Sol's Random Stories

They found him quite dead, maybe two weeks or so, and old Mr. Fremont's plants quite alive. Vibrantly green and thriving, they contrasted the shambling interior. The broken down, remote chalet, far from the nearest village, gave no clues to his solitary passing. Some folks say Mr. Fremont was nearly a century old, and had just let everything go after his wife died a decade past. Apparently, enough rain had come through the ceiling to keep his cherished ferns going, an epilogue that would have only pleased the hermit centurean.

It was a good day. Didn't have to use my best play. Got by on luck, especially good when there's nothing else. Somewhere in west L.A. dopey car overheats, third time this month. Call AAA, then cancel when it starts back up. Sputtering h ot drive to 7-11 for a pint of oil. Afternoon's shot now anyhow, so maybe shift gears, say hell with it all, just forget this whole damn day, where I was going, and why. Park myself back in the car with an ice-cold horchata Big Gulp, and listen to my Sunday radio fun hour with world-class Chef Jamie Gwen, always a great show. Reminder to self: things not going right, there's always going with the flow. It was a good day. Didn't have to use my best play.

Every month or so, he just goes bat-crap crazy. Frank Campbell has walked up and down the same pitch-black alley for the last five years. Out of booze, cursing his damning impulses, with circular inner rants in the odd, disparate voices of strangers. " When all you think about is the mistakes, bad calls, rage starting as misunderstanding, posturing, mornng, noon, night, then alone in your room, no more self- lying, the stray BS of the day irrelevant, when all you think about are decisions made then gone bad, when you were focused, crazed, both, neither, rotten choices, yet you still didn't expect the worst, others also pained, a chain of hurt, you didn't think ahead, or behind, or at all, call it delusion delivered, or your mind in a loop trap of old crap, call it full of remorse, but you've forgotten who or when or why, try again, point towards an exit from the humdrum matrix, this time pick your own galaxy to roam, stay out of mine, when all you think about is the ...

From rushing understreams of sleep, Dana Conner rises before dawn to go to work, just as his father had before him, as they had for many generations past. Ninety-three now, he never retired decades ago when they offered. The two century-old foundry where the town and his family worked just saw him return each morning after steady morning, as if no years and decades had ever passed at all. Conner loved his job, his routine, blessed with his devoted wife, his four children and eleven grandkids. Conner trusted the unquestioned goodness of God, the enduring grace gifted to his life. From silent waters of streams completing their course, tracing back to their sacred source, Dana Conner rises to go to work one last time in kind, only a still body left behind.

In constant repose in view or not, above the atmospheric drama, the moon is unmoved by furious fronts swirled around the globe, unending caravans of flood and drought, dervish disasters spun over twenty-four time zones, if time were  a thing, this orb isn't saying tonight, or any other night, harmless cloud play, or hardened dance, assassin of last hopes, or both? With so many hearts lost, we'll know the next time it hides.

Some portals are obvious, others are not, it's the latter that direct essential pathways.  Tunnels bridge to realms of fresh musings in real dream-time, then awaken to new understanding. On the other side there is air infused with silver mist, ions of starlight from the next galaxy. There are trees rooted upon stranger paths, sign of divinity certain as the whirling zodiac. Destinations displace their end, journeys keep logs of memory, each step a measured pace. Some portals are obvious, others are sublime vortexes of departure- you're gone before you're here.

Fragments, momentarily lucid. Hey, if that's the deal, this fate's sealed, then let's just go somewhere, no, I mean right now, don't need any reason, we'll use these words and woods for paths, I'll tag along, let's go, the moment's arrived! On our way now, it will be greener soon, cooler later, there will be many trees and kinds of plant and bush, most familiar but also strange things with no name, we're both barefoot, stepping carefully through the thick flora carpet with its hidden life, you never take wild for granted, or forget to be cautious, all creatures big and small, an instinctual humility of being, the pragmatic respect that some unknown danger may always be near, our humankind always intruding someone elses domain, yet we're going farther now, continuing where no maps may guide, but the sun is still with us, or rather we are still following, we're ascending slightly now as it descends down and west from overhead, a sloping pasteur...

When his chopsticks break bad, Jerome takes it personally. When he just misses the green light, he wonders if he's ever in sync with anything in this universe. When the cards don't happen for him in poker, it's because of uncashed karma, or random and heinous misdeeds from forgotten lives, if one believes in such lame and wishful rubbish- and Jerome does believe, as many folks do, or want to believe. Jerome often concludes, "We're all really agnostics, even the staunch atheists, it's just that no one admits the scariest of fears, that's too personal." Jerome has no idea what luck is or how it works, does anyone? He would doubt it, but Jerome is a true gambler, a skeptic by default.

A melancholy mist falls thru the late morning. Marla looks out into the bright haze for something unseen, or for nothing at all. The entire estate is still now, the vast mansion, sprawling grounds and gardens, there's not a sound. No bounding dogs or clambering children filling the air with joyful noises and busy, random fun. Marla's successful, workaholic ex-husband divorced her five years ago, then married his boss who eventually inherited her family's giant corporation. The dogs have since passed. Maria's three kids, grown and gone to three different states, have ittle contact with her or each other. None call their dad. The circles turn, the dreams burn down to foolish ashes, you just sweep them up, and toss them out along with the day's junk mail. Marla stays at home, nowhere to go, lots of time now to get there.

Simon thought of the news story he heard. Pandemic economics still an influence, employers are bribing workers to return to their jobs. Seems many folks learned to like staying home for fat gov't checks, and so much free stuff. "Who would have ever thought that?", Simon wryly chuckled. Then, his thoughts wandered- as they often did- to his father, also to an earlier America, maybe gone now. Simon learned about work from his father, but that's for another story, deserving its own time and length. Simon thought of how attitudes regarding work- particularly among many young folks today- have simply changed. Work, no work, no big deal to some- forget tomorrow. Other ways to survive. Authority in every form is challenged, no one wants to be told anything, which can make workplace a battleground. Simon wondered if America has lost both love of country, and the basic work ethic, each so vital. He recalled the rare times his father was briefly unemployed, how profo...

Don't mean to be one-eyed, just know things from the male view.  Will was grateful to be there on his first day, or, to be anywhere.  Either you are somewhere, or, you're invisible, a sort of half-death. When a man has a job, he feels connected to the busy real world. There's motivated blood pumping. Conversely, when a man has no job, he feels on the other side of the glass, dependent, uncertain. Waking each morning becomes a rude greeting of apprehension, worry for breakfast, gulp down more coffee, figure out your next move. Nowhere to go, friends aren't home, except your dear elderly neighbors, long past their working years, always home. Men can value their dignity with currencies of silent endurance, patience, hope. Swallow the pain, whatever happens, it's just a warehouse, two-wheeler, and trucks, endless trucks to unload. Now, hold your head steady for the putrid men's room mirror, your hands on each side: you'll get thru this first shift, no matter ...

The two friends stared into the silent screen above the bar, some football contest was underway, neither knew who nor cared. Their conversation went from work, to wives, to a documentary one friend saw, describing the topic to the other.  "It was interesting how they presented the evidence, it's beyond any doubt, if you follow the science. We came from the apes. You believe that, too, right?"  The other friend took a long draw on his still frosty lager, not answering right away, thinking quietly amidst the bar's busy din. "I wouldn't exactly say it that way. No. We don't come from apes.", the pondering friend replied. "We are apes. Still are. Never stopped. We're animals. Specifically, we're mammals, homo-sapien mammals. Apes. We are them." Both friends then just sat in silence, considering that fact, what it meant, or didn't mean.

Old toad mostly likes routine. Things staying the same as last time. No surprises or big noises. Old toad's day is spent quietly, eyeballing slugs to snatch up.  They're always near him and the water; you'd think they'd learn over a millennium of being lunch. Sometimes a fly would land right on old toad's bumpy snout, very dumb, some bugs, or just naive.  Most unlike you or me, o ld toad lives out its routines unconsciously, asleep or awake, ignoring time passing with no awareness or distracted mirror ego, by evolution's scheme, old toad sees little beyond the world of pond.

Darrel Johann, tennis trainer by day, Astrophysics student every other waking hour, bides his time, enduring an impossible schedule with little room left for any life. Yet, h is studies take him to the edges of existance, and playing around with persistant mystery is what others call research- but he loves every puzzling second of it. Finding himself embedded in a transparent fabric of universe that presents a sacred geometry of purpose, Johann stares deeply into the stars most nights, drawing out his own personal constellations of inquiry, creating his own conundrums of myth. Johann teaches tennis, a sport of angles, and velocity checked by distance, inertia and reaction. Plus, precise timing by the eye's call, which gives him an inner chuckle, since scientist Johann knows there's really no time at all.

Mack Brockton, despondant since his wife left and filed in one weekend, unemployed eleven  months, but he's no longer even looking now, spiraling down into a wretched trench of intractable depression, continues to inwardly turn his hard questions, like a Rosary, but they're all rhetorical: "What if God had a bad day? What if nothing worked out? What if our thoughts felt like spun cotton or burnt charcoal? What if there were no reasons? What if fear were free? What if nothing good mattered? Would colors go away? Would it all turn into a muddied gray? What if God had a bad day?"

The morning went well. He jogged his Master around their block two times.  He got a shank bone from a neighbor. He froze at the sight of a fat squirrel.  All the other dogs got barked at. The delivery man was rightly startled. A careless cat in the alley got chased. Nothing to do now besides basque in happy Mediterranean daydream under warm embrace of bright Santorini sun.

Four year-old Ghandal knows what sound is, although he was born with his hearing greatly impaired. He knows sound as vibration, and he knows vibration as a rough translation of the precious gift of his life. Ghandal looks for ways to hear eternity's silence, and this no contradiction. Bells of all kinds, or glass, certain stones or metals, or even just pressing close to a large pot become instruments in a Creator's excellence, a symphony of vibratory resonance. Ghandal knows his daily life thru sight and touch, and the visceral tones of the natural world across a range of divine frequencies, and never doubts that he is always in tune with God.

Ramanath was in a quandary, a dilemma, and didn't know his next move. He started having silly thoughts, like nametags would solve the problem, but ironically they'd be too tiny to read. So what to do? He hated killing things. "Great!", he thought. " You've got 'something' cornered near the ceiling, do you just ask? Is that trustworthy? You can imagine the awkward exchange: - You, with the long legs, you're cornered. Now, answer truthfully. Are you a harmless tipple, or midge, or crane fly wandered in here by mistake? Or, are you a shameless, maybe even deadly blood sucker waiting to pounce?" Then Ramanath realized it's no use- honestly, what do you think a snidely mosquito is going to say?

Nothing grabs your attention and focuses the mind like the unwelcome touch of cold steel at the base of the neck. Gary continued the story, his group of friends hanging on every word. "I knew I was in trouble when the chopped blue Chevy first rolled up, tinted back window half-down, a voice asking "where's Wilshire?" We were just off the corner of Wilshire and Cochran, so I knew the question was whack. Had a good hunch what was coming next. But I just kept walking, then I heard the car doors opening, footsteps coming up behind me real fast. One dude grabs my arm, I know not to turn around, then the gun to my head. I could sense there were three behind me, they were young. Nervous. One of them kept saying "Don't be stupid.", as if that was my plan, while the other two went through my pockets. I remembered I had only three dollars in cash, and my cards.  My thoughts were racing, but I felt calmer than they were, which I knew wasn't a good thing. The g...

"You think being this cute is easy? It's a commitment! My fan base is enormous and growing weekly. There are people and their people. Appearances, photo shoots, a thousand decisions! Hey, I'm just playing! It IS easy. I'm at the Poochie Parlor!"

Sol's Random Stories Stories from random images. solsrandomstories.blogspot.com Sol's Dream Galleries Free association, image, dream stories in real time.  solsdreamgalleries.blogspot.com Sol's Inner Vault Personal thoughts on faith, religion, philosophy, and life.  solsinnervault.blogspot.com Sol's Media Debunk Examining biases and fallacies. solsmediadebunk.blogspot.com

End of this world after a long, lucky life, the last struggles of body, the final moment we're gone, drawn away to the next mystery.

The kids in the building called her birdlady, but it wasn't meant to be rude. Cheerfully eccentric, Lupe loved and tended her bird visitors all day long on her big balcony, with several small baskets of seeds, fruit and nuts. What Lupe's nosey neighbors really wanted to know about was her m ystery boarder, it's been two years now. No one ever sees him come or go, only his sillouette on her shaded kitchen window. Folks speculated he's  ill, or a hermit, or just a loner type who stays home. When they would ask Lupe about her cowboy friend, she would  smile, and tell them he wasn't a cowboy, but he was retired from a long career in law enforcement.

Odd is always a matter of perspective and orientation. But, most of all, odd is a matter of experience. Reba in Unit B didn't dislike her neighbors, or resent talking to them.  When necessary. Daily small talk, however, wasn't her necessity. That's all, nothing more to know. They watched her come and go, mostly at night, switching her patio plants with others in the yard, moving swiftly to avoid any miscellaneous humanity.

Maybe awake, maybe not, maybe those suspended moments in between, before the plunge into earlier depths, seminal ancient stem of the brain's eye taking over, as the long day's trivialities submerge and molt to smaller swaths of color and wordless memory, dropping further down to hypnogogic reveries of influence and impression.  Maybe awake, maybe not, maybe we can never really know which?  Mind travels its neural circuits and pathways beyond our desire's control.

Rhonda sees the creepy guy a moment late as he comes around a parking wall, crazy grinning.  She's trapped, but her savvy action hound isn't having it at all, with this guy approaching. From the backseat, the amazing Harvey leaps out in one move of pure growl, teeth bared for battle, Rhonda's very own super-loyal gladiator and canine of courage. The creep thinks twice about his ambitions, lurches sideways, then bolts down the parking ramp. Harvey protects way above his pay grade, with furious passion, and can bark like dogs many times his size.

Her new assignment was a documentary, not fiction. Only one way to get the real scoop, and the tree's view. So, the brave and determined cat cub reporter somehow managed to embed herself within the raccoon life.

Evelyn and Hal are married for a long time now, she might say a hundred years, he might say a hundred and fifty, but probably would just think it. Never one to parse moments, Evelyn stirred thru the hot  chili, then offered a question: "What's up with the dog's poop lately?" Hal tried to pretend he didn't hear. But as she started again, he warily asked "What do you mean?" "When I take her for a walk , she poops, and it stands straight up. What is that?" Hal wanted to be anywhere else in the universe. "That is great kibble, that's all.", he stands straight up to leave the kitchen fast, clouds looming quickly overhead. "Widgie can do lots of things we can't.", Hal said quietly, but no one heard.

Shiva, creator, destroyer, dispassionate to both, i ndifferent to change, dismissive of time, uncaring of bliss or suffering, moved neither by grace nor evil, galaxies born or crashed together across a cosmos of emptiness, besides a few structures glimmering across imagination, but that doesn't add up, where is everything else that's supposed to be somewhere, lost for now until the next biggest telescope goes online, we'll see farther than ourselves this time, to the edge of all questione, Shiva, creator, destroyer, dispassionate to both .

The sage old parrot passed thru yet another gauntlet of challenge, a brief but intense survival battle. The younger Kea recognized the lack early, his elder having all the experience. A few menacing swoops, some feathers scraped, it was over, for that day at least. A ngling across a darkening New Zealand sky, back down thru the lush valley, the old Kea had already forgotten his aggressor.

More than just ridiculously cute, you could say Rico was a straight up miracle, hard fate's side-wink exception, a long-odds favorite. Found stumbling out of a major forest fire, the singed and dazed lad couldn't even eat for days. Only kind sips of water kept his tiny heart going long enough for hope's self-healing to begin. Just a small second chance that spoiled death cannot touch, Rico will have his good life after all.

It was closer to daybreak,  Jon realized once again that he had been thinking too much. He must write it out once more, last time: "Relax, this note to myself says. I'm in charge of very little, and able to influence less and less. It's really all good, whatever it is,  despite fearful thoughts we have about our own ending . F or prophets and experts,  a hot mess , what's beyond the body's demise, well, it's anyone's artful guess. Let's include nothing is beyond, as that may be part of the mix, an optimistic and hopeful matrix of possibilities, some say imagined. Believers sort out the big issues, questions, and solutions. Faith answers everything for eternity. Those unbelieving feel that if some beyond is a whimsical myth, there will be no one around to care, or know anything is lost. It's really all good, whatever it is." His mind still unsettled yet calmer , Jon thought maybe now he'll sleep.

Car pulls into driveway moment.

"So, these two Scottish lads walk into an Irish pub..."

"Yes, a mammal I am, that's correct. Me, where a mask? Underwater? That's a good one, Dr. Fauci!"

"Thanks, God, for the carrot and the paint job."

The sacred blue waterfall in Madeira is well-hidden, and a tightly kept secret among the townsfolk. They rightly fear the world's instant attention to their protected paradise of legendary healing, and restorative powers. The fall's source lies deep in a nearby granite mountain's core, that too is an unknown location, among vast underground lakes, grotto lagoons, and pitch black caves with timeless streams. The rich luminescent glow even the elders cannot explain, or their ancestors, only gratefully in awe. If you ask nicely and are in need, they'll kindly bring you a cask, so you may feel your soul healed.

The ghostly grey reflection in the water tells the truer story, all color gone from gravity's pull, a certain secret vortex revealed, an exit to another dimension, a portal of unknown destination, appearing for only a hot moment, then gone again for a millennium.

They say it's the last standing phone booth in the entire state. Somehow, it was overlooked as the world moved on to newer wires and cans, and satellites. The company that once owned it no longer exists. City officials have ignored it for years now. Kids use it as a rock target. Drunks use it also in staggered darkness. It stands out during the day, a quaint anomaly, a ghost structure of times gone forever. But, all of that notwithstanding, no one dares get near it, or get more curious about its presence. An ominous mystery the local news doesn't mention, and a town's wary superstition. All its lines fully cut, disconnected from power sources for decades, no one wants to talk about how it simply loudly rings on its own- the 15th of every month at precisely 3:15 in the afternoon, for fifteen long and haunting seconds.

Our Teddy was feeling sad and lonely, all of us so busy with our lives. So, we got Teddy a kitten! You can see how pleased they both are now.

Defying the odds, the critics, maybe defying rationality, Elon Musk has successfully opened tbe first cafe on Mars. Certainly a dubious accomplishment, but its blue neon lights are seen as an alluring, and eventually inviting interstellar watering hole- but there are no plans underway yet for employees or customers, or how to serve everything at -81°F.

Child: "But, then why does God make so many different flowers?" Mom: "Do you mean like God makes so many different people?"

Call it a group mystery, a rare, shared lapse of attention. But, no one could explain how the entire crew could miss the letter R.

Everyone around the world can see it, the strange splash of light seemed to move closer to earth with every passing hour. Governments and media urge people to remain calm, as frantic scientists scramble to identify the ominous mass. Some reports of illness have not been confirmed, while sources cite evidence of emerging public fear. Religious figures are proclaiming miracles at hand, while others suspect interstellar attackers. The truth is that nobody knows. Almost nobody. Thinking he probably better call someone official soon, and still quite in shock himself, one panicking Gary Becham of Springdale, Utah- amateur illusionist- well, he knows.  

Aaron began his twenty-fourth day in total seclusion, the forest his anonymous host, remaining hidden to meditate and pray. He looked over notes from the hours before the day had re-awakened: "Arrival may be sudden, or realized from slow distance of gradual acceptance, no one can know the final corridor before entering, it will be different for all, uniquely designed, no one can know what incense may burn, or scent of spice or oil, or softly echoed chime of psalm heard amidst silence, no one can know this world's passage, instant or lingering, on its designated day." Then, Aaron boiled water for his morning tea.  

He adjusted his collar without thinking. He knew one thing for certain: he felt frustrated in nearly every part of his life. Cornered by details, trapped both by his own tortured fears and circumstance. He was in full turmoil, and felt weak to fight it alone, although he knew that wasn't true, just a mirage of dysfunction. During the day, he was exhausted. At night., he lay awake, unable to sleep. How many years have passed? So many twists and traps, he's made so little progress, still enslaved by his own quiet terror. Then, he reflexively glanced at his watch, 5:45, much later than he thought. The morning was striding forward, he had to quickly prepare. At 6am, his early risers would arrive, unpacking their burdens and expectations. Soon, Father Wills would begin another day of services, counsel of compassion, and public prayer.

Oh no! It can't be! A grey hair?

Driving back home Sunday evening, she thought again about the morning sermon, and the reverend talking about trust, the need to trust the folks around us. She considered how sensible this was, and so much less stressful. Turning into her townhouse driveway, she soon would settle into her nightly routine: short workout, bath, snack, then sleep. Patient and methodical across the way, home all day in his townhouse, he quickly settled into his nightly routine: taking the lens caps off his six cameras and scopes, adjusting each one just so, then brewing up some coffee.

"Yeah okay, workaholic, whatever, I've heard it before. Never from downstreamers, they appreciate me, so it's always relative, right?"

"We're both MENSA material among our feathered brethren, what's the big drama?" "Nothing. Just stupid identity politics."