A short story I wrote..... Part 1

FLESH AND BLOOD


Damon and Aaron had been here before, it was seven o’clock and the house was empty. They had fought this fight a thousand times and would probably fight it a thousand more. Damon was considerably larger than Aaron and it had been that way for long, long time. Aaron couldn’t remember the last time he was able to look at Damon face to face or eye to eye. Yet there was still something in him that kept him coming back for more. He didn’t lose every fight with Damon, but lately it seemed that his victories, especially in this particular arena, were becoming farther and farther apart. Aaron would reminisce to when they were much younger, when he would win more than he lost, but those days seemed long gone. Damon had become much more confident and self assured with each victory over Aaron and he did not mind rubbing Aaron’s nose in it either. Damon would taunt and tease Aaron relentlessly in attempt to drive him into seclusion.
If it ever came down to a shouting match, Damon would win hands down. Like a whining two year old, he had a way of dominating and drawing all attention to himself. Yes, you could say Damon was cocky, arrogant and proud of it. His skills had been refined after years of practice. One could ask why Aaron would remain around such a formidable opponent. Why would he continue to take this abuse day in and day out? What was that thing that kept rising up in Aaron that said maybe today will be different. That thing, that cause, that calling if you will, was Chester.
“What time is he gonna be home?” asked Damon, staring into the bedroom mirror.
“I don’t know. He is usually home by now.”
“You ready for another whipping? It's gonna be just like last time little man!”
That became Damon’s pet name for Aaron. “You know”, Damon mused.
“You could just roll out of here when Chester gets home. He doesn’t want you here anyway.”
Aaron drew his breath in slow and let it out even slower before he responded.
“Shut Up!” demanded Aaron, looking for some respect.
Damon barely flinched from his primping in the mirror and said, “Hmmm, feeling a little testy tonight I see.” sarcasm dripping from his words. “I would be to, after all the abuse I’ve been laying on you lately.”
Aaron, trying to drum up his confidence, “yeah well today will be different.”
“Oh how I have heard that before” boasted Damon, now examining his mustache.
“You absolutely kill me with this hope against hope CRAP! Man, when are you going to learn that I own Chet? He is mine. That’s the way is it and that is how it will remain. PERIOD!”
Aaron had to concede (but only to himself) that Damon was, in part, right. Damon had owned Chester, especially in this arena. Aaron feared that it would only be a matter of time before Damon dominated the rest of Chester’s life. Aaron believed that things were beginning to become desperate. He needed to do something and soon. But as per the rules of this game, he could only make suggestions. Damon knew these rules as well. It seemed that his suggestions were having more influence and impact on the decisions that Chester was making, hence the disparity in size between them and the chains around Aaron’s ankles and wrists. Aaron at times, had wondered if things remained as they were if he would disappear all together into the dark recesses of Chester’s mind, to remain there as some distance after thought.
Aaron would try to bury those feelings whenever he and Damon came into conflict. The more he tried to bury them, the more Damon exposed them. It was never enough for Damon to just humiliate Aaron when he won; he would also heap mounds of guilt upon Chester. He was truly a skilled combatant, able to defeat two enemies at once. Damon could not decide what he loved more: torturing Chester or gloating about it to Aaron because it upset him to see Chester defeated yet again.
“Hey, little man,” called Damon. “What should I use tonight, ‘The Internet?” There are some great new websites that I want to suggest to him.” No response from Aaron. “Hey, how about that new lady in accounting?” He’s been eyeing her from some time now. Nah, that means I would have to wait till tomorrow. I guess we could go with the old stand-bye and see what’s on T.V. Hey little man, you awake over there? I am talking to you.”


More to Come.... Enjoy

Thursday Thoughts Part 2

Tragedy struck someone I knew this week. One of the young men that I coached in football, his father died suddenly this week. As I sat in the funeral many thoughts flooded my mind. I watched the grief on faces of his family and knowing that nothing could really be said to stem that grief except the process of time that eventually lessens to some degree the pain of loss. Events like these tend to cause us to take stock of what is important in life and unfortunately some of us wait till after a loved one is gone to tell them how we felt about them or why we didn't focus on the most important things in our lives instead of the mundane tasks of life.

2 things came to mind immediately:

What would my legacy be if I were gone tomorrow? What have I done that would live on beyond me? My children are my greatest legacy and raising them is the most important job I have, but what else.

2nd what would I do if it was Helen??? A thought that I don't even like to dwell on. How would I make it because she is the most important person in my life. Don't misunderstand me. I do not fear death, but I also don't have any desire for me or anyone else I love to leave this world yet either.

Lord shake me out of spirit on contentment!!! It is like poison to a dreamer. And when we stop dreaming and having vision, we might as well be dead because they are the only ones who can't dream anymore.

MUSA Out..... For now.

Thursday thoughts...

Looking through my blog over the last several posts its seems to me that I have had nothing of consequence to add to the blog sphere. Some the other writers that I like to read from time to time seem to have some great insight into the things they are pursuing and the things going on in their lives. So here it goes.

I recently applied for a promotion at work which I didn't get. The interview was good, but I had a sense that I would not be getting the position. The bottom line is that now the opportunities for advancement there seem to have dried up. On top of that my responsibilities have changed as well. The change I believe at least in part was to kinda soften the blow of not getting the position. So what will become of me in terms of my present employer and position. Time will tell.....

I am feeling a bit lost at the moment. Trying to discern what I should be doing verses what am I passionate about. Unfortunately nothing is really coming to mind. I can remember a time when I felt like I knew what I was supposed to be doing with my life and what the ultimate goal for me was. Now I am not so sure. I feel like I have gone back to square one and I have returned to the discovery phrase again to find out what direction this ship is to be pointed in.

Change is good, change is necessary, and it is inevitable.

It is that time again....

Friday, Friday, Friday!!!!! WHEEEW!!!

It is the weekend and it calls for sleeping late, Honey-Do's, Carolina basketball and the NFL playoffs. These are a few of my favorite things. I can remember in my much younger years that if I didn't have some place to go and something to do then I was missing out on some awesome experience that would never come my way again. Somehow having children has cured me of the need to be in the middle of the "in crowd". My co-workers talk of big plans and of the places they will be going. Just give me a couch and remote and I will be in hog heaven on a Friday night. Don't get me wrong, I still have some fraction of a social calendar, its just that it is not as important as it used to be. We closed out the work week with a bang. In my line of work, I work on computers/networks for the school system. We had to re-image an entire elementary school today. It was a fairly smooth process until we discovered that in so doing we may have accidentally erased one of the teacher's flash drives with all her info on it. Hey it happens, and before you ask I was not the one who did it. Long story short, being such great technicians we were able to find a data recovery program that should restore all of her lost files.

What else can I say.... Its the weekend and a 3 day one at that. Life is good!

Absence makes the heart...

My wife and daugthers left Caleb and me for the weekend to go to the Dance Revolution conference in Winston Salem over the weekend. Big plans for the boys right? Wrong. Caleb played guitar hero and I was on the computer playing games as well. Funny thing was we were only 1o feet apart from one another. Caleb said later that he had a great time spending time with me. Funny huh. With that being said, I have been married almost 14 years; to the point that I have forgotten what it was like to be single. I missed my wife while she was gone. I hate to go "Jerry Macguire" on her but "You complete me". Glad to know that she can only be gone for 2 days and yet I long for her return. The house feels different when she is gone, kinda like to corner piece of the puzzle is missing and the picture won't be complete until that piece is in its proper place. What can I say, I like being married to that woman. End of story.

MUSA Out!