Category: Life

Damien’s Last Call

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Melissa’s Fandango Flash Fiction Challenge

The image depicts a close-up of a payphone on a wall. There are stickers on the phone that read “4 MINUTES FOR $1.00,” “LOCAL CALLS 50¢,” and others. Photo by Nellie Adamyan on Unsplash

He stood at the pay phone, short on change and on love, and waited for the last seconds to tick by.

“Please insert $0.50 to continue.” The automated voice chimed in before Lacy could complete her sentence.

The two of them were like peas in a pod. Damien, with his wild antics, and Lacy, with her calm demeanor. Opposites attract, and they were inseparable.

Who would have ever thought Lacy would be on the other end of what would have been a collect call, but Damien had $0.50 on him to spare. His last bit of change for a woman who changed him.

“I should have stayed outta that store, Dame. Ain’t no changing it now. I did what I did.”

“It’s supposed to be me! I’m supposed to be in there! Not you! Not you, Lace!”

The automated voice chimed in once again to remind Damien of the pressing need for more money for the call. Please insert $0.50 to continue. Please insert $0.50 to continue. Please insert $0.50 to continue.

“I AIN’T GOT NO DAMN $0.50, OKAY!”

Damien banged the receiver’s cradle with the handset three times to match the automated voice’s demand. The last words he heard from Lacy before the call was cut short were, “I’ve done time for both of us.”

He dropped to his knees, held his head in his hands, and sobbed for the love of his life.

The execution was scheduled for 10:00 AM sharp. He had forty-five minutes to save her. The spare change he had to make the call to her was his last.

David T. Pulman, Jr., Esq., sat in his oversized office chair, his hands folded perfectly in his lap, his hair slicked back in a greasy ponytail, and waited for the phone to ring.

It didn’t.

Time of death: 10:05 AM.

This flash fiction piece is in response to Melissa’s Fandango Flash Fiction Challenge. I couldn’t let this one pass when I saw the pay phone as the image from which to create. If you want to try your hand at it, go for it!

T-Shirt Message #4

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Encouraging messages that have been AI-generated as I grow through the messes and joys of life.

AI-Generated Image: A young White girl wearing glasses with blonde shoulder-length hair, brown eyes. She is also wearing a shirt that says, “Let’s Help One Another Toward Greatness.” Created with Canva. T-Shirt Message #4

“Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” – Booker T. Washington 

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

A Day To Bloom

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Sunday Microfiction #9

Sunday Microfiction #9: A Day To Bloom. Created with Canva.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

Opening Lyrics To Songs That I Love

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#9: Bobby Caldwell, What You Won’t Do (Do for Love)

I guess you wondered where I’ve been/
I searched to find the love within/
I came back to let you know/
Gotta thing for you, and I can’t let go/

What You Won’t Do for Love, Bobby Caldwell. YouTube

This will probably be my favorite segment on my blog in a very long time! Welcome to Opening Lyrics to Songs That I Love!

“What You Won’t Do for Love” is a hit song by American singer-songwriter Bobby Caldwell.

The song was released in September 1978 as the lead single from his debut album, also titled Bobby Caldwell. Bobby Caldwell co-wrote the song with Alfons Kettner. It’s considered a classic example of smooth soul and “blue-eyed soul”. It incorporates elements of jazz fusion and R&B.

The song was incredibly successful, becoming Caldwell’s signature song. It reached number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100.

It peaked at number six on the Hot Selling Soul Singles chart. It reached number ten on the Easy Listening chart. The song became a long-lasting standard and a career-defining hit for Caldwell.

It’s been covered and sampled many times by other artists, including Tupac Shakur’s posthumous 1998 hit “Do for Love”. -Google Gemini AI Mode via Wikipedia

I was nineteen years old when I found out Bobby was not Black. I am forty-five years old now, and I am forever changed by this man and this song. He had a sound that was incredibly distinctive and overwhelmingly soulful. He was one of those singers I refer to as a crooner.

His melodious riffs and perfect inflections will draw you in. It is my belief that he had a ton more hits inside him. However, he passed away in March 2023 — far too soon.

Bobby was openly embraced, admired, and loved on by the Black community. The song could be heard at many family functions, cookouts, and was often part of wedding playlists. I’ve even skated to it in various skating rinks over the years. It’s an all-time classic.

He was a man who had a hurdle to get over in the music industry regarding his race and being linked to his record label, TK Records. We live to love Bobby Caldwell and appreciate his creativity and personal spin on several songs that connect human beings in love, falling out of love, and trying to hold onto love.

He will continue to be missed, but his music, especially this song, lives on.

For one more Sunday, I’ll share with you my favorite opening lyrics to songs I truly love. Maybe you’ll enjoy it. Maybe you won’t. Perhaps you’ll share your favorite opening lyrics to songs you love as well. Perhaps you won’t. Either way, we’re going to have a good damn time.

See you next week!

Mandy Patinkin Has a Powerful Message|Hope Still Lives

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And it nearly crushed my heart, but I’m glad he said it; I’m just saddened that he had to.

Mandy Patinkin’s Urgent Message to Jews Worldwide

Patinkin grew up in an upper-middle-class family, descended from Jewish immigrants from Russia and Poland, and was raised in Conservative Judaism, attending religious school daily from the age of seven to 13 or 14 and singing in synagogue choirs, as well as attending the Camp Sura in Michigan.

Fine Art America/Images

hope still lives, or at least, I think it does

many of us don’t
really have a heyday
to refer to–shouldn’t
we all–isn’t that
some sort of
requirement to doing
life the way it should
be done?!

I could be
overthinking this as
I typically do with
all things, but in my
head, it makes sense
for this to make
sense.

I know I can’t be the
only one.
I hope I’m not the
only one.

but it wouldn’t be
the first time, and
that, somehow, is
oddly relieving.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

the carelessness of the few & a griseous morning

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Two poems written on Substack notes

the carelessness of the few

if millions of breathing beings
proscribed evildoers and those greedy
enough to shake down the poor and
oppressed, we wouldn’t be dancing
in a pit of flames, trying our best to
outrun the burn.

but here we are…
walking on lit coal, struggling to stay
sane, and clapping away fire that aligns
itself with our truths.
we had the tools to succeed politically,
however, many were afraid to see how
well they worked.

and now, we’re all
drowning in this
inescapable Hell.

a griseous morning

morning isn’t sashaying over to
me as it’s done the
past few days.

it appears sullen,
griseous, and
downtrodden.

I don’t have the
words to heal the ache it feels, but
I offer a few anyway.

it wanders around my home,
anxious to see which one of us
will break first.

I’ve got news for it…
it won’t be me.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.