The Reading Area

 Free short stories to read.

The Los Palmas Mystery

The knock on the door woke the man from his sleep; with sleepy eyes and a mind not attuned to being awake he opened the door of the hotel room to the smiling face of the waiter. The waiter greeted him with a smile and said, "Your breakfast, Mr. Geisner."

The man stretched his right arm and found his jacket, after a short search he picked out a note to tip the waiter. 

"Thank you, sir, have a pleasant day."

The man turned and pushed the food cart to his desk, then poured a cup of coffee; as he sat down to drink, his mind went blank and he began to panic as he rushed to the windows to close the curtains. Turning around he opened the door to check the room number, at this point he began to shake with fear. 

After several minutes, and two cups of strong coffee; he stood up and walked to he phone to call the clerk on reception.

"Hello, this is Mr. Geisner in room 1511, if you see my Secretary Miss Lopez can you send her up please, thank you."

With a calm and reassuring tone the clerk replied, "Certainly Mr. Geisner."

No sooner had she put the phone down than Miss Conchita Kopez walked into her view; "Miss Lopez," she called out, "Can you go and see Mr. Geisner in 1511 please."

Conchita smiled, then replied, "I'm on my way." 

A few minutes later the elevator door opened onto the 15th floor, and Conchita walked across the her bosses room. She knocked twice and waited to hear the door click.

Before she could get more than a few feet in, she saw him sitting on the bed, in the dark; even though it was daylight outside, and the sun was rising.

She asked, "How can I help you, sir?"

He had so many questions to ask, but he had no idea how to begin, so he said "I think you'd better sit down, and I'll pour us a cup of coffee; I have a lot to ask you."

Conchita sat on the chair near the window, and waited to hear the first question.

"Miss Lopez."

"Please, call me Concha."

"Okay. Concha; I have several problems arising from memory loss and I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me."

Concha took a sip of coffee, then replied, "I'll try. I suppose as your secretary I know you as well as anyone does."

Geisner smiled and thanked her, then he began, "Is there anything strange about our booking this year?"

Conchita didn't take long to answer, "Sir, the only thing that isn't odd is that we have come to the same hotel for the last ten years; other than that the break is anything but normal."

"Can you be more descriptive, please?"

"From the time you asked me to book these weeks, I have been trying to think of a reason for the change. Usually, you choose the last weeks of May to avoid the rush and the heat, but this year you changed to mid-July. Up to now, I have no idea why you changed the time; I have a couple of ideas, but only you know the reasons."

"As I said, I am at a loss myself to find a reason for the change. What else is peculiar?"

"Well, you booked a room on the 15th floor next to the elevator, when you usually book a room on the 1st or 2nd floor away from the elevator. This room has floor to ceiling windows, and you are scared of heights, which explains the closed curtains. Another thing, usually you book B&B as you prefer to walk around the town and sample the local taste, this year you asked me to book full-board. I thought you might have been working harder than normal on your next book, and didn't wish to lose the flow, or perhaps your leg injury was going to make walking too painful for a walk; only you can answer that question, sir."

Do you dream?

This is a question I have been asked many times over the years, and my reply has not changed.

Yes, the questions are how many do we recall, do they have a meaning, can they be related to our lives, and can they be prophetic?

Again, I say yes, I have had several dreams which later turned prophetic - one comes to mind very easily - the dream of an actor dying on stage came to life several days after my dream when Richard Versalle fell off a ladder while performing in The Makropulos Affair, an opera by Leos Janacek, at the New York Met.

Dreams are our escape from what is often a dull reality, as in the image above from the movie The Lonliness of the Long Distance Runner, where the central character (shown above) escapes life in a borstal by doing long distance running.

I used to use some of my dreams in my short story writing, but not anymore; as few people read what I write.

Where would we be?

Over the years, I have got used to correcting people's views on American foreign policy; it comes mainly from a lack of knowledge about the history of politics.

I am pro-US and pro-Israel, that doesn't mean I see no wrong in what they do, but often people misread the false information fed by the media rather than using their minds to find what lies behind the headline.

A case in point; some years ago the headline in the media read "Israel cuts power to Gaza." What the media failed to tell you is that Israel had paid for the power to Gaza for over a decade. with no sign of repayment other than the constant missile attacks.

Another misconception is that the USA meddles in other countries affairs, this is because 9 times out of 10 they are recovering a mess made by France. WW1 the US had to intervene to halt the German advances; WW2 if they had not sacrificed over 19,000 men to block the Ardennes Offensive during The Battle of the Bulge the allies would have had their forces split with no supply route.

One of my funniest moments online came when I was chatting to a man from Mozambique, Africa. He had a bee in his bonnet about the Americans and wouldn't listen; I stopped him in his tracks when I reminded him that during the late 70's Africa was responsible for several mercenary wars. 

I never say I am an expert, but I do have a good memory for history. 

The Curse

The image above is a short story I wrote several years ago about a young lady who lives in her past, and cannot accept that war changes not only countries, but people; it is for sale on Amazon. I have been asked several times if I am going to either write a sequel, or write a longer edition - I would consider the option if the e-book had sold.

Angela looked at the man standing opposite her, and asked, "Why don't you permit yourself to love somebody?"

Peter glanced in the mirror at his reflection, then with a sigh, he said " I wish very much that I could dear Angela, but my fate decries that I must deny myself the pleasure."

"Whatever for?"

"As a punishment for ill-doings, I have been punished with immortality."

Angela took a second or two to digest the information, the replied, "That must be wonderful, to think you can live forever."

He wrung his hands, then said, "You would imagine, but look at it from my view. If I love somebody I know I will outlive them, and suffer the endless pain of losing them. If you contract a life-threatening disease, you can at least end your suffering with assisted dying if things get too hard to bear; I don't have that choice, all I have is the endless dark ahead!. Without risk, there can be little joy."

"Do you know who you wronged, or why they took this action?" 

"I racked my brain for years trying to solve this riddle, but there are too many possibilities to think about. I was a harsh manager, and intent on success at the cost of my family, and workers at my factories. It's no use living in the past when you have eternity ahead, and no-one to enjoy it with. I wouldn't wish this life on any person, not even my worst enemy; yet, I wronged someone so much they put this curse on me."

Nobody knows

It had been a bad season for the fishing fleet. With many days lost to high winds and high seas income was lower than expected, but the bills kept mounting.

Bill Darnell sat in the "snug" of the inn, Three Captain's Table looking out and wondering if there would be a fleet next year; he turned to his friend John Collins and said, "The tide is running fast, and the weather looks good, do want to take the boat out for one last trip this year, John?"

John supped his pint of ale, then replied, "I can't see we've anything to lose, Bill, the pickings this year are so low this could be our last trip for a while. Our families have fished the banks for generations, but never has the catches been as low as they were this year."

The two men walked slowly down to the slip where they had left their small boat, with heavy hearts they gently pushed their light boat onto the waves; all seemed so calm at that moment, but things were about to change.

The boat had hardly cleared the breakwater when the winds rose in strength, and the waves rocked the vessel violently; both men were experienced sailors but they crossed themselves and hoped for the weather to change as they headed out to sea. 

Watching from the shore were Jane, Bill's wife, and Dawn, John's wife, the women knew the risks as well as the men who fished; too many lives had been lost for the folk not to respect the power of the seas.

The ladies watched as the boat got tossed like a cork on the ocean, the winds were rising and the waves weighed the little boat down as they crashed over the bow. Bill had no choice, he had to keep heading out in the hope of getting one good catch this year, this he hoped could postpone the inevitable closure of the fleet awhile. 

Dawn and Jane watched in horror as the waves washed over the boat, they prayed their men could turn the boat and come home while they had a hope of beating the growing storm front, but it was too late for the men.

Bill glanced out and yelled against the wind, "Can you start the engine? If you can start her, I can try to turn us and head for home."

John looked at the engine with dismay, then called back, "Sorry, unless we get a miracle this engine is done for. If we'd had a better year we could have had it repaired as we know we had to get it done, for now we are dead on the water and prow into the waves. A worse scenario I cannot think of happening."

Not willing to give up without a fight, John continued to try to get the engine running, though he knew in his heart it was hopeless he thought it better to take his mind of what was heading their way than sit and wait. 

Then, the impossible happened, the engine gave a cough and kicked into action; John called over the wind and rain,"Bill, see if you can turn her, we may have one hope left to outrun the storm if we start back now."

Slowly Bill inched her around and pointed the boat to the shore. With the waves breaking behind them, the men didn't look back as they cried with relief.

When the reached the breakwater, as if by a miracle, the winds eased up enough for them to see their wives crying with relief as the little boat headed to the dock. 

After a short while, John said, "What do you think happened, Bill?"

Still shaking, Bill replied, "I have no idea to be honest, you can say your prayers were answered; it was fortune, or we got lucky and she gave all he had to give to save us one last time."

Joe's Resignation

Joe West was sitting in his garden admiring the bees at work when his wife called him, "Joe, it's Roger from the club. He wants to have a word with you."
Joe eased his tired body out of the deckchair and ambled across the garden to the door to his kitchen, as he passed his wife, Mabel, he gave her a hug and a kiss and said, "I have an idea what this is about love."

He went into the kitchen and picked the receiver off the table, where Mabel had left it, "Hello, Roger, what's on your mind today?"
Roger Shipman, the treasurer of Hambling Cricket Club, replied, "We'd like you to come to a specially organised meeting tonight, Joe. The members have come to a decision and want to put a motion forward."
Joe smiled, and replied, "You put the beers on, and tell "em" Joe'll be there."
"Thanks, Joe, it has been an awful day for me thinking how I'd ask you."
"I can imagine, but don't worry about a thing."

Joe put the receiver on the hook and walked out to the garden to sit with his wife.
"What was that about, Joe?"
"The members will be asking me to stand down tonight," Joe said with a grin.
"How can you be sure of that?"
"They think I haven't seen what's going on in the league. I disapprove of the way the league is being run, to them I am a dinosaur, an anachronism, a throwback to the good old days when honour meant something. These days, winning is all that matters."
"What is happening that upsets you?"
"For a starter, teams are bringing in "ringers," people from out of the village, to play during the season."
"I thought the rules stipulated to play you had to live in the village for three months?"
"They do, but most of the teams have found ways to bend the meaning. They bring in people for the planting and reaping, and when the season's gone, these "ringers" go back to the city until next year. To me, it is against the letter of the Law, but I'm not running the league anymore, so it won't matter what I say or think. On the bright side, it'll give us more time together, love."
"Won't you miss the club, you've been captain for the last ten years and a player for much longer?"
"Perhaps, for this year, but after that, I won't. To tell you the truth, I was going to hand my resignation in this year."
"That's new to me, does anyone else have an idea of your plans?"
"Not that I know of, I was going to wait until the right time to tell the members. Now, would be as good as any."
Joe gave a smile, as Mabel said, "You old fox, you want to take the wind out of their sails tonight!"
He gave her a hug and a kiss, then said, "It will be a grand farewell gesture." Then he winked.

Joe and Mabel pottered around the garden and took their tea on the patio. Looking at his watch, Joe commented, "The time is here, love." Then he kissed her goodbye and walked into the house.
Mabel watched smiling as her husband walked down to the clubhouse, in her mind she had the image of the men who ran the club fidgetting as they thought how to break the news to Joe.
Joe strode with dignity into the clubhouse, he ordered his pint of beer at the bar and walked over to the trestle table that was put out for the meeting. "I know what you are going to say, so you can stop fidgeting, Roger."

Roger put his pint mug on the table, and said, "It's with sadness, Joe, we'd like you to step down this year as captain."
Joe took a swig of beer after he swallowed and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his old sweater, he replied, "Is that all, I was expecting more. Well, here's some news for you. I am not only standing down, but I am also resigning from playing for the team."
The table went silent, then Timmy Carver, club keeper, asked, "Why?"
"My grandfather was a founding member of this once noble club, back in the days when playing for your local team meant you lived here all year, not just for the harvest season. Don't think I hadn't noticed, and I am not the only one to see how the league is bending the rules. I am just the only person who is brave enough to voice the opinions of the members." Joe stopped to let the news sink in, and then he finished his drink, took the glass to the bar and walked to the door.

It was taking a while for the news to take effect, so he paused at the door and turned to say, "By the way, I was going to resign the captaincy this year anyway!"
WIth a grin, he stood at the door watching as the members looked back with stunned faces.
Then, he turned, walked out, and closing the door behind left a century of history in his dust