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The
Accidental Tuba Player
Dick
Miller
©
Copyright
2014
by Dick Miller
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I’ve
never had a tuba lesson in my life, but
I’ve enjoyed playing the instrument for more than 40 years.
It
all began by accident.
I
was playing bass trombone in the South Shore
Community Band on Staten Island, New York. We were rehearsing in
preparation for one of our two annual fund-raiser concerts when our
only tuba player announced that he was retiring and moving to
Florida. There didn’t seem to be a ready replacement, so the
band director, Charlie Stieg, asked if anyone in the band knew anyone
who could take on the role with the concert approaching. One of the
scheduled numbers was “Victory at Sea,” which had a
prominent tuba part....
More...
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Amulet
of Nekhbet
Jordan
Elizabeth Mierik
©
Copyright 2014 by Jordan Elizabeth Mierik
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In
1920, Emma made the decision to accompany her archeologist husband on
an expedition to Ancient Egypt. Unfortunately for her, it was
far worse than she’d been warned. Bored and
irritable, Emma hung around her neck an amulet
dedicated to Nehkbet, the Egyptian vulture goddess. It
certainly was a pretty bauble, but it also sucked her away into a void,
from which her descendents have been trying to retrieve her....
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Dick
Miller
©
Copyright
2014
by Dick Miller
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You
may recall the TV sitcom
Welcome Back, Kotter,
starring comedian Gabe Kaplan. It aired
in the late 1970s and is notable for bringing a young John Travolta
to national attention. The premise is that Kaplan, playing Mr.
Kotter, returns to teach at the high school he himself attended. He
winds up with a class of misfits, nicknamed “sweat
hogs”
in the show, of whom little is expected except, perhaps, from Mr.
Kotter.
So,
in fact, did I....
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The
Subway
L. Rehfuss
©
Copyright 2014 by L. Rehfuss
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It's
5:55pm, and he's where he has stood every night since I started
taking the subway one year ago. His job is to watch tokens enter a
small machine in front of him or glance at monthly subway passes
being flashed before his eyes. The purpose for this seemingly
tedious assignment is to move people through the turnstiles quickly....
Flo
The
Dog Who Would Rather Work Than Play
Dick
Miller
©
Copyright
2014
by Dick Miller
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After
we had to have our
beloved dog Buddy put down, and after our period of grieving passed,
my wife Mega and I realized that we missed the companionship that
only a dog can offer and started our search....
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A Salute From
The Black
Aces
William
Wayne Weems
©
2014
by
William Wayne Weems
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Here
is a Tennessee tale from the mid-1950's. At the time of this account
there was a road intersection on the South side of Nashville called
"Five Points". It was and is a complex interchange for
ordinary city streets, and the source of a depressing number of
traffic accidents.
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Faith
Sara
Berelsman
©
Copyright 2014 by Sara Berelsman
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“Faith”
is defined by the dictionary
as, “Firm belief in something for which there is no
proof.”
I’ve always struggled with my faith. It’s
unfailingly
been difficult for me to do, or believe in, anything without a
logical reason or evidence behind it. I think I might have believed
in God when I was younger. That belief disappeared when I went to
college. I regained that belief when I gave birth to my first child.
My convictions had evolved, however. Still, I couldn’t gaze
upon the tiny face of my perfect baby, count all her little fingers
and toes, or hold her close to me and feel her heart beating without
thinking this was a miracle. This had to be a miracle. Did I have any
logical evidence behind it? No. I still don’t. Yet I
believed.
I still believe…that she is a miracle. Nothing that flawless
could come together and form the miniature person who came out of me
without some kind of divine intervention. That is just my belief....
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Nine
Months
Janelle
Knippen
©
Copyright 2014 by Janelle Knippen
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Nine
months, which doesn't seem like a long amount of time when you compare
it to the average life expectancy of 78.7 years in the United
States. In other cases nine months can seem like forever when
you are carrying one of God's little miracles inside of you anxiously
awaiting their arrival into this temporary home on Earth. I
guess the length of nine months depends on the individual and the
situation that a person is dealing with.....
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Dick
Miller
©
Copyright
2013
by Dick Miller
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When
I was young, my
family had a summer cottage near
a lake in the Pocono mountains of eastern Pennsylvania. Evening
social activities centered around the Pavilion, an old barn of a
wooden multi-purpose building. The basement housed admission to the
beach, changing rooms and lockers, a repair shop, and, in the winter,
rental boat storage. The first floor, where most of the daily
activity occurred, had pinball machines, ping pong tables, a pool
table, a jukebox with a small dance floor, a snack bar, a souvenir
stand, a tiny grocery store, restrooms, and a porch with benches that
overlooked the beach and the small lake. The upstairs was a wide-open
space with a stage that held events as varied as Bingo games and
one-night stands by some of the last of the big-band era names like
Les Brown and the Andrews Sisters....
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Pay
Forward
Iris
Stewart
©
Copyright 2013 by Iris Stewart
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Everything
can
be justified and we all deserve. Perhaps in confirming our
justification in an undeserving world, we begin to lose ourselves,
the part that controls our conscience. My job required ethics, but I
was the wrong person for the job. I had lost the gene for compassion,
perhaps I never owned it. Ultimately, greed and my lack of empathy
will destroy others in my path and many innocents will pay the
price!
Just as the door
opens, the insect flies up my nose. I'm forced to remain still giving
little sniffs as I feel it travel to my brain. My target, the woman
in the pink dress, walks to the car. Thankfully, after a bit of
fumbling and a fresh application of lipstick, she drives off....
More...
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Broken
China
Iris
Stewart
©
Copyright 2013 by Iris Stewart
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‘A
pure love that they had
for each other. Paul was her soul mate. She loved him with a passion
and he had passionately returned the love...’ For
Rena love was everything, valued even more than her life. When
betrayal threatens to take it all away, Rena is forced to re- examine
all she believed in! She will learn that Love has many shades. But
will it be too late? Or can a loyalty beyond barriers save her!...
Stumpy:
Dealing with Amputation
Dick
Miller
©
Copyright
2013
by Dick Miller
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In
2001, I developed an infection that worked its way into the bones of
my left foot. In spite of a series of strong intravenous antibiotic
treatments, it became obvious that amputation was the wise course of
action. At that time, my wife related to me the following story.
The
Story
of Stumpy
Once
upon a time, a little boy was born. He was a beautiful little boy,
except, instead of regular arms, he had stumps. When most people saw
him, they were aghast. But his mother loved him very much. She named
him Sam, but she called him Stumpy. ...
The
Loves of Miss Lil
Dale
Fehringer
©
Copyright
2013 by Dale Fehringer
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Everyone
who has spent time in San Francisco is familiar with Coit Tower, the
distinctive landmark at the top of Telegraph Hill. But few people
know about the loves of the woman who made it possible. It
started in 1843 when Elizabeth (Lillie) Hitchcock was born in West
Point, New York to Martha and Charles Hitchcock. When Lillie was
eight, her father, an army surgeon, was transferred to San Francisco.
In those days, San Francisco was a bawdy gold-rush town inhabited by
wild and reckless men, and Lillie fell in love with it!...
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The
Persnickety Prize
Geary
Smith
©
Copyright 2013 by Geary Smith
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“Spell,
Persnickety,” said Somer’s teacher, Ms. Jackson.
“Spell
Persnickety
and you will be the winner of the class spelling bee.”
“Can
I please have the definition?” asked
Somer.“Persnickety
means to be fussy
about small details, or requiring great precision.”...
Dick
Miller
©
Copyright
2013
by Dick Miller
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My
ex-wife, Maureen,
had been kind enough to store a box of photo albums and such for me
when I was forced to sell my house and move out quickly while I
recuperated from leg amputation surgery. My current wife, Mega (she
and Maureen are great friends) was already overwhelmed with other
details of getting the house ready for sale and moving herself, so
Maureen’s kind offer was welcome.
Recently,
Maureen told
us that it was her turn to clean out and, since Mega and I were
settled into an apartment of our own, she wanted to bring over the
box of photos. Maureen and her husband Larry came over and we spent a
pleasant evening chatting and catching up on events of the past few
months since we had seen one another. We gave them the grand tour of
our new apartment, which has a terrific view overlooking a wetlands
with its constantly changing display of natural wonders.
The
following day I set
to looking through the box. It contained some things I expected, and
some surprises....
