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Lord, but do I spend a lot of time away from this forum lately! I mean, look at the message running across the top of my screen right now:

"Hello Shannanigan it appears that you have not posted on our forums in several weeks, why not take a few moments to ask a question, help provide a solution or just engage in a conversation with another member in any one of our forums?"

Lol! I really do wish I could be here more, but a lot of stuff has been going on that ...

I was in a supermarket today and something unfolded right before my very eyes as I was paying....

In a hallway of the supermarket, walking by loudly, was a young woman and a whole kaboodle of kids, maybe not all were hers, but she was (or seemed to be) in charge. Now a brigade of kids with a mom is not what caused me to focus in on the scene, it was this pleading sound of a young boy's voice that pulled at my heart-strings. He was a young man of about seven years (it looked like ...

Sigh... this may sound corny, but anyhow, has anyone ever felt like they view life from a writer's eyes? As in, you see things unfolding before you and great descriptions come to mind... a cast of characters illuminates your cerebrum (or is it cerebellum... no matter), and you begin to imagine the different scenarios that HAVE taken place and those that will likely take place...

I really hate it when I get a gazillion ideas from god knows where, then I sit down at the computer and ...

Knowing the ending at the beginning


Katherine Anne Porter stated that 'If I didn't know the ending of a story, I wouldn't begin.' Her story endings are not only foreseen, they are fixed points to steer by: 'I always write my last lines, last paragraph, my last page first, and then I go back and work towards it.' The Short Story: A Critical Introduction by Valerie Shaw.

The Short Story: Perfect for the modern world[

...

In April 1973 I and the Air Force parted ways. I had completed a 15 month tour of duty on the island of Guam where America's day begins here as their newspaper proudly posts on their masthead (Guam is a U.S. Trust territory). Since I had less then 6 months remaining on my enlistment Uncle Sam cut the cord to save retention dollars and I found myself leaving the island at 4:30 am headed to Travis AFB CA for discharge on a contract flight.

Due to the International dateline I arrived ...