CAN’T WE JUST DANCE

KAREN ANNE

TOO FAR TO DRIVE

Hey You!

I arrived in Birmingham, Alabama, a little after 11:30 PM and checked into a motel along the highway. The attendant was cold and bitter—almost hesitant to rent a room to me until I flashed one of several cards. I almost told him to just keep the card as I really didn’t care at that moment. He gave my card back to me along with a room key and I left the office.

There seems to be a national trend right now in the nation to remove all monuments and statues that were put up to honor the memory of the short lived “Confederate States of America” while in this piece, I will not express my personal views on the matter. I will say this, removing them will not remove the ghost the “American Civil War” Created. My hometown of Benton, Mississippi a small township located in a bend of the Big Black River, like many small towns and villages in Mississippi has its own monument to honor the fallen sons of the south.

Rio

Games People Play
"He said he had to work," she stated with such adamancy you'd swear she was defending his life in a court of law. In a way, she was defending him...in the court of public opinion...or at least to opinion of her friend, that being me.
"I just saw him at Starbucks. He' s not at work." I replied with an equal amount of gusto--I didn't want to win the battle or the war, but Renee could be an idiot sometimes. You'd think our class salutatorian would have at least a pamphlet's worth of street smarts.
"You’re lying "

Wendell's mother-in-law knows him better than he knows himself. This is not a story of domination, but of love, nurturing and fulfillment. A good antidote for too much bad news.

Being Princess

I married a princess. Not a proper princess, mind you. But living in London as a third generation Pakistani, it’s about as close as you can get. I honestly couldn’t tell you how I landed Shazia, my princess. She’s a posh bird with a successful businessman father, spoiled as heck. Has a huge closet full of clothes and shoes, all expensive stuff. Her father refers to her as ‘daddy’s little princess’. She could have had any rich, handsome, educated bloke she wanted. Instead, she chose me.

I'd changed my wifi password the day she'd turned me away. I never expected she'd ever see it. Well, my secret was out now. I looked at her to see her reaction. At least she wasn't shaking her head no. Instead she was clutching the small bit of paper to her chest like her favorite doll.

I took a deep breath as I peered out the window of my bedroom. Ribbons of pale moonlight streamed through the trees. The moon, high above the treeline was round and full, and glowed like a big fat silver coin. Watching the moonlight stream through the window panes of my room, kind of reminded me of that night. It was a full moon that night too. A sudden knock on the door brought me out of my musing. There in the doorway stood my mother, she was wrapped in her night coat and in her hand she held an old wooden tray that held two extra large mugs.

Being Cerridwen had changed my life, for the better I believe. My mom is now more involved with my life than she was before. She also started teaching me a lot of domestic skills, like how to make up a bed, how to deep clean a house, how to sew and how to handle a broom. She also started teaching me more of the craft, see my mom's a witch, and since the craft is normally passed from mother to daughter, she always figured the craft would die with her. That's not to say she was overjoyed to find me wearing that old skirt and blouse one afternoon. No, quite the opposite.

I don't know what the hell got into that woman. If I didn't know better I'd think she was jealous. That was some kiss she laid on me and that ass in her tight skirt. . . . It was going to take me a couple of minutes before I could get out of the car and not embarrass myself.

The day of the dunking booth arrived sooner than I thought. Like I normally do, I rode the bus home that day and mom greeted me with a hug and a afternoon snack. After my afternoon snack, I dove right into homework till mom knocked upon my bedroom door and reminded me I needed to change into my costume. Mom and I had settled on cheerleader, and since money was tight, we decided to alter her old cheerleader uniform to fit me. Anyway once I had been changed, we drove into town.

I'd been debating how to get back home or to my car. I wasn't sure if I would get in trouble if I went back for it. I was standing outside the ER entrance when a human projectile came at me and literally jumped into my arms and told me to take her home.

I took a deep breath as I peered toward the wooden door that would lead into the office of our school's Guidance Counselor. Releasing my deep breath, I raised up my hand and knocked upon the wooden door. A second or two later, the door opened and in the threshold there stood a tall woman, with flaming red hair worn in a high ponytail. She wore a cream colored blouse with mother of pearl buttons the blouse was paired with a coal black pencil skirt. White stocking and black, low heel dress shoes rounded out her outfit.

In the High School corridor walking between classes:

I watched her drive away and wondered if I was being foolish trying to make something work that might have no future. I pounded the wheel in frustration, hitting the horn accidentally and scaring an old couple walking by half to death. I opened the window and offered a sheepish apology.

The 'Fishing Rodeo' was an annual tournament that was sponsored by the 'The Benton Bass Federation' a local association of professional and amateur fisherman and women. The tournament often meant big business for the downtown merchants too, as tourists from the surrounding cities and towns would flood in, some even entering their names into the event in hopes of claiming the bragging rights that came with catching the biggest fish. And of course, some hoped to pocket their share of the prize money being offered.