Dedicated to My Beautiful City that Never Sleeps

The elevator doors opened. That, in itself, was not a bad thing. What was awful was that they opened half-way between floors scaring the five occupants terribly. Considering that the elevator had come to a shocking stop with one jolt, the people contained within were not happy campers.

Five strangers, all trapped. Five hearts racing so fast you could almost hear the heartbeats.

"It looks we're stuck here, might as well introduce ourselves, I'm Linda," said a young woman with long blond hair.

A tall young man with dreadlocks, shook his head with a flourish saying, "I'm Sammy, I'm supposed to be delivering a package here."

 "Yeah, yeah who gives a crap who anyone is. Let's get this piece of crap moving, push a damn button or something",a heavy set middle aged man blurted out.

 "Now, that's not nice, introduce yourself the right way. This idiot is my husband Larry and I'm Barbara", she stated as she glared at her husband.

All eyes turned on the fifth occupant of the elevator a lovely dark haired girl, who was extremely pregnant and also in the throes of a massive panic attack.

The girl pressed her back against the wall, holding on to the brass railing that ran across the mid-section of the elevator. She held on so tightly that her knuckles were blanched white. Her breath was becoming more rapid with each passing minute and you could see the panic in her eyes. Looking at her you immediately thought of a deer trapped in someone's headlights unable to move even an inch.

Barbara moved slowly towards the girl, speaking softly as she moved, "Honey, just breathe easy now, everything is going to be fine. They'll have us moving in just a few minutes. What's your name sweetie?"

The girl raised a limp hand to her head, closed her eyes and started to slide down, Barbara and Sammy each grabbed one arm and let the girl gently down in a sitting position with her back against the wall.

Barbara felt the girl's pulse, which was returning to normal, saying, "She'll be alright, just a bit of a fright maybe she's claustrophobic. I was a nurse before I retired."

 

The dark haired girl was breathing a bit better.  She opened her eyes quietly watching everyone. "My name is Brittany and I'm very scared."

Linda knelt down towards the girl saying "Please don't be frightened, they must have people working on getting us out of here already, it will just be a short time, you'll see."

Larry was grumbling to himself, you could just catch some words, "Stupid, ridiculous, of all the crap that could happen, it had to be today". His wife was trying to calm him down also.

Sammy gave a huge sigh and asked,"What's up with him? Ain' none of us happy about this but no reason to carry on so."

"Well, today has not been a good day for my husband. He has been trying to get a patent for an invention of his for over three years now. Everyplace has him do more paperwork and then sends him somewhere else. It's very frustrating." said Barbara.

"Okay, well I've been run all over this town today, delivering one package after another. I'm still not done, have to be downtown before 9:30 A.M. and now I'm not gonna make it." Sammy said.

Linda looked up at the others, shaking her head making her hair bounce to one side. "I'm in a rush too, I have a job interview at ten o'clock, I can't be late. This is something I've wanted,something I've waited for, my dream job. How is it going to look if I'm late?"

Brittany had been sitting there listening to everybody speak, taking it all in. "If anyone is interested I was on my way to a very important appointment, one that would decide if I kept my baby or if I had found the right parents for him."

"Well, said Barbara, it seems that we all have our priorities in order. Maybe if we make a little bit of noise someone will answer us?"

Saying that, she proceeded to take her high heels off and using the metal end of her heel, started to tap out a rough SOS against the metal edging of the elevator.

Brittany had quietly started to cry, putting her head down on top of her arms so as to hide the fact from the others. Linda, once again, knelt down beside her and placed an arm around her, giving her a hug. "Hang in there kid, better days are coming!" she said to her.

 

Brittany looked up at her and said "I could see the look on everybody's face, you all think I'm terrible because I'm thinking of giving up my baby!"

"Hell, we don't even know you, much less know enough about you to judge you." Larry piped in. "All I want to do is get the hell out of here so I can keep my appointment!"

"Larry, you big ape, shut up and don't go yelling at this kid!" exclaimed his wife.

Linda said "Well, just think this over logically. Other people will want to use this elevator, there has to be a back up of people waiting for it to come down. So logically they should be aware of the fact that we are stuck in limbo. Unless someone has a cell phone on them?" Everyone shook their heads saying "No."

Sammy started to rummage around in his courier pack for something. He pulled out an old Walkman, turned it on, trying to get music. "I figured it might ease us up a bit, relax the moment."

The others nodded in agreement, the music even if it was Rap, it took their mind off their predicament. If only for a little while.

It seems like hours had passed, but it really had only been an hour since the elevator doors opened.

The music suddenly stopped playing, they were making some kind of emergency announcement. Something about a plane flying into the World Trade Building, a horrible accident?

"Please make it louder, if you can" asked Linda.

Sammy tried his best to readjust the sound and reception, finally getting it in the best he could.

Everyone in the elevator was stone cold silent. The impact of what they were hearing was beyond their ken. The news reporter only had sketchy reports at best, it seemed that chaos reigned at the scene of the accident.

Now the announcer was saying that a second plane had hit the other tower too, this wasn't any accident!

Linda slowly sank to the floor on her knees, crying softly as she did. "My interview was in Tower I on the 90th floor. This elevator saved me!"

The messenger, Sammy, shook his head saying "Dear Lord, I would of been there too, my next delivery was to Tower I, 91st floor."

Larry and Barbara looked at one another and grabbed each other. "That was where they had us going for the next step in patenting his invention!"

Slowly, they all turned their attention towards Brittany.  She looked up saying "I'm almost afraid to say that it was where I was headed. But, it's true. The lawyers office is on the 89th floor and I was supposed to meet the couple there."

Linda said I think I speak for all of us. "Dear Lord, thank  you for saving us and keeping us away from the awful danger that took place today, September 11th, 2001."

Everyone in the elevator was in a mood of quiet reflection.

 Everyone reacts differently to shock and this had shocked them to their core. The thoughts ran in unison, "I'm alive, I'm alive."


None of the pettiness that engulfed them before was even thought about, only life. Also the humble thought that in this huge city they should be the ones saved by fate?

All of a sudden the elevator gave a slight jolt and started to move downwards. The five people backed away from the open doors, waiting for the elevator to stop in a decent manner.

Five suddenly changed people exited when the elevator doors opened.

Trump is a Skunk

So I believe Trump has lost it.   Fire Carolyn indeed!  Mr. Trump....read my lips...You're fired!  I won't watch that show again if life depended on it.

I think he just pissed off a whole lot of women who watch his show.  This woman spends over ten years, doing his bidding, being a shinning star....his rising star...good enough to be on TV with him...touting her accomplishments.  What bullshit.

I think that Trump's head has gotten as big as some of the outlandish condo's that he is building, with an ego to match.  Let's make the show a total Trump family scene, bring in junior and his sis too - that should be real interesting.    The family Giotti comes to mind!

I, at least, hope that she has a good separation package from the creep.  I get so angry when good people get screwed...hope Trump gets his soon.

 

Dad

Time seems to pass too quickly.  My Dad just celebrated his 90th birthday and what an interesting ninety years did he have.

Some of you know from what I've written before that my Dad was the first rider of Seabiscuit and War Admiral.  He broke both horses to the bit and saddle.  So we have gotten stories about "the Biscuit" straight from the horses' mouth so to speak.

He told us that Seabiscuit was a wild looking mustang, smaller in statue than some of the other horses.  He also said that Seabiscuit loved nothing more than to take naps..laying down.  Most mature horses only lay down if they are sick or giving birth.  So his nature was unusual from the start.

My Dad says there was no way that Fitzsimmons willingly gave up Seabiscuit.  The lady that owned him overruled Fitz and since she was the owner that was that.

We all know that Hollywood takes license with real life stories and that was definitely done with the movie on Seabiscuit. 

If anyone is interested in his story...the St. Petersburg Times wrote an article on my Dad...it's called The Link Between Legends...google that and Charles Schick and it should come up.

Happy Birthday Dad.....and many more....

Homework Assignment #127

To me this little cactus guy represents a bit of summer.  After all he grows in really hot climates,  and he's quenching his thirst with a pretty good brew!

My little Haiku follows:

Blooms fade in golden light
Storms make ready to clean the air
Nightfall creeps in early

 

Short Scary Story

 

The day had started as usual, or so Susan thought.  As the day progressed she would come to realize just how wrong she was, for nothing was as usual.

Most people who met Susan were stunned by her quiet beauty.  It was the sort of beauty that grew with each day that you knew her. There seemed to be a radiance that emanated from within her.   She was one of the lucky few that had no perceptible flaws, never even had a blemish during her teen years!

 

She was starting to wake up and as she usually did tried to remember her dreams.  She felt achy as though she had done some heavy physical work during her sleep.  It was unusual that she could not remember any of her dreams this morning....very strange.

 

Susan stretched like an overfed cat across the bed, willing her body to come alive for the day.  She yawned, sat up and put her slippers on.  She made her way to the bathroom, accomplished her business, then went to the sink to brush her teeth.  Susan looked in the mirror and screamed....the face looking back at her was not her's, who was this stranger?  Was she still dreaming, trapped in some bizarre alternate reality?

 

She stared at the mirror.  This face was not beautiful, it was filled with pockmarks, scars from old injuries and, oh my God, it looked like new pustules were forming as she watched.  Oh, she prayed, please let me be dreaming..Okay I'll wake up now please.  Nothing happened, the face stared back at her, Susan decided to pinch herself maybe pain would wake her up.

"Ouch", that didn't work either.  Tears started to fall down her cheeks she was so terrified.

 

This is just impossible she said.  This face is older, complexion is darker, even the wrong hair color.  She had to find out what was going on, it was driving her insane.

 

She went to pick up her cell phone to call her best friend Kathy, but there was no dial tone.  Odd, the phone was fine and fully charged last time she used it. She decided to use the cordless instead,  heard a dial tone and started to dial for her friend.  A message came up..."Sorry we are unable to process your call due to interference on the line, please try again later."

 

Susan felt cut off from the rest of the world.  She decided to turn her computer on, maybe she could get some clue online as to what was going on.  The machine turned on alright, but all she was getting was the dreaded blue screen.  It just would not start up right.  Absolutely nothing was right.

 

Susan lived in a classy hi-rise Condo on Chicago's Lakeshore Drive.  She came from a family with money and wanted for nothing.  She barely knew her next door neighbor, but she decided with everything that had happened she had to get help somewhere.  So she went out of her apartment  and across to her next door neighbors, knocked on the door and waited for a response.

 

Susan could hear someone approach the door and look through the peek hole. She spoke up and asked "Could you please help me, I need to use your phone, mine is not working."  Silence is all that answered her.  "I know you are in there, please this is a matter of life and death, please!!" she said.

 

Slowly, very slowly the door opened.  Susan gasped! "Oh, my God...no, how is this possible?"  She proceeded to faint dead away.  The last image she saw was herself standing over her body with a slight evil grin on that very beautiful face.

Just Experimenting A Bit

I don't know about you, but I like penquins.  I haven't seen the March of the Penquins as yet, but I will.

Everytime I look at this little video up above I laugh.  It kinda reminds me of life in general.  You are walking along minding your own business and boom - smacked right in the head. 

The full cut of this video is funnier because you see all the others walking a head and this guy waits for the last one to whack him!  Why am I laughing...it's kinda mean.

Of course, since the temps outside are so high and the combined elements makes it feel like 103 degrees I think of penquins...who would not be caught dead in weather like this.  I think our Zoos down here throw icecubes in their water to keep things cool.  Oh, the poor zoo in Tampa...

Late yesterday they had to shoot a beautiful Tiger that had escaped and almost made into where the public area was. They did try to sedate it first with darts, but it infuriated it further and did not work.  The head of the Zoo shot it with his rifle and tears in his eyes.  That Tiger had been born there...I know they will investigate and find out how it got loose but it's a shame that it had to die.

It's late, toodles.....

 

I'm out of the headlines or oh, please give me 15 more minutes of fame

Sometimes I hear or read the news and I am so totally appalled by it that I just have to rant.

 

Terry Schiavo.  There, I said it.  Now, what does that name conjure up in your mind? Or, perhaps you thought Terry? Terry who? People and their stories fade in and out of our mind's eye as quickly as a disappearing rainbow. 

 

Well, about a year ago she fought for her life against all odds, finally succumbing under the weight of the Supreme Court.  She did not die fast enough for her husband so he fought for years to deny her even the least human interaction that may have prolonged her life.  I, mean for Christ's sake, they were not even allowed to brush her teeth or give her a gyn exam.  Years before, he insisted the feeding tube stay in...even though she still had the gag reaction needed to swallow. 

 

Okay, okay I know that there are those of you who are going...Oh my God, who would want to live that way?  You are right, no one would.  But it took years, and I do mean years for her condition to deteriorate to the point that it did.   No therapy, keep her family away...what the hell.

 

Alright, I had calmed down and believe me it took a while.  Today, however, I have to read about this piece of crap again.  All of a sudden, the politicians have decided that Michael Schiavo is the next biggest thing since white bread! 

 

 

 

He has decided, with their backing, to promote whatever candidate is running against people that opposed him with regard to his wife's condition and treatment.  Our boy wonder, who lives right here in Pinellas Park, a damn hop, skip and a jump from my own door....is traveling the country downgrading anyone who stood up for Terry.  They have even set up a fund so that "goodminded citizens" can donate to the cause..it's called TerriPac.....I think TerrorPac is a better name.  You could write a wonderful horror story based on his and Terri's life.

 

Let's see, he was free to live his life, mess around...father children out of wedlock.  He could of given his kids his name earlier, but then again, he would of had to divorce Terri and that would of meant her loving parents won. 

 

But now he is on a quest....for what I don't know...revenge against people who wanted his wife to live.  Yeah, I'd vote for who he votes for....when hell freezes over.  I hope he gets ignored now, like poor Terri slowly dehydrating to death for fourteen days.....