3/30/11 John Croft and his dead daughter

More of John Croft.

The bar was busy for early evening. Its open sign blinked at all who walked past it. It beckoned to them.

John stood across the street and watched as New Yorkers could not resist the neon’s sign draw. They went into the bar through the padded red door with its silver buttons and small diamond-shaped window. The bar was the same sanctuary where John had spent years drinking his marriage, career and the life of his daughter away.

He tried to tell himself he didn’t want to go in but he really wanted it more than anything. He was jealous of those people who wandered into the gaping hole that was hidden by the red door. He swore he could feel the cool metal handle of the door in his hand. He swore he smelled the stale alcohol on the damp air of the dark bar.

He felt his foot leave the curb and step into the street. He had given in to the neon sign’s siren call.

A loud crash shattered John’s yearning.

Startled, John jumped out of the street.

People ran to the intersection up the block.

“Somebody call an ambulance.”

John followed a group of people up the street.

As he approached the intersection he recognized the intersection as the one where Marie was killed.

A cement truck had plowed into a car that had failed to stop at the sign. The front of the car was crushed. The people in the car were not moving.

John’s breath caught in his throat as he stood back from the gathering crowd. Somewhere in the crowd of people a young girl laughed.

He saw himself sitting in the driver seat of the car. Next to him sat Marie, her face bloody.

“Marie!” He yelled.

Somebody in the crowd turned back to him.

“You know them?”

John looked at the person and then to the wreck. Marie was gone.

“No. Sorry,” John said.

John and the others watched as an ambulance and cops showed up. A fire crew used the jaws-of-life to remove the young couple from the car. As they put the woman on the stretcher John had to look twice. Somewhere in the crowd the young girl laughed and clapped.

Marie looked back at him from the stretcher. Her eyes unblinking, lifeless.

“Daddy,” he heard her whisper.

“Marie?”

John tried to push through the crowd.

“Watch it, dude,” Someone said as he was forced back.

John followed the stretcher. He jumped to see over the crowd of people. As they loaded the stretcher into the ambulance he saw the injured woman again.

“What the hell is going on,” John asked out loud.

“Another accident,” the woman in front of him said. “There’s one at least once a week. Stupid drunk people don’t stop at this sign and pow they get hit by the traffic that doesn’t have to stop. A few years ago a little girl was killed.”

John looked over at the lady. She didn’t look back at him as she watched the ambulance drive off. John noticed her skin was gray and mottled with pox marks and scars. Her hair parted on the side of her head. A bulge emerged and it opened. A dark, inhuman eye stared back at him.

3/29/11 John Croft and his dead daughter

So I was trying to figure out what I wrote for the 29th and then I realized what it was. I worked on my Horror short story all night long. Here is a tad bit of it. I plan on making it into a Kindle property. Enjoy.

John Croft ran in between the diner tables after Shelby. He did not want to lose the last connection to his daughter. He caught up to his ex-wife before she made it to the door of the diner where they met every year on their daughter’s birthday. He grabbed her above the elbow. She turned to look at him with her tear filled green eyes.

John sensed the nervous glances of the nearby patrons. He knew he looked like crap. That was the first thing Shelby said. His brown hair was not brushed. His face had five days worth of stubble. But he didn’t care. He didn’t want to lose her.

“Shelby, wait. Let’s talk about this,” John said.

“Don’t, John!” Shelby pulled her arm free from John’s grasp. She straightened the sleeve of her gray business jacket and shook her head at John. She walked out the diner.

John saw his reflection in the mirror behind the counter. He looked crazy. He looked around at the patron’s who avoided eye contact with him. John pursued his ex-wife out into the busy New York sidewalk.

“Shelby, wait.” Annoyance and anger caused his voice to get louder. John felt he was on the verge of yelling.

Shelby turned and looked at him with pleading eyes. Her shiny, red hair glistened in the late morning sunshine.

“I can’t do this anymore.” Shelby moved with the traffic of the sidewalk away from John. The other pedestrians brushed against her. John wanted to rescue her from the stream of people keeping her from him. But he knew she didn’t want his rescue. She didn’t want anything to do with him.

“Whenever I see you, I see Marie, and it breaks my heart,” Shelby said. “I need to heal and seeing you every year on her birthday is not helping me.”

Shelby wore her favorite gray business suit. The same suit John hated. John began to think she had planned this.

“I need this.” John pleaded with her.

“I’m sorry.” Shelby continued away from him.

John’s cell phone rang. He furiously dug it out of the inner pocket of his corduroy jacket.

“Shelby, wait!” John looked at his phone. When he looked back up Shelby had disappeared into the crowd of people on the sidewalk.

3/22/11 Jack Fargone

Jack Fargone reworking

Jack Fargone always wanted to live an extraordinary life. Unfortunately he was born on Earth in the early twenty-first century and little would happen. That is until the IDIOTS fleet came into his 9-planet system and destroyed it. The fleet needed fuel to get to their next destination and they converted every planet into said fuel. Fortunately for Jack and 87 other people were rescued. Why he was chosen was just luck. There were 7 billion people on the planet and the IDIOTS chose 87 healthy individuals. It could have been any 87 people with good health but he was one of them and it would change his life and the lives of the other survivors forever.

3/5/11 Ensign Est

This is going to be a short story for Scifi and Fantasy writing class.

Two seconds and the ship would be in the targeting arrays of all the pirate vessels. Two seconds and the only person who could do anything was Est. He watched as his display illuminated with the targeting information. Two seconds would decide whether he would cost everyone their lives or if everyone would survive this jump into hostile space.

Two seconds passed and his targeting array was dark. No hostiles.

Est tapped on the screen and widened the display field. Nothing. He couldn't believe it. They had jumped into the heart of the pirate systems. They should have been surrounded on all sides, hostile weapons charged and ready to fire.

“Sir, there are no hostiles,” he said.

“Check comms,” the Commander ordered.

Another crewman pulled up the communication arrays.

“The entire system is completely quiet, sir.”

“What the hell,” the Commander pulled up the imagery. "Did we come out of jump where we were suppose to?" The Commander looked back at Est.

"Yes sir, this is where we needed to be."

"Is the courier on his way?"

Est looked down at his display. He smiled.

"I'll take that as a yes," the Commander said.

Everyone turned their attention to the main visual display that took up one whole wall of the command deck. It looked like a giant window with data streaming across it explaining what they were looking at.

Ships lay in ruin around the only m-class planet in the system. Tendrils of fires burned as the oxygen from the ship’s leaked out into space. Debris streaked across the planet’s upper atmosphere like scars.

“What the hell happen,” the Commander asked.

“Sir, we are reading Anuras weapon signatures,” Est said.

“Anuras?”

“Yes, sir. Degradation indicates less than an hour old. You need to see this, sir.” Est transferred the display to the main view screen.

“What are you showing me, Est?” the Commander asked.

“Anuras vessel on the far side of the system, sir,” Est said. “It was in the upper atmosphere of the gas giant. That’s why we didn’t detect it upon reentry.”

“Lower defenses, power down weapons. Get me communications with that ship.” The Commander manipulated the image on the main display to enhance the Anuras ship.

The Anuras ship resembled bundle of copper wire so tangled up that no one or thing could undo it.

“Sir, I have the Anuras on comms. He is requesting we leave the system,” the communication crewman reported.

“On main.”

The mvd that filled the entire front of the ship shifted and the Anuras captain was on the display.

He resembled a very large humanoid frog. His wide mouth and thick lips dominated much of his face. His eyes were set on the top of his head and were bulbous. Where humans have only one iris, Anuras eyes have three or more, depending on age. This was an older Anuras captain with 7 irises in his golden eyes. His eyes sank into his head briefly to be moistened as his eye lids snapped over them and then the slid back up into place. The Anuras were named so because of their resemblance to earth frogs.

“Translator functioning, sir.”

“Anuras vessel, this is Commander Wise with the Empirical Frontier of Man. Please state why you have destroyed these human vessels and your business in this system.” Commander Wise and all on the command deck knew the Anuras had no real reason to answer such questions. Everyone on the command deck knew that one Anuras ship was the one who destroyed the pirate fleet. A fleet of 230 Stellar, Frigate and Destroyer class vessels wiped out by a single Anuras command ship. It would have taken more than this lowly Scout vessel and the battle fleet that is waiting for our signal.

“Commander Wise. Return to the frontier and inform your commanders that the Pirate fleet in this system has been destroyed, your appreciation for such a task is unnecessary,”

“Sir, we have it,” Est said.

The Commander knodded to Est.

“Anuras vessel, we will respect your request. Commander Wise, Out.”

The Commander rushed off the command deck.

He ran through the corridors of his ship, dodging past the lower enlisted who stopped and saluted, slid down multiple deck ladders as he made his way deeper into the ship and emerged on the loading bay of engineering out of breath.

“Ensign Est said we had it?”

A man in an external vehicle excursion suit was standing next to a large satellite.

The man removed his helmet and smiled.

“Yep, it’s intact.”

2/26/11 The Black Shalu Warrior and Negotiators

I totally wrote this at the very last minute on the 26th. I was working on revising a short story for class when I realized that it was almost midnight. But I got it out and I think I turned out okay.

The Black Shalu had been used in many conflicts that suppressed the inhabitants of resource planets (planets used for nothing but their resources). At no time though had it ever been seen as wrong. At no time did the Black Shalu consider what they did as unjust. The natives of a planet were many times just a fierce as any advanced race. And many times the native inhabitants were more than willing to surrender and negotiate. The Black Shalu were some of the most elite warriors in the galaxy but they were also skilled negotiators. Many a times they would bring factions to the tables and negotiate a peaceful outcome before the first shots were even fired.

2/15/11 Ugh, busy day of writing

Today was one of those days. I spent all day preparing an outline for a script writing class only to get to class and totally have it fall apart in the second act. Not literally fall apart and scatter everywhere but just have no action in the second act. Ugh, it was horrible. I wasn't feeling it at all and I would totally scrap the whole thing if we weren't so far into the process. The suggestions the professor gave though were really good dsand I think if I can add them into the screenplay in the second act it will really liven it up.

I knew this was going to happen this semester. I have a ton of writing and editing I have to do and so little time. I need to start focusing and working throughout the week but it always seems like there isn't enough week to do anything.

I started to read Path to Fury by David Weber for a class and I like the first chapter. It has a deeper setting and more description than Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I like a book that that when you put it down you think: "I will never live in a world like this" and you have to decompress from it for a second. I didn't get that with Ender's, perhaps later in the series you do. Won't find out until later though cause right now all I'm reading are books for class. But I guess I'm lucky though cause those books for class are not really all that bad.

Next semester though will be dedicated to one class so this semester is preparing me for Novel writing.

But I did write some creative stuff today so don't worry, I didn't waste the day. I just felt this type of entry was needed. Here is a snippet of what I wrote today.

Jack then sees Pascal and Jean. They don’t see him and he follows them. They have found a docking bay where small ships sit unguarded. Jean, the smarter of the two, goes into one of the ships and comes back out. Jack overhears him say they can take it and leave. They see Jack and he runs from them. They pursue him and the three run through the corridors. Jack comes to a door that has a keypad next to it and he begins punching in a bunch of different number sequences. The French twins come around the corner and see they have him trapped. A light above the door turns green and the door opens. A bright shimmering force field is on the other side and when Jack runs into to it without looking he disappears and the door closes before the twins can get to it.

2/14/11 Deanionionasad

Earth has been destroyed and Jack and Huan watch as it is being sucked up into a giant hand vacuum to make fuel for the IDIOTS fleet.

The alien leads Jack and Huan through corridors. They see other humans being met by various aliens. Some of the humans are reacting less than civil. The alien introduces himself as DEANIONIONASAD but they can him Dean. He tells them they are on a ship orbiting what is left of Earth. Jack and Huan stop walking. Jack asks if he heard him right. Dean sighs and tells them to follow him. Dean takes the two to a large window overlooking a fleet of ships surrounding a debris field that is being sucked into another ship that looks like a hand vacuum. Ships pull are pulling up to the ‘handle’ of the hand vacuum ship and refueling.

1/30/11: Why did the Secretary steal the money?

Oh, if you read my mini mystery you know the answer now.

Why did the secretary steal the money?

Because she is a thief.

How long has the secretary worked for the school?

She has been a secretary for Principal Jones for less than a year. She was a last minute replacement for the secretary who retired recently.

How did she get away with it?

No one thought it strange the secretary would take the money box from the table because she was the one who was going to fill out the reports for the donation.

What did she do with it after stealing it?

She left the school grounds.

How did she do it?

She knew what time the Janitor was coming into work. She went down to the girls locker room and spray painted the wall. She heard the janitor coming and dropped the can then ran from up to the office. She awaited the call from the janitor and he told her that the principal was needed in the locker room. she called the principal, telling him that someone had graffitied the girl’s locker room. The principal went down to the locker room leaving the money box on the table. She went up to the auditorium. And waited for the two other people to become distracted then she took the box.

1/29/11: The Bake sale was a success

This is the outline of the new mini mystery I am writing for class.

Money from the schools bake sale disappears from beneath the noses of the people who were left in charge of it.

Characters:

Principal Jones: He left the money with the two coordinators of the event: Jaime Reynolds and Wendy Cramer, after a call from his secretary to come to the office. He said someone had defaced the girl’s locker room. No one saw who did it but he janitor said he heard someone or someone’s running from the locker room as he was preparing to begin cleaning up after the bake sale.

Jaime Reynolds: Jaime Reynolds is the original founder of the Bake sale. She started it when her son was diagnosed with cancer.

1/26/11: Outline for Mini mystery

This is the outline for my original mini mystery. I think the character has some good potential so I am going to save him for later.

Inspector Thibodeaux is called to investigate the death of a supervisor at a restaurant in town. The victim is also the biggest philander in the parish. As the cities’ best investigator he is able to ascertain who committed the crime and why. He is a eccentric individual though and when he steps on to a crime scene he is very noticeable. He wears an all white suit and a white fedora that shades his pale face from the hot Louisiana sun. His shoes are what attract the most attention. They are alligator Madison shoes that look completely out of place at most crime scenes.

1/24/11: Jack Fargone

This is a character for my film script writing class.

As one of 87 people who survived the destruction of planet Earth, Jack Fargone has to find a place where he belongs with the help of a talking dog and a humpback whale named Otto.

Character Spines:

1. How does your character like his eggs in the morning?

Jack likes his eggs over easy. A runny yolk that makes a mess he can sop up with toast saturated in butter, not margarine but real butter. He also likes hash browns that are slightly crispy and help to absorb some of the yolk.

2. How does your character’s chronological order of his surname affect his behavior?

Jack was always somewhere at the beginning so whenever he had to answer questions or do stuff in class he had to think quickly on his feet.

3. What did your character ask for on his 18^th birthday?

Jack asked for a new bike. His last one was stolen when he turned 16 and he didn’t have enough to get a new one. He lives in Chicago and rides the bus or EL Train everywhere and his parents don’t have cars either.

4. Your character sees a turtle struggling on its back in the desert, what does he do?

Jack would turn the turtle back upright and then follow him to see where he goes. If he saw the turtle encounter any further dangers he would help the turtle out.

5. What is your characters favorite type of music?

He will listen to pretty much anything that is mainstream. He isn’t a music snob but if it is really popular he usually won’t listen to it unless it is really good.

6. Has your character had a significant other and are they still together?

Yes he had a girlfriend and no they are not together at the beginning of the story. She broke up with him because he wasn’t doing anything with his life. He accepted the assistant manager position at the video store and was planning on buy a ring to propose to her but then the world was destroyed. He thought it would show he was serious.

7. If your character saw an old lady get mugged what would he do?

Jack would run after the thief. He is all about helping those less fortunate and it tends to get him in trouble.

8. How many languages does your character speak?

Jack speaks one language, English. He took Spanish in high school but retains none of it.

1/21/11: Murder of a Philanderer

The original victim of my mini mystery. The mini mystery will be submitted to Women's World Weekly magazine and this seemed too seedy for that.

The victim was killed because he slept with Fox’s wife. Right before the murder Fox confronted the victim in the parking lot. Later that night he confronted him again in the restaurant. Fox had removed his wedding ring and the tan line from it is still visible. The victim is widely known as a playboy and philanderer. So the murder of him by one of the men whose wives he slept with is not far fetched. The only problem with that is there are a lot and he was killed in the restaurant after hours in the back office which was locked from the inside. There are only 4 individuals with keys: John, Wendy, Danny and Fox. John and Wendy were both off and claim to have been together. Their alibi cannot be confirmed. Danny was seen arguing with the victim during the busy dinner hours and he actually had to be escorted out by two police officers who were off duty at the time. The victim told the officers that he was mad because he had been fired. Danny may have kept a copy of the key and used it to access the office.

1/20/11: Who Dunnit?

This was my original idea for a mini mystery we had to write for class. Unfortunately, the mystery is the main character in a mini mystery, not the characters and some of these characters were too much.

John, restaurant manager, had access to the office but was with Wendy. Said it was the victims turn to close on Friday since they trade Fridays between himself, the Victim and Wendy.

Wendy, restaurant assistant manager, had access to the office also but was with John. She had a feeling someone was stealing money from the restaurant when she noticed the books were being altered. She didn’t have any idea who was doing it though. It very well could have been John.

Danny discovered the money laundering but had yet to say anything to anybody. He was going to report it to John but was recently fired by the Victim. Wendy had told Danny to come by and get his final check sometime that day but he didn’t make it in until later that night. When he did arrive the victim was there and him and the victim got in an argument. He left and never returned.

Fox is the head chef of the restaurant. He killed the victim. Fox had a wedding ring mark on his finger where he recently removed his wedding ring after his wife had cheated on him with the victim. He was the evening chef and knew that the victim would be closing that night. He confronted the victim about the affair and choice words were said between the two of them.