Inspiration? Nothing inspires me to write. I inspire me to write.

Perhaps more so is the intent on writing. bits and pieces come into play be it from watching someone in the park, out by the lake, watching tv, news coverage, to what's on page twelve of my local newspaper. Hell, it could come from remembering only a portion of a dream.

ideas are everywhere and anywhere. For instance, two days ago there were some violent thunder showers here, An hour later, the sun peeked its way through grey clouds, and all was right again, but it gave me the strangest idea. A what if, if you will. What if the sun was drenched in solar rain clouds and it rained only on the sun for days and days and the sun was getting weaker. And it affects our planet and the people on it? That was what I thought at the time. So, ideas, thoughts, they are random firing pins in your brain.

Next time you are out, say grocery shopping, take notes of how some people spend time gawking over the fresh produce or the meat section, or how people react in the checkout line. Perhaps a laundromat watching people fold their clothes before leaving. both examples could prove to be funny or strangely serious.

Read other authors to get a fresh spin on old ideas. After all, authors read authors. And just about everything on bookshelves in stores has been done and redone. but give it a new twist, a different spin and suddenly it becomes new (again).

In a slump? Walk away, get your mind on something else for a bit then come back to it. we have all had that brain fart but eventually it goes away and then you are back on track.

True story: Mid-eighties, I sat in front of a typewriter, one sheet of paper in the roller and stared at it for almost two hours! Two hours! Insane, I know, but my brain was telling me I had something to write and lo' and behold it finally came to me. Twenty minutes later I was finished and went to bed. It's on here somewhere. (I'm Not Insane but They Won't Set Me Free.)

On a side note, everything I have learned, outside of education, has been trial and error.

And like I have said many times ... Write what you know, research the rest, and if you need help, ask.

I sat on the edge of the fountain, surreptitiously glancing left and right, awaiting the moment he'd come into view with his kind eyes and shy smile. The minutes passed, an hour came and went but I did not leave. There are those who might say a higher power was at work. For he did arrive, running, sweat dripping, shocked to see I was waiting still, smiling, perchance, already loving.

And we lived happily ever after - as all the difficult times entwined with a multitude of shared joyful moments, each woven tightly into the fabric of our life together.

Our last defence against madness,

They are having their land trashed,

Cronies with weapons trying to threaten their livestock

Saying it's because of a bird virus,

Corruption is pretty infectious

Then when they protest,

People gt upset, not understand the farmers frustration,

There's an old saying,

Don't mess with the one supplying grain for your bread,

Or you might end up starving to death,

It's ironic how they are messing with the Amish, and small organic farmers

People who are the most peaceful out there,

But real issues like homelessness,

They turn a blind eye to it,

Because they would rather go after people doing good for the community,

Than doing anything remotely productive for society.

Thick air foamed into filled pores of sticky skin. Johanne Murloft grasped her two thin shopping bags, seething from the several bottles of spring water and a hot rotisserie chicken. The warm cooked stream didn't help quell the Florida heat that now surged above its usual 95 degrees. She made a beeline to her car, holding the bag of chicken in her arm to seal its hot contents from stinging her skin. The ride was a mid-sized Subaru with a white coat and peach plates. It blinked at her keys. With little thought, she flipped open the trunk and threw her quick dinner purchase into the back before closing it and taking a seat at the wheel.

The inside reached its usual molasses consistency air from the ten minutes it sat below the growing mushroom clouds. Johanne slightly cursed to herself about the possibility of the car being in the shade if she'd just waited a little later for the coming shower. She would've gotten soaked, but it beat the burning feeling when she grasped her hands to the sun baked steering wheel. She turned the keys and brought her fingers to the air conditioning.

In that moment, the most inexplicable phenomena skirted past her corner of vision. It was a dark shape, growing till it engulfed her passenger window. Before she took her fingers off the knob, her heart leaped. The unexpected sound of her front door opening brought her to a jump just as a tall female figure plopped into the seat beside her. The stranger had entered like they were escaping from a robbery. Enough for Johanne to shrink back to the other side of the car, thinking she was getting attacked. She barely mustered back a yelp. But not before the woman spoke.

"Alright hon, those cuts aren't going to eat themselves."

"What?"

"Adam's Rib co, it's closing in an hour, let's get moving."

Johanne sat there speechless. She'd returned to her former position at her seat. The stranger's voice bellowed in a way that snapped her into attention. Though she realized she wasn't getting attacked, the stranger's size was enough to keep her from taking liberties with further arm room. Sitting beside her was a seven foot tall woman that weighed at least two hundred pounds. She had long black hair and wore what Johanne could only register as some sort of gothic stage clothes. No matter how much she racked her brains, Johanne was sure she'd never seen her before.

"Uh... ma'am, I think you have the wrong car."

"Nah, this is the right one. Come on, let's get going."

"I'm not an Uber."

The hairs on Johanne's neck spiked. Sweat poured down the small of her back. Distant thunder came from the west as she waited for a response.

"I didn't say you were an Uber. I said we're going to Adam's Rib co. Come on, let's go!"

"Ma'am, please get out of my car."

Johanne's gut flipped when the stranger turned to her. Her sweat gushed down quicker. She desperately wanted to turn on the AC as the car's thick heat continued to wet her neck. While nothing sickly came through in the woman's face, Johanne turned to theories of drugs or some mental illness. The woman seemed mildly annoyed rather than infuriated much to Johanne's relief. Then came the next wave of discomfort. The woman didn't answer Johanne's retort. Instead, she continued the annoyed glance like Johanne had been rude to her.

"Are you serious right now? You don't want the Rib to Go? The full slab rib with barbeque sauce that melts in your mouth like butter? Don't tell me you ate already."

"Get out of my car."

"We could always share the Adam's Delight special if you just want the Pudding and Wafers."

"I'm not going to Adam's Rib co!"

Johanne's assertive response hadn't moved the stranger in her seat. Neither had it shifted the woman's hand that was too close to the AC knob for Johanne to make any moves. Johanne thought of pushing her, but realized that was nearly impossible because of the woman's size. She had no time to repeat herself before the stranger blurted out again.

"Oh yes, you are!"

"Why?"

"Because this is your destiny baby! The universe has aligned us to be right here right now and for you to drive us to Adam's Rib co to order the Rib to Go while I talk to you about how cheese bites are objectively better than fried okra and how Brian Jones was actually murdered and Mic Jagger and Keith Richards are in on it while you ignore my conversation and instead remark about how quickly that Target across the street go boarded up and that your angry about no longer having it...”

"Get out!"

Johanne thought she would've left the car, but she stood her ground. In a flash of confused rage she gathered up the courage to give the woman a good shove. The stranger laughed at her advance like Johanne was nothing but a sister rough housing with her. Johanne fiddled through her purse for a vial of pepper spray in case things got uglier. She was about to exit the vehicle to pull the assailant out when disaster struck. A crisp bolt of lightning illuminated the Publix parking lot before it poured. In seconds, the surroundings became white with dense rain.

"I'm not getting out of here."

The woman reclined in the seat after she said it in a shrugging tone. Seconds became hours for Johanne as she prayed for the rain to only last for less than a minute. It didn't. Instead, the woman just lay facing the ceiling, looking like she was about to take a nap. Johanne took out her phone from her purse and waved it at the woman.

"I'm calling the cops if you don't move it."

"Whatever, man. I don't know why your freaking out so much."

Johanne wasn't sure to be confused, furious, or scared when the woman responded sleepily while still gazing at the ceiling. The rain was showing no signs of slowing down. She schemed of making a move once it stopped, but the wait was deafening. All she could do was sit there, helpless, as this intruder made home of her rightful domain.

"Are we goin or not?"

The stranger said this in the same relaxed tone. It only added fuel to Johanne's growing rage. In that moment, her loathing came to a peak. She shoved open the door. A blast of warm rain drenched her Cocoa beach T-shirt and jean shorts. Her toes felt the rushing streams of water that lapped over her sandals as she trudged to the passenger door. The woman snapped around in surprise when Johanne pulled it open and grabbed her by the arm.

"GET!..OUT...OF...MY...CAR!"

"Hey come on now, don't choose hate."

Small hands wrapped around the thick wrist of the stranger. It was like trying to pull a horse. Johanne tugged and growled as rain soaked her through her underwear. She could not see the figure in the care through the water streaming into her eyes, only that she was pulling with all her might. The woman's voice came to her again, now pleading through the rushing shower.

"Please! Please! Just let me help you. You need to let it go. You need to complain about the Target as we're driving down the street to Adam's Rib co and then point to the old Krispy Kreme at the next intersection and say how bad their donuts are as I turn on baseball at full blast as we go past the knife sharpening center and pull into the Adam's Rib co parking lot. It's an event of delicious food and joy and love and you should savor every moment."

Johanne barely heard anything said through her exerting vocals and rain. She only thought of winning and slowly realizing she was fighting a losing battle. Her arms had become wet and tired as the woman remained in the vehicle nearly unsoaked, bested by a stranger that did nothing but sit firmly in her seat. Johanne let out one last shriek in frustration before glaring at her passenger. Their eyes locked.

"Don't you want it? The answer to your life's most difficult questions. The power to achieve perpetual enlightenment?"

Small divots of blue appeared in the sky ahead. The white sheet of rain dissipated to a spit drizzle. Johanne saw and heard these last words, not sure what came before them and not caring. She grumbled and put her hands to her head before putting them back to her sides to reattach her glare to the stranger, in one bitter hiss she said.

"Fine!"

"We're going?"

"Yes, we're going to Adam's fuckin Rib co!"

The stranger smiled and made a joyous clap.

"Heck yeah! Let's get moving."

Johanne walked back to the driver's seat and slumped down behind the wheel. By the looks of her passenger's excitement, she was in for one bizarre ride.

What is the lore of all of those zombie apocalypse movies? Marie could never wrap her head around it. An evil that is so inhuman and with a singular motive is no test for a protagonist. Besides, she thought, isn't the thought of basic survival something that is more horrific than entertaining? Putting those thoughts out of her mind as she put down the Dawn of the Dead DVD Blue-Ray copy, she raised her weapon to an unfriendly visitor and shot the gangly, foaming monster in the head. She set her sights on the comedy aisle instead.

I wondered how you were doing on my drive over here, she said. She was wearing pink strappy heels. I always wanted to wear those. Later I go online shopping and see them, and somehow her presence, reflected in my computer screen. We don’t do virtual sessions because I hate them. I need an actual, flesh-and-blood person. She is the epitome of slapping someone back into reality. She hears me talk about them, my flesh-and-blood people, and she says, “Miserable f*cks.” She asks me about my inner world. I focus on her heels, and wonder about what, who, we choose.

The rescuers found the chimney sticking out of the snow. When they finally broke through the ceiling, they were met with a gruesome sight. Blood and body parts were strewn about the cabin, and a man was huddled in a corner.

The man told them what happened. Three friends had been stranded at the cabin during a blizzard, and gradually their supplies ran out. Desperate and starving, they turned on each other. He was the last to survive. Eventually he ran out of food too. In his last days, he'd been reduced to eating human flesh to survive.

"Did you know?

This land was barren before. Lot's of kids talk about it, especially when your classroom's there.

That building in school was made out of dead orphan kids for making strong foundation and bringing good luck! That's why that building is haunted!"

"The what???...that's clearly an old lore to scare the shit out of kids who don't listen to adults!"

"But what if it's true? Imagine those children's souls being stuck in there..."

"Go home already! It's past midnight. School's over!"

"But you'll be left alone again!"

The boy insisted, talking to the wall on the hallway.

#microfiction

Swept away by a soft breeze.

Sweet be the moment, shared not remembered. Soured by the memory of stolen adventure.

Then two bring the Twist of a lemon, The true taste of fate,

Flavored by sunshine. No bitterness or hate. A surreptitious smile - a glimpse not a glance. Beyond any Blundering advance of false affection:Undulating forth

With thoughts unexpected.

lips latching, tongues tentative. the life not a lie until one person denies. this is how it end. all things; happiness and sorrow -yesterday, today and tomorrow. Only the brave speak of being bold while those with courage take action.