Fred at Rick's Coffee

 

Heavy silence fell when an elderly man with a cane came in to buy a coffee.  The customers in Rick’s Coffee remembered him well.  Oh yes, they remembered him.

He called himself “Fred”, but no one ever knew his true identity.  An air of inaccessibility surrounded him, which was just the way Fred liked it.  All that anyone knew was that Fred was superb at tracking. Did something like that in his military days. Animals or people, Fred was on their trail while foot prints were still wet.

Some said Fred could find a mosquito hiding in a free standing rotting tree, during a raging sand storm.

When “Fred” left, walking slowly with his cane, all exhaled. They had not wanted a repeat of the last time he came for coffee.

No.  They did not want that.

 

The italicized underlined Wednesday words are courtesy of River, who was handed the baton from Wed. Words writing challenges, Delores from Under the Porch light. This post is from 2015, along with the sentence prompt. 

Secret under the Ice

 

I wonder if he was ever found?
                                                           

Such a pretty kid, Father..How old did you say?

Her name is Vicky and she was twelve years old.

Do they know yet what happened?  

They?  You mean the detectives?

Who else would I mean?  Yeah.  Them.

They don't know.  Some kid found her in the creek, under the ice.

She....Vicky must have floated downstream...

       Then the ice froze over her...her folks waited for so long...

How are Ken and Sheila holding out?

'Bout as expected.  You taking food in for the family?

  Yeah, Lisa fixed some chicken something or other.  And a pie, peach pie.

I wonder when they'll ever figure out...find out what you did?

God, I hope not.  I didn't mean to...the car swerved..she just appeared and...

You must, you have to tell them what happened.

She was so scared...at the end.

       She was scared before that...you could have saved her...she would still be alive.

Father, I wasn't thinking...
     
        Time to own up, Tim...Time to give Ken and Sheila peace.

Scared...so scared.  I am so scared.

       So was she, Tim. So was she.

What do you think will happen next?  

 

Statistics to Remember: 

Every year, approximately eight million children are reported missing worldwide
In the US, 2300 children are reported missing per day
 

Strangers abduct less than 1% of missing children
Parents are accountable for over 90% of abductions
 

In the US, nearly 400 000 youth were abducted in 2020
Every two minutes, a child is reported missing in Europe.

n 2019, Turkey had an abduction rate of 14.86 cases per 100,000 people
In Europe, one-third of missing children were found by the police in 2020

There is an entry in Wikipedia Disappearance of Steve Damman, read it.

Meatloaf that is not like my mom made.

 best easy meatloaf

So, my husband wants to help me in the kitchen so I would come and sit down to watch reruns. So, I asked him to make cracker crumbs by using a rolling pin to crush crackers in a large zip plastic bag.

If he doesn't know me by now, he learned nothing over 5 decades we have been married.

So,I explained the process and he began.  He muttered at first that these crumbs were just fine. Fine for chili, I told him.  With each roll, he growled that he thought this was fine.  After about 5 minutes of grumbling, I pronounced the crumbs acceptable. 

He cheerfully said that I should join him watching some business news program on TV.  

Making a double batch of meatloaves requires more than cracker crumbs. He grumbled more. 

So, after putting on disposable gloves, I kneaded and mixed the minced beef with mild Italian sausage. It took all of 15 minutes, since I am one who sets out the ingredients first and then fix whatever. 

 Recipe:

                        Easiest and best meatloaf from All-recipes

· 1 ½ pounds ground beef w/Italian sausage

· 1 egg

· 1 onion, chopped

· 1 cup milk

· 1 cup dried bread crumbs

· salt and pepper to taste

· ⅓ cup ketchup

· 2 tablespoons brown sugar

· 2 tablespoons prepared mustard

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.

2. Combine ground beef, onion, milk, bread crumbs and egg in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Transfer into prepared loaf pan.

3. Mix ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard together in a small bowl until well combined; pour over meatloaf and spread it evenly over the top.

4. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 1 hour.

We have gotten so lazy in fixing meals here.  There are some neurological issues (migraines and such) that send me to the couch in a dark room too often. This recipe was easy, after debating how to make it with my beloved.  

So, wait until I set out potatoes to peel for mash. Any bets on what he will say?

 

Secrets from married couples

Ray Stevens and Gems

 

rare red squirrel

Going to church has never been like this. Seriously.  One time when a 50 yr. old bachelor man accidentally drove his brand new motorcycle up the stairs and into the church. He wasn't sure about the controls. But I didn't get to see it, because I was in Sunday School. Dang. 

But Ray Stevens puts everything in an unexpected way.

A squirrel?

Astronaut Ray Stevens

 

There are many more, some of them "politically incorrect". Give 'em a look see.

 

Twilight Zone 1959

 

Rod Sterling

If you ask a group of people "Which is your favorite Twilight Zone?", what do you think will be cited?

Not everyone will know what to say. Will readers under 60 recall the old black and white episodes? Or, is it only the Baby Boomers?

This is one of my favorites.  It is not other worldly, but it is about returning to the world you had as a child. 

                                     Walking Distance: Gig Young and Martin Sloan

This was 1959, I was 8 years old.  Even then, I wondered what I would do if strange event came to me?  Now, I am many decades older, and I still wonder if I would take that chance? On some days, I would like to go back to 19** and set things aright, or take opportunities I missed.

The following are other episodes that I still have in my brain, from that amazing time of Twilight Zone.

Twilight zone, silent slide format

         

The swimming pool

                                       

 Plenty of Time

         I don't know about you, but this program changed the way I looked at the world, and what could be.  Did you?                                                     

Night Watch in Fairy Land.

                                                                         Fairy life

Sleep sweet fairy? Really? 

I am a man fairy, a guy who slogs through life, miserable at every minute of it.

While all those cutie flower fairies are curled up in their teacup flowers, here I am trudging along, guarding them from some unknown terror. Like anyone is going to attack our little piece of unreal heaven in the middle of the night.

What did I do before? I used to be a fairy who crafted little stuff. You need a box? I can do that. Just give me a walnut, and it's done.

But when age shut that down, well, here I am, just a bent over old fairy with crumbling wings, cursing every step.

 

                                                                         Fireflies

Life sucks. 

Catching lightning bugs to blink-blink-blink a bumpy path? That is a life no one never ever should have to do. Those damn bugs have no brains. Their only gift to the fairy world is their shiny butts. They die at the end of night, new bugs pop out and I, a former artisan in fairy art, have to catch 'em, lock 'em up. Mindless buggers.

When the sun comes up, those damn flower fairies will practice their songs. I'll head on to my shabby home, where my old fairy wife will make my life hell. 

Thank you, dear Fairy Goddess, for fairy nectar fermenting into a healing liquid. 

I need every drop.

                                                              old fairy couple

I wrote another fairy story, using Wednesday Words as the base, back in 2017.  This is one I never published, from 2020.

Earlier "Fairy in Mud Hell" can be found thecontemplativecat.blogspot.com . 

Parking in the Rear of the Pharmacy

You just never know.  

Mike from mikenet707.blogspot.com always has something interesting and honestly downright funny.  Here is what he sent us: 

                                                         Butt Drugs

                                                    Heidi Butt

I am thinking Croydon, IN is a great place to visit, if not live in. Downtown is charming. Thanks, Mike!

Life is Drama

 

In looking for something, I found treasures…I think I have used that phrase before...anyway...

Well, not treasures exactly.  Journals from years ago, I found my journals. 

At times throughout life, I have kept one or more journals at any given time.  They would be filled with everything—a record of good and bad events, thoughts, and concerns.

In my childhood, there was nothing print-worthy happening in my opinion, so my journals-diaries were little snippets of drama.  A verruca wart on my foot was exaggerated to be a crippling illness.  That would then morph into life threatening.  To make the diary appear even more dramatic, I dribbled some cologne water over entries to create tear smears.  Oh, I was big on drama as a child, my father always maintained.

Drama must be part of life in one shape or another.  Falling in love, getting married, childbirth—those are darned dramatic.  I have photos to prove it!

But, the little dramas, the ones that are interspersed on a daily basis?  

Losing one’s car keys?  Not drama.  Standing in line at Starbuck’s behind an elderly couple holding hands?  That’s drama.  Their whole life was played out before me in simple gestures, soft looks, few words, and even their order. 

She had “…the decaf coffee with vanilla syrup…not too much, now…and room for creamer…”  He had the “…full-strength stuff, and …NO, I will not have decaf instead….”  (There lays a whole one act play, filled to the brim with drama, leaving a little room for cream:)  “…leave room for cream…you have real cream, dontcha? Not that fake stuff they call creamer…”

See what I mean?  Real drama.  I wanted to follow them to a table, but my order was ‘to go’.  Who knows what I missed? 

Those journals covered months!  Months, I tell you. They morphed into years without realizing it.