Part 1: Henry

Henry walked up to the window of the blue Toyota Yaris and motioned for the driver to roll down the window. The driver sighed and started cranking the lever.

“You were speeding pretty fast there buddy. You got somewhere important to go?” Henry says.

“Ah, well, yeah I do have somewhere to go. Actually I am headed to meet a group I travel with.” Porty replies, waiting for the ticket to slap him in the face. There’s no way going over by 4 miles per hour could get me a big ticket, could it?

“I clocked you at 6 over. This is not the place you want to speed kid. I’m going to have to give you a ticket.”

“Officer, if you look at my record you will see I rarely get tickets. I’m a safe driver! Can you give me a break just this time?” Porty was pleading now.

“You know what kid? Follow me to that gas station up ahead and I’m sure we can work something out.” Henry heads back to the police car and with lights on follows Porty to the local gas station. Porty can’t help but think how similar this sounds to what happens in Mexico on some corrupt police force. Don’t they take bribes to get out of tickets or jail? “Well, if a bribe’s cheaper than the actual ticket, I will gladly pay it!” Porty thinks.

Porty pulls in and follows Officer Henry into the store. Porty comes up close to Henry, “I was thinking Officer, I don’t know how much this ticket would cost but I would gladly give you some cash if you didn't give me this ticket.”

“You know kid, I had the same thought.” Henry replies.

“How much were you thinking officer?” Porty reaches for his wallet and starts pulling out two $20 bills.

“How about $120.” This was a statement, not a question.

“$120! Wow, I was thinking more like $40. How much would this ticket cost?”

“The ticket would cost you $140 and it would go on your record for 5 years. You don’t want that now do you Porty?” Henry asks with a sneer.

Porty’s face turns bright red. The only thing that goes through his mind is the last time he got a ticket for rolling through a stop sign. That ticket cost him a good $80 and left him nearly in tears. One of the hardest things a man like Porty has to do is part with his hard earned and well budgeted money.

Porty looked darkly into Officer Henry’s eyes, “Are you sure you can’t bring the price down a bit? I would very much appreciate it.” He says the last sentence with malice, bordering on a threat.

“Pretty sure of myself kid.” Henry doesn't bat an eye as he follows the furious Porty over to the ATM. “And guess what traveling group I joined today? You guessed it. We might as well head over together. What do you say ol’ buddy? Hurry up with that cash or we’ll be late.”

Porty whips around and stuffs the cash into Henry’s hand. “I’ve heard about you Henry! What in the world would you want to do with a traveling group? We don’t go anywhere special. We just visit random people and document our experience!”

“I heard the group was going to Mickey Mantle’s old house. He was my favorite baseball player as a kid and what a better chance to get into the house than with a lame traveling group? What kind of group is this anyway? Your parents must have known you would do something idiotic like this when they named you Porty!” Henry gave a belly laugh.

Without another word, Porty got into his car; it took everything he had not to stomp on the gas. Porty’s insides boiled with anger. All he wanted to do was rake his knuckles across Henry’s face but if he couldn’t do that he would find some way to get back at him.

                “Alright everyone! Gather around." called the group leader, "Because of the age of our next visitor, we can only have one person go up to the door at a time. Officer Henry has informed me that he would like to go first. We’ll keep sending people through until the Mantle’s get tired. They've already been extremely gracious in allowing us this close to their father’s first home-run baseball.”

                Henry straightened his jacket, took a deep breath and walked up the steps to the Mantle’s front door. Hesitating only a moment before rapping the brass knocker, the door inched open and a gray head poked out. The old lady peering out the crack, mashed up her face and said, “Who is it?”

                Before Henry could wipe the childish grin from his face long enough to speak, a gentleman appeared in the walkway dressed in a tight collared shirt and a briefcase in his left hand.

                “Excuse me, Mrs. Mantle. Might I have a word?” The man looked oddly familiar to Henry but he couldn't place him.

                “Of course young man. Is something wrong?” Mrs. Mantle asked, worry outlined the wrinkles on her face.

                “As a matter of fact there is ma’am. Do you know who this man is?” the strange man asks gesturing to Henry. “He is a man of the law. Officer Henry is on the police force here and I am here to inform you that he has recently been caught dealing in illegal bribes and is in possession of stolen property valuable to families of famous sports players. So yes, it does concern you Mrs. Mantle. Directly. You must remove this man from your property this instant. I have spoken with this group’s leader and he is sending for someone more…reliable.”

                The blubbering Henry looked astounded, “Wha, wha, what are you talking about man? I’ve never seen you in my life and you stand there accusing me of this? Wait…are you that the kid that paid me so I wouldn’t give you a ticket?”

                “Is that so Officer?” Mrs. Mantle nearly spat.

                “I mean, it’s standard practice really...I saved him money. I don’t do that with everyone! And what is this about stolen items? I’ve never—”

                “I’ve heard enough Henry! Get off my porch!” Mrs. Mantle threw open the door and gave Henry a push. Now it was Henry’s turn to look bewildered.

                “Thank you good sir for warning me. I have riff raff like him come around every so often and I can’t stand them! Although he was better than most, I must say. Would you like to come in?” Mrs. Mantle stepped aside so Porty could enter.

                “Mrs. Mantle, you are so very kind. I’m only doing what I hope my kids will do for me one day when I get older. I’ll only bother you for a moment. I’ve always wanted to see how the real Mickey Mantle lived. What a timeless hero. It truly is a pleasure to meet you ma’am.”

While Porty enjoyed Henry’s dream in the Mantle’s home, Henry exchanged fierce words with the group leader until finally speeding off, lights blazing atop his police car.

End of Part 1

Entertainment...halfway?

Some people ask me why I read books so fast. It's not because I'm a fast reader; it's the same reason I don't watch a movie halfway through, take a nap then finish the movie when I wake up. Who wants to be entertained halfway? Either that person is crazy or they have "crazy" self-control to be able to put down a good book. I don't believe I manifest either attribute of being crazy or having crazy self-control very well although my wife would say I've been blessed with the first in plentiful amounts.
I remember hiding beneath my blankets with a flashlight reading Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series when I was in sixth and seventh grade. (I have never before nor since had grades as low as my seventh grade year when I read those books. I just wish I could blame my D+ in shop class on those books!)
Now back to the point: don't let your husband or wife tell you you are crazy for wanting to read a book all the way through. If they tell you you are neglecting the children and the relationship will not last past the summer if you don't stop reading right this very second,you better think twice about how good the book is. Family and relationships will always beat the books. We're not gamers. We know when to let go of our passion for reading in order to save a marriage going to the south pole. Gamers definitely think differently in my opinion. No offense to you gamers who are reading this...which I know there are none because why would you read a blog when you could be gaming? Makes no sense.
Speaking of marriages going to the south pole, my parents and their marriage are going to the south pole this February. I don't mean they are getting divorced...on the contrary, they have a wonderful marriage but my dad was involved in an iMax film about Shackleton, one of the great south pole explorers and they are having a ten year reunion by taking a boat and their wives to Antarctica to reminisce the good ol' days. Sorry mom, not my idea of a romantic getaway...but you've survived this long with dad "the caveman" I think a week in the Antarctic will give you some good perspective about how far you two have come.

Cow, Horse, Donkey and Farmer

Cow and donkey were feeling sad because they wanted another friend to have fun with. The next day on the farm a colt was born and cow and donkey were ecstatic to find that farmer put the new baby horse in the same stable as them! Hesitantly, cow and donkey made their way over to horse. Donkey brayed, "Little horsy, cow and I was wondering, that is, we wanted to ask you...what I'm trying to say is...we want you to be our friend!" The young horse looked at donkey and his eyes got as big as saucers, "Donkey, I would LOVE to be yours and cow's friend!" Over the coming weeks and months together they became best friends. They thought these fun days would never end.
One day the farmer came down to the stable and said, "Y'all know I bin lookin to go on a little trip coming here early in the marnin'. I need yer help donkey. I caint carry all me bags and you are a good bit tougher than me." with that, farmer took donkey away. Cow and horse huddled together crying, sad to see their best friend go.
Not long after farmer left, cow and horse heard footsteps walking back to the stable. Farmer opened the door and drawls, "Ya know harsey, I doh wanna walk all the dadgum way! Would you mind givin me a lift?" With that, horse left looking brighter, but still sad to leave cow alone.
That night cow stood with her nose in the corner, tears streaming down her face. Finally sleep overcame her and she dreamed dreams of loneliness. She woke up to the cock's crow bleary eyed, head half buried in hay. A pair of muddy cowboy boots stood not three feet away from her nose! When cow finally got to her feet, she realized farmer was looking at her with his hands in his pockets looking bashful. "Bessie," he started, "ya know yer my favorite cow. I got about a mile down the rode and realized how much better this here trip would be if you came along and gave us some of your milk to drink when we got thirsty. Wadda ya say there Bess? Would it be too much ta ask fer ya ta come along for the ride?" Cow answered so that all could here, "MOOOOOOOOOOOO!" And with that all four friends walked with happy hearts down the dusty trail with the rising sun warming their backs.
P. B. Anderson

Dreams

Many people have a hard time remembering their dreams. I pity them. Normally, when I wake up, my mind is racing with the last dream I had. Usually the more vague dreams come later in the day when my mind has time to wander. The dream takes me on a mental trip to other worlds doing "other-worldly" things. Now, since I've started my blog with the idea of documenting some of my dreams, ironically, I haven't remembered any. So this page will either be very short or I will fill it up with day dreams!

I understand that a person can't just dive right in and write a best-selling novel. As unfortunate as this is, I still have hope that with the resources available through the internet, I might set myself up for future writing success. One of the resources I am talking about is called Writing Excuses by Brandon Sanderson and a few other author's. They are about 15 minutes long and hold a discussion on various topics such as: brainstorming, when good characters go bad, common dialogue mistakes, etc. The panel discusses these topics at length and at the end of the podcast they give their listeners a writing prompt because the only way to become a proficient writer is to WRITE! My brother and I have been emailing each other back and forth with the writing prompts we finish. To put it lightly, I am at the bottom of the amateur totem pole when it comes to writing a compelling story. My heart is in the right place but the writing hasn't caught up yet. Fortunately, this is where the practice comes in; and this blog is the place I plan to make it happen. Feedback from you, the reader is appreciated as I take stabs at becoming an author. Thank you!
Keep an eye out for a section on writing prompts.