Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
First there were the edges.
Mistakes were made.
Then the buildings came, and the front stuff, like Annabelle’s Flowers. Eventually only green and white pieces remained.
Mistakes were made.
Finally, only green pieces were left. Oh, the green. How the green tried our souls. We could but try space to space, piece by piece by bloody damn pieces.
Fifteen hundred pieces and one week later, it’s done, baby, puzzle number for 2020.
We couldn’t have done it without our puzzle panther, Boo.
“The Ink Floofs” (floofinition) – Popular floof vocal group of the mid-twentieth century whose stylings presaged the rhythm and floof (R&F) movement.
In use: “A sentimental favorite by The Ink Floofs, “We Three” tells of the relationship between a pet, their person, and their food. Shared from the pet’s point of view, it describes how lonely they’d be without their human and their food, giving equal love to the person and food.”
Imflooftative (floofinition) – Copying or following a model or example set by an animal.
In use: “Many floofs, aware that humans are often easily manipulated, like to induce people to pursue imflooftative behavior, such as barking, meowing, and purring. Animals often regard these antics and post them on Floofbook for others to experience.”
This song is arrives from memories that my dream about Mom’s house stirred.
After thinking about the dream and remembering the period, I recalled a return visit. I’d brought some tapes to listen to. One was Uriah Heep, which had the song, “Sweet Lorraine” on it. I enjoyed the album and song, but the Moog synthesizer Uriah Heep used took Mom aback.
I claim to so vividly remember her listening and asking, “What is that?”
I answered, “It’s music,” because I knew she was referring to the synthesizer. It wasn’t the first time she’d questioned my music, always with a mild scowl, but never a demand to turn it off. (Turning it down was often requested, though.)
She, as expected, answered, “That’s not music,” which made me laugh. Her subsequent eye roll (she’s a master at it) increased my laughter.
So, for Mom and old times, Uriah Heep with “Sweet Lorraine” from 1972, when I was sixteen. Side note: David Byron, the lead singer, was another who died too young, 37.
I had a large new home which made me proud and happy. Then, dream switch, I was visiting with Mom.
Mom wasn’t home. She and the girls were out. I was about my current age. Mom’s home was the small brick ranch style house where I lived from 1965 to 1972 in Pittsburgh before departing.
In the dream, she had coats hanging up outside, like on a clothes line that stretched from the house to a pole by the street. It was a temporary thing, but she’d had this going on for several days, and it bothered me. When it lightly rained and the rain then turned to ice, I decided that I needed to move them into the garage. However, the garage still needed to house Mom’s car. It was a one-car garage, so that would be a challenge.
Going through the garage, considering angles and materials, I began thinking about how I could do it. My little sisters (who had been out with Mom) arrived and commented on my plans, expressing doubts that it could be done. (They were their current ages and appearances, and in the dream, I wondered if they as little girls were with Mom while their adult selves were present in the garage.) I was gaining confidence that it could, then, and passed off their objections with jokes. They left.
As progress was being made, TC arrived. He and I had been stationed at Onizuka together. The same rank, he retired a few years after I did and moved away.
In the dream, he was coming for a visit. I was expecting him. He showed up in an exoctic burnt orange car, not the kind of vehicle that he would ever drive. He had young twin children with him. I played with them as we exchanged greetings. The car then went off and I realized that he’d been dropped off.
I returned to working on hanging the coats in the garage. I could show progress. TC asked what beers I had. I’d been planning that moment and replied as a joke with the names of a number of cheap American beers such as PBR, Schlitz, and Old Milwaukee. He always drank Miller Lite, and I knew that’s what he wanted.
Then, in a move that surprised me, he said he was going to the neighbor’s house. He said he and the neighbor were friends. As we discussed this, I stepped outside. The light rain had ceased. A car drove by on the street. Dusk was falling. My Mom’s neighbor was at a table in his yard, waiting for TC, who walked toward him.
The dream ended.
An old, sweet callie, she seems in pain, and tired. Our neighbor for fourteen years, sShe’s a frequent visitor, singing at doors until we let her in, letting herself in if the pet door is open, and then launching an opera about getting fed until she’s paid for her efforts.
This morning, I’d let her in, fed her, and returned to bed. After a bit, I felt a cat get on the bed, an effort noted for the sounds of climbing up the duvet. I thought it was her because of the lightness of being that tread across my legs and confirmed it with a glance. This was a first for her; she’d never visited us in bed before.
She began a purring lullaby as she came up the bed. Stopping by my face, she greeted my nose with a soft tongue touch and amped her purring to eleven. Going on, she visited my wife’s face for a few minutes. Then she went onto my wife’s pillow and sat down by her head, purring all the will as she gazed out into the room.
She didn’t stay long, perhaps ten minutes, always purring, and was waiting for me with a chirping request for a second breakfast when I climbed out of bed. Her request was fulfilled.
I had reached a similar experience and conclusion the other day. With this novel in progress, a difference in attitude, a patience and methodology that I’d not experience before, has emerged. There’s less urgency and more steadiness. As a writing experience, it’s absolutely wonderful.
Today’s music was brought to me by the muses. That’s my assumption.
See, I’d finished walking, and arrived at the coffee shop. Beginning to unpack my ‘puter stuff, set up, plug in, and turn on, I thought, time to rock. In response, “We Will Rock You” by Queen (1977) kicked into my stream. I decided it was my muses (sounds like a stadium full of them in there today) singing to me.
With a song like that, I expect an interesting writing session, good or bad. Cheers
Tom Floof and the Heartbreakers (floofinition) – American floof-rock music group that was very popular on FM (floof modulated) radio during the 1980s and 1990s.
In use: “Whenever the family left the house, the cat and dog put on “Running Down A Hall” by Tom Floof and the Heartbreakers, and had a howlingly good time. Of course, when the family returned, it appeared as though the cat and dog hadn’t stirred during the entire time that they were gone.”
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Michael Seidel, writer 