writing

Songbird: The Rise and Fall of Jimmy B. Chapter V

/ cksdays / Leave a comment

CHAPTER V: VH1 Behind the Music

“Is your homework done?” Amanda asked her daughter Millie even though she knew the answer.

“I am just getting to it,” Millie replied rolling off the futon.

“I bet,” her mother said and picked up the remote.  “Let’s get rid of the distractions, shall we?” she aimed it at the television but stopped before turning it off.

“Whatever happened to Jimmy B.?” the unseen announcer in the television show asked.  “This is VH1 and you are watching Behind the Music, stay tuned.”

Amanda sat down on the futon.

“Mom?” Millie asked.  “What are you doing?”

“I loved Jimmy B.!” she said.  “You know, he was my very first concert.” She looked at her daughter.  “I was probably about your age.”

Continue reading →

Songbird: The Rise and Fall of Jimmy B. Chapter I

/ cksdays / 3 Comments

CHAPTER I: School

James Bernard Peternelli sat in the chair quietly.  Just as his mother instructed him to do.  Of course, everything James Bernard did was donequietly.  That is why he was sitting outside the junior high school’s principal’s office.  He could hear his mother’s raised voice as she spoke with the principal and guidance counselor.  Did he understand the meeting concerned his fate at the school?  The school officials didn’t think so but his mother certainly did.  That was why the two of them were at the school.  His mother was determined to prove he had every right to be taught in the public school.

Continue reading →

The Christmas Dinner: Chapter II

/ cksdays / 2 Comments

Chapter II

Amy stood at the kitchen sink washing dishes.  She watched the gentle snow fall outside.  In a few short hours, the house would be filled with family gathering for Christmas Eve dinner and there was plenty that still needed to be done.  But she couldn’t bring herself to work on the meal.  Somehow, she had managed to get the turkey in the oven but that was all her energy level allowed.  It was all she could do to hold back tears as she thought of her conversation with her husband last night.

Continue reading →

The Christmas Dinner: Chapter I

/ cksdays / 3 Comments

CHAPTER I

Amy stood at the kitchen sink washing dishes.  Although it was taking her longer than usual because her thoughts kept drifting as she looked out the window.  A gentle snow had been falling most of the day but that wasn’t what she was thinking about.  There was still so much to be done and she needed to take advantage of the quiet time while the baby was sleeping and the kids were downstairs watching Christmas movies but she couldn’t focus.  Her parents and in-laws would be coming for Christmas dinner in a few hours, yet she couldn’t stay on track with finishing the preparations.  Sure, the turkey was in the oven slowly cooking its way to perfection or at the very least, something edible, but all the side dishes needed to be fixed.  Yet, here she stood, staring out the window, her hands slowly wiping the dirty dishes and numbly placing them one by one in the drain.  No matter how many times she shook her head to regain focus, her thoughts always drifted off to one particular thing: her marriage.

Continue reading →

Story behind the Post – The Hitman’s Retirement

/ cksdays / 3 Comments

It all started when I found a phone in the gutter. I wondered what the story could be. So, I put something together. As always happens to me, my eyes were bigger than my stomach or in this case, my writing aptitude. I thought I could easily make this a 10-chapter story. Turns out though, I just needed some better editing. But it was too late. I already committed to writing a 10-chapter story not just a normal 5-chapter story. So, I set about stretching it for two months. The story started in July and finished in September with a break in August.

Continue reading →

The Hitman’s Retirement – Chapter IV

/ cksdays / 2 Comments

IV. The Kvasnak Family

Cheyenne took a deep breath and then started her story.

“My great-grandparents immigrated to Wyoming from Czechoslovakia during the coal mine population boom in 1920.  At that time, the town was a bit of a melting pot with different ethnicities coming in to work the mines.  No one thought any other name was that strange.  But my grandpa had other ideas.  As a businessman, he shortened the name to Kaye to make it easier to pronounce.  ‘If they can’t say the name, they won’t remember the name.  If they don’t remember the name, they won’t buy the product’ he would say.  So, our family became the Kayes.

Continue reading →

The Hitman’s Retirement – Chapter III

/ cksdays / 3 Comments

III. The Next Complication

Tony was still upset when he reached the door to the hotel room.  He had a bona fide situation on his hands.  First of all, his target slipped through his hands which never happens.  It had been a long time since he tasted failure and he did not like it one bit.  But now he had to do some scrambling.  He was going to have to postpone his trip a little longer so that he could finish the job.  In order to finish the job, he was going to have to ditch Cheyenne which meant more lying.  He shook his head because he really didn’t like that part.

After he did all that, he was going to have to track down the target again knowing the mayor had hired his own gun.  Which means the mayor must have known someone was coming for him.  Not as small town as Tony thought.  That showed a little sophistication Tony had not anticipated. 

Continue reading →

The Hitman’s Retirement – Chapter II

/ cksdays / 2 Comments

II. The Target

It was after 8:00 PM by the time they returned to the hotel.  Tony waited patiently for Cheyenne to climb into bed.  Part of her residual army training made her an early bird and Tony was counting on her going to bed early.  Tonight though, she did not.  Much to his surprise she was still wide awake at 10:00 PM.

Even his tolerance and patience were being exceeded while he waited for her to doze off. Instead of being able to locate the target’s house during the day he had to spend the time retrieving data from the broken phone.  Which meant he was going to have to find it for the first time in the dark of the night.  Doable but sloppy work.  But it had to be done that night.  Cheyenne was expecting for the two to get up and get an early start to the Park. 

Continue reading →