly red hair.
“…and my three cats, John, George and Ringo, are always getting into the trash, even if I double bag it,” she continued.
I coughed and tasted blood.
“He’s awake!” she...
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Day 28 of 30: Lights Out
My heart went back to that day at the lake. I felt Kaylee squeeze my hand as the scowling kid wearing the white hat seared his angst into our faces. The business relationship between he and my father was obviously strained, and after the last few dramatic weeks he was boiling with revenge.
We stood motionless in the gas station doorway, hoping he didn’t recognize us. Kaylee told me later she tried...
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Day 27 of 30: Bear Versus Eagle
We washed ashore behind a woodcarving and taxidermy shop. It had an old boat launch that was overgrown with weeds and sloped down to the river. It jutted out enough for me to snag the oar into the mud and pull us from the now idling current. Safe for now.
It was still very dark out, and with my two hours training on orienteering I had no idea what time it was. Kaylee and I walked up to the road,...
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Day 26 of 30: Yellow River
The front of the canoe clunked from side to side as I strained every muscle to stay in the center of the river. Kaylee held onto the crossbars of her seat, looking back at me for some kind of answer.
“Don’t like this, Kevin.”
“Just hang on,” I said.
We passed the old landing site where the counselors held their secret parties. The current picked up energy. It felt like we’d been hooked by a giant...
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Day 25 of 30: Deliver Me
Pete and I snuck out thirty minutes after lights out. Again, he bounded across the dark field like a rabbit, while I followed carrying the soft-sided suitcase that Aunt Ellen gave me. This night was better than before. The moon sat up higher above the tree line, and I was more familiar with the route to the canoe launch. I dropped my bag at the river and turned back. Pete snapped his fingers at...
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Day 24 of 30: Happy Birthday
Dinner was where the scheming began. Pete sat across from me, shoveling the lumberjack dinner down his throat.
“How do we make it into town?” I whispered.
“Not by walking.”
I scanned the room for my sister. She was surrounded by her fellow Hootah cabin mates, who were congratulating her for something. As Pete choked down his mashed potatoes, I watched the group start singing to her. I couldn’t...
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Day 23 of 30: Get Chopping
Lumberjack Day at Camp Chokochakee was living up to its name, beginning with ten-ton breakfast they were serving. Flapjacks, sausage and bowls of potato and corned beef hash. My father would be excited. I’d have an easier time finding raccoons to feed out here.
And all through the morning, I could feel Jimmy Sunglasses watching me. Whenever I looked over, he’d give me the same malicious...
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Day 22 of 30: Rock and Roll
No wonder Jimmy Sunglasses wore those shades all the time. He was hiding the glaze of contraband prescription medicine and late night drinking. I thought he could be trusted, but now he was one person removed from the threat to my father. Possibly me and Kaylee too.
Clang, clang, clang. His clipboard sounded the wake-up for Tochoco cabin. Everyone rose to get dressed. Except me. I sat in the top...
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Day 21 of 30: Of All the People
Pete and I steadied the canoe down the river. The clunks of the water hitting the sides felt like thunder in the quiet night air, but we maintained our stealth. An orange glow flickered on the trees ahead.
“We’re here,” Pete whispered.
With a couple more paddles, we coasted to the open beach. The bow carved into the sand, and I quietly jumped over the side, pulling the vessel up the shore. Then...
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Day 20 of 30: Shhh, We're Indians.
I had never been in such darkness before. The sky had almost no stars, and the moon was hazy. Yet Pete, with his inch-thick lenses, bounded like a rabbit across the courtyard.
“Come on,” he whispered as loud as he could.
Extending my arms out like antenna, I did my best to walk the field without tripping. I reached the camp fire pit and took a second to refocus my feeble night vision. Then I heard...
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Day 19 of 30: And That's When It All Went Wrong
Jimmy Sunglasses got me the red Chokochakee shirt like he promised, finalizing my induction into the Tochoco cabin. Still, nobody spoke to me, other than a proverbial head nod or wave. I’d be apprehensive too. It’s an unwritten understanding that the kid that comes late to camp is the issues kid, and the last thing you want in your cabin is added drama. So you wait it out. See what he’s like. Is...
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Day 18 of 30: Jimmy Sunglasses
Reveille blurted over the loudspeakers at six. A sliver of the sun had just peeked over the horizon. At some point in the evening, I lost my blanket and now the damp morning air gave my skin fits.
The kids awakened one by one. Some slithered to the bathroom. Some didn’t move. Others got dressed. With their eyes still closed, they stuffed their heads into the neck holes and yanked the red...
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Day 17 of 30: No Encores Requested
At dinner, all the counselors rose up on the tables and shouted out a sort of drama. I had trouble concentrating because their bright orange bandanas danced about the room like fireworks. There was something about an ancient Indian whose name I didn’t catch. He set a goal to canoe to the end of the world, but his tribe laughed at him. I didn’t think it was that bad of an idea.
They whooped and...
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Day 16 of 30: Camp. Counseling.
Aunt Ellen didn’t even drive with us to camp. Uncle Tony dropped us off. At least he carried the bags to our cabins, but once he did, he simply gave an artificial nod and waved us off.
The counselor tried stirring conversation from him and us, but none of us were in the talking mood. She looked sixteen and an obvious overachiever. Her smile was so perky it squirted happiness. I wanted to punch...
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Day 15 of 30: General Apathy
Dad left in the Subaru about five in the morning. He gave us a kiss on the forehead and whispered a quick return. His hand shook as he patted my head and took off for the mythical town of Sun Bluff. Police said things would blow over in a month, but I don’t any of us were prepared to deal with it that long.
Aunt Ellen woke us for breakfast at seven again. Whole wheat toast, fruit and yet more...
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Day 14 of 30: Space Warrior
“I don’t want to go to Sun Bluff or Waterton,” I said, my mouth full of pepperoni pizza. “I don’t even think they’re real towns.”
My father rubbed his forehead, thinking.
“I don’t want to go too,” Kaylee added.
“You can stay with your Aunt Ellen if you want,” my dad said. “I just thought it would be nice if we stayed together.”
“I don’t want Aunt Ellen,” Kaylee said.
“Just eat your pizza.”
My...
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Days 12 & 13 of 30: Fake Out
I knew exactly what Aunt Ellen was saying when she locked the front door. It was explaining it to Kaylee that was the problem. At four years old, she barely understands why people wear underwear when they’re going to put on pants anyway.
“Just stay back in the kitchen for now,” she said. My father had just arrived, ready to take us away from his criminal situation. He reached the door and knocked....
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Day 11 of 30: Damn Cat
When my father was my age, he had a cat named Franklin that liked to poop in people’s shoes. I bring this story up because while my Aunt Ellen and Uncle Tony whisper their disdain for my father, loud enough for us to plainly hear, I think of that cat.
They lived in a two-story colonial on the east coast, he and his three older sisters. David’s parents agreed to take in the cat after he found it...
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Day 10 of 30: Memoirs of a Drunk Tank
I pieced together the details of my father’s last few days from cryptic phone messages, Aunt Ellen’s paraphrased and embellished updates and rampant rumors bounding about town of Hodgkins. The residents relished dramatic gossip, playing it up and down like a Duncan Imperial tied to their middle finger. How the local dry cleaner knows more about it than his son is questionable, but not entirely...
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Day 9 of 30: Battle of the Ex-Planets
There’s not much to play with at a police station. At least the dentist’s office has puzzles and toys to distract you from the sobering atmosphere. I preoccupied myself with the half dozen wanted posters tacked to the corkboard directly across from me. Kaylee played with the zipper on her unicorn hoodie. Zip. Up. Zip. Down. Zip. Up.
“Can you not do that?” groaned a woman sitting next to us. Her...
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Day 8 of 30: Like Trying to Catch Falling Water
Two steamed hot dogs. The buns dusted in flour. Condiments selection down to ketchup or nothing. But they were free from the food court, courtesy of the crazy haired lady. And they did their work, reducing Kaylee’s hunger whine into a sewing machine of yums. She kicked her legs back and forth beneath the picnic table, showing a closed smile to dad to keep the hot dog from spilling out.
“You should...
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Day 7 of 30: Underbrush
Staring into the mouth of the trail, we saw trouble. The trees were thick with leaves. The sunlight trickled in here and there, but shadow ruled the route. I could feel Kaylee’s breath get heavier.
“Nothing to be scared about,” I said, pulling her to the signpost. The hand-carved etchings showed the bike path in green, the canoe launch in red and the walking trail in blue. I glanced back to the...
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Day 5 & 6 of 30: Strangers Make for Great...
If it weren’t for the horrible perm on the lady at the information desk, the situation would have been thoroughly frightening. The frizzy curls extended from her head like a clown wig, and her thick red glasses added to the effect. She Kaylee and I walking into the pavilion alone with the blank stare of confusion and concern.
“Did you lose someone?”
My sister stopped walking with me but didn’t let...
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Day 4 of 30: Summer in Heavy Dosages
Kaylee and I tired of the badminton, primarily because she couldn’t hit the shuttle with her racquet. But also, thirty minutes had passed and there was no sign of our father. We sat on the blanket I unfolded for us. Everything else about the day felt great. 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Late June. Still two more months of this stuff to soak up.
But the sunshine lacked warmth. Dad’s disappearance was...
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Day 3 of 30: Who Invented This Game?
Maybe the drugs finally kicked in, because dad’s disposition changed completely in the morning. His right forearm, wrapped in surgical bandages, hung to the side as he scrambled up a pan of eggs with his left hand.
“Morning,” he said.
I just stood there in my pajamas. Kaylee was already at the table eating a piece of peanut buttered toast. Her silent smacks told me she wasn’t quite awake yet...
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2 of 30: Oceans Don't Have Anxiety
The ride home felt like a prison bus. Not that our old Subaru wasn’t comfortable. It’s just that dad, with his good arm, wrenched the wheel around every corner, sending me and Kaylee tumbling around the backseat. He didn’t even turn on the radio. He wanted the silence to gnaw at us like his bite wound, prodding our nerves with the occasional glare in the rearview mirror. I tried to preoccupy...
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The Vernacular of Human Proportions →
My latest short story is featured in the burgeoning online monthly publication, Barrier Islands Review. Click the title for link.
This issue boasts some wonderful poetry and two short stories, including my own. Take some time to read it all. And if you like it, show your support for the pub with any honest donation. Thanks and enjoy.
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1 of 30: Note to Self: Fix Garage Door
The emergency room nurses didn’t know what to make of us. My father swayed in pain, clutching a bloody bath towel to his forearm. I still had catcher’s gear on, shin pads and all. My little sister Kaylee stood frozen from the entire incident, still wearing a bright orange life preserver.
The nurse unwrapped the towel, exposing the wound. “Let’s see what we’ve got, Mr. Gartner.” The blood bubbled...