Story behind the 'Stache

It was a beautifully sunny day. The perfect day to go for a stroll across the courtyard and gather mushrooms for a little snack. "Maybe mushrooms and spaghetti for dinner," he thought to himself as he limbered up for his journey. He slipped on his bright red overalls, combed his wild mustache, and got rid of his bed head simply by wearing a cap. "Here I go!"

Upon leaving, our hero noticed a hairy beast hanging in the tree house looming over the castle grounds. "Oh, hey."

"Hey there, you wouldn't happen to have any bananas, would ya? I'm starving," his neighbor complained.

"You're always hungry."

"and you're always stomping on mushrooms, leaving a mess of your yard. Just give me a banana."

"The princess might have some, I'll check when I go back inside," he reasoned.

It wasn't long at all until he heard a familiar shriek. "Hmm," he thought, "I haven't seen that fire-breathing turtle for a while. I bet he's up to his old tricks." So our hero ran as fast as he could back to the castle.

The princess was no where to be found! He checked all the rooms, all the dungeons, all the sewers, through all the paintings and the courtyard. Then he noticed something odd. There was a tall scaffolding along the side of the castle. " but we aren't painting 'til next week," he thought to himself. At the top of the scaffolding was his extremely hairy neighbor and the princess!

"Hey! Whatcha doing?" he shouted up.

"She told me there were bananas up here, the liar! I'm so ornery!" his neighbor hollered, ornery.

"Looks like I gotta go up there," he said to himself. The scaffolding was built with a series of ladders alternating from the left to right side on each level. Some ladders were broken from the great beast. The platforms were bent and uneven, meaning a simple slip would send our hero rolling to the bottom. "Here I go!"

Thank goodness he limbered up this morning. It was a pretty simple task, running across beams and climbing ladders could've been the easiest rescue mission yet. Then he heard a loud crash. His foe was throwing down the conveniently placed barrels from the top platform! This made it a bit more difficult. It was tough, focusing on not falling off the scaffolding and jumping over the barrels as they rolled down.

At last he made it to the platform directly under his foe and the princess. With a super charged upper cut, he knocked out the beast and sent him flying back to where he came from. "I'll be back for our annual go-cart and tennis outings!" he hollered, his deep voice echoing against the castle walls.

The princess was saved! To show her gratitude, she made our hero a large plate of spaghetti.

The End.

I'll Be Home for Christmas - Part I

     "This will be your new family." The words from the social worker echoed through her mind. At sixteen years old, she'd been tossed around in the system for so long. Needless to say, her faith in it was shallow. She'd been disappointed too many times to believe that any good set up would come from it. The first two families she had forgotten; she was too young to remember them. The next, she chose to forget; their bitterness had left her heart cold. The last family was decent enough. They were kind and sincere people. However, she never felt as though she belonged there.

"I wonder what this family will be like...?"

     The question plagued her mind ever since she received the notice that she would be leaving. This time, aside from all the wordy legal notices, official documents, et cetera, they sent her what was, in her opinion, nothing short of a treasure. It was a picture; a picture beautifully composed of five bright faces; a loving smile on each one. As much as she was determined to not get her hopes up, she couldn't look at the picture without a soft smile appearing on her face; a wonder in itself. She wondered if she could still smile like they did. She wondered if she might love them as they so clearly loved each other. "Maybe this family will be the one..." Then, in realization of the danger zone she was heading into, she stopped. Whispering into the stale car air, she said: "No... you're not allowed to hope for the best." Turning her head to the window once again, she watched the world pass by.

In a few short hours, hours that would seem like an eternity, Dominique would get her first taste of life in the Carwyn home.

Ode on a sweater vest . . .

Oh sweater vest

you just scream Christmas

and I mean that literally

scream

Knitted with love

by a great grandma

you were never meant

to be a belly shirt

I suppose that explains

the screaming

Why, James?

Falling Dreams

One of those mornings I couldn't get out of bed.

Whether the reason was broken legs

or an invisible hand pressing on my chest.

I could not convince myself getting up was worth it.

Like a rocket ship I gave myself a count down.

In T minus 5 seconds I'll sit up.

It took until the 3rd lift off.

I wondered if my bed was covered in bubble wrap

as every joint in my body cracked.

Inhale, exhale and off I go.

Falling, not free falling, more horrendous.

Who would dig a bottomless pit by my bed?

How long would it have taken the culprit to dig this?

What happened to my downstairs?

What machinery could finish the job in one night so quietly?

Judging by my initial velocity and aerodynamics, how fast am I going?

Oh, if only I had my calculator.

I woke up and pondered.

How was I able to think so clearly,

when I'm hysterically falling to my doom?

I didn't get out of bed.