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Many of my stories are written for friends, and today’s story “Crossing” is no exception. Though it makes use of Lisa, a long time Internet friend, it was written with another friend in mind, a fellow author whom I met here on SoL shortly after I started posting again in December of 2020. Howard and I exchanged hundreds of emails in the six months I knew him, discussing writing and relating the adventures of our lives.
“Crossing” begins with an experience Howard told me about: waiting at a railroad crossing in a small Alabama town, and the beautiful girl in the car adjacent to his touching herself shamelessly. From that point on, the story is invention. I did the picture for Howard, and he was very pleased. Had Howard been able to read the entire story, I’m not sure he’d have been thrilled, but I think he would have smiled. I’m not sure why I didn’t write the story so Howard got the girl. I should have. During the last weeks of Howard’s life we talked frequently on the phone. Up until then, most of our correspondence involved Howard relating his fascinating life and me asking him questions and encouraging him to reveal more and more. He didn’t need much encouragement. His life was quite remarkable. At the end, he found it almost impossible to speak, and it was up to me to provide the words.
I miss Howard. Someday I may write a sequel to this story, and if I do, you can be sure Howard will get the girl.
Recently an enhancement was added to SoL so that illustrations appear in epub versions of stories. This applies to old stories as well as new ones. I’m very pleased about this feature. As many of you know, the illustrations are meant to be an important part of my stories. In some cases the illustration includes information that informs the story in what I consider a vital way. (That’s usually my goal, in any case, though I realize I don’t always achieve it.) I do like the look of stories on epub, and I recommend that you give it a try. (In some cases there is a slight scale distortion for epub illustrations, but I don’t think this is a serious detriment.)
In honor of secretaries, I'm posting a couple of little secretary stories, one of them from the poetic pen of Ashley.
I'm also putting up the third rehab story, this one written by Auguste, in which he charts his code blue experience.
This morning I posted three stories to a new Universe called Puzzles. It’s public, so feel free to use it for your own story or poem. The idea is that a puzzle should play an important role in the story. The puzzle might be a jigsaw puzzle, a crossword puzzle, a riddle, or really any sort of mystery, enigma, or conundrum.
If you’d like to have me attempt to illustrate your story, let me know.
In the seven years I knew Emma, I did more than a thousand pictures of her and put her in many hundreds of little stories, always with her blessing, often with her input. Not yet 35, Emma died earlier this year. I feel it necessary to celebrate Emma’s life. Her story is certainly more complicated and interesting and full of vitality than my portrayals. I do what I can. It seemed appropriate to me to post a little piece about Emma on Easter. I think she’d be tickled at the irreverence of it. But no matter what the season, day, year, Emma remains in my mind, ever fun, ever sexy, ever naughty, ever kind.
Just now I did another little “painting” of Emma. There’s no story for it, and there might not be, but for those of you interested in the image, you might find it here:
https://mmtwassel.wixsite.com/stories/emma-easter
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