Have Words Will Write
Curtis has been such a model patient at the mental hospital; he gained privileges to work with the grounds keeper. Regardless of what he has been told, he still wants to join the Marine Corps. Born in Central California from immigrant parents, Pedro Gutierrez inherited their love for plants. Being the first in his family …
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In the previous chapter Curtis Mathis was expecting to be sentence to military service instead of jail. Instead, the judge send him to a mental hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Across from the table of Dr. Phillip Grey, Dr. Carl White, and Dr. Patricia Ronstate sat Curtis Mathis. Behind Curtis stood two bulky men in …
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Curtis Mathis woke in his jail cell, expecting the judge to give him the option of going to prison or military service. In the mid-1960s, minor offenders would get the option of jail or military service. After breakfast, the six-foot, twenty-nine-year-old Curtis Mathis smiled as sheriff’s deputies escorted him from the jail and to the …
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Slightly off the main drag in Ontario, Oregon, is a place dedicated to the cultures that make up the Northwestern portion of the United States. Well, if truth be told, echoes the whole of the North American continent. Last week my editor and I took the hour-plus drive from Boise, Idaho, to visit the culture …
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Several years back, I received a call from an individual who gave me a lot of source material for Shuttered Reality and Educated Shutter. I had not expected to hear from him again. A few years after the publication of those books, I received a phone call from him. The dire tone and frailty in …
Read More In Shuttered Reality, one of the characters was Sgt. Psycho. Because of multiple requests, I have created his backstory. The man, Sgt. Psycho always lived outside of society’s norms with the desire to be part of something bigger than himself, like becoming a soldier, but was told he could not because of past behaviors. You …
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The clock creeps past midnight and on toward morning. A country song about lost love plays on the jukebox. The only two souls in the bar are the bartender, who is doing busy work, and a thirty-something woman staring at an empty glass. In walked a man in his forties, wearing a denim shirt and …
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Sunday afternoon at the Watering Hole sees a vast majority of customers getting the last buzz before having to go to work on Monday. The bartender sees tempers shorter on Sunday afternoons than on any other day of the week. The bartender can expect at least one fight to break out. On any Sunday afternoon, …
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Jeff puts the key into the lock. He turns it. He walks into the house that was his parents’. Entering the security code to disable the alarm. He takes off his overcoat and hangs it on a hook. Walking from the foray past the stairs. He enters the large living room. A strange feeling haunts …
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As I stare out the window of my second-floor office, I’m troubled at the sight of the trees across the parking lot. Since my arrival this morning, I’ve had trouble concentrating. My attention keeps getting drawn away from my work. It’s too early in the year for leaves to fall to the ground. The morning …
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