Replay: "The Original Rainmaker"

Daniel O'Shea had a flash fiction challenge, and I had an idea mulling that had been simmering on the back burner for some time. I wanted to give closure to the traumatized strip club owner from "A Sheep In Wolf's Clothing," and the rest was cranked out pretty much inside of a day. The "crime fiction" tag is misnomer in a sense, as virtually no crime occurs in this story, and I made a conscientious effort to tone down the usual violence and occasional gore.




Without further adieu, here is "The Original Rainmaker."

Replay: "One Hundred And Twenty-Five Grams Of Pain"

Oh, the woe of a drug dealer. Such an accursed trade, and such an abysmal life. Here is his lament, in the (almost micro) story called "125 Grams of Pain." This tale was posted on Flashing In The Gutters.

As to what the dosage alludes to, you'll have to read for yourself.

Replay: "In The Purple And Gray Morning"

The way JJ worked it, he came up with the starting sentence and he would post it on Friday, around 11 AM. Then, you had to come up with the story by Monday 12 PM C.S.T.

Well, I had writer's block that weekend, so it tends to be a good idea to go with what is in front of you and what do you knnow? That's what I decided to write about.

Check out, "In The Purple And Gray Morning."

Replay:"Reversal"

Now, how obscure is this story? To my knowledge, only six people have read it and only one has ever commented on it. Yet it I believe that it deserves a second airing and hopefully it will find an audience this time.

Let me do a better job of selling it, by giving you the opening paragraph-

Whether it's in books, movies or the news, everyone wants to talk about the heist gone wrong. Yet, nobody wants to talk about the robbery gone right and the crooks that got away. Least of all, nobody in this car or we might jinx it. And when I say it went right, I mean we were out of the bank three and a half minutes early. That counts as at least five less patrol units to deal with.

So if the heist has gone right, what could go wrong? Well, superstition certainly doesn't help. So here we go with a little "Reversal."

Replay "The News"

I would put this story in my best of, but I believe that Katie Schwartz is one of four people that read it and as far as I know, it isn't anyone's cup of tea.

It's too long.
It's not a happy subject and there's very little humor in it.
Except for the victim of the crime that kicks the whole thing off, nobody in the story is portrayed in virtually any kind of a positive light.

This piece does not reflect my personal view of San Francisco's Finest, but I don't live in the neighborhood that I used as a source for this piece. So my opinion like gas mileage listed by the EPA...varies. You can tell when this was written if you cross-reference the events and the narrator's criticism of all media will still hold true a hundred years from now.

So Ladies and Gentlemen, for better, for bad, here is "The News."

Replay: "They Should Make People Take A Test"

I believe the gist of this Friday Flash Fiction challenge, was JJ was channeling Keanu Reeves' remark in "Parenthood"

"You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, to drive a car - hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father."

So JJ wanted us to run with our own version and I came up with something a little different. Not so long ago, people were taking up extreme sports with little or no training at all, with predictable results. So here is "They Should Make People Take A Test."

BTW, I don't want to hear about the narrator's orgasm remark again, I heard it all last time.

Replay: "Spin, Couch, Spin"

This story doesn't really qualify for the "Best Of," yet it bears retelling and I know that most of you will enjoy it. Schadenfreude at its best, don't ya know?



Here is "Spin, Couch, Spin."

BTW, this is dedicated to Doc.