Richard Norway

Has anyone seen the opening ceremonies of the Olympics? It was great, and the most expensive ever, I hear. But more importantly was when their Chinese team came out. Yo Ming was there with a 9 year old boy. Yo Ming is 7'-6" tall and he dwarfed the boy. The boy...damn...20 of the 30 of his classmates were killed during the earthquake. He pulled himself to freedom, but then turned and went back and saved 2 of his classmates. I can't tell you how my heart felt when I heard that. I cried...for real. Damn...I wish I had the courage of that 9 year old boy. Richard

Thank you Bruin for showing me the path to this story. I hadn't seen it before, but I'm new here. Bruin, TR...my partner is not pleased with you right now. I started reading and I missed giving my dog his dinner, forgot all about making dinner for my partner and I (he nuked something in the micro), ignored him all evening long and then cried on his shoulder after I had finished. I get very teary when I see love realized. I didn't skip over the discriptions of the old mansion. Reading the gothic style led right into the affair between Christian and Ian and it seemed so believable. And yes, the later part with Thomas was written in more of a modern style befitting the time, 1962 ( I grew up in that era. I graduated from high school in 1962). Richard (marvelously crying)

Oh Trab, you brought back so many memories to me, happy memories of being out in the wilderness. At those times I had also wished that I was alone to be able to be one with our world, naked, without pretense. Thank you for that. What a supreme piece. I really loved this one. Richard

Cole: Could be an interesting story there...a guy growing up in 1965 with a first name of Gaylord, nicknamed Gay. But...not much of a story there until you add your amazingly evil mind to it. Richard

Gay's Arcade looks pretty up scale to me. (referring to pics Des sent) Definately gay! Richard

I started voting back when you still had to be 21, and it was 1965. Don't even dare ask who I voted for back in those early years, because I was of a different party then. And it really was different then. Things have so drastically changed over the years, and then they had to go elect that bastard B***. I had had enough! Well, I got my head screwed on right, and who knows, tomorrow I'll screw it on again. Richard ps...Am I freudian about politics?

Trab: That was mind blowing. I wanted to be there. Richard

Des You have a wicked sense of humor. Richard

However Cole, I wouldn't put it past the chuirch to be seeing the word in todays context, hence (probably) their actions. They initiated the name change. Richard Norway

I think you all get the point of that short conversation. We all have doubts. We all have fears. And it's not only common, it's quite natural. That little voice does indeed help us. He (She) cautions us by making us aware of the pitfalls and consequances of our actions. The real question is actually how much we listen to that voice. It can be quite debilitating if we are its slave, its slave to inaction, or worse yet...proactively doing something that is NOT in our best interests. It forces us to THINK. I presented it comically (I like to come across that way and let the reader interpret. Just read Rimbaud's blog and you'll know what I mean.), but that conversation's implications are enormous. Richard Norway

Play close attention to the side affect warnings at the end. Richard

I was reading the posts on other's Flash Fiction and this thought came to my head Have you ever had that little voice in your head talk to you? Oh, you know the one I mean. It?s that little shit that tells you that you can?t do anything, the one that plays on your fears. No, not plays on them...he is your fears. Here?s how it usually goes: Me: ?So, what do I do now?? Voice: ?Just ignore him.? Me: ?But he may like me.? Voice: ?Yeah, right. You're no Adonis.? Me: ?But he looked at me.? Voice: ?Well, what do you have to offer him?? Me: ?Shit. Nothing.? Voice: ?See what I mean?? Me: ?But he looked at me.? Voice: ?He's probably looking at the blond starlet behind you.? Me: ?Probably.? Voice: ?He's straight.? Me: ?Probably? Voice: ?Need I say more?? Me: ?Fuck!? I finished my whiskey

Damn it Jason I'll be back. I need to go take a shower. Richard

Jason: All I can say is...Ahhhh. That was beautiful. Something deeper though is inherent here. If we can be outwardly natural with how we feel and love, we will touch others. We are an inspiration to others by just being ourselves. Richard

I first read this on a different website. I cried then. I just found this again on AD. I cried just now...again. Keep your passion Jason. The longer stories will happen. I'm still working on my longer pieces, and mine will happen too. Richard

Bruin: I don't think he's planning on coming out. I got the impression that some words were said to him that were going to out him, and he panicked. He's trying to calm himself, to rationalize that he's still okay. Damn, I still get chills reading that. Richard

Res: That was wonderful. As I was reading that short piece, the stacato of the sentences, the panic in someones mind, all of it, it had my heart palpitating. You pulled it off man. What a great scene! We want, no...need, to hear more from you. Richard

Opps

Oh NO! Bruin...please...please...don't do that, Bruin...please! I can't stand pain. Please don't tell Camy. Look man, I promise, I swear I promise never to do it again. Just don't tell him, okay?

Okay Bruin and Camy. Here?s another one. Remembering my own fears a few years ago, I wanted to investigate them. How would someone else handle them? This short piece written a year ago was the result of that investigation. I?m sorry it took longer than 1,000 words (1,083), but this was important for me to get out. ---[]--- The morning sunlight was still too weak to light up much of Kevin?s bedroom, but it didn?t matter to him. He was awake and had been starring at the blank ceiling for over an hour. He had made up his mind last week but now that the day had arrived, he felt numb. It was that numbness that comes over you when you?ve planned and rehearsed and there?s nothing else to do but do it. Each time he felt this way the fear would also return. The fear that he had lived with for so many years had become so debilitating that his own existence was at stake. He had chosen this day, a Saturday, to end it, because he had no school today, and his mom and dad would both be home. He thought back. Scenes formed on the white motion picture screen that was the ceiling to remind him of how he had gotten to this day. He closed his eyes. ?BANG? the locker door crashed with such a fury that Kevin thought his ears would burst. At the same instant, his whole body shook as the fear rose to meet him face to face. ?Didn?t I tell you to keep away from me.? Dazed by the violence of the sounds around him, Kevin jabbed his feet into the floor to propel himself backwards until his back hit the lockers, crashing out a sound almost as frightening as the one Mark had made in slamming his locker door shut. The fear gripped at his soul. He?d been beaten before, and he knew he could take the blows. It wasn?t the pain, but rather the humiliation burning inside of himself that he feared the most. He felt the eyes of all 875 kids torturing him as Mark turned and walked away leaving Kevin feeling helpless. ?Why did he continue to allow this to happen?? he asked himself. ?No way. No more.? His eyes focused on the bathroom door on the far wall of his bedroom. It was beckoning him. It was time to move. Slowly one leg moved out from under the sheet followed by the other. He sat for a second and then stood on both feet. He moved in a daze to the bathroom to get himself ready for this day. He turned on the hot water of the shower and adjusted the cold to keep the mixed water as warm as he could stand it. He?d always loved to stand under the streams of warmth and wash all the fears off him. He closed his eyes. ?Kevin. What?s the matter man?? He knew who was speaking but didn?t see Kelly at first. He turned completely around to find Kelly, but all he saw was a herd of kids trampling the hall on their way to their next class. Finally Kelly emerged from the herd and stood looking up at him. ?Not now Kelly. Please. I?ve got to get to class? was all he could say. He saw the hurt in her eyes as Kelly slowly turned and became one with the flow of human traffic. ?Kevin. You are such an asshole. Of all people, you know that Kelly would be behind you, no matter what. Why can?t you have the courage to talk to her? She?d understand.? He wanted to run away and hide his shame. He needed some air. Just as he was about to turn and bolt for the door, he again, giving in to the beast within him, closed his locker door and joined the sea on the way to his next class. Kevin felt the water turn colder. How long he?d been standing there, he didn?t know. He told himself that he?d better get himself moving or else his fears would stop him. The shampoo and soap would help keep his mind off of it. If he thought too much, he knew that he?d lie to himself again. ?Why am I afraid to face it? Really, I?m just like everyone else. I breath. I learn. I feel pain and joy. I want to find a place for myself in this world just like everyone else. Today I'm going to be a man. Today I will be afraid, but if I let the fear get to me, I will be nothing.? Kevin stepped from the shower and dried himself. "Hey man." "Hey dude. What's up?" Kevin answered as he put his books back into his locker getting ready to go home. "Not much. Steve and I are going to go hang at the mall and maybe catch a movie later. Wanna come?" Kevin looked at Bryan for a moment wondering how to say no. He liked Bryan, but today he wanted to be alone. ?I don?t think so, man. ?Why not?" ?I just don?t feel like it, okay?? ?Hey. It?ll be good for you to get out and around people.? ?Look Bryan. Leave me alone will you? Just go do your own thing.? Kevin slammed his locker shut and turned to leave. ?Okay, okay, man. Don?t bite my head off.? As Bryan turned and walked away, Kevin felt the churning in his stomach begin. He knew why he didn?t want to go to the mall with Steve and Bryan, but he couldn?t tell them the truth. Lying was such a part of him that the truth had no life anymore, no existence. His disgust for himself crept over him like molten lava running unstoppable over the landscape. ?Why do we hurt the ones we love the most?? he asked himself. Fear is not just a lack of courage. Fear exists unto itself. It lives and it hurts. He hated what he had become. Dressing quickly, Kevin went back to the bathroom to comb his hair. There in the mirror, that unrecognizable person that didn?t exist until a week ago, starred back at him. Kevin smiled and the man in the mirror smiled back. He knew then that it would be all right. Kevin boldly turned and left the solitude and protection of his closed bedroom and headed downstairs. For today?this day?this was the day that would change his life forever. He was heading downstairs to tell his mother and father that he is gay.

A couple. hehe Richard Norway

Playing on my computer one afternoon, I had an image form in my head. I just had to explore it, to see where it took me. As I opened the door, I was assaulted with a stench of stale beer and the pungency of ancient cigarette smoke whose parents had long since been extinguished. It was so thick I could taste it. My eyes strained to see through the haze and darkness, and as I entered, the flats of a honky tonk piano could be heard to my left. Why, after all these years of silence, had my brother wanted to meet here? Slowly, my mind registered human bodies in disjointed union moving to and fro to the sounds of the piano and the voice of someone further into the darkness. Making my way forward, I knew, as the human cloud propelled me as I were a steel ball in a pin ball machine, that I didn?t want to be here. Finally I emerged to an opening, and for the first time in 12 years I saw my brother. His head rose from his deep concentration of the half empty glass of whiskey on the bar in front of him, and as our eyes met, I saw the pain of 12 years of loneliness. We acknowledged each other?s presence in silence. Long before I took the stool next to him, our eyes silently talked of the past, and we both knew that tonight he was coming home.

I grew up in Southern California and had experienced many earthquakes as a youngster. I remember one such quake, or at least that was the first one that I realized was an earthquake. One night it happened. My brother and I shared a room. He had the top bunk, while I was below on the bottom. I think I was 8 years old and my brother was 7. It was early in the morning before the sun had risen when the bed started shaking, so much so that it woke me up. I was so mad at my brother as I thought that he was causing the shaking. I put my feet on the underside of his mattress springs and started kicking, yelling at him to quit shaking the bed. I don't remember what his exact words back to me were, but that when i became very frightened. He wasn't doing it. I didn't know what was. My dad came into the room shortly after the shaking had stopped to see if we were okay. He had to explain to me what had happened. I moved away from California, not returning for over 30 years. Being back there, I wanted to feel an earthquake again. That may sound mental of me, but I really did. I wanted to feel an earthquake again. It was into my fourth year on my return that I finally felt one. It was small, I could bearly feel it. As the ground was shaking, I kept thinking to myself, "Is that all there is?" Richard

The last and final chapters were post sometime last night, and when I woke up this morning (even though I was up at 5:00am to get some work done that could NOT be put off), there was no way that THAT was going to get in my way of reading the conclusion to Cole's story. This one had me by the shorts, and I couldn't let go of it. Cole, you amaze me. This one was so different from your others (including the dreaded cliffhangers), and just...awesome. I personally believe it's the best you've done, or at least of what I've read of yours so far. Now. Get back to work, no breaks, no playing with your dog. We're all waiting for your next one. I suspect we'll see Chapter 1 in 3 days. He He Richard

OMG. This is my first time on AD, posting anything. I'm really surprised, but also so greatful. Thank you all for giving me your insight. You've all made my decision. I've decided what to do. I do not like Roader's approach, and I don't want to do a series from different POVs. This is going to be difficult for me, I know, but I have to try to get across the story in a way that the reader understands the characters and how they progress during during Act II. I still cry when I read the final scene of Act III, and I have to get them there. Cole told me abotut his passion he has for his charecters, and that's what I have. I live and breath them. This is truly a character strudy as they progress through their relationships. To keep it personal, I've limited my narrative, and concentrated on their dialoge. So, therefore I need two points of view, and will do this in third person, delving into both minds. I have three main sharcaters, but for the third characterf, I will leave out his POV, allowing his thoughts to appear through his dialog. That works well for this story. Again, thank you all for what you've said. As a newbie, it's obnvious by my question that I need your help. This is new to me. My passion isn't. Richard