Rest In Peace, Earl the Pearl

“I’ve just found out that my oldest friend, Earl, has died,” I told Paul. “We were friends in Jackson Heights until we were twelve years old. Then I moved to Lindenhurst.”

 

 

“Even today I can remember his parents’ thick Puerto Rican accents, and how his brother, Junior, used to pick on me.  It just goes to show what happens when someone makes a really lasting impression.  We never got a chance to meet again, in person, after September 11, 1971, though it might as well have been yesterday.”

 

 

I then went to Youtube to listen to Mary Hopkin’s “Those Were the Days”.

 

 

Welcome back to Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers.  On her site, you can read the rules.  Dale Rogerson has supplied this week’s photo prompt.

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Apocalypse Now

Abner was gone for the day so, of course, Gladys was confronted with one of her visitors. 

 

 

Whenever she was alone, she was always subjected  to this unwelcome company.

 

 

“Is this a foretaste of Hell?!” she desperately wondered. “Am I being given a cryptic warning?!”

 

 

The visions never once spoke. They were such sad spectacles, in black and white. She knew something was awfully wrong because instead of recoiling in horror at these sights, neighbors always passed by as if nothing were happening.

 

 

“Now at least it’s only a matter of time, she stated.  “Tuesday’s the moment  of truth.”

 

 

Welcome back, yet again, to Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers.  Read the rules on her blog.  Liz Young has supplied this week’s photograph.

Northeastern Pennsylvania In History

It’s the Fourth of July in northeastern Pennsylvania.  Naturally I’m partying with kin in Hilldale.  A gang of cousins and I go to nearby Wilkes~Barre to see the historical exhibitions in the Square.

 

 

“Northeastern Pa.’s loaded with military history,”  Joe and Ron, our Viet Nam veteran cousins, remind us.  “Remember,” Ron said. “We have to leave soon to see Queen Esther’s Bloody Rock in Wyoming Borough.”

 

 

At the end of our day, we get to go to Jitty Joe’s, in Scranton, for ice cream.  That’s all so mundane, even with all the toppings, compared to what we see here. 

 

 

Yet again welcome back to Rochelle’s  Friday Fictioneers.  J. Hardy Carroll provides this week’s photograph.  For the information of those of you with an interest in northeastern PA/Wyoming Valley history, here’s a good link:    Queen Esther’s Bloody Rock

MUSIC IS EVERYWHERE

When there’s nothing important to do I always practice my guitar.  Last night was no different.  Having noticed my old Beatle song book I wondered if my cousins Gary and Lanfranco were available for accordion accompaniment.

 

 

Lately I always daydream about St. Gabriel’s Glee Club where we sang all of Rodgers and Hammerstein and other show tunes.  Brother Edmond’s “Edelweiss”, and Brother James’ guitar follow me everywhere.  “Lawrence, ENUNCIATE!!” Brother James always demanded.

 

“Oh well,” I pondered, “It’s too bad there’s no good new music but if it were still here there’d be no there to go to.

 

This week’s Friday Fictioneers photo prompt was supplied by our fearless leader, Rochelle .

A Most Interesting Confrontation

“I’m telling you, man,” Humpty told Tweedle,” the guy at the door looked just like Alan Napier’s portrayal of Alfred Pennyworth”.

 

 

“Do tell,” his befuddled friend said.

 

 

The former went on to explain, “All I did was take a swig of me daily pint while putting away me sleeping bag. Next thing I knew Alfred showed up and I followed him.”

 

“Careful what you drink, bruh,” was Tweedle’s response.

 

 

“Within minutes we were marooned on a desert island, surrounded by deranged octopuses.”

 

 

His friend simply gazed at him in amazement, breathlessly taking it all in.

 

 

“We wanted to run,” Humpty said, “But you know how molluscs are. We were terrified they might chase us.

 

 

“Hey”, his friend couldn’t resist telling him, “If you had to get stuck like that with a character from a ’60’s super hero show, it’s too bad you couldn’t have been with Bruce Lee’s Kato from ‘The Green Hornet’. Now There’s a guy with fists of steel! He could have taken those octopuses but good!” 

 

 

“Oh well”, Tweedle continued, “I’ll say one thing for you. At least you’re not some kind of a total wastrel who should be locked up in a metal cage.  Your imagination alone more than keeps things hopping around here.

 

Here’s yet another excursion into Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie ,a work of fiction based upon ten relatively easy vocabulary words.

 

It’s Deja Vu’ All Over Again

Ralph and Gertrude were enjoying a leisurely stroll by their favorite spot. 

 

“It’s too bad we can never get your brother to join us,” she complained.

 

“Yeah,” he admitted. “Sam’s plum terrified of water. Once when we were growing up, I asked him why. He explained that long ago he was on a large  unsinkable ship that hit an iceberg. Next thing he knew, he was stranded someplace and told to wait for another family to come and get him.”

 

“Sam was born on April 15, 1972. The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912.  Do you think there may be something to it?”

Welcome back yet again to ROCHELLE’S Friday Fictioneers.  Read all about it on her site. Fatima Fakier Deria graces us with the week’s photo.

A Visit to the Family

“I’ve always enjoyed our annual trip to see your Aunt Harriet, Uncle Ike, and cousin Mamie”, Floyd told Mabel. “Only they could possibly know that G.K. Chesterton died on June 14, 1936. They’re all members of the Chester~Belloc Debate Society.”

“Yeah,” she chimed in. “There’s only one thing I don’t get though. Of all the pets they could have gotten, why a quail?”

“Hey, you have to remember,” he explained, “Chesterton and Belloc were both distinctive. Quails are distinctive. Seen from that point of view, it fits.”

“They’re most certainly distinctive, all righty,” she agreed, as they finished eating.

Welcome back yet again to Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers. Each week, on Wednesday, we get to pretend it’s Friday.  This week’s photo prompt comes from Jean L. Hays

 

 

 

 

MAJOR TROUBLE FOR CHILDREN

PLANNED PARENTHOOD AND CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

 

This is a real problem of hidden child sexual abuse in our current culture.  Here is an explanation of how so very much of it happens.

The Browning Version..A Poetry Recital

It was April 6, 1889, in Victoria’s England. Robert Browning, aged 76, was attending a party hosted by artist Rudolf Lehmann.

 

Colonel Gouraud brought out an Edison Talking Machine. At the company’s behest, Browning began reciting his poem, “How They Brought the Good News From Ghent To Aix”, but his memory lapsed.

 

“I’m sorry,” he stated. “I can’t remember me own verses, but one thing that I shall remember all me life is the astonishing…by your wonderful invention.”

 

He died on December 12 that year at the home of his son . Browning was the first poet whose voice was recorded for posterity.

 

Robert Browning 

 

 

The photo prompt was provided by Roger Bultot.  As always, Rochelle guides us weekly through Friday Fictioneers.

 

 

Fr. Brian P. Barr’s Anniversary Party

Saturday evening, after 5:00 p.m. Mass at St. Mary of the Isle in Long Beach, New York, was Father Brian Patrick Barr’s big party for the twenty fifth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Here is just one of the highlights of the momentous occasion.