We’d like to show the side of the world you don’t normally see on television.

A collective short story - add a line a paragraph or two or more

Mindy Walker opened a new jar of blackberry honey for her morning tea. After walking out on the deck to stand in the sunlight she noticed the passionflower cutting Hans had started over a year ago was now taking over the plum tree. The tree was covered in one massive vine. The jasmine was blooming early. It had been an unusually warm dry winter so far. All the reservoirs were extremely low. On the news the night before there had been mention of water rationing.

Puma took an extended bath on top of the teak deck table before taking a nap. Shadow the chocolate lab watched her with one eye open. He was already half asleep.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marinspin on February 1, 2009 at 1:15pm

Mindy was taking Huma Worm and had been for weeks. She felt like dealing with parasites inside was casting out parasites in her outer world as well. That same week she had wormed Shadow and Puma. It was a family cleansing.

Permalink Reply by Tom Codella on February 1, 2009 at 9:26pm

Mindy could smell the stong fragrance of jasmine as the warm dry breezes blew through the porch. She wished that Hans had not planted that passion flower cutting by the plum tree. For she feared the plum tree would be overtaken by the cutting. The plum tree had carried on it's limbs so many memories, in it's flowers so many joys and in it's roots the foundation of their family. It was more than a tree to Mindy and just as Hans had come so is the cutting smothering the bearty that used to be. It was easy to cleanse Shadow and Puma of the parasites but the family had much more and deeper entrenched worms.

Permalink Reply by Marinspin on February 2, 2009 at 2:41am

Alone Mindy's mind drifted to her dark young lover Buck Salvino. He lived in Berkeley in a small cottage in the hills with his Dutch wife Chandra. Mindy had driven by his house before out of curiosity. Either Buck or Chadra had a green thumb. They had tall gorgeous rose bushes in shades of raspberry and apricot and their lawn was well manicured with a ancient oak tree growing in the center of their yard.

Should she try calling Buck or would his wife answer again. The whole situation was extremely frustrating. Mindy had met Buck two years ago on the beach in Bali after a full moon party hosted by her friend Paco. She had not seen Buck since Hans was last in Germany taking care of his ailing 95 year old mother in Baden Baden. Mindy poured a glass of Red Tail Ale into an etched glass mug and put some pretzels in a small hand painted bowl. As soon as she sat down and turned on the nightly news she heard a knock at the back door.

Permalink Reply by Tom Codella on February 4, 2009 at 10:11pm

Mindy was surprised by the knocking, she had not expected company and Hans was not to be back for at least a couple of hours. The thought crossed Mindy's mind to ignore the knocking, drink her Red Tail Ale and maybe who ever was knocking would go away. But Mindy's curiosity overcame her. Mindy got up and cautiously walked over to the door straining to look out the window to catch a glimpse of who was knocking at the door. Mindy reached to unlock the lock then grabbed the door knob to open the door just as the visitor knocked again much harder this time. It started Mindy's heart racing and Shadow and Puma barking.
As Mindy slowly opened the door the first thing she noticed was the black uniform of authority, the glistening badge of the local law enforcement, then the face of Andy the local sheriff. Mindy's heart started beating harder and faster. Why would Andy have come way out here. Had something happened to Hans. Or even worse had Hans done something to get into trouble again. He barely got out of that last mess.
"Hello Andy, what brings you way out here?" Mindy said.

Permalink Reply by Marinspin on February 6, 2009 at 4:16pm

Could her Buck possibly be dead or was Andy talking about someone else? Mindy started to cry. Had she heard it all correctly? Could she possibly call Chandra to check or would Chandra even have a clue who she was? Mindy started to scream as loudly as possible doing her own version of Primal Therapy. None of her neighbors lived close by so it was almost as good as having your own sound proof booth. Puma ran and hid in the coat closet.

Mindy was extremely shaken over the news yet also very relieved that Hans was not up to another one of his ponzi real estate schemes and that this was not about another one of his bad gambling debts. When Hans was first arrested with Jules Bernard Fleder and transported from Indonesia to Guam it had almost ended their marriage. Sometimes Mindy had no idea why she even continued to stay with Hans. They had been sleeping in separate bedrooms for about 3 years now. Mindy was starved for affection and love. Recently she had started to flirt more openly with the Fijian cashier at the Palace Market.

Was it the lifestyle she had grown use to? The idea of having to go back to working as a therapist again was not at all appealing. She certainly did not want to hear anyone else's problems anymore even if she was getting properly compensated.

Mindy washed her face in an effort to ground herself. She had better try to contact someone before it got any later who could possibly help her locate Jenny. Why had she not asked Andy anymore questions before he had turned his car around at the top of the long driveway and driven off?

Could it be the same Buck? Her lover's last name was Salvino. Andy had mentioned a Buck Santino. Was it a mistake? How many Bucks did Paco know? Mindy's thoughts were all over the place as she poured herself another ale and started to reach for her silver stash box. She was hunting around in her kitchen junk drawer for rolling papers. Could Hans have walked off with them again when she was dying to smoke a joint? "Damn Hans" she said out loud surprising herself. Shadow looked up from his place next to the kitchen table and let out a large yawn.

Permalink Reply by Marinspin on February 7, 2009 at 12:41pm

Hello my name is Puma. I just logged on to check my MySpace page while Mindy is on the phone speaking with her psychiatrist Dr. Braintree. I am finally getting some time online because I know Mindy will be on the phone for awhile.

A little bit about me. I am a tiny butterscotch colored female feline with short very soft fur with white boots. I am rather dainty. I was born to a into a large litter in San Anselmo California and my early years were spent living in a barn at a Catholic girl's school.

I just wanted to clarify for any confused writers or readers that I am a cat. Not that I have anything against dogs because I love Shadow I just think dogs need to bath more often and that they should be more considerate of others before lapping up the entire contents of the water bowl. I also think there is no reason to park ones dirty tennis ball in the water bowl while drinking. How stupid is that? If you ever saw all the dirty places that tennis ball has been you would completely understand. I just wanted to add I think treat time should be three times a day at least rather then just once.

I pray daily that Tibet will one day be free again.

My hobbies are sun bathing and doing the weekly sudoku in the Sunday Chronicle and of course mousing. I like to listen to jazz rock world music and reggae and I wish KSAN radio was still around.

It sounds like Mindy might be getting off the phone soon and I know she will bump me off the puter so I have to go now.

Permalink Reply by Marinspin on February 8, 2009 at 10:32am

This is Shadow. Mindy is taking a bath and I don't think she realizes yet that her good friend Paco was even hurt. She has been crying on and off since Andy was here. She seems to be in some sort of state of shock.

Puma is really not suppose to be using the computer since she sold some of Han's ETRADE stocks. He was livid and chased her around the perimeter of the outside of the house. She also messed up some of his online poker games while he was on the phone with his mother in Germany.

For the record I have only dropped my tennis ball in the water bowl for a total of three times at the most during intense games of catch which Mindy refers to as doggy boot camp. Puma exaggerates. If you catch her online again please let me know. shadowdog@gmail.com

Permalink Reply by Marinspin on February 15, 2009 at 5:14pm

Hans decided to stop by his office before going home. He wanted to check his match.com account without any prying eyes around. He was adding woman to his facebook page like beads on a necklace.

He finally made it home just after midnight. He was surprised to find all the lights still on in the kitchen and an an empty Scotch bottle in the middle of the kitchen table.

Permalink Reply by nance on February 15, 2009 at 8:29pm

In this home I am never alone.
She watches the watcher,
Acknowledgment is all we truly seek.
Every place I look,
Another face is looking back at me;
I know you, we have been what is - before.
How nice of you to appear, again and again...
In this garden, and forest, lake and stream;
All around the Spirit Dances grazing my senses.
As the breeze tickles my cheek, or the acorn drops,
drawing my attention, to another silent voice - screaming:
"Please! Look at ME! I too, need to be seen!"
The Faces of Mother Nature just want to be seen.
Acknowledgment is a desired feeling, indeed.
So, every place I look, there they wait for me;
Another group of faces appears,
Acknowledging the Soul of Us...
In that silent moment,
Just for me.
Because I also scream:
"Look at Me! Please!"

Permalink Reply by Marinspin on February 17, 2009 at 12:26am

Hans did not know if he could deal with Mindy and all her hysterics this evening. Maybe she was passed out by now.

He turned the corner and saw her asleep in the living room on the brown leather couch with her cell phone in her hand. Hans took the phone from Mindy's loose grip turned it off and placed it on the coffee table. He was very careful not to wake Mindy. The last thing he wanted at this time of night was a scene. Mindy was snoring just ever so slightly like she had the start of a cold. She was wrapped up in a thick fluffy off white Egyptian cotton robe she had lifted from some luxury spa in Arizona they had stayed at last Easter with their neighbor Milo and his new very young wife Camille.

Hans turned off all the lights in the living room and the kitchen area after shaking an Ambien from a pill box into his hand and swallowing it while gulping down a tall glass of water. He continued down the hallway. He was ready for this night to be over. Shadow was already asleep on the foot of the bed and Puma was right next to him curled into a little ball.

Permalink Reply by Marinspin on February 21, 2009 at 4:53pm

The next morning Mindy found herself in her Pilates class. She was trying to stick to her normal routine in an effort to try and stay sane until she could find out more about her lover. She still did not realize that something happened to her dear friend Paco. She was still in complete shock and noticed that her sweat shirt was on inside out.

Permalink Reply by Marinspin on May 5, 2009 at 1:14pm

Hi this is Puma again. Hans was involved in the Bernie Madoff scandal and is awaiting sentencing. He is behind bars. It turns out Mindy's lover Buck was not the same man who was killed but Paco was. Mindy no longer sees Buck after he fathered a child with a 19 year old yoga student named Candy. Mindy is now going to school to become a Feng Shui consultant.