Vol. 4, No. 7

Greetings, fellow travelers, and welcome to the seventh posting of volume four of the Blog.  You know, the last seven weeks is starting to appeal to you people.  My page view counter is telling me some people actually read last week's posting.  That also tells me that people are beginning to interest themselves in the adventure Oddley is having right now.  I promise I will continue the tale.  Before I do that, I must write some non-fiction.

First, let me touch upon a news story that greeted the week but quickly became buried: the suicide death of Mindy McCready.  To take your life at the age of 37 is horrible to me.  I mean, those who take their own lives don't think of the mess they leave behind.  To leave a life unfinished happens to many of us.  However, to purposely leave it unfinished is wrong.  You have the ability to make your life a good one.  Don't end it just because you have a bad day.

I think the real tragedy here is that McCready will not be remembered for her talent or her songs but for the way she lived her life.  Her legal troubles and personal problems will define her legacy for years to come. While many a country star has left the same kind of things when they pass, they were stars and their music, in the end, means more than how they lived.  She was never much a star, so her music never meant more than her problems.  How people remember you is tops on that list of death, don't ruin it by ending it all.

Next, I wish to touch on the Illinois State Senate' Valentine's Day vote (a lot of capital letters there) on same sex marriage.  Now, in a previous posting, I mentioned that the number of states that have such a thing was six.  Now, it's nine after three states put the question to the voters and they said yes to same sex marriage.  Even in Minnesota, while it wasn't legalized there, a ban was voted down for the first time.  The historic vote put the state on the fast track to marriage equality.

Now, onward to the fiction.  This is Part 3 of "Two Weeks in Peoria".  In Part 1, we saw Oddley end up in a strange woman's car after his sister downed a little too much of a special potion.  This strange woman turned out to be a housewife, wanting to find herself on the open road.  In Part 2, Oddley and the woman, named Wanda Lee, find themselves trying to sort out their new partnership.  Eventually, they figure things out in time to reach Peoria.  However, as we left last week, Oddley had taken a refueling stop to tour the town.  As we ended last week, Oddley had been crossing the street before a car hit him...

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Everything was black in my mind for a moment.  I can't remember how long I was out but I was.  Finally, I came to.  As I opened my eyes, I looked up from my landing spot in the street to see the face of Wanda Lee, staring down at me.

"Wanda Lee, you came." I said in a daze.

"I saw you cross the street and got hit.  I wanted to see if you were still alive." she said to me.

"As you can see, I'm still a member of the living world.  I will tell you who's gonna be leaving, though.  That driver." I said as I tried to resume my standing position.

"Oddley, please don't." she said.

"I must.  That driver knocked me down and he had plenty to stop.  He just ran into him without reason." I said, stumbling my way upright.

"Oddley... " she then pleaded.

"Where is that driver?  I must kill him." I said as I finally succeeded in standing and began to look around.

"Oddley!" said a familiar voice behind, that Chicago lisp of a voice I know so well.

"Ogden!" I said, turning out to face him.

There he was.  The totality of him.  His Elvis hair, his eyes, his outfit, his... everything.  I was beside myself as my accidental journey took me to Ogden. 

"Oddley, I thought I would never see you again." he said to me.

"And it took a car accident to do it." I said, feeling the pain in my side where I was hit.

"I'm sorry.  I just saw you walk across the street and forgot that I had to brake." he said as he walked up to me.

"It's okay.  Just having you here is lessening the rage I feel for you." I said.

"Thank you for not wanting to kill me now." he said.

"Now is correct." I said.

"Say, who's the dame?" he then asked.

"This here is Wanda Lee Melvin.  She's a housewife on a search for herself." I said.

"I can see that." said Ogden without fail.

"Ogden, I think your car is blocking traffic." said Wanda Lee, as my ears picked up the sounds of a dozen angry horns.

"I'll move it." said Ogden as he went back to behind the wheel.

"I can't believe that my best friend almost killed me." I said to Wanda Lee as the two of us begin moving back toward our car.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I am.  This is a pain in my side." I said, starting to limp.

"We must see a doctor at once." she said.

"I'm fine, Wanda Lee.  I can manage." I said as we finally made it off the street.

I then watched as Ogden drove his car from the street to the gas station.  He took a spot across from us as he stopped and got out again.

"I moved it." he said as he walked up to us.

"I can see that.  Now, what do I do?" I said to him.

"I don't know.  You tell me." he said.

"You can start by telling me what happened to you after the day with the farmer." I said.

Ogden then proceeded to tell me.  He told me that after he drove away from the market, he first thought about driving home.  Then he remembered that he took the girl in question there.  He then changed his direction and drove out of town.  He drove away and away until, like us, he ended up in Peoria and almost out of gas.

"So, what's happened since then?" I asked.

"That's what I'm gonna show ya." he then said.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"Just come with me.  You have time, don't you?" he said.

"I think we do." I said as I looked over at Wanda Lee, who was indicating that she was going along with it.

"Perfect.  Just drive behind me." he said as he walked back to his car.

"I wonder what Ogden wants to show us." asked Wanda Lee as we headed back to our car.

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As some would say, that's a good question.  For you, the answer will come next week, when I'll bring you Part 4 of our story.  How long is this story?  Another good question.  Answer: I don't know.  The story comes to me as I write it down.  Oddley himself tells me just enough for each week and makes me wait for the next piece.  He's getting good at leaving an audience hanging.  I'll have to ask him where he got such a gift.  Maybe I shouldn't, better to have the mystery than none at all.

I now must end this week's posting.  I think this is one of the shortest entries since I started regular blogging at the beginning of the year.  Anyway, I must now tell of how you can tell me how I'm doing.  Please leave a comment below.  Doesn't matter what you have to say, just say it.  Each comment you make at the bottom of each posting lets me how I'm doing.  In conclusion, death and taxes are life's two certainies.  In fact, you might say that a person is taxed until death, and even then, you're still taxed.  Think about it.

Join us next week, won't you?
Yours truly, John Maxwell.
Your Fellow Traveler.

Vol. 4, No. 6

Good day, fellow travelers, and welcome to the sixth posting of volume four of the Blog.  This week contains Valentine's Day.  It's a day where lovers the world over celebrate their connection to each other.  I believe that all have equal rights to love.  However, there are those people who think that only the kind of love shared between men and women is the right one.  Any other combo is wrong.  Love is no sin, I believe, and if you really love someone, no matter their gender, you should share it.

Recently, I had to place "The Melting of the Iceberg", the book I was writing, on the back burner.  I was unable to write further because the story was getting away from me.  To be specific, I was writing three different plot lines and felt they weren't doing well.  However, I haven't stopped writing.  Instead, probably because of the holiday, I've moved on to a romantic tale.  The genesis of this story is because of a movie and how it titled itself.  Confused as to what I mean?  Be confused no more, I will explain myself.

A movie in theaters right now is "Side Effects".  It's a drama about what, I know not.  I've only seen TV trailers for the movie and it struck me that the movie being advertised was wrong.  I mean in the sense of its title.  To me, the title "Side Effects" does not reflect the contents of the movie.  I leave it to you to decide a more useful title.  The title, to me, says "romantic comedy".  The movie should have been about how a medication leads to a goofy and interest romance, with laughs a plenty and characters with 2D souls.  A nice picture ready for Valentine's Day.

Coupled with that idea, I've been noticing how channels like Lifetime and Hallmark have managed to run the male-female romance dynamic into the ground.  In short, the whole thing is a parody.  This, in a country where 3.4% of the population are LGBT, is a shame.  So, I made it my mission to write a same-sex romantic comedy.  The two ideas merged in my idea as I thought over the title "Side Effects".  With combo in hand, I have set to write a book with those elements.  I even been writing it in a unique style sure to be a hit with readers the world over.

Now, with that out of the way, time for the fiction.  Since we last met, I have figured out what I'm doing here.  The story being told is its own.  "The Life of Oddley" was a nice title for the four-part story in 2011 that started the series.  Originally, that was all there was of the series.  The idea of assigning different titles to the stories didn't really occur at first.  It was when I was beginning on episode five that I felt a need to title the stories.  The first four, however, remained untitled because I couldn't think of one.

After presenting last week's piece as the new episode five, I feel a new need to address the different story branching out of the first four.  The first storyline to branch out of the first four was a two-story set where Oddley makes his way to the ocean.  That wasn't the intent of the second story.  Instead, the original untitled second story was Oddley traveling with Wanda Lee as she found herself.  At one point, it turned into a long time going as Oddley made it to the west coast, lost track of Wanda Lee, and headed back east alone.

I don't know how many installments that storyline would have taken.  Here, the story is different enough to earn its own title, separate from the first four.  That title is "Two Weeks in Peoria".  That should tell of what's next in the story.  Last week, we left Oddley as he was being driven out of Chicago against his will by a runaway housewife, determined to find herself.  That is simple enough a recap.  So, without further ado, I present to you Part 2 of "Two Weeks in Peoria"

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As the car passed from the city to the Illinois countryside, my heart felt heavy.  I was leaving my snug confines for open space.  I looked over at Wanda Lee, intent on going further and me, wanting the opposite.  I was trapped.

I knew that if I let Wanda Lee continue her trip, who knows when she would feel up to returning to Chicago.  Therefore, I needed to have a plan.  It needed to be a good plan for it to succeed.  I needed to make a deal with Wanda Lee.

"Wanda Lee, we need to talk." I said to her.

"There's nothing to talk about." she said.

"Yes, there is.  I may have two weeks more of my vacation but if this little trip continues beyond two weeks, I'll be in trouble." I said.

"So, what do you plan to do about it?" she asked me.

"How about... I stay with you for two weeks.  If you wish to go on after two weeks, just give me the money to ride a bus or train back to Chicago." I said.

"I don't know if I wanna make a deal with you.  I've made deals with men my whole life.  This time, it's my turn to make the deal." she said.

"So, what's your solution to this problem?" I asked her.

"How about I drop you somewhere and you find your way back to Chicago?" she said.

"How about I help you and you help me?" I then said.

"How can you help me?" she said.

"I can tell that you're one of those people who wants to find themselves." I said.

"I'm 36 and I still don't know who I am." she said.

"So, let me find the person you are and help me get back to Chicago." I said.

"Sounds like a plan.  Not a good one." she said.

"I need the two weeks off anyway.  Hopefully, we can get somewhere before I must head back." I said.

"Me, too." I overheard her say to herself.

The car then continued its roll down the roads of Illinois.  The signs around me said that we were on the road to Peoria.  As the morning sun rose higher in the sky, I wondered where Ogden had gone after that day with the farmer.  I checked his house every once and while but he never returned there.  My best guess was he had left town.

It appeared that, like us, Ogden had disappeared into the Illinois countryside.  The time ticked away as the mileage between us and Peoria got smaller.  I can't recall the exact numbers but it did seem we really making good time.  That's saying something when you have no real destination to go to.  I knew that Wanda Lee was looking for herself.  

Our little journey continued as the time on my watch showed it to be noon.  I hadn't had much of a breakfast to start with.  My stomach was beginning to tell me that it was empty.  I looked over at Wanda Lee and I could tell her stomach was saying the same thing.  Her eyes were scanning the horizon for a place to eat.  This being the wilds of the state, anything would do.

That anything turned out to be a nice country diner.  As we pulled up, I knew that the appearance of me, an unwed person, with a wedded woman, would be considered by someone as wrong.  However, with the diner being out in the sticks, I felt safe enough to eat with Wanda Lee.  As we entered, we saw mostly farmers having their namesake lunch.

Me and Wanda Lee took a nice booth.  As the noonday sun poured into the place, I look for a waitress.  Luckily, one came up to us.  She handed us our menus and told us that she would be back to take our orders in a few minutes.  I just took my menu and buried myself in it.  I was confused about how to help Wanda Lee so she'd help me.  It was already the strangest day in my life, but don't say that too soon.

"I can't believe that I'm out of Chicago." I said to Wanda Lee during our meal.

"Me, too.  I just decided to leave at the breakfast table." she said to me.

"Just like that, you decided to make out on your own?" I said.

"I did.  Something inside me just snapped and I packed my bags and left." she said.

"I could never do something like that.  I like planning what I do." I said.

"You've never just done something?" she asked me.

"Well... never anything you'd like to hear." I said.

"I'll take your word for it." she said.

We finished up our meal in quick time.  Soon, we were back on the road.  The Illinois countryside remained flat as we rolled on down.  Me and Wanda Lee were again making excellent time towards the nowhere we apparently we were heading to.  That nowhere would have something for her and something for me.  I hoped so in the form of a way back to Chicago.  Noonday passed into afternoon as the mileage signs started referring to a place: Peoria. 

The first sign I saw for that said we were 90 miles away.  Next one said 84 miles away.  Then to 74, to 63, to 59, to 54, to 48, and so on.  Like a countdown, the number got smaller.  From 45 miles, to 41, to 37, to 32, to 29, to 24, to 19, to 14, and to 10.  Finally, we reached the single digits.  I also noticed that Wanda Lee seemed to be following those signs. Then, as we reached the mileage sign, reading 8 miles to Peoria, Wanda Lee made an annoucement. 

"Oddley, my new friend, we're running low on gas." she said without fail.

I knew that sooner or later, we'd need to refuel the tank.  Luckily, the mileage signs soon did a really countdown.  7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 miles to Peoria.  Finally, we reached Peoria as the gas gauge reached the red area next to the "E".  I had never been to Peoria before.  I was kinda happy to reach there.  I knew that a means of returning to Chicago was here.  Meanwhile, Wanda Lee began a search for a gas station.  Fortunately, she found out before long.

"Now, let's just sit here and let the gas man fill the tank." she said as we pulled up to the pump.

"Does this place still have full service?" I asked.

"I don't know." she said.

"We'll see." I said.

There was a attendant on hand to pump the gas.  However, I needed servicing in the bathroom department.  My bladder needed emptying.  Quickly, I got out of the car and ran to, first the service desk for the key, then to the restroom.  After emptying said organ, I returned the key to the service desk.  As I walked back to the car, my eye was struck by the sight of Peoria.  As I saw that Wanda Lee was busy arguing the finer points of things, I decided to take a quick tour.

My quick tour began as I walked over to the sidewalk next to the station.  My walk came to a stop for a moment before I decided to walk across the street and see what was there.  I remember the next few moments clearly.  I looked one way, then the other.  I did it quickly, so I really didn't see what was coming.  I then proceeded across the road.  As I reached one quarter of the way, I heard a horn.  The next thing I knew, I felt a sudden impact and my body hitting the roadway.  Everything then went black...

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Is Oddley doomed?  Has a automobile ended our story?  We'll see what happens next week on the Blog.  Meanwhile, before I go, I must say a few things.  First things first, this week has been crazy for the world.  When the week starts with the Pope saying he's retiring and they say it's the first time since 1415 that's happened, it's not gonna be better for everyone.  A cruise ship loses power and turns a pleasure trip into a detour through Hell.  Crazy enough?  Not according to that great thing we called the Universe.

To complete the week, while the world watches one asteroid, a thing half the size of a football field, pass by our planet at 17,000 miles away, another one gives us a sucker punch in our Russia.  I believe no one was watching that.  Of course, according to Neil deGrasse Tyson, there are objects too small to be seen from Earth that are coming at us.  So, if I were you, I looked not right and left, but also up.  It might give you time to step out of the way.  Just ask a Russian and they'll tell you what's what.

To conclude, some people say that these are the End Times.  They're half right.  These times we live in are, in fact, the Crazy Times.  The time when the world stops making sense as the seven billion members of one species begin to lose their mind en masse.  I predict that, as one of my favorite movies "Star Trek: First Contact" pointed out, things are gonna get worse before they get better.  In short, the time for humanity is now, before our collective mind goes nuts.

Join me next week, won't you?
Yours truly, John Maxwell
Your Fellow Traveler

Vol. 4, No. 5

Greetings, fellow travelers, and welcome to the fifth posting of volume four of the Blog.  Over these last few weeks, my journey into regular blogging has been rewarding.  With time to think over what goes where, my posts have a nice beat to them.  This week, we begin something new.  This week, I'll combine non-fiction things with some short fiction.  Hopefully, I can work this.  This week, we begin that road of the Blog with a discussion of where the fiction comes from.

Back in 2011, I made my third attempt at regular blogging with a written webserial called "The Life of Oddley".  It was the story of a Chicago supermarket worker back in 1968.  Like "Life in Hyperion", it was to include science fiction elements along with sitcom set-up.  The first four episodes followed that pattern.  The sitcom set-up was Oddley owing money after gambling on baseball.  The man he owed the money to, I named him Newshaw, gave him a means to pay: let him date Oddley's feminist sister.

Naturally, she won't be used as a tool to pay a debt.  The science-fiction element came in as how Oddley helps to pay his debt.  Newshaw gives him 30 days to pay.  After talk of a raise ends in failure, he seeks out a job.  A strange one-night stand directs him to a lab and a scientist.  The scientist lets him take home some strange liquid.  That liquid, Oddley discovers, increases a woman's sex drive until she turns into a sex-crazed blonde, laying the first man she sees.  Oddley, once armed with this stuff, decides to use it on his sister.  It works and his debt is cancelled on the spot.

The format of the serial demands a cliffhanger at the end of each episode.  The cliffhanger at the end of the fourth episode of "The Life of Oddley" was that Oddley's sister takes a little too much of the liquid, dubbed nympho-drops by Oddley.  She turns into a creature set on doing Oddley.  Oddley's reaction ends the episode.  The beginning of the fifth episode marked a change in the direction of the series.  Oddley makes a run from his sister's house and runs deep into the surrounding neighborhood.  Then, his run is stopped by running into the back of a car.

Now, this is where things go off the rails.  The car belongs to a couple, the wife of which is one of those housewives who must leave to find themselves.  Oddley, to avoid being nailed to death, hides in the car.  It works, until the wife climbs into the car to begin her journey of discovery.  With an argeement being made, Oddley and the housewife begin a trip.  The following episodes chart the journey Oddley makes from Chicago to Los Angeles with a layover in Tulsa.  It was ten episodes after the fourth one before the series ended due to the usual lack of interest.

In this week's posting, I will make a partial re-start of the series.  Just a what-if of sorts.  The first four episodes were the kind of show I'd loved to write for if it were live-action.  From episode five, the show takes a weird turn as I ended up losing the housewife because I lost interest.  I used another character as Oddley's companion to the ocean.  This week, I bring you a new episode five of "The Life of Oddley".  It starts the same way but goes a completely different direction.  So, without further writing, I bring you episode five of "The Life of Oddley".

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The sight of the creature that was once my sister scared me inside.  Quickly, I ran for the door.  Without breaking my pace, I pocketed the nympho-drops, ran for the door, and exited the house.  In my quickening haste, I ran past my jeep.  I ran into the street and I ran into the neighborhood.  All the time with the sound of my sister, the creature, right behind me.

With good speed, that sound got further and further from me.  At this time, my mind turned back to my jeep.  However, I had no idea of where I was in the neighborhood.  Unfortunately, my progress, both mentally and physically, came to a sudden halt, as I ran very hard into something.  The force of the collision put me on the ground.

I looked up to see the back end of a 1966 Chevy Cavalier with green paint.  It took a moment to return my senses to my mind.  My ears then picked the sounds of my sister closing in.  With quick feet, I got up and looked over the car.  I saw that the back window was rolled down, so I jumped into the back seat without thinking.  I bunched up my body as best as I could and waited for what was coming.

In a flash, I felt the creature's body impacted on the car.  I then looked over my shoulder to see her arm reach into the car.  I knew that if she dragged me out, my life would end.  I thought all the things in my life I'd hadn't done yet.  The highest-ranked one was the fact that I would never see my best friend Ogden Hamilton again.  If he returned to Chicago, he would have a tough job of identifying my remains.

Now, many are you wondering who is Ogden.  As I said, he is my best friend.  I can always remember his appearance, with his blond elvis hair and his nice blue eyes.  His taste in outfits always have that swinger feel to them, even at work.  We worked at Easy-Mart since the day we were both hired five years before.  He was a hit with the ladies, or so he tells me.  In fact, it was a lady that cause Ogden to quit his job.  Well, not as much quit as...  You'll see.

It all began two weeks earlier, about a few days before Gilda started working there.  It was a nice early spring day.  The sun was out and shining and I felt good.  I walked into the back of the store to start the day when my eyes spotted Ogden.  He was thinking over something in the corner.  Naturally, being his friend, I walked over to said corner to offer help.

"Trouble on your mind, Ogden?" I asked him.

"Hello, Oddley.  No, just thinking." I told me.

"About what?" I then asked him.

"My life and how it's going." he said.

"That'll take but a minute." I said.

"Oddley, this is serious.  I need some fun after the long winter." he said to me.

"Didn't you date throughout the long winter?" I asked him.

"I did, but I think I overdid it.  I need to collect myself a little more." he said.

"Maybe I can help you." I said.

"Would you go with me to Harriet's Depot and check out the girls?" he asked me right out.

"Haven't I said no to that idea?  I don't see why I should involve myself." I said.

"Just one night.  I beg of you." he said.

"Just one night and I won't have to do it again?" I posed.

"Right, Oddley.  Just this once." he said.

"I guess it couldn't hurt." I said.

"That's the spirit, Oddley." he said in that lovable lisp of his.

"Meet me tonight and we'll... make the scene." I said.

"Gotcha, Oddley." he said.

So, my night looked to be set.  Ogden and I made our way to our positions in the store, occupying checkout lanes one (me) and three (Ogden).  The one in the middle was occupied by Mitzi Sherwood, a 25-year-old single nervous wreck.  Her straight black hair and dark eyes hid a nervous woman.  Her outfit was always dull colors and dull fashions.  As Ogden and me took our posts, Mitzi was busy having a small nervous breakdown.

"Hello, Mitzi." I said right out.

"Don't do that!" she snapped me.

"I'm sorry, but how else am I gonna tell you I'm here?" I said.

"I'm sorry, but this is not a good day today." she said.

"What's different about that?" I asked.

"I have this feeling that something terrible is about to happen today.  I just know it." she said.

"Sense of impending doom, I see?" I said.

"Sort of.  Anyway, I just don't like it." she said.

"You'll get through the day." I said, words of little comfort.

I should have listened to good ol' Mitzi, for it did happen.  About an hour and a half into the day, a farmer came into the store.  He had the work-worn face and overalls.  However, what made him different was the shotgun in his hand.  He checked it as he entered the store.  He soon walked around the checkout lanes.  With nervous voice, I decided to ask him a question as he passed me.

"Excuse me, sir?" I asked him.

"What is it?" he replied in a gruff southern accent.

"Pardon me, sir, but why are you here?" I then asked.

"I'm here a-lookin' for someone." he said.

"Can you tell me who he is?  I might point you in his direction." I said.

"You look to be the helpful type.  Tell me, where can I find a feller named Ogden Hamilton?" he told me.

"He's the gentleman over by the lighted sign that reads '3'." I told him.

"Thank you, kind sir." said the farmer as he made his over to Ogden.

"Such a weird fellow." I said to myself.

"Alright, there, come with me." said the farmer as he walked up to Ogden, gun raised.

"Why, sir?" asked Ogden.

"For your weddin'." said the farmer.

"Me?  Get married?  Why?" asked Ogden, using the same questions on my mind.

"Because you got my daughter pregnant.  Now, you must do the honorable thing." said the farmer.

"But I don't wanna get married!" said Ogden.

"You must!  My daughter is carrying your child." said the farmer.

"I know a lot of girls.  I can't be held to what I may or may not have done to your daughter." said Ogden.

"Be quiet and come with me." said the farmer, now really pointing that shotgun.

I looked at Ogden, thinking a thousand thoughts at once.  He looked at me with worried eyes.  He then looked at the gun with the same eyes.  I then saw a familiar expression cross his face.  He looked at the farmer and then changed his gaze to over the farmer's shoulder. 

"Hey, your daughter's here!" said Ogden, pointing towards the door.

"I thought I told you to stay in the truck." I heard the farmer say as he turned away from Ogden.

Quickly, Ogden darted away from the checkout.  I ran after him.  So did the farmer after he looked back from the door.  I watched Ogden run from the front of the store to the entry to the backroom in a flash.  The farmer tried to aim his gun but the store was full of people and couldn't risk hitting strangers.  I followed Ogden into the back room.  I then saw him exit the store.

I followed him outside.  There, he climbed into his car and started to drive away.  The farmer managed to follow me to the outside.  There, he took aim at Ogden's car as he sped away.  However, it was hard for him to hit the moving vehicle.  He got off two shots, both missed.  I then watched Ogden speed away into the distance.  I then had the duty of telling Mr. Randall Ogden was gone.

The next day, Ogden didn't return.  Mr. Randall waited for him in the back room all day.  The following day, Mr. Randall told me that he was hired someone to take his job.  That person was Gilda.  That was where I began my story.  Now, that story seemed to be coming to a close as the Susan-creature tried to drag me from the car I was hiding in.
At that moment, the front door of the house opened with a swift swoosh of air.  I looked up out of the window to see a husband and wife exit the house.  I knew that these were the owners of the car.  The husband was a nice-looking fellow.  He was a man in his 30s, with black hair and a gray-flannel suit on him.  It was the wife I remember better.

Her very appearence spoke volumes.  Her hair was that nice auburn brown that most 1960s housewives had.  Her red turtleneck sweater came with a red-and-yellow spotted bandana and a same-colored hairband.  Her skin had that nice tan sitting on her white skin.  Her height also stuck out, she was the same height as her husband.  She sticks in my mind like that because of what followed that day.

"Honey, I have to do this." said the housewife.

"Please, honey, don't." said the husband.

"I must." said the housewife as she walked toward the car.

"Wanda Lee, listen to me... " said the husband.

"I've made up my mind." said Wanda Lee.

The sound of this activity stopped the attack I was under.  The sister-creature made a bee-line away from the car.  The sound of rushing leaves told me she was hiding in the bushes.  As I planned my escape from the car, Wanda Lee threw her suitcase into the back seat.  She then climbed into the car.  At that point, my options are limited.  

I watched as Wanda Lee started the car and pulled out of the driveway.  My mind quickly turned to thoughts of what lay for the husband once the sister-creature would spot him.  My mind then turned back to the thought of that I was making my way down the street.  From my vantage point, I saw that it was the same direction I was running in.

I knew that Wanda Lee had no idea of my presence in her car.  She was driving off to somewhere.  My mind did some thinking of what journey she was on.  My initial thought was she was leaving her husband and moving to somewhere else close by.  That was my only means of returning to my jeep and my life.  However, the movements of the car told me otherwise.

The movements told me that the car was pointing in a southwesternly direction.  That told me that the car was heading out of Chicago.  I knew that sooner or later, I would be discovered by Wanda Lee.  Wanda Lee.  Her name is nice on the tongue.  Anyway, I knew that I must reveal my presence to her at once.  So, as the car made its way down the road, I rose up from my position.

Halfway up, I managed a look out of the window.  I saw that the row upon row of houses that was my sister's neighborhood had been replaced with the sights of Chicago's much discussed outskirts.  I was heading out of town fast.  I managed to complete my rising up and took a nice sitting position in the back seat.  I checked and saw that Wanda Lee hadn't noticed anything.  I then saw the outskirts starting to thin out a little.  I was about out of Chicago. 

I began to panic inside.  My life was all in Chicago and I was leaving it.  Slowly, my theory on Wanda Lee was changing.  She was, now in my mind, a lost soul.  I was going that way but not on purpose.  Quickly, I thought over the best way to alert Wanda Lee to my presense.  I needed to do it in a way that would prevent her from calling the nearest cop.  After five minutes, during which we passed out of the outskirts and into the out-laying areas of Chicago, I figured it.  I gave a knock on the window.

Wanda Lee's ears perked up at the sound.  She looked around her to see what the noise.  I gulped as her gaze turned my way.  I watched as Wanda Lee spotted the strange figure of a man in her back seat.  A million thoughts then ran through her head.  I was sharing in that as I thought over what to say.  Finally, I broke the ice.

"Greetings." I said in a calm voice.

"Greetings?  Greetings?" said Wanda Lee.

"Yes.  Greetings." I said.

"Who are you?" she asked, very confused.

"My name is Oddley Mitchell." I told her.

"Oddley?  What a weird name to have." she said.

"I've told that.  I always have." I said to her.

"My name is Wanda Lee Melvin.  This is my car." she said.

"I noticed that." I said with a laugh.

"Listen, how did you end up in here?" she asked me.

"It's a long story... " I said, gazing out the window to see the last signs of Chicago pass by.

"I have the time." she told me in no uncertain terms.

"If you insist, it begins with a baseball game and a bet... " I said, beginning my story.

I told her of the day that Newshaw descended on me and new employee Gilda.  Of how Newshaw got me to bet $3,000 on a baseball game.  I also gave a play-by-play of the game, which my choice lost.  I then told her of how Newshaw gave me thirty days to pay my debt.  I even mentioned how a date with my feminist sister would cancel said debt and how Susan refused such an idea.  As I finished part one of my story, Wanda Lee had the look of disbeliement on her face.

"You don't expect me to believe that you're running from a simple baseball debt?" she said to me.

"It's not the debt.  It's more than that." I said.

"Sounds like it to me." she said.

"Just listen to my story some more.  I promise to get to the reason for why I'm here." I said.

"Go on, then... Oddley." she said, still unsure of my tale.

I then told her of how I met Willow, in reality the sexified Dr. Milner, and how she directed me to said scientist and her job offer.  My near-death at the hands of the muscle man and the hulk-muscle serum was debated by Wanda Lee for a moment.

"You asking me to believe that you were almost killed by a super-powered muscle man?" she asked me in disbelief.

"Not that much.  Really, I gave him a few insults and he almost ends my life." I said.

"I don't believe it.  A one-night stand directs you to a scientist, who just gives you a job?" she said.

"It did happen that way, now let me finish." I said.

"I don't believe this... " I overheard her say. 

However, as I told of how I came across the nympho-drops, she started to turn around.  I told of how Dr. Milner just gave me the vial of liquid and how I gave it to Gilda.  I then told Wanda Lee of how I met Gilda's brother Tuck and his band.  I even mentioned my audition and how I was now in a rock band.

"You are now in a rock band?" she asked me.

"I am.  Just keep an eye out for the Pickadillies sometime soon." I said.

"Then what happened?" she asked.

"I then saw what that liquid did to Gilda.  She was just like Willow, with only sex on her mind... " I said with a gulp.

My story then told of how I ended up in the closet, fearing on the sexed-up Gilda.  How, during my stay, I figured out the secret of the nympho-drops.  Of how I came with my plan to give Susan the drops so my debt would be cancelled.  I managed to detail the transformation I saw when I fed Susan the drops to Wanda Lee.  I could tell she was trying to believe my words.

"So, you gave your sister the drops and she turned into... a sex-crazed blonde?" she said with uncertainly in her voice.

"It's true." I said.

"Just go on." she said, not wanting to question it further.

Finally, I got to the point of my story.  I told of how Newshaw picked up my transformed sister and how a night of wild sex led to the cancellation of my debt.  I then told of how, on my trip to retreive the nympho-drops, Susan downed two teaspoons of the stuff.  I then wrapped things up with my run and how I jumped into the car to save my life.

"So, that's how you came into my car?" she said.

"It is the truth.  I swear to it." I said.

"I still don't believe it." she said.

"Me, neither." I said as I gazed out the window to see the beginnings of the Illinois farmland outside Chicago.

"Now do I do with you?" she asked me.

"You could... turn around and drop me off at my sister's place.  I'll tell you the way." I said.

"Oh, no.  I'm not taking any more orders from men!  I've had enough." she said with a slight rage in her tone.

"Then what do I do?" I asked her with worry.

"I'll figure it out." she said to me.

I looked behind me to see the last sights of Chicago disappear over the horizon.  I was now out of Chicago heading further away with no way to return. 

------------------------------------------------------------------

That was a nice cliffhanger.  With the thought that Oddley is moving away from his job and friends, I begin the process of closing down this post.  I plan to write this until Oddley is safe in Chicago.  Then, I will move on to other fiction.  This might take a few episodes to do.  Maybe, I'll do other storylines in the future.  We'll see how you react to this first before allowing Oddley to share more of his incredible life story.  It's a nice one, or so he told me.

To conclude this week's posting, next week is Valentine's Day, as many of you know.  While I don't plan on doing a romantic tale (Oddley's got his story first), I do plan on sharing my ideals on romance and how I plan to use them in future efforts of fiction.  Romance, to me, is a wonderful thing to experience.  Either watching or having one from afar, it's a beautiful thing.  It's often lost in this 21st century.  In conclusion, the way to romance is to take the best road for two to travel on.

Join me next week, won't you?
Yours truly, John Maxwell
Your Fellow Traveler  

Vol. 4, No. 4

Greetings, fellow travelers, and welcome to the fourth posting of volume four of the Blog.  The fourth of four, it seems.  The last few weeks have allowed me to show off my impressive knowledge and experience with writing and reading.  Two of the most desired skills of a human being.  This week, there is no topic.  Just a discussion of things that have crossed my mind.  This is how most of the postings will go, with the format up to the mental processes of yours truly.

Recently, I was making my way to somewhere.  That doesn't mean much to you, but stick with me.  As I was traveling there, there was a fog bank.  The fog surrounded me and my travel vehicle and it stirred an old memory.  It concerned the earliest writings to feature Cy and Conrad, two of the characters in my upcoming book "The Melting of the Iceberg", as actual characters.  Although they weren't named as such then, I've forgotten their other names, so I will refer them by their current ones.

Those earliest writings were a story about two guys who make a trip to a parallel universe.  In this parallel universe, the area was covered by a perpetual fog bank.  That was a core element of the story, which was about a tyrannical ruler who's planning a trans-dimensional invasion of our world.  The fog bank remained in those writings for a long time.  It lent a mysterious quality to this other world.  The world on our side was in the midst of summer, while theirs was cold as autumn, with the implication that it was summer there, too.

It even helped in a later version of events.  In that version, Cy and Conrad join a army unit making a patrol of the area in service to their leader.  The unit was small but it was surrounding a tank, rolling down the streets through the unending fog.  Conrad becomes concerned for the health of him and Cy when a Geiger counter he's carrying shows a high level of radiation.  That concern is pushed aside when the tank and crew are attacked by a strange group of little kids.  The attack is repelled, with Cy joining in the defence of the tank.

Those attackers would be revealed to be part of a resistance group hoping to overthrow the tyrannt ruler of the area, named King Kilos.  Kilos would be revealed to be planning to invade our world in big fashion.  I remember that Cy and Conrad's ally in Kilos' army was Captain Adam Jasper.  Jasper, in one version of events, is revealed to be in league with the resistance and helps out in the big battle against Kilos.  Those writings never amounted to much but it was a start.  That story was part of my writing frenzy that comsumed most of my high school life.

Another story I was writing at that time was a tale called "Operation: Zira Girl"  I know, it's a weird tale but take it at face value.  It concerned two teenagers who discovers that a new girl in town looks like a chimpanzee.  The appearance of her would be explained by the outdated concept of maternal impression.  The character, named Rita, would be one of a set of twins.  The other twin, named Lisa, looked human normal.  That story was a obsession of mine for a while.  So much so that I remember the last line I ever wrote for it, "It was then that I gave up all hope of Rita living"

That line came after an incident where the fear-minded townsfolk beat up Rita.  A caring doctor and a sister-provided blood transfusion helped but not much.  I had much bigger plans for the rest of the story but I could never sort it out.  I actually had one person tell me that the ending should be Rita gaining human form, like a fairy tale.  That was never one of the ideas for the ending.  My ending would include all the learning I had about the Civil Rights movement.  Eventually, the story, in that form, would die.  I would move on to other ideas.

The plotlines I started in "Operation: Zira Girl" have continued for a long time.  One plotline was the discovery of the title character.  It involved the two main teenagers sneaking into the house of the recently-moved in Harris family.  The lead characters, let's call them Tom and Hutch, for I've pratically forgotten their other names, did so earlier in their childhoods.  However, it is Tom who makes the discovery of Rita when he takes a nap on the couch and she sneaks up on him.  That line of events have stayed in every version of the story I've written, even long after I dropped the whole "Zira Girl" idea.

I must make mention of one line of events I wrote down.  Even today, I find it difficult (like many writers) to keep to the plotlines I've placed at the beginning of the story.  It's important to keep to them because that is your story.  However, back when I was writing "Operation: Zira Girl", my writing drifted to a completely different plotline involving a split personality and a night on the town.  I did get back to the main story but the story at that point forgot that the town basically hated Rita.  Yet, she was going all over the place without incident.  In essense, I lost my story.

That continues today with characters.  For a while, Rita's twin sister Lisa didn't appear in the story.  I had to make a point of mentioning her or bringing her into a scene.  Today, characters in my writings drift in and out of the story.  So, as a writer, always keep track of your characters.  Don't come up with a character and then lose them halfway through the story.  If they're doomed to not appear in the rest of the story, give them a send-off if you're not gonna use them.  This problem isn't just mine.  Issac Asimov once wrote two characters in the beginning of a story and they just disappeared.  So, keep your characters as you write your story.

More recently, I've come up with a brilliant idea.  Well, brilliant to me, I don't know about you.  Anyway, my idea is for a music festival.  I know there are hundreds out there but this one is different.  It's a gay country music festival.  I also know that country music and homosexuality don't usually go together.  However, I feel that such a festival is what its needed to show that all music can be used by all people.  My plan is to invited gay country musicians and gay-friendly country musicians to come play their music for both gay and straight patrons.  I have no idea where to set it or when to have it but I hope I can get someone to come.

Also more recently, I've been re-watching an old favorite of mine, "Short Circuit".  As part of my re-watching, I've been taking note of the performances in the movie.  In the course of that task, I've noticed that many of the actors emote in a way as if Number Five was actually a living thing.  Especially Ally Sheedy, whose performance toward the robot is like one an actor would give to a co-star, not a prop.  Granted, her character first believes that Five "is" a living thing from outer space.  However, that part of her performance doesn't change once she learns the truth about him.  Other performances still keep as one talking to a prop.

I believe that I have run out of topics to discuss this week.  As I sit here, thinking, no more topics come up.  As I wind down this week's posting, I'm now three weeks into this plan of mine to blog consistently.  The topics I've touched on are the things that run across my mind.  Be prepared for more such things.  In the coming weeks, I plan (as of now) to include some short fiction to give you a sense of my viewpoints.  With that, the posting is now coming to a close.  I hope that this week was nice on your eyes and good for your mind.  In conclusion, keep an open mind and a foot on the beaten path, while forever looking off to the side.  Farewell for now...

Join me next week, won't you?
Yours truly, John Maxwell
Your fellow traveler...