Frank and the Plot of the Hypnotizing Slime, Chapter 4

chapter 4

© James Pyles

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“Let me go,” Lilly demanded as Frank tried to carry her deeper into the forest. They have been so scared, they didn’t realize that the chick had once again disappeared.

“I’m only trying to help.” Frank put her down and stepped back.

Lilly was about to run, but for some reason, didn’t feel afraid of Frank. “Help? Like you helped that town with your hypnotizing slime? That’s no help at all.” Then she thought a minute. “Why did you save me from being eaten by that baby chicken? We’re enemies, aren’t we?”

“Are we?”

“Yes, we are. You want to hurt people and I want to save them.”

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Disfigured

mask

Photo credit Sarah Whiley

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Every day for the past eight months I stare at my empty mask with a sense of elation. I am no longer its prisoner, no longer its slave. I am free.

Of course, freedom always comes at a price, usually a very high one. After the accident, anyone looking at my face, even if they were kind and never meant to, always registered a certain revulsion. Well, who could blame them? I was absolutely hideous. Wearing the mask was marginally better. I still received their stares, but more out of curiosity. Naturally, I would never have the affection of a woman again, especially since my dearest wife was killed in the accident that made me a monster.

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My Personal Ecclesiastes

miles

© Miles Rost

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There is no me. There’s just doing the laundry, paying the rent, riding the bus, going to work, going to school. You know. Nothing that’s important. So here I am feeding coins into the washers and dryers at the laundromat, trying to read a book and realizing that I don’t enjoy it. In fact, I don’t enjoy anything. Not a damn thing. I eat good food. I mean, I live in San Francisco, so there’s a lot of good food. But so what? I’ve considered suicide for a long time. I walk out of the building and into traffic.

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Review of Quantum Leap Ep 13 “Family Style”

ql13-1

Scene from the Quantum Leap episode “Family Style”

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This week’s episode (number 13) of Quantum Leap is called Family Style. Here’s the IMDb summary:

When Ben leaps into an Indian family to try and prevent their beloved family restaurant from burning down, he finds an emotional connection with their matriarch through memories of his own. Magic and Jenn share a surprising revelation with Ian.

Ben leaps into the eldest daughter of an Indian family who owns a restaurant in Portland, Oregon in 2009 (Given that the same basic technology and lifestyles existed then as now, this is less time travel and more “I mysteriously injected myself into someone’s family”). He (again) has absolutely no issues being in a woman’s body (no awkwardness with breasts, no periods, no nothing). In fact the only difference is that he has a nose piercing. He also has mad cutting skills and apparently always wanted to be a chef. I think this is an effect of the writers of the show rather than how a guy would really react (see Sam Beckett/Scott Bakula in the original show).

I’m sorry, but if I woke up one morning with breasts and no penis, I’d lose it.

My wife worked in a professional kitchen for over twenty years and listening to all of her stories, I can confidently say, that Ben suddenly performing well in such a kitchen is bullshit. Being a good “Betty Crocker” in a kitchen at home is light years from working in a restaurant.

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Night Delivery

sat

Image source: Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie

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Motionless, she stood gazing down the tunnel. The path extended as far as the eye could see, encased by walls of grimy bricks. That wasn’t very far since Colleen’s flashlight battery seemed to be dying.

“Not now when I’m so close.” She didn’t dare speak out loud. It was bad enough that they could find her by her light, but without it, she would be blind.

She readjusted her backpack, the load seeming to get heavier with every step. Colleen asked herself for the thousandth time that night if the job was really worth it. It paid well enough so tuition and textbooks weren’t a problem but that was because of the potential danger.

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Frank and the Plot of the Hypnotizing Slime, Chapter 3

magic

© James Pyles

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I suppose you are wondering where the baby chick came from and what it won. To answer that question, we have to visit an alternate dimension, an alternate Frank, and the secret character of Danaerys.

You see, the evil Frank who is planning to take over the world with his hypnotizing slime, is modeled after the real Frank in the real world where you, the reader, lives.

Frank has been friends with the little girl and her Grandpa who are writing this story for many years.

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Take Me Out to the Ball Game

royals stadium

© Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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A ball game’s a ball game even at “The K” in Kansas City.

Jeff scored a hot dog and watered-down beer and relaxed back into his seat. The Royals were playing against the Texas Rangers but that didn’t matter much to him. It was kind of strange to be watching baseball in February, but it was in the low 50s, so he thought a light jacket would do.

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Frank and the Plot of the Hypnotizing Slime, Chapter 2

chick

© James Pyles

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In the evil mountain hideout, Frank the spider said, “The hypnotic slime projector is now finished but the slime itself needs another day to cool in the vat. Then it will be ready.”

“What will we test it on?” Roger was another evil spider and an expert on reconnaissance, which means he could search out an area looking for the enemy.

“The nearby town of Hayfield.”

“A human city?” Even Leah was surprised.

“It’s a small town, maybe 100,000 humans total,” replied Frank. We’ll just have enough slime to control all the humans. We fire the slime cannon at dawn.”

At the good spider cave, Lilly said to her friends, “I’ve almost got the force field projector done. It needs a few hours to charge, but fortunately our hideout is wired for power.”

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My Short Story “The Simulated Woman” Was Accepted Into the Anthology “Existential Hologram”

simulated

Scene from the 2017 movie “Blade Runner 2049”

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I was just informed by Starry Eyed Press that my cyberpunk SciFi short story “The Simulated Woman” has been accepted into their forthcoming anthology “Existential Hologram.”

I don’t have any information about when this will be published, no cover art (the image above is taken from the 2017 film Blade Runner 2049), really nothing at all except the anthology description listed when the open submissions call became available:

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Specter

fox

© Lisa Fox

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The building was old enough to have a fire escape. It was perfect. Now that Brian’s divorce was final, he was free to move back to the heart of old downtown and be nurtured by urban variations. He was so close to finishing that best seller he had always wanted to write. The sum he would be offered for the film rights alone would throw his ex into a spasm. He sat at the keyboard and tried to put his fingers to work. Nothing happened. A mist slowly seeped through the walls. The alluring ghost said, “Perhaps I can help.”

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