Two people in the back of a cab who don't like each other...

Dari sat in the back of the cab with Minna.   Both fuming with anger...The rain poured down strumming a steady beat on the roof.  Both soaked to the gills, with wet hair plastered to their faces.  The cab driver looked in the rear view mirror at the two women.  Both pouting like spoiled children. Through steamed windows, he eased into the traffic carefully, when suddenly another cab nearly rammed into them.  Both ladies thrown forward, screamed at the sudden jolt which seemed o bring them to their senses.

"It's all your fault," accused Dari, sending darts with her eyes, spittle from her mouth.

"Will you please not spit on me when you talk," said Minna beligerently, wiping the spittle from her already rain drenched face.  "And, Missy, it was not my fault that you got us fired.  Your idea of a presentation was lousy.  What's wrong with you?  I know there's no love lost between us, but  c'omon."

"You're absolutely correct in your assesment, I don't like you, never have, never will.  You didn't help matters, you were late to the meeting, that's why I had to wing it...you had ALL of the information," she shouted back at her, moving closer and in her face.

"Ladies, ladies, came the fervent plea from the cabby.  "Must you act in this manner," he said in his lilting african voice.

They looked at him and disbelief, and said in unison..."Let me off at the next corner!"

Carlos discovered _____ [fill in the blank] under a pile of shoes in the back of his grandmother's closet.

Searching the house from top to bottom was an exacting  ordeal for Carlos, more than he had wanted to take on, but one that had to be done.  He had to be thorough in his search  for  the missing  items listed in his father's will.  Not knowing where to begin, he stood frozen by the enormity of what was before him, "this house is huge," he thought, it'll take me weeks of digging and probing."  He held his hand to his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.  "I need help, but who can I trust."  

Suddenly, his cell phone rang, jangling in his pocket, he hated that sensation, it always set him n edge.  He grabbed the phone.  "Hello," he said a bit irriated.  

"Carlos," said a familiar  voice.

"Maria, hi," he said trying to appear chipper.

"Hows, it going?  Have you begun your search?"   Maria was one of the few people who knew that his lawyer had sent him on a mission to locate the missing documents and items.  "Well," he sighed heavily, taking a deep breath.  " I'm just beginning, and frankly," he said as he looked about him, "I don't know where to begin..."  The room was shrouded in white sheets, even the crystal chandalier hanging overhead was shrouded as well.  A room full of ghosts standing sentinel.  He shuddered at the thought of fourteen rooms of this.

"Listen Carlos," said Maria, getting his attention.  "What say I come over there tomorrow, and make a plan of attack.  Actually we can kill two birds with one stone.  We'll begin the process of weeding things out for the estate sale, and we'll hopefully locate the items you need.  Whatya think? she asked sounding positive as if this would be the easiest task ever.

Carlos appreciated Maria's enthusiasm,  her sweet personality, beauty and charm,  with her on his side, he felt like he could conquer any task set before him.  They would soon be married and he would have her support for a life time.  He is a lucky man and he knows it.  They made a good team.

"Actually," he said drawing in his breath, "that would be wonderful.  This is all s overwhelming for me.  I didn't expect him to die so soon after my mom.  I feel stuck, orphaned,  and full of grief and remorse that I wasn't here for him..."

"I understand Carlos, what you're feel is all part of the grieving process.  You go through it, don't rush, just take your time.  You know I'm here for you."  She could see him there in her minds eye, tall, handsome, with his dark brooding features, feeling lost and alone.  "I'll fly out and meeting you at the airport tomorrow afternoon.  Pick me up"

"Yeh, sure, it'll be good to see you, I miss you.  We'll stay my hotel.  I don't want to be here at the house, not right now anyway."

"I'll see you tomorrow, try not to worry, we'll get through this together."

He ended the call feeling relieved that the calvary is on the way.

1.All of a sudden, the cubicle wall fell in on him.

2.As the bus started to pull away, he looked out the window and watched his mother faint.

1.  The elevator rattled its way up to the thirtieth floor.  Everyone inside stood in silence with the terror of the moment permanently etched on their faces.  The tremor struck just as the elevator doors closed.  The overcrowded elevator sluggishly rose higher and higher, gaining momentum, swinging back and forth.  The horror of the situation was evident to the passengers.  This was the express elevator, there was no stopping in between.  They would have to ride it out, praying they would not plummet t o their death.  The floor numbers ticked by in rapid succession. 20, 21, 22,23, not long before the doors would  finally open and they could disembark this death trap, a steel coffin.  At long last and with a deep breath, the door opened as the bell pinged announcing their arrival, Avery's co-workers quickly exited and ran into the office.  No sooner had Avery sat down in his chair, relieved, he closed his eyes as if in prayer, and breathed a sigh of relief, when all of a sudden, the cubicle wall fell in on

him.  "Wlhat the ...."he uttered in total disbelief.

2,

As the bus started to pull away, he looked out the window and watched his mother faint.

2.  Avery,  along with his mother and father, drove in silence for miles before they reached  the bus station.  Alma, his mother, in her blue flowered house dress, sturdy oxford shoes, and her freshly permed  and died black hair, sat in the front seat of the car with tears silently streaking her freshly  applied makeup.  "I must look a sight," she mumbled into her handkerchief.  \\

"Now honey, said my father, "we've known for some time now that he would leave soon."  His father Ben was a strong and practical man.  He took life at fce value.  When he son had enlisted, it was only natural that he would be called for duty soon after.  He tried to  comfort his wife who had been in tears for a number of days.  "H oney, if you keep this up, you're bound to make yourself sick," he looked at her with concern.  She nodded her head, "I know.  I know," she said as she blew her nose int the already soaked handkerchief

Avery  watched his father and mother in the front seat of the car.  Good parents, they had always shown him a great deal of love.  He felt sad too that he was leaving for duty, and he was scared too.  He was fighting a war that he didn't fully understand, but he was bound t servve.  Promises to wrie and call when he could were made.  

The  bus, fully loaded with passengers pulled away, he waved  his mother and father good bye, forlorn looks in their eyes mad him sad.  Looking out of the window, he blew his mother a kiss as he had done as a little boy.  A weak smile crossed his mother's face and as he watched his father grab her arm, she fell t the ground.  

#1:

Avery's friends all said he was one lucky bloke.  He won the Irish Sweepstakes along with several other winners.  All, now millionaires.  He couldn't believe his good fortune.  

He had made all of the necessary arrangements and the money would be deposited into his once meager bank account.  All taxes had been paid and his money was now free and clear.  He would never have t work again in his life if he played his cards right.  And that was the problem.  Gambling.  His worst fear is that he will gamble and lose every penny.  It caused him sleepless nights as he tossed and turned in his single bed.  He lived like a pauper.  Looking around his one room apartment he realized he no longer had t live in this hovel. Dirty clothes strewn  over chairs and on the floor, the small sink full of dishes, the table a mess with newspapers and rubble.  

He looked at the dingy window that announced the break of day.  A new day, a new beginning.  "A new start," he mumbled.  Never one for making plans, life had always dictated what he would do, and where he would go.  Now he had a chance, a real shot a life unlike he had ever known.  He  had always been so poor, pathetically so. "Where do I begin?  Who can I trust to help me find my way?"

In the corner stood a new black briefcase with brass locks that seemed to glow in the modest light.  It was full of money.  Rising slowly from the bed, it creaked and groaned as he stood.  Moving slowly toward the case, afraid it might be a dream and disappear, he tiptoed to the corner.  Once he had the case, he stroked the expensive leather like a cat.  The smell of the fine leather rose up into his nostrils.  Sitting on a stool he opened the case and looked at the money, more than $25,000, just to get him started, more than he needed.

"I know, I'm going to drive to the lake where I 'll make my plans.  He drove the several miles to the lake where he sat on a bench facing the bridge.  Ducks quacked and made a racket but it was peaceful as he felt the breeze from the woods that surrounded the lake.  He raised his face to the sun for warmth, the case lay on his lap.  He held it with both hands.  Looking at the case for an answer, he sprang to his feet and ran across the bridge.  He had his answer.  "I'm going t the HorseShoe Casin...I'll double my money for sure.  That's it, that's what I'll do.  Excited about his decision he drove the distance in a trance and found himself standing before the poker table, then the roulette table, placing bets and losing money by the handsfull.

#2

The corpse came into the funeral directly from the crime scene.  The body still had handcuffs on it.  What a waste, why hadn't they removed the cuffs.  Avery was new at being a mortician and thought the cuffs were at this stage inhumane, what could the decease do now?  How undignified it looked.  At least in death everyone, even criminas were t be treated with the respect due them as a human being.  At least that it what they stressed in Mortician School.  He adhered t everything he had learned.  He intended t run an upright place for souls to begin thieir journey, find peace and rest.  T some that might seem morbid, but not to lAvery.

Making himself busy, he removed the handcuffs, rigor was beginning t set in, making removal a bit difficult, but he managed.  He tried to be a gentle as possible.  Usually they tucked the information in the body bag with the corpse, but not this time.  Avery searched around and under to body searching fo the file containing the information he would need to process the body,  "Damn," he said to no one in particular.  It was just him and the body tday.  His assistant was off on vacation.  Had the file beeen lost at the deserted building where the body was found in the courtyard...he'd have to call the police or go in search of the missing file himself.

He pulled the photo album off the bookshelf and found it empty.

The house was quiet.  Empty.  His mother gone, and now his father. Nothing or no one stirred.  Avery looked about, the memories, so many memories a dose of happiness and also filled with sorrow and pain, of a life now gone.   He stood in the middle of the living room for a moment and recalled being a precoscious kid  lying on the floor and watching the Lone Ranger, brandishing his own toy gun.  "Bang. Bang. Bang"  he thought silently.  He smiled.  Innocence.

He moved forward into the room which seemed to close in on him. The sound of his steps heavy. Thud, thud. The only signs of life. His tall frame and bulk taking up space, he scanned the bookshelves,  filled with fantasy, science, and his mother's love stories.  She loved her Harlequin Romance novels and Reader's Digest's, she would sit for hours in the bay window in the old rocking chair with a cup of tea and a book.

The journey today and his mission is to find pictures, something he could hang on to.  Proof of life.  His father was an avid photographer who spent hours and hours in his dark room in the basement where he developed his own pictures.  "Where had all of those photos gotten to," he mused.  On the bottom shelf sat an album.  He felt relief and joy, as if he had found a hidden treasure.  Reaching for the album, his bones creaked and popped, he wiped the dust from the book sending a powdery display into the air. He pulled the photo album off the bookshelf and found it empty.

"It had been years since he had felt butterflies in his stomach..."


Avery sat on his veranda watching the brilliant sun setting in the west behind the mountains.  The sky was streaked with pinks, blue, gray and orange.  The colorful pallet magnificent in its splendor.  He pulled his electronic cigarette from his shirt pocket and began to puff away, the vapor disappearing in the air as he relaxed his long lean body into the adirondak chair he had recently purchased from the local WalMart.  His thoughts turned to JC, he could smell her perfume on his shirt.  Remembering their conversation,  how she stood tall before him, shapely in jeans, a white t-top, her smooth brown skin and the face of an angel, memories of the day stirred him.  He closed his eyes and relived the moment.

"JC, where are we going with this relationship?" he asked, his voice husky. He dreamed of her and he knew in his heart he wanted more, more time with her, more everything.  He needed to know.  Soft jazz filled the room, the aroma of the meal they would share filled the air around them.

The question caught her off guard and she looked at him .and smiled, her brown eyes sparkling brightly. As they stood in the middle of the kitchen, a silence fell, the only noise the sizzle of the steak on the grill.  Snapping back as if in a dream, she asked, as she pushed her dark curls from her face., "Where did that come from?"  Holding the wine class in her hand was the only thing that made this moment real.  She wanted a relationship with him, not just one night stands here and there for convenience sake.  .She had been waiting for such a moment.

"Avery.  I'mmm," she stuttered and regained her composure.  She decided to bite the bullet and tell him how she felt.  Closing the distance between them, she sat her wine glass on the island, and reached out to embrace him.  She looked at him and ran her fingers through his dark curly hair sprinkled with gray, his heavy brows and lashes that outlined his deep set expressive eyes, offset by his smooth olive colored skin.  "He loves me," she thought, and kissed him passionately on the lips. " Avery. Avery," she moaned softly as she leaned in to him. This was her answer, he knew at that moment that she wanted what he wanted, what they both needed.

He held her around the waist and drew her closer, it had been years since he had felt butterflies in his stomach.