B – Back to Selat

Posted on April 2, 2024 by hdh

 

B – Back to Selat

 

It had been almost a year since I had my adventure in the kingdom of Selat, a place you won’t find on any map and where all the stories and story characters you know reside. My task had been to find and rescue all the stories and characters that a powerful sorceress, Necroma, had stolen and bewitched. With the help of other story characters, Necroma was defeated, and stories were again brought back and shared in multiple universes, including ours. (https://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=3431)

So here it is, almost a year later. I have not thought of Selat in months. I enjoy my brand of storytelling, both live and virtual, doing some writing, interacting with real people daily, and doing everything I thought I was meant to do. That was about to change.

It was the evening of April 2nd. I was setting up for a virtual storytelling session with a group I belonged to when my computer misfired. By misfired, I mean I opened the Zoom window as usual when the screen suddenly went blank. I quickly rebooted, and the screen brightened to show me the face of a woman with short blond hair and vivid green eyes staring at me.

It took me a while to recognize her face. She was the mystic of other kingdoms I had met when I first got involved with Selat. Her face looked a little older, and something didn’t look right. 

“Ah, the teller of tales, so we meet again.,” she said.

“Why are you here?” was my reaction. “Has something gone amiss in Selat?”

“Everything is fine and well,” she answered quickly as if in a rush.

This just added to my confusion. “Then, why are you here?”

She looked to her left and right, then back at me, and replied, “Can’t someone just stop by and say hello?” After saying this, she looked both ways again and then blinked nine times—three short, three long, and three short.

I would have to be stupid not to recognize the Morse code signal for SOS.

I said cautiously, “How is my friend Ronald doing?” Though Ronald was part of my adventure, he was no longer connected with Selat and had no memories of it. I was hoping that by talking about Ronald, she could give me more information without anyone watching her realizing she was. And it worked.

“Oh, you know Ronald, always looking to get in trouble,” she started, “I recommended to him to seek some help from you know who, but he didn’t care to take my advice.”

“Well, next time I see Ronald, I’ll take care to tell him he should listen. I assume he got there the usual way.”

“He did, indeed,” she responded. It’s good he brought his flashlight and the red-covered book, you know, the one that went missing; otherwise, he would never have returned home.”

“That’s good advice,” I said, “Maybe someday I’ll visit again,  too.”

“There’s no rush,” she said quietly, blinking nine times again. 

I thought briefly about how to respond and then said, “Good to hear from you. Please remind the Little Red Hen for me that when her bread is kneaded, it always rises to the occasion.” I slowly nodded my head up and down while subtly signing OK. “I’m glad we had this chat.”

The gatekeeper nodded once, and the screen returned to my normal desktop.

I hope I got the message right. Selat was in trouble, I needed to see the Caretaker as soon as possible, and Little Red Riding Hood was missing. I also needed to bring a flashlight. 

I had no idea what I was in for or why they needed me. Sometimes, you have to think about how to couch the truth. You never know who might use it against you or misconstrue what was being said. 

I was about to find out.

 

To be continued in D – Darkness

 

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A – Ambition

Posted on April 1, 2024 by hdh

A – Ambition

Arthur was a writer. From childhood to adulthood, all he wanted to do was write and be published. 

As a child, he mostly wrote fiction and let his imagination bring up all kinds of creatures and adventures his characters would go on. Most of the ideas, though, were spurred on by the television shows he watched and the comics he read. Was that truly his imagination at work? That’s hard to say. However, he did get great praise from his teachers and others who weren’t as familiar with the scenarios from which he got his sparks.

As he reached high school and college, he noticed many published books centered on the world around him. The politics of the time, the history of past struggles for freedom, and famous people who impacted the world, folk and fairytales. 

The more he read, the more convinced he became that if he were going to be published, he would need a background that people knew about and respected. 

So, he began to take from other cultures and histories and make them his own. 

Yes, he had Native American blood and could write about events that had happened to family members. His mother was of Sioux descent.

In 1934, his Jewish father immigrated to the United States from Germany and fought for the Americans on D-Day in World War II. He wrote about specific events that his father had shared with him as a child. And publishers ate it up. They wanted Arthur to write a book for them. Arthur was to realize his dream come true. 

At age 25, Arthur got his first book published by PellemVerse Publishing. It was entitled On the Front. It was a first-hand account of D-Day, stories about his father, and the battles fought in WW II. The fact that Arthur’s father died ten years before the book was published made it somewhat difficult for anyone to verify anything written in the book. Besides, the book sold, so the publishing company wasn’t rushing to check.

His next book, Wounded at Wounded Knee, told first-hand stories from his mother’s side of the family. 

People bought his books in droves. There was talk that he would soon be on the New York Times Best Seller list when his collection of Native American folktales came out. 

Through all of his writing, though written well, no one ever questioned his background. Everything he wrote seemed so authentic. 

That’s the trouble with trusting what you read. 

It was a husband-and-wife team (Henry, a genealogist, and Winona, an actual Native American descendant) who discovered the truth about Arthur’s real identity with the help of one of Arthur’s Elementary School teachers. 

Arthur was a fraud. Neither of his parents came from where he said they did. Although separated, they were still living. Arthur paid them a significant sum from the sales of his first book to go into hiding and not reveal who or where they were. 

Winona, who herself was an expert in Native American Folklore and the Sioux nation, noticed the discrepancies in Arthur’s accounts and his claims that certain folktales were of Sioux origin. Henry’s work proved that Arthur’s family did not come from where he claimed. Leonard Feinman, Arthur’s 5th grade teacher, corroborated this. He had kept all of Arthur’s writing and records, somewhat of a packrat, kept all of his student’s stuff, hoping that someday they would be worth something. Leonard was honest, not like some who might have blackmailed Arthur; Leonard was more than willing to share what he had when he was interviewed by Henry after being found through one of Henry’s background searches. The truth needed to be shared. 

And shared it was. Following the revelations, countless articles in newspapers and magazines denounced Arthur. His publishing company’s reputation was ruined. Courts were tied up with the number of suits against Arthur and PellemVerse Publishing. Arthur’s writing career was finished. 

The only ones who would benefit from his work were his parents. You can read more about that in their new book, Born to Lie. Its release day is today, April 1st. An appropriate date for its release – April Fool’s Day.

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A to Z Challenge 2024 Theme Reveal

Posted on March 10, 2024 by hdh

A to Z Blog Challenge 2024

Theme Reveal

 

This is my ninth year doing the Challenge. Last year, I tried something totally new. I created a single story that spanned all of the letters of the alphabet: “Save me a Story.” I am returning to somewhat isolated stories using a single theme this year. I say “somewhat isolated” because some letters may be connected to other letters as part of shorter stories.

The theme that I chose this year is Truth or Consequences. Prepare for a collection of stories, essays, poems, and maybe even some memoir pieces that involve truthtellers, liars, fairies, witches, and me, who certainly deal with the truth or variations of it and suffer or don’t suffer the consequences of their actions. 

For those who read last year’s story, there might be a return to the Kingdom of Selat, where all the fairytales and folktales originate and the characters who go along with them live. You might also be re-introduced to my dear friend Ronald, who was also part of that story. Adventures and activities with Ronald always try to avoid answering the question, “What could possibly go wrong?”

It’s time to get writing and prepare for the April Challenge. See you all on April 1st. Let the stories begin.

 

 

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A Place…Not Unknown

Posted on March 6, 2024 by hdh

A Place…Not Unknown

It did not take long; my eyes were closed

The world around me vanished

I know this place; I was younger then.

I need to be there before it’s too late

 

The path was simple; except it wasn’t

There were strange animals in my path

Leopards with two heads and bared sharp teeth

Don’t exist, yet there they were

 

They let me pass, following me with knowing eyes

I continued on, as more strange beasts appeared

My direction was clear, as time meandered on

The desire to be home increased

 

All was familiar before and around me

The park on the left where I played and watched concerts

The stores and White Castle on my right

The elevated subway station in front of me

 

But something was wrong. I should not be here

It is neither the time nor place of my existence

And the creatures, though friendly, scared me

I was not who I should be 

 

I was younger then. I’m much older now

I no longer live in this place. I’ve moved on

The people that I knew are no longer

Yet I am here and need to go home

 

As time would have it, it runs out

Sounds of music fill the air

Familiar tunes to the older me

Music that calls to me, it’s time to wake up

 

Dreams are there to tweak your mind

To take you places you’ve been before

And let imagination rewrite your world 

And so it was, and so it is.

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Look before you Leap

Posted on February 28, 2024 by hdh

Look Before You Leap

Today’s essay has to do with leaping. I intend to focus on two aspects of leaping. Leaping to Conclusions and Leap of Faith.

According to thefreedictionarycom, “Leaping to Conclusions” is To make decisions or form opinions before one has all the pertinent facts.

 Leaping to conclusions is something that one does without thought. With the Internet the way it is, with unverified information posted, anything can seem factual. So, even taking the time to research facts, a choice would be leaping to a conclusion if the facts were not authentic, leading to a wrong understanding. 

According to thefreedictionary.com, “Leap of Faith” is The act or an instance of believing or trusting in something intangible or incapable of being proved.

A leap of faith requires trust and would not necessarily need any facts to support a choice, though having some proof should solidify that leap. 

One is generally judged by the choices one makes in life. So, one should be very careful about jumping to conclusions and taking leaps of faith, especially when it involves decisions that might have unwanted consequences for one’s actions. 

Another thing one must do, should one make a wrong choice based on the above leaps, is learn from the mistakes so that when similar situations arise, one can remember the flaw in their previous leaps of faith and potentially leap to a better conclusion.

Some of us ascribe to those definitions yet fail to take the next step and learn from our mistakes. Our leap of faith, though consistently proven wrong, leaves us with a “Leap of Hope” that this next outcome will be different from the last one, and the person we should not have trusted has changed. After all, he is my friend. What could possibly go wrong? 

Of course, this has never happened to me. I am writing this for those who might benefit from my advice. I’m a firm believer in “Practice what you Preach.” 

 

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A Day Off

Posted on February 21, 2024 by hdh

A Day Off

I was looking forward to my day off. That night, my workroom’s “To-Do Bulletin Board” was blank. I had nothing planned the next day. 

I woke up the following day after somewhat of a restless night’s sleep. I had a few random dreams of no consequence. However, my concerns about real life had filled my mind. For example, I hadn’t started working on my taxes yet; they were almost due.

 The first thing I did when I woke up was write a post-it note, “Do Taxes,” and put it on my To-Do board. 

I also thought about the email I received about our planned trip. I had to get back to that agent, and that was added to the board. 

As I began to make breakfast, I noticed a set of unopened bills on the table. I hoped the due date hadn’t passed. They got tacked up, too. 

I started eating breakfast when I realized I was supposed to make reservations at Fifth Season restaurant for our anniversary. I needed a reminder to do that. While I’m on the subject of our anniversary, I still haven’t purchased a gift or a card for it. I’m pretty sure it’s tomorrow. 

Didn’t my daughter have play rehearsal after school today? I better make a note to pick her up. 

The phone rang while I was washing the breakfast dishes. It was my boss. He wanted to know where the Cooper file was and had I finished writing up the Off-Week statistics report. He needed both for a presentation to the CEO by 3 o’clock. I said that shouldn’t be a problem. Just in case, I put a reminder note and a copy of the report on the To-Do board. 

It wasn’t even 10 a.m. yet. I noticed a note from my wife on the counter, reminding me to go shopping with a list of ingredients I knew could not be purchased at the same store. That would mean going to Target, Stop and Shop, and Uncle Giuseppe’s. That was not a short trip. She didn’t mention why we needed all that food, but I suspect it had to do with our anniversary. I couldn’t forget that; I put it on the board. 

Today was Wednesday. Right? That meant it was dust and vacuum the house day. How could I forget that?  I would have if I didn’t write it down and post it. 

By 11 o’clock, I had accomplished nothing other than to fill up my blank To-Do Bulletin Board; there were no blank spaces to be had. 

I was beginning to question whether or not this was, indeed, a day off. 

As I stood in front of the board, I tried to focus. How was I going to accomplish all of this in one day? 

I needed another day off. 

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An Unbegun Story…or…Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Posted on February 6, 2024 by hdh

An Unbegun Story…or…Could Possibly Go Wrong?

…could possibly go wrong?” I had it running through my head. I’ve heard it before we started and have never paid attention to the warning or the history behind said statement.

All I had left was to locate the final destination and deliver the packages. Game over.

The problem was this was a neighborhood that I was not at all familiar with. 

It might have been a fun activity had I had someone to play it with. However, that someone bailed out at the last minute, saying he had to go somewhere with his mother. Quelle surprise! 

I should have thought this was fishy from the start, but I trusted Ronald.

When I found the playground, I saw the spot where I was supposed to leave the packages. I also saw three police cars stationed right near that spot.

 What to do? 

I left the packages behind a bush and slowly walked towards the goal line to see if anything would happen. 

One of the policemen immediately stopped me and questioned me about what I was doing there. 

I stammered that I was here to meet up with a friend and play.

The cop looked at me and told me that the park was closed today and that I should go home. 

I tried to inquire as to why the park was closed but was just rushed out of the park with no answer. 

I decided not to retrieve the packages and went home. I definitely did not want to get involved with the police. I was only 13 years old, and my parents would kill me if they found out I was involved in some criminal activity, especially if Ronald was involved.

I caught up with Ronald the next day and told him what had happened. He denied knowing anything or what would have happened had I finished the game. He said it sounded like a fun game when he found it online. 

When will I ever learn?

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I wonder…

Posted on February 2, 2024 by hdh

I wonder…

When you’re sitting in a doctor’s waiting room or at an auto service provider waiting to be seen or for a service to be performed, sometimes your mind wanders, especially if you forgot to bring a book and are disinterested in whatever they have blasting on their TV. The longer the wait, the more things you come up with to think about. You fall into a trance, a dream-like state. Your thoughts create scenarios with infinite possibilities. Some raise questions, and others imagine impossibilities coming to fruition. Like what I’m writing right now… 

I wonder what would happen if…

… there were no political parties, and just one called the human race.

… those who look down on people with disabilities would get to experience those disabilities for a period of time?

… gender, race, age, and religious equality were not words in any language because they were the norm rather than needing to be asked for.

… subscription costs for things like newspapers, TV, Internet, and phone services were divided equally among all customers rather than making some pay more, so discounts could be given to new enrollees. 

… we could travel anywhere in the world we wanted instantaneously.

… people would listen to reason rather than rhetoric and unsubstantiated misinformation.

… we all cared for each other rather than only ourselves.

… the only disease we had to prevent and protect ourselves from was ignorance.

… animals could communicate with us.

… there was life on other planets, and we could learn from each other and coexist.

… vehicles focused more on conserving energy and being more efficient rather than being built for speeds that should never be reached.

… we actually did what was necessary to mitigate climate change and environmental destruction in our lifetimes.

… filling out forms, like tax and financial applications for loans, was a simple process.

… we didn’t have to pay that extra 3.5% on goods and services if we used a credit card. 

… the Mets and Islanders would actually win the World Series and Stanley Cup. 

 

Someone appears to be talking to me. 

 

“Excuse me, what did you just say? The doctor can’t see me now because he’s waiting to get his car back from the dealer who has him on hold, and I have to reschedule, as your office hours have ended.” 

“Yes, sir.”

“And you will reschedule me?”

“Well, sir, since our office hours are over, you’ll have to call back tomorrow; our office hours are from 9 – 5 every day, except for tomorrow…and the next day… and…, or you can reschedule on our website, provided it’s not overloaded with users trying to schedule.”

“I’ll think about it,” was my reply as I got up to leave. 

It’s a wonder that any of us get anywhere in this world.

 

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My First Day

Posted on January 23, 2024 by hdh

My First Day or Substitute teaching is no fairytale

It was my first day subbing in this district. Trust me, this is no ordinary district. At least the class I was assigned to wasn’t ordinary. I was to teach a literature lesson to a unique bunch of students. How they managed to put this group together is beyond me. 

In my 40 years of teaching, I had my share of challenging students in any given class; however, they were never all in the same class at the same time. I thought I was prepared. 

I stood in the front of the classroom as students glided in. Well, some did. When Tigg entered, he literally bounced in. In fact, I couldn’t get him to stop bouncing. He kept commenting about it being a wonderful thing to do. 

Then there was Cindy, who more or less hobbled in. She was only wearing one shoe; more like a slipper if you ask me. And who wears slippers made out of glass? 

When Punzey came in, her hair was so long that the students behind her kept slipping on it. When she finally found a desk near an open window, she just gathered up her hair and tossed it out the window. It seems she was used to doing that. 

When the twins Hansel and Gretel came in, I couldn’t help but notice they were leaving bread crumbs on the floor behind them. According to the teacher’s notes, they get lost a lot. 

Well, they all got in and took their seats. That is, except for Goldy. She just couldn’t find a seat that suited her. “This one’s too hard.” “This one is not close enough to the door,” “This one is so fragile, if I sit on it, I’m sure it will break.” This went on and on for the whole time she was there. 

When I took attendance, I discovered some of them had quirky names and behaviors. I asked one student, who was a real pain in the Rump, what his name was, and he wouldn’t tell me. He said I had to guess it, and if I didn’t guess it right in three days, I would have to give him my firstborn child. I tried guessing a few names to no avail and then gave up. I can’t imagine that he really would take my 30-year-old child. 

This girl, Red, came in, and when she found her seat, I was going to point out to her that hats weren’t to be worn in the classroom. I considered hoodies to be pretty much the same as hats; when suddenly, I heard a great scream.

“AHH! A SPIDER!”

It seems that Muffy had arachnophobia and was deathly afraid of spiders. When seen, Muffy just got up and ran out of the classroom. 

Once everyone was in their seats, I attempted to start the lesson but was interrupted more than once. First, the hall monitor, Mr. Troll, complained that some gruff kids wanted to come in late and that he, Mr. Troll,  would make sure they couldn’t. I did see three kids named Bill, Billy, and William. They made it into the classroom one at a time, each claiming they were the “Greatest Of All Time.” Just before the last one entered, there was this great howl then a thump coming from the hall. Before I could react, I was told by one of the students that this happened every day and I should ignore it. 

Then, a girl named Bo popped her head into the room and asked if anyone had seen her iPhone. She said she must have lost it somewhere and didn’t know where to find it. She said it had a sheepskin cover. It was suggested that if she went home, it would probably turn up there. Again, I was told that this was another daily occurrence. 

I tried to start the lesson again. Before I could get a word out, Mary, sitting in the front row, screamed, “I can’t believe it followed me here again!”  Mary got up and ran out of the room to catch something, a dog or a cat, maybe? Everyone in the room just broke out laughing and playing. I found out later on the animal was a lamb. Who keeps a lamb as a pet nowadays?

I surveyed the room once everyone calmed down and got back in their seats. Most of the students were looking at me, waiting for instructions. I noticed Jack take a gold pen from another student’s desk and pocket it. I would have said something, but the other student was very big, and I figured I’d let the big guy deal with it, hopefully when I wasn’t around.

Then there was Queeny. She wasn’t looking my way at all. All she was looking at was a pocket mirror. I could hear her mumble how beautiful she was, more beautiful than anyone else in the world. 

Of course, there were the sleepers, Beauty and Alice. Clearly, they had been up all night partying and couldn’t keep their eyes open anymore. Beauty was dead to the world with her head down on her desk. I’m not sure if anyone could wake her up.  On the other hand, Alice was sitting up with her eyes closed and clearly daydreaming. I have no idea what she was dreaming about. She kept muttering things like, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, little bat!” and “Off with her head!” Again, as long as she remained relatively quiet, I wouldn’t wake her up. 

I decided to ignore all the distractions and start for the third time when I heard a loud horn trumpeting from afar. 

The whole class cheered. “Hurray! He finally woke up!” Then, they all got up and ran out of the room. 

 I didn’t know what to say. I had no idea what just happened. Luckily for me, one of the students, Winnie, lagged behind and approached me. 

“I thought you taught your lesson quite well, even though everyone says I’m just one with a very little brain,” he said.

“That’s silly,” I replied, “I never even started teaching a lesson.”

 I guess that makes sense. My friend Christopher always tells me I’m just being a silly old bear. But, whatever it was you did do, you did it very well.” 

“Thanks, I guess. Where did everyone go?”

Winnie explained, “When Boy Blue blows his horn, it means that school is over and we should all go home. We never know when that will be, for you see, Blue naps a lot near school in a meadow under a haystack, and he wakes up, well, when he wakes up.”

Winnie thanked me again, turned, and left the classroom to go home. 

Well, that was my first day subbing. What did I do next? I gave up subbing, that’s what I did. Instead, I decided to devote my life to writing and storytelling. Maybe I can tell about this adventure. I’m sure there’s a story to be found in it somewhere. 

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The Hill

Posted on January 18, 2024 by hdh

The Hill

***

Speeding down the hill as the wind whipped by my face, I felt the exhilaration of excitement, knowing that I had taken the challenge. The snow still fell heavily as my fingers began to get colder, and now I had second thoughts. I thought back to how I got into this situation.

The forecast last night was for zero to two inches of snow mixed with rain. Who knew that a rogue blizzard was going to hit?

We met up at the top of Deadman’s Hill. It was aptly named for its slope’s steepness and because the hill’s bottom part was an unguarded cliff edge. My friends and I often sled down the hill with no problem. We would build up a barrier of snow at the bottom that curved off to the side path, just in case we couldn’t steer ourselves onto that path.   We also took the precaution of starting our descent in the middle of the hill so we wouldn’t go so fast. 

However, today was different. We didn’t expect this kind of wind and snow. Although our parents warned us to be careful and not go down this hill, our teenage invincibility prompted us to do it anyway.  

Add to that, and I’m not sure who suggested it, but I can imagine who did; we thought, why not try it from the top this time? What could possibly go wrong? The wind was blowing against us, so surely that would slow us down, and the snow was probably soft and high enough to create its own barrier at the end of the hill.

Somehow, I was selected to be the first to try. I’m pretty sure when asked who wanted to go first, everyone but me took a step back.

What the hell was I thinking?

It usually took about two minutes to get to the bottom of the hill when we started in the middle. But being that it was snowing heavily and the wind was against me, I wasn’t going as fast as usual, though it was fast enough, and I was picking up speed after all, I did start higher up on the steep hill.

Some people say that just before you die, your whole life passes before your eyes. In this case, I was about two-thirds of the way down the hill when not my whole life passed, but instead, wanting to live finally reached the logical cortex of my brain. 

Sleds are not made with brakes, and with trees on both sides of the hill (Did I forget to mention that?), steering off to the side at the speed I was going was not a healthy option. So I did what any other panic-stricken individual in fear for his life would do. I pushed myself off the back of the sled and, at the same time, dug my feet into the snow and let the sled make its own way down the rest of the way. 

Checking myself for injuries (luckily, there were none), I was tempted to scream up the hill (not that they would have heard me), “That was great! Let Ronald go next!” Instead, I slowly trudged up the hill back to where I started and convinced everyone else to go to a normal hill to sled, which we did.

When we got to the other hill, I had to double up with others on their sleds.

I’d tell you what happened when I got home minus one sled, but that will have to wait for another day. 

***image created by CoPilot – Microsoft Bing

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