Tuesday, November 5, 2024

original story - 6. funny



by bofa xesjum




dead men tell no tales, bud brown stated diffidently.

why are you picking on me again? hogarth asked.

picking on you? you do not know what picking on is, brother.

i could pick you out of a lineup down at the state police headquarters.

you young punks are the problem, always ready to snitch on your pals.

i would play ball with you if you would play ball with me.

dead men don’t play ball.

everything changed the day that lion escaped from the zoo.

it is too bad the lion did not tell a few tales.

he was all set to, but too many reporters showed up at his trial, and he was afraifd his relatives back in africa would her about it.

people do not understand how these things work.

some people do.

what is that supposed to mean? explain yourself, please.

i do not have enough passion or commitment to undertake that task.

you always were a whiner, weren’t you?

hogarth fell silent, refusing to dignify bud brown’s comment, ad a flower bloomed in a garden on the outskirts of town.

young people are the problem - that is just a natural fact.

there is not much point in cutting them any slack.

the lion is still on the loose, in the hearts of men and women, boys and girls, all over the world.

the power of the people runs away like rainwater down a side street.

joe stood on the corner, wondering where everybody was.

he saw bud brown and hogarth slouching in front of the 7-11 halfway down the block, but they did not count.

he tried to remember the heroes of his childhood, who had passion and commitment.

he did not think it was funny.

he wondered if his old friends with drinks clutched eternally in their hands thought it was funny.

somewhere flowers were growing, and bugs were crawling around them.

you think it’s funny, don’t you?



Sunday, November 3, 2024

original story - 5. the lion



by bofa xesjum




has anybody seen joe? emily asked plaintively with a glass of gin in her hand.

why would anybody see joe? ralph responded. this is bucky’s party.

a lion had escaped from the zoo earlier in the morning, and this event had dominated the conversation until emily’s question.

more people had shown up than bucky and belinda had expected, and they were running out of everything.

belinda was trying to reach the caterer to order more sandwiches, especially the peanut butter and marshmallow, which had been a great hit.

you will never understand, professor maling was explaining to deborah, events like the lion escaping are all part of an elaborate plan.

> deborah was wearing an old red t-shirt with power to the people stenciled on it in fading black letters.

her eye caught a blue flower in the hair of a younger woman she did not immediately recognize.

where is the passion, the commitment, emily asked bill waters, who had been standing in one spot with a blank stare through most of the afternoon.

it disappeared when the people stopped wanting power, bill replied with surprising force.

you think it’s funny, don’t you, bill? emily’s dark eyes glittered.

you want passion and commitment? a voice asked behind them.

a lion is roaming the streets devouring innocent citizens, and you all stand around with drinks in your hands like it is the most natural thing in the world -

you young people are the problem, professor maling interjecetd forcefully.

but before he could continue, belinda intervened -

let’s all take a break, she suggested, a fifteen minute break, and then we can all assume new identities and start this party all over again.

that’s a great idea, honey, bucky seconded, because dead men tell no tales.

even after we assume new identities, the young woman with the blue flower in her hair exclaimed, the people will still be without power.

the flower trembled in her hair, as if it wished to bloom in the spring.

let us make this a day we will always remember, emily oined.

why are you always picking on me? deborah whispered to bill waters, as the guests drifted apart to take a break and assume their new identities.

i forget, bill answered sheepishly.

let’s do it people, belinda reminded everybody, because we have a bigger crowd than we expected.

the girl with the blue flower in her hair, whose name was jenny lake, sighed wearily.

outside, the lion was still on the prowl.

the guests began assuming their new identities, even though nobody had seen joe.

why does everybody hate me? belinda wondered, i am trying to do the right thing.



Saturday, November 2, 2024

original story - 4. homeboy



by bofa xesjum




you decide - i declared i quit the system a long tome ago.

i got a new word or you - kinesis. billy and al were using it before the big flop, but quietly.

it is too early to tell if chucky or carlos are serious, but never look down a lonesome road after midnight.

you think it is a joke, but it is a truly grand opportunity for an old homeboy.

the lady in number 6 made a similar gracious remark.

how suspicious are the authorities?

the forgotten warriors are waiting routinely to tell the fifth joke.



Monday, October 28, 2024

an encounter



by bofa xesjum




monsieur b, i believe?

why yes, i am monsieur b. thank you so much for recognizing me. it had been a long tine since anyone has.

do you mind if i sit down?

no, no, please do.

i have always been a great admirer of yours, monsieur.

thank you. my memory is not what it was. have we met?

briefly, at the conference of the s society at n, in 19 something or other. i am commissioner leroy, perhaps you remember me?

oh, of course, of course. if i recall, in those long ago days, we may have exchanged words - in print - good old print - not always the softest.

indeed! but i always truly admired you as a pioneer. tell me, how is the espresso here?

not very good, try the hot chocolate.

i will take your advice. waiter!

yes, monsieur.

a hot chocolate, please.

how do you like it?

the same as this gentleman.

very good, monsieur.

where were we?

in the dim past, exchanging thunderbolts.

thunderbolts in a clear sky.

waiting for a storm that never came.

oh, it came it some ways. the old castles and battlements are gone, or at least silenced. one can barely hear them muttering in the backgrouappendix -nd, soft waves in a low tide.

but the high tide never lifted our ships.

the ships that were never built.

and never sailed.

but they brought us here.

they left us here.

your hot chooiate. monsieur.



Monday, October 21, 2024

original story - 3. the queen's stratagem



by bofa xesjum




reynaud had nothing but a cat to present to the emperor.

sinbad envisioned the delicate witticism he would deliver to the terrible prince who waited outside.

i believe the empress has charmed this clown with the express apprehension of obliterating the many regrets of the old lady.

nevertheless the warlord and the queen have agreed on the destruction of the ancient formalities.

heaven sent its best wishes to the old lady.

the feline tailor judiciously interrogated the sturdy guardsmen before the queen nodded knowingly to the master.

under peril of annihilation, the barbarian gave way -



Sunday, October 20, 2024

original story 2 - the adventurers



by bofa xesjum




yesterday pope alexis questioned the turkish envoy as to the benefits of a quiet kinesis when revenge is cold and the joke is not worth the price of exposition.

many of the adventurers made an exhibition of sorrowful virtue when the notary ordered them to be beheaded.

they all laughed at the viceroy when he grew sentimental about the adventurers’ ’youth.

the lady waited patiently for the cavalier to implicate the groom in the judiciously defeated insurrection under the count’s jeering opportunism.

a saucy fellow boldly offered to evoke another revolutionary fracas at midnight.

and the ladies grew indignant at last under the clouds.


Wednesday, October 9, 2024

original story 1 - disdain



by bofa xesjum




henry the cannibal laughed.

but sir percival expressed disdain.

doctor zurk, the distinguished zoologist, viewed water nagelby as a potentially gruesome candidate for examination.

the little king suppressed a yawn obliviously when the red nun upheld the bifurcation of the hairy monster.

forgoing the old dogmas, gareth tremblingly, a wizened consultant who expected the youthful follies of the queen to be exposed momentarily, sighed deeply.

in the intervals between the jollities of the chancellor of the exchequer and the king of terror, roger attempted to interpose a few damning statistics.

meanwhile, zillions of indignant citizens languished in the waiting room.