That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes,
an aeroplane - Lenny Bruce is not afraid.
Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn,
world serves its own needs, dummy serve your own needs.

An earthquake of sorts a strong swimmer after a subtle glimmer in ones eye. Maybe it ends with an earthquake. But listen to yourself churn.

Wire in a fire, representing seven games, a government for hire and a combat site.

Uh oh, overflow, population, common food, but it'll do.
Save yourself, serve yourself. World serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed dummy with the rapture and the revered and the right - right.
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright light, feeling pretty psyched.

It's the end of the world as we know it. (It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it. (It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it (It's time I had some time alone) and I feel fine.

Forest Park shook somewhat as Seth finished his run. It just does that. Forest Park is a large oasis in the west hills of Portland. It is highlighted by miles and miles of tranquil running trails and when you are in the Park it feels like you are not in the middle of the city. They only problem with that is that Forest Park sits on a potential earthquake fault and experts say it will have a major quake in the not so distant future. Today the earth shook ever so quietly.

The refrain in this song gets to him today as Seth walks across the fire lane contemplating today’s run and a return to a constant in life. The trail runs where rain trickled down the end of his nose and his ankle. He felt whole again and completely ready to take on the world feeling drunk with endorphins but he remembers uncomfortably that it has been a struggle to sneak in this oasis part of his day that being a trail run. This run on a ealy winter day brought a near serenity to an already far too busy day.

Today was a day where he had completed practically nothing to his choosing. He certainly got everything done as he did on a normal day, It was a day which included the banal and somewhat comforting tasks of cleaning dirty dishes from the sink that had been somehow been left in the sink for the last 526 days since she had moved out. This regular activity is the glue tying one day to the next. To him there was a certain finality in doing dishes and taking out the trash. For Seth, everything else was an ongoing project, with no beginning or end.

Seth had as always enjoyed his post workout buzz, as in earlier years, the post workout hum usually consisted of a few cold beers but at this point in his life he was getting too old for that. He had real things to do and real places to get to but he had always enjoyed the ride home from his runs in Forest Park. While crossing the Fremont bridge taking in a rare late fall sunny day with a hint of a winter coming, he enjoyed the rare views of the cascades where it appeared they had received fresh snow the previous evening. This elevated sense of awareness was now slowly fading into obscurity right now.

As he arrived home to an empty house Seth took a warm hot shower that removed the grime on his legs from his trail run. The shower felt wonderful and then Seth sat back in his bed and enjoyed the sudden respite from his sudden need for change only to stray in his mind to his constant yearning to seek the change that he had warned himself that he needed. It was an enigmatic struggle for him between the constant need for seeing and feeling things from a different point of view versus a chronic hankering to just get it right just this once. Seth wavered in has steadfastness just like he always has.

He surprisingly nodded off into a deep, peaceful sleep. He was never good at taking naps so he was alarmed when he awoke suddenly because of a weird rapping noise that he kind of recognized coming from the front door. He stumbled down the steps and he was surprised that daylight was fading and the sun was reflecting at sharp angles indicating that is was later in the day then he had planned. He could not recognize the stranger at the door and thought to himself that he should I actually answer the door but he was left with no choice as the visitor was right behind the glass window ready to knock again. He opened the door slowly and said "How can I help you?" in as cheerful a voice as he could muster. Strangers knocking at your door usually is not something that usually ends up well.

Standing on the front porch was a young woman with a cheerful cautious smile. She had a leash in her hand and as he followed the line of the leash it was obvious she had his dog on the leash and he worried to himself how exactly his dog of many years had ventured out of the yard. He was sure that he had securely locked it. He did not recognize the leash she held in her hand. Does she walk around with a leash all the time? He glanced at the gate and nothing seemed amiss and he glanced back at the girl on the porch and she was heading back toward the street as his dog stood on the porch panting and obviously happy.

As she was walking away from him toward the busy street, he noticed she was wearing a long flowing dress that seemed too thin for this fall day. He was curious to know where she had come from and why. Without him saying a word, she turned and looked at him and said, “I am glad you have your dog back but I need to catch my bus.” Seth kind of in a daze responded with “Hey sorry about that my dog gets out often and I need to figure out how she got out but for now I am happy to have her back. Thank You Very much. It will not happen again.

She stood on the porch fumbling with the Beagles nametag she had just taken off so she could better read the well-worn inscription stamped on the tag. She responded through a half smile. “So am I .”

“Well thank you so very much for such a simple kind gesture. Thank you so very much hmmm…what is your name please you never told me.”

“Seth it doesn’t matter” she chuckled as she ran to catch her bus.

She did not want to answer as she had a hard time with the truth. She simply had a hard time telling the truth and she certainly was not willing to start today. He did not need to know that she simply walked in the back yard and took the dog for a walk. She just wanted a little company for her walk. He did not need to know that she was just lonely.

Looking For Jesus

Birds love to sit on benches that. Buses and mass transit systems have a unique way of collecting an odd assortment of strange people and sometimes this was UNIX’s main reason for taking the bus. She had a perfectly acceptable yellow Volkswagen bug of sorts that could get her from place to place and the gas wasn’t all that expensive but she hated to drive and she somehow loved the chance encounters that happened on the bus. Well to put it another way, she liked chance encounters in general but lately she had become more of a hermit and these chance encounters were just that. She had a little weathered note book where she would write down her recollection of these encounters mostly for her enjoyment. She would add some crazy little sketches to help remember them and she thought someday she would gather them together and somebody might want to read them. She especially enjoyed the drawing part of it. She wasn’t necessarily great at but the sketches were usually pretty funny.

She sat on the bus headed across town and watched as the dry autumn leaves swirled in the suddenly gusty wind. She sat quietly and started to make a sketch of Seth and his dog. Her long brown hair curled around her lips as she tried to actually remember what Seth looked like. She certainly remembered the dog as it was a brown, black and white with the warmest brown eyes. It was funny to her that she could not remember the dogs name but she could remember Seth’s. (Both names were on the tag) She could also sketch the dog from memory but had very little re collection of Seth at all so when she sketched them both she sketched the dog in detail and drew Seth as a cartoon like character that resembled nothing even human like. The sketch amused her as she pushed her sketch book back into her book bag and as she looked out the slowly fogging windows she realized that she had badly missed her bus stop. She was not alone on the bus, with an older lady who had a collection of bottles which it looked like she was taking to the grocery store for the nickel refund.. It looked like she had about four dollars worth of bottles in her bag. The lady wore a deep grey thread bare coat that was well worn at the sleeves. She seemed a bit agitated but other wise of this world as she drew little designs on the cloudy bus nirrors..

“Hi there” she said to the lady “she thought to herself I have to stop just talking to strangers one of these days” but she had already committed to this conversation and continued. “Where are you headed with that fine collection of bottles?” She had already somewhat known the answer but she still pushed forward and repeated the same question. “Where are you headed with that fine collection of bottles”?

The lady looked at her with what she perceived as sardonic amusement and simply said “I am looking for a modern day Jesus and a bottle of cheap wine.”

You know what lady on most days I am looking for the exact same thing. I do not care for wine all that much but I think I understand what you are looking for.

The old lady chortled somewhat under her breath “You think you are so smart and understand what a lady of my means is looking for?”

Yes I think I do. Unix responded carefully. “On certain days I think I do. Here I got a simple little deal for you. It looks like you have about 40 bottles there and in my world that comes to about four dollars worth. I’ll buy all those bottles from you for 10 dollars and I’ll take care of them for you.”

“That’s mighty nice of you young lady I would be foolish not to take you up on that offer.”

With that Unix shuffled through her purse and found 10 one dollar bills and folded them and put them into the old lady’s surprisingly warm hands. The old lady smiled just a bit and thanked her. “How can I thank you er ummm…I did not catch your name..”

“It doesn’t matter but if you find your modern day Jesus it would make me very happy” as Unix left the bus about a mile past her destination.

Unix for Dummies

Unix slithered much like a snake today. Unix decided to walk the last 18 blocks back to what she called home for now and for the most part she loved the walk and the crisp autumn air, but something she could not touch was lurking in the back of her mind. She loved the view of the city from the bluff in Sellwood. It was the quiet part of town that overlooked a bird sanctuary and if you looked a little farther you could see the roller lights of the amusement park. The water sparkled bright a dazzling blue with the help of the sun and a wonderful crisp breeze as the city, with all its metal and noise sat in the background, she kind of took the long way home tonight savoring her lukewarm reflection of enjoying the first contact with a human being of any sorts for the last few weeks. She had become a conundrum of sorts at least to herself.. Her life had become a short term mess oand she somehow rationalized that it was time to get out of this funk and get back to her basics and just meet people. It wasn’t like she could just turn on a switch bey she was determined to do so.

She has been mired in this bog of banality for the first time in her young life. Having never been here before, she did not know exactly how to get herself out.

Life had always been handed to her throughout her childhood. She was the that girl who got to go to the private schools and then ended up not following the rules and getting sent to public school. When that didn’t work out as planned. she was nearly forced by her parent to be sent to a military school and her parents gave in to her and let her prove herself at another high school that she all of a sudden found somewhat to her liking. The school was big enough to provide structure but also perfectly big enough to afford her the freedom of being somewhat invisible. . The quirky bird at school that was always in her own little world but whom would somehow get her art work displayed in the schools west wing. She readily admits she had actually purposely flirted with the her art teacher so that he would propose the idea to whom ever made that decision. But she really did not care as all she wanted was for people to see her art and she felt proud every time she walked past her displayed work. She inwardly thought that she do not need to do all her school work when she could easily paint to make people happy.

She was not exatly disconnected from her parents as a constant in her life. Her parents had suddenly split while she was in her senior year at Portland State. It was mystery to her how two people whom had always been together had drifted apart. It saddened her more than she would let on to but she still despite what she considered large odds she survived and graduated with relative ease. She could somehow put these little episodes in her life into tiny little compartments. Well so her counselor said.

Her entire disconnect with her parents was a lot of her own doing. She would never tell them the truth. She told them she had a boyfriend and she was in a long term relationship. When they came to visit the boy friend was never there. She told them she was doing great financially but when they visited, she usually had little food and on one visit she actually had no heat as she did not have the money to fill the oil tank. She just told them that the furnace needed repair. She said it would be repaired in the following week. Her parents had offered to help her and she always refused. Her parents knew the only person who could help her was herself.

She thought for a few seconds about the lady on the bus and in a subtle way it dawned on her that she could be that lady on the bus in 30 years or so. But she didn’t see anything wrong with that.

Googly Eyes Lose Dog

A propeller aeroplane flew over in a drone that sometimes isn’t even noticed. Seth could not see this coming, but he had at some point completely lost interest in what he used to over indulge in, that being his job. Everything that once had existed in his job that he found interesting and challenging had been shipped overseas many years ago. He dreaded the never ending polishing of the terd that never seemed to get polished and somebody always ended up unhappy over. The things he did at work he felt like a secretary pointed in the right direction could do and they would be probably like it 100 times more. And tomorrow he had a handful of meetings as well as his official one on one yearly review with his condescending boss. It was already getting dark on this the first day we turn the clocks back in the fall and the sudden earliness of the dark startled him and he realized his weekend was for all practical purposes over. This saddened him a bit but he decided he would take Beetle for a walk even though his dog had decided to go on her own little walk just a few minutes earlier.

Walking through his neighborhood made him feel like he belonged somewhere. He had lived in this house longer than anyplace he lived before and he has grown a certain liking to where he lived. The park in the neighborhood had large pine trees that indicated a park in the Rose City. The moon was a silver sliver that was racing toward the horizon rapidly on this tranquil fall night. The quiet was almost deafening tonight. Seth enjoyed this quiet as he left Beetle off her leash. Beetle looked quite content as she smelled what she was going to smell devouring almost every scent on a scentless night. He sat on the park bench for awhile and watched a Black Lab and a weird looking pug join his beagle on the soccer field. As he felt himself starting to relax he forget about tomorrow’s drudgery Seth had the distinct feeling that he was not alone and this was suddenly confirmed as he heard a females voice with almost a screaming whisper mouth the words “Rodger get over here” .

This startled Seth at first, but when the voice had fully entered his cognitive thought process he loved the sound of her voice. It echoed brilliantly on this cool clear fall evening. In the four words he heard ““Rodger get over here”” he had picked up a foreign accent and something else he could not put his finger on.

He looked to his side and saw her in a pretty brilliant light considering how quickly the day had gotten dark. Much to his surprise she walked over to the park bench he had been sitting on with looked like a bag which he presumed contained doggy cleanup in a public park. The idea of a woman carrying a poop bag may be a symbolic metaphor for future failure to many but for Seth at this time in his life it brought this beautiful voice down a level to where he was comfortable and it also served to give him his voice. .Which may or may not have been in his best interests today.

“Are you talking to the Dog” Seth weakly lobbed this non sentence into the night air.
“Are you talking to me” echoed the voice from the night air.

And Seth took in the voice and for some reason noticed the fog that came from her voice and essence. It was a real thing how that sentence hung in the crisp autumn air and a somewhat literal view as the heat from her voice actually emitted a shadow of sorts in the night air. It hung in the air without tension. Actually it kind of sparkled.

Hi my name is Emily. Sorry to have interrupted you on this fine evening I am just getting my dog and I will be out of here.

Seth reached out his right hand to shake hers but no handshake was even hinted from her.
“It’s no problem” he meekly replied. “I know that it is dark but we have met before and I am pretty sure I know where”

You might recognize me as I sometimes tend bar in the little British pub on

42^nd avenue

,

“Yeah that’s certainly it” Seth replied.

Seth was a little bit secretly deflated as he would venture down to the Sixpence once in a while and certainly liked when she tended bar. She certainly was a girl he found rather attractive and she always seemed to know a little bit about soccer when he talked about it, Or so it seemed to him. It was certainly a pleasure seeing her out of context as he thought about why he liked to visit this liked this particular watering hole. She was certainly one of the reasons.

She clapped her hands a few times to get Rodger to come over to her but the gloves on her hands made the clap basically ineffective so Seth offered a few gloveless claps of his own and the dog happily scurried between his feet. Seth tickled him between the ears and the dog quickly spotted its owner who promptly put his leash back on. In the mean time Beetle was doing her own little thing, being a beagle, and had disappeared into the dark of the night.

“Damn that Beetle is really pushing his luck today. Here we go again” Seth said as the useless leash hung from his right hand. He loved his dog but sometimes he questioned his decision as Beagles just can’t stop being Beagles as they blindly follow their noses.

Seth just stared into the cold fresh night air and he could sense her breathing and the air between then hung, well maybe lingered filled with low level electricity. Or maybe Seth had misperceived the moment and because he had to do something soon despite not wanting to leave this moment. He liked being in the here and now instead of his constant fear of the here and tomorrow.

Emily suddenly struck from the cold night air. “I do not have a plan but we should find your dog now.”

“Okay I will head over toward the swimming pool”, Seth dead panned.

And Seth sped out into the cool night air

“Okay I’ll search over near the school” Replied Emily in a less than enthusiastic voice as she was uncertain what she was getting herself into. Emily slowly walked with her dog toward the school as the park was somewhat lit by street lights and the low cloud cover seemed to illuminate the night. Whistling was never a skill that she had mastered but for some reason her whistle was much louder than she remembered. She circled the school a few times and there was no sign of the Dog for that matter there was no longer and sign of Seth either. She now called his name and once again there was no response. She was a bit confused as what to do next because she certainly wanted Seth to find his dog and she did want to know that Seth was coming back or if in fact he went home for the night as it was starting to get late. By instinct, She slowly took the cell phone out of her pocket but she realized it was futile as she had no contact of him. She and Rodger slowly walked the five blocks home all the while calling out Beetle’s name and of course no response was forthcoming.

Meanwhile Seth’s search for his ever illusive dog pretty much ran the same course. He actually ran around the neighborhood like it was his daily workout and he even stopped by his house and got on his bike and continued the search. His dog was fast and he kind of realized the attempt to find his dog would be futile so headed for home hoping that somebody found the dog and returned it to the address listed on the collar. He for a second doubted whether this information was actually on the collar but he did remember that this happening before and somebody always seemed to call him. His dog was kind of locally famous for being captured on the street and taken in for awhile until Seth could be contacted. Seth was hoping this night would end in a similar fashion and rather quickly but when he arrived home chilled from his running and later a bike ride he was simply cold. It felt like winter was moving in and there was no sign of his dog.

A Foggy Day

Unafraid as Lenny Brace, the alarm woke Seth out of a fitful sleep of sorts and he rolled over and for once shot straight out of bed. The house seemed so much different with out Beetle in the house. She was usually right by the back door ready to make her rounds in the back yard when he had ventured into the kitchen. He checked his cell phone briefly for any messages from people who may have found his dog. The only thing on his phone was a text from his boss that said his early meeting had been moved back an hour. He certainly hated that his boss would contact him via text message but he was also happy for an hour reprieve on this cold foggy morning. It felt like snow today. He still felt like he had not shaken the cold from last night despite a long hot shower. When he rechecked his cell phone he also noticed that he was up way too early. Apparently he had not reset the clocks but of course his cell phone did that automatically for him. It was almost enough time to hop back into bed but he was wide awake on this particular morning so decided to tackle some chores just so he could relax after his dreaded day at work. He remembered last night and he thought it would be a good idea to venture down to the British pub to at least see what had become of Emily.

He decided he was going to take out this week’s recycling so it did not have to be done tonight. He was somewhat embarrassed by the number of bottles of Ale that had accumulated this past week and at least if he set them out this morning the local homeless people could snatch them out of the bin and collect the dime deposit. He thought to himself some homeless person may have enough to but himself a fine bottle of wine or maybe even two bottles of the fortified stuff. He also lamented the fact that he was too lazy to actually take them to the store himself. “I guess it is my own little non tax deductable gift to the local community.” As he reached the front porch he looked down and then looked down again and there on the porch was Beetles collar but it had no name tag. He thought for awhile did somebody actually put the collar on the porch or had it fallen off when he stood on the porch with that girl who never gave her name. He really had no idea. He surmised the tag was in the bushes somewhere but a quick search revealed nothing.

Today already seemed like it was progressing in fog like quicksand like way, but unfortunately that was not to be said for the time. It was time to head to work and he got this massive pit in his stomach.

Painting Playing Hooky

There Unix sat in the eye of the hurricane. Unix was up and about a lot earlier than normal today but she was painfully aware of why that was. She had turned her clocks ahead last night. She was really happy in the home she had bought with the help of her parents as it had hardwood floors and a back yard that has plenty of wild foliage everywhere. She lived alone in a mostly family leaning neighborhood in Sellwood. A calming electrical waterfall, she had bought on Craig’s made the yard feel like a jungle or sorts mostly in the summer time. But of course she loved the summers here as they were predictable and warm, but this morning was rather cold for her liking. She still found a perfect beauty in the way the fog surrounded her house on this particular morning.. Her two roommates, another Craig’s list find, were away for the week headed out of town, probably, for an alcohol filled snowshoeing trip down to Mt. Bachelor, and this allowed her to spread out and truly enjoy her passion in life.

She had called in sick for her morning appointment as she was in that mood again. She found herself laying out her well cleaned brushes in order of the width of the brush and her paints on a side table where she could see them. There was no need to put them in any particular order as she liked to paint with whatever color moved her. She could pull off a sky of crimson and bright pink even though it never happened in nature and it would come alive on canvas and would be her interpretation of her own little world. The tea kettle in the kitchen whistled and she moved to the kitchen and happily put together a pot of tea that warmed her and kept her moderately stimulated. Maybe it was the tea or maybe it was just the simple sound of the tea kettles whistle that made her put paint to canvas.

She painted at a frantic pace. She loved mixing the colors and blending the land to the water and loved filling in the details that made the clouds sparkle in a certain way, but for today she was in the mood to paint her much loved interpretations of the sky and the land. But for today she had a certain edge to her that had not been around for awhile. She was in the mood to paint real people who had entered her life. Maybe this was just an effort on her part to chronicle that she was breaking out of her abyss.

The last couple of weeks had been a struggle for her and today she seemed to be more like herself. She literally hadn’t talked to anybody in the last four weeks with the exception of the clerks at the local grocery store and the people at her so called job. Yes ironically her job as a clerk and customer service representative at a plumbing store over in the Hollywood district across town kept her minimal expenses paid and fulfilled one of her axioms in life. That axiom she held close to her basically said in her life there needed to be a true separation of her work life and her real life, Her clerk job at A Boy Plumbing served that purpose exactly. It was so unreal for her but also an anchor for her sanity. She worked in a man’s world of technical questions about the correct amp rate needed for an extension cord needed to run an in house electrical source to other non technical question from the mostly male staff that as to the color of underwear she had she worn to work. It bordered on harassment but she really did not care as she had little connection to her co workers. For the time being, she was perfectly capable of answering both questions with an equal amount of bullshit and bravado. She worked to live not the other way around.

But of course she had called in sick today and she was attacking the canvas with more passion than she could remember as she painted the lady she had met on the bus the day before. She remembered somewhat the look in her eyes. She had the eyes of an owl and she painted the eyes of an owl. Her face was that which resembled the face of Mr. Ed. That is one thing she remembered is she looked a little bit like an older version of that girl who played in Sex in the City. She never ever remembered the names of famous people because they were not from her realm. She remembered the faces just not the names.

She painted with passion. For some reason it was a passion that overtook her many times in her life but today she was passionate with the desire to create. Her roommates were gone and she decided subconsciously to take her pants off and just paint some more. She certainly didn’t want to stain her favorite jeans. She just wanted to paint. The rendition of the old lady on the bus took up most of the morning and well into mid afternoon but she only felt like she had worked on this painting for days.

She was a mess like she had always liked when she was painting. She could care less what was happening around her when she painted and she never really stopped to look at her work until days later. But today she actually walked to the refrigerator and opened a nice cold bottle of local seasonal ale and she took a quiet minute to inspect her work. She didn’t care that much if she liked it but something inside her loved what she had painted. She stood there in her long shirt and paint stained once white underwear looking at what she had painted. And she liked it even though it nothing at all looked like the Lady on the Bus. It was whom she wanted her to be.

She stood and looked some more and she was suddenly broken from her artistic spell as her home phone rang and since she had an old fashioned cell phone and she did not have the technical ability to screen calls she picked up the phone with less than obvious cheer..

She picked it up and the voice on the other end said

“Hi there I have your dog”
She quickly sorted through her life and politely responded. With, “I don’t have a dog.”
“I know because I have your dog”
The phone went blank.

The caller probably was not being rude or melodramatic. As far as she knew it wasn’t a ransom phone call or anything. Her phone simply had not charged and for now she had no idea where her charger was. But she was pretty sure she didn’t have a dog

Pub Fare

Seth listened to himself churn as the train pulled into the station right at 5:23 like it had done on most of his commute’s home. Seth took the long ride home on the Max train sitting next a family who was obviously from the suburbs or visiting from out state. Seth listened to them talk about how crowded the train was he could tell by their body language that they were out of their element. And for today the entire work day experience was out of his element. Seth used to write computer programs all day long and really enjoyed the creative freedom it afforded and he always like the idea of people coming to him to solve problems. But that part of his work had been out sources. He now spent most of his days preparing documents he could hand pseudo over to somebody from most likely from

India

so they could write the code to his specifications. He felt he could simply write the code and save the company some cash by avoiding this process. His career had come to that, as he had been taken out of work that he had always done and he had become quite adept at. He now wrote documents all day long.

He wrote these documents per the established time frame that his project manager had established. He then presented the paper back to the developers and his peers of his code so that could pick his analysis to pieces. He hated the process and today he failed at it miserably today. His analysis lacked detail when he presented it. Off course it did because he now lacked passion for the job that he did. But he still wore his heart on his sleeve and every presentation that did not go well tackled his confidence. It showed in his swagger as he excited Max train in the Hollywood district. He wanted so much to just walk the six blocks home and enter his empty house and sit and relax. He wanted to do nothing, and he wanted a lot nothing. He walked down

42^ndAvenue

with little conviction and on his right was the little British Pub that he liked so much. But as he approached, he had remembered Emily from the night before. He also remembered that Emily still worked there and she might just be working as he had never touched base with her last night. He also festered within himself. He remembered himself not quite making a great impression while having a real life opportunity to just sit with her outside the bar scene. He had always longed for this possibility but when it happened he remembered that he had become awestruck in her presence. HE BLEW IT.

But for the time being he had become a lucid rational human being. He was truly enjoying the walk from the train station. The air was crisp and cool and the dark was just that. It came way too early and it surprised him much like cold water on his face.

Seth simply wanted to go home so he walked the last two blocks with purpose. He knew he should be at the Bar with insane reason, but he realized in the short term he some how had to get on his way with finding his dog. His Beagle named Beetle was always there when he got home from work and he internally rationalized that he did not want to put up with that emotion right now. His head was spinning way too fast right now and for some reason out of his control he did a u turn and walked back to British Pub down the street.

He entered the pub with some trepidation as it suddenly dawned on him that Emily just might not be working right now. What would he do then? Well forgetting that for now he walked through the bar and toward the tables on the back porch. It was a decent enough day where people might want to sit on the pub’s large and friendly deck. Seth spotted Sonia whom he had talked to somewhat over the years but he did not know here well enough not skip being formal.

“Hey Sonia”, Seth yelled louder than he expected.

She replied despite Seth’s Terse tone., “Hello there, how can I help you.”

“Yes You can.

I have one real quick question, Is Emily working today.

Sonia replied crisply with a bit of sarcasm in her voice. “Yeah she works today but she doesn’t come in till around 730. Seth thought for a second and said. “Hey I lost my dog last night would it be okay to put a Lost Dog Notice up on the message board.

Yeah Go for it Dude. Just bring it around and we will get in on the bulletin board. Emily had mentioned last night when I talked to her something about a lost dog but she seemed like she was really in a hurry.

Oh did she? Sonia looked up with a knowing grin and kind of giggled in a way that made her sound and look a lot younger than she actually was. Do you two know each other? To which Seth responded sharply and with little emotion. Hey I come here quite a bit and I of course talk to her when I come in so in that sense yes I know her. I know she has a dog named Rodger so that how well I know her. Hey I am going to skip the beer for now but thanks you have been a big help. I am going to get home as I have a lot of things to do and I have sudden urge to do them.

Good Luck with that Seth, she said as she slowly walked toward another table and she gave another slight grin.

He looked down on the table in front of him and there sat a fully poured beer that looked like the beer he usually ordered. He could recognize his beer from all others as it was a deep chocolate color with a reddish brown foamy head that dripped ever so slightly from the pint glass. How many times had he seen this before? He felt a bit like Pavlov’s dog. He noticed a note next to it that been hand printed on a white coaster which a hand drawn beer sitting on top of a crudely drown house. Its on the house he mumbled to him self. That is kind of cute.

Seth did not think about who wrote the note, but he did what he thought was normal that being he sat down and started to unwind. The small note of kindness had suddenly elevated his mood for the day. He sat there and though how had been through a range of emotions today that were quite stunning to him upon reflection. Before he had sipped his beer the angst he toward his work had quickly disappeared and he felt somewhat giddy. But that was also a part of Seth that he could not figure out about himself as since his break up with his ex-girl friend of seven years he noticed that his moods were sporadic and mostly based on what had happened to him last. Every day seemed like an emotional roller coaster. It was the reason he and Kendra has broken up. He could not take her magical mood swings. He had always heard that women are just like that but he could not deal with not being able to predict of even how to control her mood swings. They had given up the relationship with not much of a fight as he guessed that was the mood of the day and she wanted to also move on. He literally had not talked to her at all after their rather unceremonious break up. But now he had become her and sitting there sipping his beer he understood her a little. Sometimes mood swings are not under the control of those who have them. Sometimes they can be dictated by what’s going on around them. For Kendra it must have been him that accelerated the mood swings. It had to have been. He was in Love one day and just going through the motions on others. It moderately frustrated him that he could connect the dots sitting here in the Moon and Sixpence and he could not do it seven months ago. Why did it matter today and not seven months ago?

Hermit leaves shell

The world serves its’ own needs. Unix was tired and she for the first time in a long time the tiredness had felt good. She had spent the day exactly how she loved just putting paint to canvas and letting her self get lost in her day. Her house had grown somewhat cooler and she slipped on her tattered blue jeans. She noticed that her knickers had paint all over the fronts and sides from the various colors that she had been using. The pattern was pleasing to her eye and she decided to hang them on a hanger in her closet and she put on another old frumpy pair. She had mixed feelings as newly tie dyed pair was her favourite knickers the ones she pulled out of the wash as they were comfortable and she felt they made her look good. They made her feel pure and right with this world.

She sat on the sofa once again and pondered her situation. She concluded that she was happy to have painted today and she has another odd yearning that being just to talk to somebody. She had basically talked to herself all day long and could not remember if that was all in her head or something that she done out loud.

But where would she go tonight. She had recently lost contact with most of her friends and she had not been out for awhile so it did not come naturally for her.

So she did what she seems to always have done. She just hadn’t done it in awhile, but by pure instinct, she picked up the phone and hit speed dollar to her friend Anthony. If there was ever a person who would drop everything at the drop of a hat it was certainly was Anthony. Anthony was a happy go lucky guy who had stayed in Portland after his family had all moved to Dallas Texas, where their family mostly lived. Anthony stayed behind to continue his education at a prestigious school that had an excellent program in Hotel Management. But Anthony also worked at a local hotel chain as a jack of all trades. If Anthony could get the time off he would be a good bet to lead a good time and was the most unlikely to try to get her into the sack. That was always what had always comforted her, but lately that was not all that important to her. She wanted a simple night out and she suddenly was somewhat saddened that she really did not have a female friend that she could go out with.

She picked up her old Kelly green telephone and looked up Anthony’s phone number and hit the proper keys to dial his number.

Anthony picked up the his cell phone on the very first ring and had to talk quietly as he was checking out in the Grocery Outlet and as she listened in the background to the clerk counting out change in some cryptic way and she heard Anthony say meet you up on Freemont in 90 minutes and we will decide what to from there. Got to run, he said and she sat on the bed and thought about not having much said in the matter but she was happy to get out and just be with people tonight.

Her plans with Anthony were vague to say the least but,” so what”, she said to herself. As she was so intent on getting herself out into the world and doing something, She also remembered that she could not really make it a late night as she really had to make it into work tomorrow at 9:30 having missed all of today’s work day. She thought to herself all the time that this economy for the rich and well to do had made every body worry about their job everyday. She had done the semi homeless scene and she knew she was a few meager paychecks away from doing the homeless scene again. She didn’t relish that thought at all. Nobody that she knew now really knew about that part of her. But then again she wondered who she really knew.

She took the city bus as she always did and she briefly looked a round for the old lady who was looking for her own personal Jesus. She was surprised the cast of characters on the bus tonight were either the urban trendy types with oversized wooden glasses or professional looking people who looked liked they had mostly worked late and were happy and resigned to be on their way home. As they ascended the hill on 42^nd.avenue and were ready to make the turn on to Fremont she spotted Anthony headed to the bus stop. Anthony entered the bus absently and fumbled with his bus pass and settle into the seat in front of her. She thought to herself why he can’t walk the last five blocks. No wonder he seemed to putting on weight.

She kind of pincher herself and made a mental note that she was determined to be less critical of other people.

She was somewhat annoyed but thought she would play the perky card and she tapped toed him on the shoulder and whispered. “Hey there Bus Pass Man, are you headed my way.”

Oh hey that’s funny Anthony blushed funny meeting you here I was just headed to a buddy’s house and then I was going to meet you and damn you are already here.

Hey why don’t we walk over to my buddies house and them lets grab a beer at the speak- easy down the street. Anthony kind of rambled his words and looked skyward as he just made it up on a whim. That’s kind of how Anthony rolled, living for the moment but sincere in every moment he lived.

Unix didn’t initially like the idea of heading to a strangers house, but she was still on was a bit of a high from today’s panting sessions that she simply replied, “Sure Why Not.” She and Anthony walked of the bus up near 46^th and proceeded with horse play punching each other in the arm and doing fist bumps as that is what either of the knew. They enjoyed each others company but they liked the convenience of this formality as it provided distance. They strolled three blocks down 46^th and Anthony veered left at a small bungalow that was surrounded by many tall pine trees. The trees dwarfed the house making it appear like a house with in a forest. It was out of place and somewhat hidden. While walking to the front door she noticed the curtains were old beach towels and she only noticed this because the lights behind then seemed so bright.

Anthony stopped suddenly and said to her “I am just going to run in quickly and say hello and take care of some quick business, Ill be right back out.”

Anthony I want to go in also and meet your friends.

He looked at her and with a bit of a what one describe as puppy dog eyes, cocked his head to the right and said, “No You Don’t’.

No new good news is bad News

Seth never noticed how the time had gotten away from him. He had sat on his own little picnic bench on the deck of the Moon and SixPence and twittered away the last few hours. He had not intended this for the night but it really suited his mood. He drank his beers rather slowly and having one free one in his belly made him think that he could have spent the night in a worse way. He had grabbed a Willamette week and just sat there and read like he enjoyed it, He took in its political articles and its un-canny take on the new owner of the local soccer team. He was happy to live in a town that embraced soccer the way it does. It was getting close to nine o’clock and he really had to walk the two blocks home and get some real things done. But as he was getting up he noticed that Emily was now waiting tables and she did not seem to notice that he was sitting there reading. Then again how should she have had, as had spent most of the night absorbed in his reading.

He looked up and course he recognized her as a waitress at the bar tonight as opposed to the girl in park last night. For the time being to him they seem liked two different people in two different worlds. She wore her customary faded blues jeans and white turtle neck that seemed to serve as the perfect top when moving from the inside bar area to out door seating space. She looked a little more tired than usual but as she walked by he looked up and said “hey there stranger.” She smiled at first and then recognized him from last night and sat down next to him with a hurried look in her eyes and face. Her job never afforded the luxury of sitting down with the patrons but Monday’s where a slow night and they probably had some business about a dog to discuss.

Hey what happened to you last night as we got separated and never found each other? As Emily spoke she looked out of the corner of her eyes seeing if any customers needed her attention but all seemed pretty quiet tonight. Seth kind of retraced her same path of vision seeing what she could possibly to seeing just to gage how much of his attention she actually was capable of but he got no real indicator.

“No sign of the beagle last night and I still have not found her, but of course I am more than curious if you had any sign of her.” As he finished his sentence he realized that she did no sign of the dog or she would not have asked the previous question and she would have told him she had found Beetle. His heart sank for a moment and he thought to himself that himself all of a sudden as to why he was so delusional and had not taken the most obvious route that being calling all the veterinarians and rescues in the area but of course he was in the middle of a lot of self doubt. Here has talking to a woman he had admired with the crutch of a proper pint and then again last night as her voice resonated in the autumn air. But still he somehow found his true voice to speak in pretty much the same autumn air as last night only it was on the deck of a British Pun right down the street from his house.

Seth, that is your name right? She said in such bad grammar without a hint of sarcasm.

And he responded dryly and with more pomp and circumstance than the moment required as he reached out to feebly shake her hand. A handshake with out conviction but it was as good as it was going to get as he once again was in awe of her or something. “It is very nice to meet you.”

He looked at her awkwardly and then looked at himself a little more awkwardly as he realized that he had probably had a little more beer than the situation warranted especially since he had somehow skipped dinner all together.

“Sorry about my communication snafu. We just headed off in different directions and in our haste we never made a plan to get back together.”

Yeah I usually have to be in here by nine on most nights and Sunday night was not exception. Yu probably have found your dog by now and if you have not you probably have figured out that I did not see it. Emily felt almost detached to herself when she said these words as she literally found nothing and had very little information. But as she looked at him she actually thought he would be sadder and from this scant information she nay had internally decided that he had probably found his dog.

Seth with much emotion at all replied “Nope no sign of her on this side, Did you have any sign at all of her.

No, Not really. Are you sad? Have you started making phone calls.

No Not Really.

Trash Cans At Risk
“What the hell is that outside going through our trash cans right now? You would have thought the city would have taken care of that.” Mujibar was slowly getting used to life in the

United States

. The houses were so much bigger and more available than in his native

India

, But he still had not got used to how life in the states was so much different. Even in this upscale somewhat quirky neighborhood in his adopted home town he did not feel at peace. Tonight was no different than most despite other than the rock hard fact that somebody or something was banging his trash can around.
When he first moved to the United States he read some articles predictably on-line about how the culture of the

United States

as collected whole simply loved their guns. He simply wanted to be like an American and own a gun himself. It was an absolute leap of faith for him.. Mujibar still did his due diligence and one day back in late July he decided to take the tests and he became a regular hand gun owner,
Next door David Cabot had a hard time believing the world around him. He had been semi deep into depression and some of the truths around him he interpreted as illusion. He simply did not trust himself. Today as an anchor to reality he had decided to attend a Bikram Yoga class. His back had been bugging him for awhile and usually the routine of sweating profusely cleansed him in a way that was somewhat unique. It ran counter to his logic how something so sweaty and exhausting could be so cleansing and cathartic. He was soaking wet like he had emerged from a thunderstorm, as he walked the three blocks home to his house that he shared with his wife Marta. They had lived on the Alameda ridge for the last seven years and for Marta it had become a life of relative happiness that had become a constant of missed communications that only seemed to be getting worse. It frustrated her to no living end but David always seemed to be living in his own private reality.
David even admitted this to himself. The last word he would use to describe himself would be normal, but for today he seemed somewhat on top of his game. Post yoga usually did this to him as did the evening shy. On certain day he loved looking at the evening sky. From the Alameda ridge the sunsets where usually fantastic with the City and Forest Park as a back drop. He loved seeing the stars appear on at a time on nights like this. Despite this, the constant nagging anxiety seemed to be a constant for him. In his world the symptoms were nearly impossible to pinpoint and the only way to describe them were to make up new phrased in his that he wrote down in his journal. He struggled as what he described as electrical sensations that migrated through out his body and he had a weird sense that his words were alive.
David has been in and out of counseling and each counselor eventually concluded that they could do little for David. His prognosis was not specific at and at times to him he felt like he was crumbling around the seams and at other times he felt like he was in the early stages of a crazy divorce or the side effects of one. But today he did not fell all that crazy and he felt he had a firm grasp on reality. If he had to describe himself today it was perky and when these moods came along he preferred to run with them.
He ran into his wife Marta as she walked down the steps toward the kitchen. He noted to himself that she looked quite pretty today, as she was all pig tails and short sexy dress, but of course he never actually took the time to tell her that. He liked when she wore pigtails which were all the rage these days and the short dress showcased her still athletic legs. He always thought she looked good in everything and she looked especially good today.
"Hey what would you like to have for dinner as I am kind of famished?. He said to her in a playful and teasing manner.
"What are you doing out there in the garage. There is so much banging and noise and I thought you were out there working.”
"Nope I just got out here I just got back from Yoga and I still have not changed.” David chimed in almost off cue.
"What is with all the banging out here it sounds like animals in the garage?" She asked this without any inflection in her voice.
"Yeah it is probably the big bad coyote the news stations keep warning about"

“Stop with the joking, It’s not funny” Marta replied bitterly almost scared.

David with his constant struggle with his grasp on reality sometimes doubted sounds that came from other rooms. He heard the stories on the television about the coyotes and he found them somewhat amusing but now here he was hearing noises.

The sound got somewhat louder and even more consistent. He , like the sound was banging off the inside of his head. Hey had no idea if it was real. David sat quietly and listened as to not disturb what may have been making this annoying noise. He sat there in that dark garage in total silence and once again as per his norm he doubted himself when he heard noises and could not verify where they were coming from.

He sat and listened with more interest and he was surprised that he had a small amount of fear. He felt the sweat once again drip down his back one drop at a time. This was not the type of neighborhood where people actually owned a gun and he was not the type of person to go near anything that could end your life instantly. All he could really do was to sit and listen.

As he sat in the darkness as his wife walked slowly behind him and she whispered with a bit of a quiver in her voice, “Honey there is definitely something in the garage.”

He thought to himself when was the last time she called me honey like that, where she actually wanted my input. It was something he used to hate being called but for some reason today he missed it.

Waiting

Unix has had enough of waiting around for Anthony as this night was getting a lot colder than she had anticipated and Anthony was still in his friend’s house for an inordinately long time. It was downright rude, but then again she knew what she had got herself into as Anthony was flighty on his best days and down right random on his better days. This is what she liked about Anthony is that he could not be counted on. She knew that he could not be counted upon but she for some random reason, waited in the middle of the street while occasionally leaning against and older Volvo station wagon. It was just nervous energy.

She sat there and rocked back and forth and considered that she had a joint hidden in her purse. She also considered taking it out and smoking right here. She had one hidden here for occasions such as this where she did not exactly know what to do with herself and she needed to jump start the evening.

Here she stood in what was considered by most an upscale neighborhood in north Portland and her night was going nowhere fast and she sat and considered smoking the joint that was hidden for such occasions She heard distant activity from two blocks and it sounded somewhat like the sounds of trash cans banging together at what she presumed to be people setting out their trash for curbside recycling. It was either that or the wind or some creature was going through the trash. It was a sound that was close but not easily recognized and this may have been from her altered state. As she stood there, she thought to herself that she could actually stand right there in the middle of the street and smoke her little illegal cigarette and that nobody would actually question her or even care all that much.

So that she did, as she waited for a scooter to pass by she grabbed the cigarette from the bottom of her purse and in one swift motion she brought it to her mouth along with the lighter from her pants pocket and she stood in the middle of the street and took in a long deep breath that made her feel really relaxed when in reality it probably should not have. She was breaking the law even though it was rarely enforced in Portland. She waited for the smoke to dissipate into and not into the cool moist air where it might attract attention. She held her breath for a good long time until she could smell the smoke from a nearby fireplace. She was safe to breathe out and take one more quick hit and soon enough she stuffed it back into her purse just in time as a almost silent car drove down the street with its lights off. She was surprised by the car as it must have been a Prius or some other Green car that was so popular in Portland. It drove by very slowly and it freaked her out a bit. It drove right past her and came to complete halt just one block away. She then glanced to her left and she imagined she a dog similar to one she had seen a few days past just 10 blocks away. It certainly looked and moved like a Beagle, but she could not be certain as she suddenly realized that she was buzzing.

Craigs List

Seth arrived home a little later than he wanted to and he had the sinking feeling that he should have made some more phone calls to find his dog. But given the information that he had he did not feel the usual routes would turn up anything. Beetle had the usual chip that the Vet had implanted a few years back and as usual he knew that she had not gone too far. The biggest problem was that her tags had fallen off and he just assumed that somebody would have found her and called the local Vet and they would contact him by the information at the Vets office.

But as he rolled this information around he realized that he had changed his cell phone number at least twice since the chip had been injected. And to the best of his knowledge they probably had his land line on record and he had stopped using that at least a year ago.

Despite the evidence that was piling up against him he was not all that much worried. It had been 24 hours since he had last seen her and he was getting tired at this semi late hour. He was thankful that he was still living off the stolen hours from turning the clocks back. He fired up his laptop computer hoping to get a lead from Craig’s list or possibly from information from the Web Site of the Animal rescue League.

Seth really did not want to have another beer but he found a large bottle of German beer hidden in the back of his messy refrigerator. Seth was not exactly a detail person and for all he knew the beer could have been in there for weeks. He didn’t necessarily like German beers as they were usually way too sweet but for some reason this one hit the spot and energized him as his computer roared to life.

Seth first brought up the listings on Craig’s List and he quickly found a listing for a lost Beagle. It had been found early that morning. This raised his spirits and he quickly jotted the number down and he quickly went to grab his cell phone from his computer bag that he usually put it in. He checked the bag quickly and at first inspection the phone was not where he usually put it.

Sometimes he doubted why he actually had a cell phone as he spent more time looking for it than he did talking on it. Texting was also lost upon him. He emptied his bag completely his charger and two old issues of National Geographic. At this point he realized that he had walked home previous to going to the bar and he had not taken the bag with him. It had been here all along.

This is one aspect of his personality that frustrated him and that was his ability to stay organized with all the little things in life. He could handle the big things but he always seemed to be looking for his keys, wallet, cell phone or eyeglasses. He frantically rushed around the downstairs of the house looking in what were considered to another likely place to put the phone. He looked above the fireplace and it was not there. This ritual made him a bit more frenzied and his heart raced a little faster as he got more and more frustrated with himself. He looked on the window sill by the piano and again it was not there. He then though to himself that he regretted having to make another trip back to the bar as it would make him appear desperate or at least highly unorganized at the very least.

At the low point of his self doubt for today, there sat the telephone on the armrest of his favourite reading chair. A moment of undeserved victory in an other lack luster day boistered his spirits in the short term as he he slowly unfolded the piece of paper he had written the phone number on.

Despite the hour he dialed the number that he had written down, well he actually partially dialed the numbers as to after the first two digits he realized the number was in the Bay area. Curious about the probability od somebody in the Bay area finding his dog was small and then it downed on that he had been reading the Craig’s list listing from San Fransisco. It was his usual mistake to do on Craig’s list and that was failing switching the search to Portland. Despite the frantic nature of his search and somewhat dour mood he could only laugh and think to himself that there was probably a Beagle lost like this everywhere. It was the nature of the beast. A beagle can escape from anywhere.

Something is Ajar

David Cabot reluctantly crept into the garage where he noticed it was cooler than usual but he quickly found the source of the cool air as the side door was ajar. He must have left it open on his way home from class. The thought crossed his mind was they imagined himself losing his senses faster than normal and then he did a quick search of his mind and he was pretty darn sure that he had closed the door. The wind could have blown it open if the door was shut but locked.

“Honey what is with the racket in the garage, Have you figured out what is going on?” Marta kindly whispered into his ear.

“Come look here.” David said as he walked across the cold garage floor.

David and Marta stood and looked at two trash cans sitting on their sides. They were pretty sure what ever had caused this mess had exited out the side door. Neither seemed overly afraid and what little fear they had was lessened by seeing their cat walk across the garage floor. This for now pretty much pretty much eliminated that this mess could have been made by a coyote. Recent reports on the news had said the coyotes were getting bolder with people as some people are suspected of feeding them. Sometimes it is a cat.

Marta went back inside and returned to her crossword puzzle David like his time alone in the garage. David was at his happiest then because this left little room for self doubt and what self doubt remained was easy to keep to himself, but when the visions of self doubt did surface when he was they were loud in his head.

David walked out through the side door following the path that he assumed the intruder had taken. Af first he had assumed it was an animal but doubt entered his mind. He actually did think it could be a prowler or more likely the homeless person looking for the five cent deposit on the cans and bottles that had accumulated in the garage. He did also remember there was a coyote sighting late last night according to the local news.

The air was heavy with a damp mustiness with a tangy aroma of smoke from a nearby chimney. David loved that smell and it made him feel at home reminding him of his boyhood home. He had always loved that smell on a cool evening. His senses were in a highlighted state of arousal and noticed the slight smell of marijuana in the air.

He is not the type of person to use that type of substance but he recognized it from his days at college and it was sometimes present that he and Marta attended. That is so very Portland.

He remembered a few weeks back he had been offered a little bit by a neighbor down the street as they sat on his balcony listening to classic rock. Yes the stuff he usually loved like Boston and Styx. He found that music down right corny but he liked it. But still it was good time for him as never could find the time to hang out with male friends. It surprised him how relaxed he was and he remember liking when they later played some John Coltrane. He usually hated jazz but on this day the music hit him in the perfect place in his ear.

He felt almost giddy as he walked out into the night air. He could see his breath and the air hung in circles and as he looked into the combination of breath clouds and circles and the backlight of the porches across the street he spotted the silhouette of another human being walking down the street .

The two of them, Unix and David nearly walked into each other but they both recognized the others presence enough to avoid an overt collision. David confirmed his intuition somewhat as he noticed it was a young woman walking down the middle of the street who had her own little smoky aroma. It wasn’t an unpleasant smell and he found it somewhat alluring and what did he really care and who was he to judge. He was simply happy to be out of the house.

Unix was startled to say the least as she had entered her own little world in search of the noises in the night and she had become somewhat obsessed with finding the source of the noises. With the effects from the magic in her purse she was glad to have the company of a complete stranger as on her own she would have followed her ears and her senses and probably would have ended up lost.

This neighborhood did not scare her in the least, but once she got off the beaten path she had a difficult time finding her way back and she was now vaguely aware that her original intention for tonight was a simple night out and here she was on this unplanned detour. But this was true to her personality when she was truly herself. Unix liked to go with the flow and what ever comes up just go with the flow.

This is what she loved about life taking the path least taken and for tonight it had her standing in the middle of 46^th street face to face with a stranger.

Speak Easy

It is a pretty well know fact that Portland Oregon is known for its wide array of microbreweries. The beers range from one of the finest IPA’s ( Bridgeport) to some quirkier beers such as Chipotle and and Hair of the Dog. If someone is not selling it commercially then somebody is making in their basement or garage. It is a thriving industry with many shoppes for the home brewer. What is a lesser know fact is that there is an underground market of sorts that most would refer to as a speakeasy.

The speak easy Such came into prominence in the United States during the period known as Prohibition (1920–1933, longer in some states) and usually is viewed as a smoky place with men in floppy with a woman in each arm. It was established to skirt the laws of prohibition. The speakeasy in Portland is not exactly like that. They are usually located on somebody’s garage orb basement where home brewed beer is paid for on the honor system. It is an unwritten rule that the patrons taste all the beers available and drunkenness is usually the exception instead of the norm. Usually one can see the beer being made and there is usually is a yeasty malty aroma associated with these establishments. Anybody walking down the street would not even know that they exist but they do and they serve as meeting place in many some Portland neighborhoods,

Anthony had finished his unknown business with his friends just down the street and walked out into the night air a little disoriented and a bit frustrated that Unix had not waited for him. He glanced down at his watch and he was a little bit mad at himself that he had stayed at his friend’s house for so long. Who could blame her, he thought to himself as he walked toward Fredo’s . He like Fredo’s as he could drink a few beers for the lowly six bucks that he had in his pocket excluding the bus money he had set aside. He has lost his bus pass once again and if he got really thirsty he could walk the mile back to his apartment.

He slowly walked the six blocks up to Fredo’s

And he found the red porch light in the back to be which indicated that it was open for business on this night. One would simply have to know where it was. It being open made him happy for a minute as he looked forward to having a few beers and calling it an evening. He had to be at school early the next morning. Anthony’s definition of early was different than most people’s definition as his first class was at 11;00 and this meant that he had to be on the road by 10:20 as he usually took his bike or if the weather was bad the bus.

Fredo’s was almost completely empty as the owner/brewer John was the only person present. John always had a loud ritual like greeting when a customer came in but for tonight he was quiet. John was bust cleaning the floors and working on a clogged drain in the basin in the back of the bar. John looked up briefly from what he was doing and looked at Anthony with what would be described as a surprised look.

“Hey Anthony I did not realize I had the welcome light on tonight” John deadpanned as he he barely looked up from the work that had his full attention.

“Yeah the red light in the back was on and the back door was open so I assumed you were open for business” Anthony added sheepishly.

“No not tonight Anthony, It seems like somebody let the police in on our own little secret. It got a little loud last Friday night and one of the neighbors may have complained or maybe it was one of our regulars. For some reason not everybody who walks in here is a friend.” I don’t like the fact that I got a great batch of a Hoppy Seasonal and I was looking forward to sharing that with everybody.

Anthony in his usual under stated babble replied with less than a ton of zeal , “Bummer.”

“That it is” John replied “But you know Portland and the Policemen were very cool about it. Officers Buckley and Freestone from the department are regulars and they did not seem to have a problem with it. But I believe neighbors do have a problem with us, last Friday was a weird day, but we will bounce back from this.”

I certainly hope so, how about a beer for the road as I will be taking the bus tonight.

I can not do that quite just yet my friend. Have a great evening and I’ll see you around in a few weeks or so. Anthony ever so slowly walked out into the night air and could not get his arms around how the little thing in his life were crumbling.

Honing in on the Wonderer

Seth decided late that night that he was not going to work the following day. The decision was hastened by the fact that he had found another Beagle in the Lost and Found ads, only this time it was in the Portland section of Craig’s list. It simply read.

FOUND –TRI COLORED BEAGLE, WILSHIRE PARK

NEIGHBORHOOD, NO TAGS FRIENDLY AND

LOVES TO DIG. PLEASE CALL

503-555-3895 BOB LUCY

He quickly sent a text to his boss saying he would not be in tomorrow, and he now felt self confident that this ad was a solid lead in his futile search for his dog. On this night, he was actually missing Beetle as this was usually time of night she wanted to walk, be let out into the yard. He never really was a dog person, but had quasi adopted the dog from his ex girl friend. It was either to adopt the dog or deliver it to the pound as she had decided post breakup to travel the world to be as far away as possible. He hated to admit it but Beetle was the only link he had back to her. Obedience school even listed them as Mom and Dad on the completion certificate.

As he sat and thought to himself, that he missed her a little tonight but for other reasons he missed his dog that much more. In reality he felt quite happy being single right now. He did not miss the grammar police as she seemed to correct every single mistake he made when speaking. He thought to himself “I should have had went back to the Moon and Sixpence” but he soon correct himself by saying “He should have gone.” And come to think opf it that choice would have been made for him as could not have went or gone whatever was correct because SHE PROBABLY WOULD NOT HAVE LET HIM.

He woke up bright and early the next morning after a somewhat fitful night of sleep, but a lot longer than he had planned on sleeping. He sauntered down to the kitchen, half rubbing his eyes and he glanced at his cell phone and showed that his work had tried to contact him. As he was fixing the morning pot of coffee, he picked up the ad he had taped into his day timer late last night. He still preferred old fashioned notes to keep himself organized. He sat at his kitchen table and slowly dialed the number.

The party on the other end of the line did not answer and he had to leave a message. From what he could make out it was a local phone number and from the recording on the phone did seem to say his name was Bob Lucy. He left a message leaving his first and last name, along with his address and of course his work and cell number. He spoke the information slowly and surely so he could be clearly heard. He was a work in progress and he was constantly working on his communication skills and he felt like he covered all the bases.

It was still very early to do much of anything and he quickly contemplated in calling his work, nut in his mind he had called in sick so he felt they owed him his privacy. So he sat back and enjoyed his early morning coffee. He drank his coffee real slow and put on some classical music and he sat back and listened mostly to the absolute quiet that his house had become. He enjoyed this. In the background was Vivaldi’s four seasons that was playing as it most certainly felt like Fall, as did the air outside.

Soon after he had fallen deeply asleep in his favorite chair and slept deeply and quietly for the next two hours and he awoke on his own. He did not fight waking up and he had a certain calm as the morning news was playing on the local public radio station. To the best of his knowledge it had to be 11:00.

As he slowly came to life he glanced own at his cell phone and he realized that he had received two more calls on his cell and a text from his colleague Kevin. The text message told him touch base with his place of employment.

He called in Kevin picked up the phone on the second ring.

“Hey Kevin I did not really feel like talking to the boss. So tell me whats going on and what is so important “

“Oh nothing all that big that cant be solved tomorrow, but you seem to have a few calls from a gentleman named Bob Rucy” purposely pronouncing the “R.” “ He seemed urgent and asked you to call back as soon as possible. I didn’t want to just give out your number. You aren’t in trouble are you?

“Í don’t think so Kevin, I will call him immediately “, Seth responded in a voice that was no longer suddenly sure and was quite hoarse.

He thought to himself that it never had occurred to him, that this sore throat was real thing as the entire morning he had hardly used his voice at all.

“OK Kevin I will talk to you tomorrow. Thanks for the info”

“Yeah see you tomorrow” Kevin quickly replied back.

Kevin picked up the phone immediately and redialed Bob’s phone number and once again got the some recorded message and it mid message that realized he had not taken down the correct number to contact Bob because more than likely he was at work. But before he could call Kevin back to get the number his cell phone rang suddenly.

He hated that ruing tone and in general he hated cell phones as it was his constant connection to the world he did not want to be connected to. As he was picking up his cell phone he glanced out the window and he realized it had just begun to snow. The snow came down slowly and it hung in the air and for a real long time and this made him feel happy. He loved the deafening quiet of a snowfall. It was one of his favourite sounds in the world.

He picked up on his cell phone and put the receiver to his ear and he heard nothing on the other end of the line. He repeated saying HELLO, not once but four separate times until he realized he hung up the phone by accident. The notions of a cell phone were not something that came naturally for him

“Damn I hate these things sometimes. You would think it was easy thing just to anser a cell phone.” He picked up his phone again and retried the number that he had just hung up on and there was an answer on the very first ring.

“Lucy Speaking How May I help You?”

“Hi Seth Edwards here, I was just returning your call”

“Hi Seth how may I help, I got your name and number from the phone. Are you calling about our exciting product line? It is a really good product and I in my heart believe that you going to really like it. You will really like it this time of year. Can I take some basic information?”

“Bob, Bob ,Ba ,Bob I am not calling to buy any product that you are selling, What exactly is it that you sell.

Bob replied in a voice that was vintage southern salesman, “I sell insulation and it is the best insulation west of the Mississippi. It comes with a five year warranty and it pays for itself in just under 18 months.

Seth interrupted with a certain sense of urgency, “Bob I am calling about the Lost and Found you placed in the papers.”

Bob rocketed an answer right back “Oh the Beagle that wandered into my back yard through a hole in my fence. That was two night ago I think Great dog shes real friendly I made a nice warm bed for her right by the fireplace..”

Where did you finder her? Bob asked right back.

What was your name again? Bob asked again somehow just plain forgetting his name after he had used it repeatedly in their previous conversation.

“Seth, Seth Edwards” emphasizing each word slowly and louder in progression so that Bob noticed a certain irritation in his voice, He was out of his element now that he was not in the selling mode.

“Seth I found her crossing Alameda right where Wisteria comes up the hill. I have no idea how she avoids the cars. She was a very nice dog when I picked her up. She wasn’t skittish at all. She has this unusual white mark on the back of her body that looks like a classical composer of sorts.”

“Oh my Bob that sounds like my dog, with a spot like that on her back and the area that you found her certainly does match. She has been found there before but she has never been away for this long. When can I come and pick her up”

“Oh Seth you Can’t”

“I know I can wait until you come home from work”

“She ran away last night. She dug right under the fence”

Out in the Streets

Unix was once again face to face with a stranger as she was headed away from the

Main Street

in the Beaumont district. She was still somewhat altered as she almost slammed into the stranger’s shoulder but she suddenly stopped as expecting a collision and said. “Hello there I am so sorry to have almost run into you. I must not have been paying attention.” I feel a bit out of sorts as I am walking right down the middle of the street and so are you.”

She thought to herself, “Unix slow the F*ck down you do not have to fill every empty space with words and rambling. “Just slow down!.”

David Cabot did the complete opposite. He was minding his own business and he did not expect to run into anybody in the middle of the street right in front of his house. He found himself dumb founded. He could not utter a word. His voice had completely left him or he did not trust in it any more. He did not trust it say the right or speak the right things. Somehow, he just uttered random words “Trash Can-Get Some-Air-Coyote.” David then did another illogical thing when he ran into her, he just stood there and looked straight up into the sky. He stood in the middle of the Intersection of 46^th Street and Klickitat (yes that famous Street from the Beverly Cleary Series) and stared straight into the sky looking at it like a beautiful falling star had fallen for him.

After what seemed like an eternity, he looked the stranger in her blood shot eyes through the smoke coming from their hurried breaths and asked her. “What were you doing in my Garage?”

This question clearly confused and disoriented Unix as she had no idea what this stranger was talking about and why he was asking her such strange questions.

“Sir I have no idea what you are talking about. I do not know where you live and even if I did I know I have not been anybodies garage tonight.” Her voice almost sounded mechanical and contrived in the cold night air and when she heard her voice and tone, she felt like she was addressing somebody in a military interrogation. It was like they were marching the streets looking for unwanted activity. All she wanted to do tonight was to go out and have a beer and here she was in the middle of the street talking to somebody in the military for seemingly breaking curfew.

Then she remembered she had smoked a mere 15 minutes ago. She felt embarrassed and disheveled. And for some unknown reason she kind of panicked and she flashed a quirky, flirty smile and raised her eyebrows twice and said “Do you come here often?”

Smooth awkward move that was there. Where had her social skills gone? I guess they are like the muscles in her arms you have to use them to make them strand. Apparently, she had not been using her social muscles either. “Do you come here often?” She repeated.

“As a matter of fact I do not, I am just looking for some clarity here.” Something or somebody was in my garage and I believe it may have been you.

“Well sorry about that Mister Self Righteous paranoid man but I happen to be in this part of town merely by chance as I was supposed to have a beer with my friend and then the plans went haywire”, She paused for a second and sat down on the curb. “I know this part of town has been in the news lately with all the Coyote sightings.”

“Yes, as a matter of fact it has. I heard the other day that some people may be setting food out to attract then.” David added as felt some of the tension running out of his body.

“I thought I saw or heard something going through the trash cans about six houses down” Unix added smartly.

“It sounds like there is something to what you are saying. I heard some strange noises in my garage also” David chimed in.

“Why Don’t we walk down the street together and check it out.”

David and Unix walked slowly down the dark street. It was a night now that had grown very cold and there was apparent electricity in the air that portended snow. They approached a group of trash cans that were sitting on the curb for the next morning’s recycling run and much to their collective surprise there stood a coyote with eyes on fire. Eyes on fire, were the only thing that made the surprised pip because David saw an animal that was scared. I men really scared, but the beast was not afraid of humans at all considering people in the neighborhoods, It sat there looking back at them and retreated down the block once again. Vanishing into the night,

“Yeah I guess that solves our little mystery”, Unix said without emotion. She sat and pondered the moment and shot directly from her rebellious hip. Hey I went out to grab a beer tonight, Would you mind having that beer with me.

“Why the fuck not”, David yelled back David’s response was like s preacher’s voice He looked to the sky as he said it.

“Yeah why the Fuck not” he repeated again

Because. I really should not. I have a life to get back to. I am going to call this sighting into the news. They eat this stuff up and to tell you the truth this community wants to know about the coyotes, Do you mind giving me your name and phone number in case the anybody wants to follow up with this.

Yeah I have no problem with that.

She for some reason had a pen in her small purse she has worn out for the meeting. She wrote her information on the back of a coaster that was in her purse. She wondered for a second how it ever ended up their. She handed him the coaster with these words.

Unix

Unixforthewin.com

KENDRA

Kendra had enough of airplanes. She had sat in the middle back seat on her return flight from Frankfurt. She got out of the airplane briefly on her stop over in Chicago but for the most part she sat in that same seat for the last 12 hours. She was sore and tired and ,for now ,she was anxious to get home. She enjoyed her last 4 months overseas. She enjoyed almost every single moment of it when she was not alone. She had spent many a say playing soccer but the nights that were not kind to her. She spent most evenings completely alone or at a post-soccer game party where she really did not know anybody. Well she knew nobody particularly well. She had saved a lot of money in the previous year, and she kind of admitted she had taken the trip to get away from Seth as the breakup was hard on her. She was not used to living life alone and she did not relish the fact of running into Seth at random. Portland is a small town like that. As the plane was landing, they hit a rather large pocket of turbulence that made her suddenly frightened. She was not frightened the plane would crash, what frightened her was what ran through her mind. If I were to die right here and right now, who would know and who would really care. Her isolation overseas had cemented that. She rarely wrote to anybody and she had her cell phone dis-connected up until late last week. She looked out the window, she could see the lights from Portland, and she thought to herself that from here Portland looked like a rather large city. It was larger than most she had flown over tonight.

Kendra took a shuttle service from the airport as there was actually no one in her life right now to pick her up. The driver asked where she would like to go and her immediate response was Rocky Butte. As the driver took the road up to Rocky Butte, she sat in the back seat and thought to herself exactly “What am I going here back in Portland and now that I am back home what am I going to do with part of my life. Her breakup with Seth was ugly as can be and far as she knew she was done with it and had no emotional lobotomy scars of notice. But she was still nervous of the thought of entering her own home alone and feeling the weight of its emptiness on her shoulders. The dreaded alone time she so constantly craved when she with Set at times. Life is cruel that way as she is now dreading what she looked forward to the most and that un-settled her like the wind that blew up side of Rocky Butte that night. The wind had picked up such intensity that the streetlights shimmered below her as she looked down on the City Of roses. She loved this view looking at the distant shimmering lights of the downtown area and she love looking north as the airplanes from the airport actually flew below her. It was a weird perspective for anybody, looking down on a flying airplane while standing on the ground. It was also a different perspective for her sitting at a cross roads in her life that could take her anywhere. The wind made her feel strong, almost story book like. Her hair was blowing in the wind making her feel strong but as she glanced down on the downtown light’s they were no longer shimmering in the wind. The lights now were a mere hint of light against a muddle gray backdrop as disappeared slowly from sight. She once again felt the reality of the jet lag from her flight and the coldness settling in upon her.

She had a sudden urge to head back to the car as the wind had suddenly died down somewhat and the world from atop Rocky Butte was suddenly an eerie quiet. It was the first time she had experienced complete quiet since she had exited the air plane and once she heard it the sound was deafening and then the most wonderful sound you will never hear, unless you stop to take notice, enveloped Kendra. That is the sound of snow gently falling on the overhead cedars. The streetlights were suddenly full of speckled light against the night. The quiet was scary. The quiet was breathtaking.

“Hey sorry to keep you waiting but it easy money for you to sit in the car and listen to sports radio.” Kendra voiced almost breathlessly as she unbuttoned the first button on her jacket.

“Yes sir it certainly is, but we should be heading to where ever you are going. I was actually doing my job of sorts sitting here listening to the radio reports about the weather. So your money is not wasted by me sitting in the car..”

“Hey I understand this is your last shift of the night and I kind of forgot that It actually snowed in Snowed in Portland. We are 1000 feet up now, I know its not much but here in Portland that’s the difference between rain and snow on many days.” Kendra mumbled from under her sweatshirt, which she had raised over her head. “Sorry I need to change into something dry right now. Please let’s just drive me home right now and don’t concentrate on the fact that there is a girl in a bra in the back of your van.”

“It is no problem sir.”

“Why do you call me sir? I am not a sir and you can clearly see I am not a sir.” Kendra wanted to feel the cold night air once again so rolled down the window almost like a drunk person in a cab needing air. Alternatively, maybe that is what people did when they were in this situation. They felt the night air. Tonight the air was moist, wet, and cold and the cold wet flakes hit her rudely on her face. It pummeled her into submission as she fell soundly asleep for what felt like hours

She had no recollection of the ride home at all as the next thing Kendra remembered was a gentle tug on her shoulder and another gentle tug and she remembers more urgent poundings on her shoulders and finally on the firmness on her stomach. This awakened her suddenly with a start. She had pre paid the fare before her trip with a generous tip included. She looked out the, which was now open, and she saw that the snow had not let up. She had expected it turn into rain when they got down off Rocky Butte.” She was thankful for the safe ride home but she was a little annoyed that he touched he touched her on the stomach.

She felt vulnerable. She felt alone again as she walked into her cold house. It would take a while to warm up to her. She walked down in the basement and she was surprised when every light went on as anticipated and reset the switch on the furnace and the furnace roared to life after a few fitful seconds and she slowly felt the warmth creep back into the house. She walked back up stairs and sat on the sofa of her favorite chair and she let out a large breath of relief that was a long time coming. She decided she was going to call her Dad and be in contact now that she was home. She dreaded this conversation because she did not do a great job of staying in touch but, as a first call, it was probably her safest. Just like the furnace, she powered on her cell phone and she was once again surprised that it was in working order and she was surprised that she had a two messages and she decided to listen to them.

The first message was from her Doctor telling her of an appointment on Friday of this week that she already knew about. The second message was a little less clear. It was a message from the Fremont Veterinary clinic up on Freemont stating that somebody had found her dog. It was apparent that she was not the owner of the dog and she would call them back in the morning.

The snow had started in earnest by this time and it was apparent she was not going anywhere anytime soon. She had travelled halfway across the world to be be stuck in her home and she kind of relished that Idea.

A Boy

Unix woke up in a fit of panic and swore at her alarm clock that it could not be so late so early. She really had to be on the 730 bus to get to her job at the Plumbing Store. She woke up in a glum mood remembering last nights ill-fated attempt to get out in public. She looked outside and and she was surprised that it had really snowed hard last night and it was still snowing. Portland is a town that when it does snow the town does not do well. But she also remembered that when it snows like this for some reason the traffic at the plumbing store is insane, She really needed the money and she needed to fulfill her work shifts. She figured they would be a man or two short because of the weather and hopefully she could pick up some overtime. Since she was going to be across town she better make the most of it. She certainly was not in love with her job but she certainly needed the money and the distraction.

The bus arrived only about five minutes behind schedule. You could hear the bus coming as they had chains that made the buses arrival almost a ceremony. She settled into a window seat and just stared out the window as the bus headed down

Caesar Chavez Boulevard

toward the Hollywood transit center. She was already cold and wished she had made a hot cup of tea for the long slow ride to work . She sat there shivering and when she got cold she had to fight off nodding off to sleep. She glanced across the half empty bus and there sitting in the seat one back and across from her was the lady she had met previously just a few days back. She searched her memory and kind of remembered the lady was looking for a modern day Jesus as well as a bottle of wine. She was happy she did not recognize here and she sat and studied her as she was looking through her possessions spread out on the seat next to her.

It was bitterly cold and she only had on a hooded sweatshirt that would get damp and cold on a day such as this, On the bench beside her was a standard Bible, 3 power bars, a pair of gardening gloves, a headset and an IPod as well as a notebook that was stuffed with papers. The notebook was open and she was scribbling notes at a furious pace despite the purple color in her hands. It almost broke her heart sitting there and watching to lady painfully scribble note down in her wet notebook. It broke her heart because she was moved that life appeared to be a struggle for the lady and there she sat on the bus painstakingly writing notes in her little notebook. She could not make out the words but the writing was in old fashioned cursive and every line of the current page was filled. As the bus went through the circle at Glison she sat right across from the her and just sat and watched.

The old lady sensed somebody was watching her and looked up at Unix who quickly diverted her attention out the window but it had been obvious that she was watching her. The old lady looked up once again and all Unix could do was return the smile.

“Hey I recognize you are the woman from the bus the other day. I seem to riding the bus all the time so I guess it was inevitable that I would run into you again., I guess I am assuming you also ride the bus.” .

“Yeah I recognize you also how can I forget a face like yours you are so beautiful” Unix laughed almost nervously.

“Ha Ha yeah I am as beautiful as last nights sunset” the old lady said with a cough.

“See there I told you so” and Unix smiled ear to ear in a smile that radiated with warmth.

“There was no sunset last night honey, that’s what I am saying” the old lady said in voice that could be barely be heard. Still the statement pierced the space between them and she slightly felt on edge but still hurdled forward in the conversation.

“So what brings you this neck of the woods. The last time I saw you were over by my house.” Unix chimed in quickly.

“Oh you are getting all personal on me asking me those Personal questions. He I barely know you and you think” , the old lady seemed to stare off into the distance thinking about something distant. She paused for another few seconds lost in thought and suddenly snapped back to reality. “There is no harm in telling you. I liked you a few minutes after meeting you. I am over here on this side of town as many of the neighborhoods here have their recycling days. It is easy money for me. I just walk down the street with my shopping cart. Then I take the cans and bottles to the Mini Mart. They pay me cash. Some days they don’t. Some days they make me buy something. Today I think I will buy a big box of wine. I hate taking that thing across town but it is what it is.” She smiled with just the curl of her lip and continued. “I actually live over on this side of town. You see that high rise over there; I call that high-rise home for now. Some home it is as that place is full of crazy people. Every single one of them is crazy. Why does the city have me living with them?

“I can’t do much at all about who you live with, but aren’t you concerned about moving that shopping cart in this weather? There is a lot of snow out there and a shopping cart isn’t going to move all that much.”

“Yeah that’s my life for now. I just came across town to get home and as I see it all I need to get today is about 100 cans. That’s my goal for today. That will keep me with some wine. Anything else is gravy. Hey by the way what are you doing on this side of town? The old lady had her hands open as she said this. She projected a body language that said tell me more.

“Oh I am a banker on this side of town. I know I do not look like it but today is my day off and I am just going in to make sure everything is going okay with this bad weather” Unix seemed to shoot this answer directly from her hip and she actually thought to herself why she had to fabricate a lie to a homeless person. Then she thought about her pre-conceived notions and meekly remembered and realized this woman was not homeless. She had an actual home to go to.

“Bankers don’t take the bus” the old lady replied smartly.

She hesitated for a, second and looked the woman in the woman in the eyes, and sat there silently for almost half a minute... “The bus stops here and I need to get off the bus. Hey, if you need me I will be in the Plumbing store at the corner of Sandy and 40^th. “Maybe I can buy you a cup of coffee sometime soon.”

“That would be nice. You take of yourself. The weather is does not seem to be getting any better.”

Unix hopped off the bus and the snow was deep enough that it covered the top of boots. She never was ready for this weather but she certainly likes it. The cold air felt great. She enjoyed the five-block walk to her work as the car traffic was sparse and the snow had slowed down some what so that it made for post card like scene. As she passed the Hollywood theatre she had noticed that they had opened their doors for any people who were with out shelter during the cold weather. Despite the bad weather, she was fifteen minutes for her early shift. She walked into the store using her key to get through the back door and she was greeted by her manager Terry and her co-worker Tommy Cougarfood. She loved working with Tommy as he liked to smile and laugh and he always had a great story to tell. On top of that he was the one person on the araff who knew Less About the merchandise they carried than she did.

Unix without asking grabbed a shovel and some salt from the stock room and they went out on the store front and tried to clear away the snow that had been piling up. The other thing that seemed to piling up where the customers waiting to get first crack at the portable heaters and snow scrapers they were lucky to carry. One of the customers huddle out side of the store asked her to open the store early as she continued with her mindless sweeping of the sidewalk. She didn’t really care when they opened the store as she was happy putting in her hours as that equated to a paycheck. But her mind wandered back to the old lady on the bus and she just thought about her for awhile. She had no reason why she thought about her but she suddenly pictured herself being that age. And that thought scared her for a moment. And then again it made her happy as she kind of loved the idea of living in her own little world on her own terms at that advanced age, It meant that she had survived and endured on her own terms and not the terms the world had given her. That included the career track of going to college and entering the profit mill. She hated that model. She wanted to live the life that had given her on her own terms.

And right now that meant working at the Plumbing store until she figured out what “her own terms” had actually meant.

“Unix stop holding that broom like it was your date last night” came a usual cat-call emerging from the door of the store. She recognized a voice quickly. Gregor usually opened the door as he was the day shift manager and he was a pragmatic pain in the ass. He always arrived a minute before they opened the store and for all she could gather that was the pinnacle of his work That pinnacle being opening the front door. All she ever saw him do was harass her at work. Gregor was twenty years older than her but he still had the hormones to ask her out on many occasions. When she said no the harassment only got louder and more pronounced. She hated working with him and she hated herself because she had to work with him and today she was in no mood for the harassment.

“Gregor F*ck off, Get off you high horse” she said to Gregor right to his face but well below the level where the customers on the street could hear. “its going to be a busy day so knock off your act, I just want to get through this day.”

Gregor’s bravado had been broken.

“It looks like we have a few customers, and from what I hear this storm is going to get worse. Weather forecast calls for freezing rain tonight and it looks like another storm after that.” Gregor said back to her almost sounding like a local newscaster. To Unix it came across as a feeble attempt at brushing away his amateur behavior. He deflected this brief interaction with an attack of sorts.

“It seems like you are over your illness from yesterday. This place was crazy all day long with out you Nice time to call in sick”

“Excuse me for taking a sick day. These things happen and by the way are part of our employment agreement.” Unix said with as much emotion she could wring out of a sentence,

“I hope you are better and ready for today. I assume you spent the day on your back.”

Unix responded with the loudest silence she could muster and looked him squarely in the eye and said.

“No I spent the day without you on my back:”

Ice

The mood in the Moon and Sixpence was louder than normal today as it seemed like many people wanted a warm respite from the storm. Getting around the Hollywood district was getting harder as the day wore on. The snow had stopped for now. This weather pattern creates a lot of trouble in Portland. It’s a rare alignment of systems When a cold front in Idaho backs down the Columbia Gorge and turns what usually is rain into a mess. Emily was called into work the day shift as she lived close and she could make the commute on foot. Her bosses knew this and it bothered her at times. But for today, the clientele was happy to be warm and they seemed to be tipping well. The snow had stopped, but that was the good news. The snow had turned to freezing rain. The once fluffy white snow now had a a crust of crunchy coat of ice on top of it. The shoveled areas were now a sheet of ice.

Seth had slept hard and long last night and he did not even notice the weather from last night as his phone was ringing on the bedside table. Who could this be at this early hour. It was too early for work issues and to ne honest he wasn’t exactly getting many phone calls lately. He looked at the number and did recognize it immediately and he considered not answering it all. He reluctantly picked up the phone and put it up to his ear silently.

“Hello” Seth Grumbled.

“Hey Seth, I didn’t think I would be talking to you but I have a message on my phone that you may need to know or you may have taken care of already.”

“Who is this I am talking to?” Seth grumbled once again.

“Oh how soon we forget. This is only the girl you lived with for so long”

“I thought you were oversea playing soccer” Seth again added with little inflection.

“Yeah I just got back last night and I assume it’s a recent message. That dog of yours was always a piece of work. Remember when we put the chip in her we put my phone number in as a contact. From what I remember you didn’t even have a cell phone at the time. Well it does not matter. The Vet up the street called and said somebody had called in about having her. I am taking it she ran away again It certainly sounds like Beetle. You know the number to call?”

“Wow yeah I sure do.” Thanks for that” Seth tone of voice picked up considerably. “Hey it is nice to hear your voice. I promise I forgot that chip was in your name. How does it feel to back home?”

“I am okay I could do without this crazy weather” was her reply.

This reply surprised him as he walked over to the window and pulled the curtains back a little and he noticed icy spears coming from the gutters. It was an eerie feeling as all this had happened without much notice from him. He now wondered what time it was and a quick glance at his watch revealed that is was still early. The drive into work was going to be a crapshoot and decided that he had earned a sick day. He had things to do and he needed to do and he needed a day to do them. Then he remembered that he had taken a sick day only yesterday so this type of logic made little sense. Either did this conversation that he was having. Neither did this weather and it certainly did not help that his Dog was missing. The one thing that was constant in his life was missing.

The first thing he had to tackle was that his old girlfriend was back in town. This had come out of nowhere. He had no time to prepare and here she was on the other end of the line. Then he remembered that he had taken a sick day only yesterday and did a change in direction

“Not sure where I should go from here. I have a few of your items here that I need to get back to you. I am not sure how you made that trip with out your favourite hooded sweatshirt; the green one with the Timbers logo that you used to wear all the time..”

“Damn if I knew it was there I would have spent half a day looking for it when I first got to Mainz” Kendra finished the sentence fading in volume realizing mid sentence that it was so obvious where the sweatshirt actually was. She thought to herself, what does it really matter it is only a shirt. I have done without it the last six months. Then the sentimental side of her brain kicked in and reminder her that it was her Timbers sweat and she loved wearing the Timbers green. The Timbers were her team and her team alone. She loved going to the matches, she loved the singing and she loved to celebrate after a goal. In general she just plain loved Soccer and it was a passion that Seth did not share with her. Sometimes she thinks it is the main reasons that they broke up.

“Well you have my number so whenever you want to stop by. Please call before you come so that I can be home and at least clean up the place”

“Seth I still have the key.”

“I realize that Kendra.”

“Sill I want you to call first”

“I understand”

“Nice talking to you”

“Actually it really was. It was nice to hear your voice Seth”

“Yeah, Hey got to run. Have to get moving toward going to work”

“Seth you still can’t multitask can you? Do you realize you can get ready for work and talk on the phone at the same time.”

“I wanted to give you my undivided attention.”

“That’s not necessary anymore”

Seth got off the phone and realized he had a sinking strange pit in his stomach and really was not sure what was causing it. He did not have the time or the bandwidth to worry about it but he had the general sense that all was not well. He felt feverish and he had an overwhelming urge to fall asleep on the spot.

He quickly picked up the phone and called his co-worker Kevin. Kevin answered on the first ring and asked Seth how he was doing. Seth kind of ignored the question and asked Kevin how the roads were out by work since he knew that Kevin live tight near work.

Kevin said the roads were not all that bad. Hillsboro was in the banana belt in the Metro area and it always seemed removed from the chill of the Columbia Gorge. It is one of the beauties of living in the Pacific Northwest. This is where one notices the difference of five degrees like it was a vast change in the seasons.

“Well Kev we have the East Winds here and the driving isn’t quite as nice” as Seth finished this sentence he realized that he had not even stepped outside to see what the weather was like. He balanced out the window again and realized that it looked pretty bad. He was not quite sure if it was till snowing but he could hear the noise of the freezing rain pounding on the window sill. He stood there quietly rubbing his nose just a bit on the cold-cold window and then he remembered he still on the phone. “Hey if I make it I will make it, but for now just tell the boss that I am snowed in here an the East side and if he really wants to do something have him call me and I will log in from home”

“Yeah I got you Seth, You are all over the place these days. You need that girl friend back or something”

“Thanks you Mister expert”

“No problem Kevin” said as they both hung up the phone.

Seth looked up the number for the vet and he punched the number into his phone. The phone displayed the name of the vet indicating that he already had the number in his phone.

To The Moon

Anthony got up the next morning and realized that taking the bike was no longer an option. It would have taken a miracle of epic proportions to have Anthony plan for a snowstorm on his commute to work. He was running catastrophically late, and literally ran down to the bus stop down on

Sandy Boulevard

. It was a slow motion run of epic proportions. He waited for a long time and he only seemed to be getting colder and icier. He pounded his feet on the ground to keep warm and he paced in circles worrying about his bus and suddenly face to face with Unix once again. He planned it this way as he remembered that she worked right by the bus stop. He looked at her shocked and half expecting it and sheepishly said. “Hi there.”

“Where did you get to last night?” They both said to each other at almost the exact same time.

Gregor walked out on the sidewalk at the same time and barked, “Unix you have a customer on line 3 that has an urgent matter.”

She turned and sneered as Gregor “Yeah Yeah Gregor, I’ll be right there.” And then she twirled around to Anthony in a graceful dance like move and reached out with her left hand and touched him on the chin and said “Meet me the Moon and SixPence tonight. I have some news.” This despite the fact that she knew she did not have any news.

Seth called the vet but only could leave a message, as they must be having a snow day. He had fiddled away the early part of the day clearing the sidewalks of snow and gathering all of Kendra‘s stuff.. It surprised him the amount of things that she had left. He never really noticed them. They seemed to be always there. There was a bread-maker on the counter. It always seemed to be there. He never actually noticed it until today. It was a weird day for him in many ways. He had so much to do and he could never actually do it. Kendra being in town bothered him, his job bothered him and his dog was still missing, and he was paralyzed to do anything.

His lack of motivation confused him and frustrated him at the same time. He stood on the front steps sweating heavily from just having removed the last of the ice from his front walkway. Then certain calm took him away from his frustration at that had been with him all day. All the clutter in life seemed to fall away as he looked up into the streetlights and the freezing rain had turned back to a light snow that descended upon the Hollywood. That silent sound that is so brilliant, it can take your breath away, and it is so quiet the minute it starts to snow that certain peace envelops the air. The world keeps moving, cars still spill their wheels, mailboxes slam shut but you do not notice them as when the snow starts falling. Seth had trouble in his spiritual life, but it is moments such as this that make him wonder how there can not be a god in world such as this, This was not an original thought of his but rather something said by Carl Sagan on a Fresh Air Interview. This was just his own little credo in life and he appreciated the small little beautiful things in life. He often felt, if you stop and look for them they are there in everyday life.

He remembered back a few days ago when a stranded quirky little girl had shown up on his front porch with his dog and she was gone just like that. He remembers her in his own reconstruction of the memory and it seemed like long time ago even though it had only been a few days ago. So much had happened over those few days, but then again so little had happened.

He really wanted to go to the Moon and Sixpence and just relax and do nothing. He would not even mind running into Emily as he really liked her, but that had become so much more clouded since he actually met her in the park. Now he actually knew her and he couldn’t easily write it off as a trip to his favourite bar. That place was like home to him because he could become invisible but no so much any more. He now had actual connections and the dynamic had shifted somewhat. Still he wanted to go and after he was done with what he was doing he was going to go.

One thing that is pretty much a universal truth is that neighbors are more likely to be outside and available when it is snowing. The snow had started again and it was so peaceful and tranquil but if you looked up and down the street people were out side and doing things. They talked to each other when on other days they would not. Today was no different as his neighbor of ten years Bill was out scraping ice from his driveway. Bill was on the tail end of a divorce that had changed him completely. He used to never venture out and talk but lately he was more in need of talking. Bill spent a lot of time talking about his divorce, but when needed to, he could stop his self-indulgence and lend an ear. Seth did not always seek out his company when he was married to that woman, but now that he was divorced they had a lot more in common and now they had a common enemy and that enemy was woman. Well not exactly an enemy, but something they had in common. They both adored woman but neither of them had come to grips as to how they worked and why they worked that way. It was a common link in friendships amongst males.

Seth walked over toward his neighbor slowly and made a snowball in his right hand as he juggled it in his right hand. Bill could sense him walking toward him and turned and without looking up and said, “Are you planning on throwing that at me neighbor?”

“I come in peace my friend, I come with an offer of escape” Seth said as he still bouce the snowball in his hand. He must of lost some of his focus as he was not able to talk and juggle at the same time as the snowball hit the ground with a thud.

“What do you have in mind my friend. I have not seen you all that much of you since Kendra moved out. The last time we talked the leaves had just started to fall from the trees and we were pushing the leaves out to the curb for the city to take away”

“Yeah right and then it got windy and our leaves where all over the street”. Bill stood there silently and waited for an answer and half expected not to get one. Seth was right on it and waived it off with gesture of his right hand..

“There is nothing like a little snow to get us out here. Remember we first met on a day like this. I believe that was almost ten years ago. Hey, I was thinking of going down to the Moon tonight. Do you care to join me?” Seth straddled his snow shovel much like most road crew workers one would see on the side of the road.

“Actually Seth that sounds almost perfect. Unfortunately, it works perfectly with my schedule. People are not buying cars in this weather. They never do, it would be great to catch up with you and see how life is treating since that girl who hated me moved out. You probably would like to know I am in a much better place since the last time we talked.” Bill quickly picked up a snowball and put it in Seth’s hand just to detect his response and to Let Seth know the plan sounded good. He knew they never were as close as they could have been but he still liked having his neighbor there.

“Great I am going to take a shower and head over there about seven. There is another thing, you know that waitress I kind of have drooled over the last I don’t know twenty times we went?”

“Yes I remember it fondly; when she is working I can barely talk to you. However, for me that is okay on its own. I am just as happing sitting and drinking a beer at the Moon. I like that place.” Bill said as he warmed his hands and started walking back to his house. “ I will see you soon.”

Set raised one finger on his right hand and hesitated for a second and started to babble “Well I know her a little bit now. I ran into her over in Grant Park; Oh by the way Beetle is missing also and to that off Kendra just got back in town. Yes, you heard that right. I actually met Emily outside of the Bar, but it was a mere coincidence. Seth also warmed his hands as the snow was now a fine powder and it did not feel like it was going to get warmer any time soon.

See you tonight neighbor.

Falling Slowly in the Abyss

David Cabot felt himself slowly going crazy. Last night he went out into the streets with a total stranger looking for who knows what. It could have been the coyotes in the neighborhood, a dog or hi unlimited imagination. His job did not help him in the sanity department all that much. He was the lead addiction counselor at of the Ultimately, Drug Addiction counselors goals are to help those struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, realize their full potentials, and learn to live life productively again free from the dependency upon alcohol and / or drugs. Lately budget cuts have curtailed much of the work that he could do in the normal hours. He had a group of 5 that he helped council as a group. He did this own his just because he had taken a liking to all of them and he knew they would fall though the cracks given the current budget crunch. In his own world it is the thing he has to do.

He walked down to the rehab center for his afternoon meeting with his latest group that he had grown to love. He retraced some of the same steps he had taken last night and he saw no signs of any disturbances and, the owners had retrieved most of the trashcans on the street. David was wearing his high rubber boots tucked into his jeans. The boots kept his feet dry but not necessarily warm and he was lucky it was a powdery snow or his jeans would be soaked. He took the 105 steps down from the Alameda ridge into the Hollywood district with great care as they had ice underneath and the new snow made them dangerous. He thought about his group for today. That he had now grown attached to a very interesting group. He knew most of them would be happy to see him.

He walked into the make shift rehab center over on 40th Street and he initially realized not everything was quite right. For some reason both of the windows in the center were wide open and all four of his four clients had not yet taken their usual seats. They were usually early and eager to get started. There sat Mrs. Byers in her reading chair and she looked like she had seen or at the very least went back to drinking last night or even this morning.

“Good Morning Mrs. Byers how are you today. And may I ask where are the others today” David asked as he set down his backpack. He did not bother to take off his knee high rubber boots.

“Cabot”, for some reason she always called him by his last name. “Remember today was optional. I imagine they are having trouble getting here with the weather. I am not like the rest of society. I do not have a mobile phone so keeping track of the other three is not even possible. I would not want to do that. I have enough to deal with in my own life.”

“Yeah I see your point. I am not asking you do that. How are you today Opal.” He asked again.

“Well you are not going to be happy about this but I have had a rough couple of days. It started out a few days ago when a stranger on the bus gave me some money. I went to the convenience store and bought a box of wine. I really want to drink it. Life has been hard lately. I hid the box of wine as I cannot get into my building with the wine”

David sat there silently for a full ten seconds and contemplated what he was going to say next. He cared about Opal and he really did not want to see her back drinking. Lately it seems like the most pragmatic approach has been to allow the patients to have their drug of choice and managing it after that. Opal had become a friend to David, which he knew was a professional mistake, and he cared about her well-being.

“Yes Opal I am aware of the rules in your building. So what is going on that has you wanting to drink today”

“Cabot I want to drink every day. However, I just do not. This winter seems harder than most. I feel like life has passed me by. I met this woman on the bus today and she is a sweet young woman. She tells me she is a banker. I am not sure if that is true, but I like the way she talks all confident and calm. I would like to be that again. I would love to go to work like a normal person. I want to have people over to my place for dinner. I realize I am 55 years old, I will always have a drinking problem but I feel stable these days. I know I can do it.”

“Opal we cannot just turn back the aging process. We all know that. So what are you doing to get yourself back into the work-force?”

“Not drinking.” Opal answered almost too quickly.

“Well that’s half the battle my dear. That also keeps you in your current apartment and having a permanent address will allow you gainful employment.” David said to Opal as she looking into her backpack and she took out the same notebook she had on the bus.

Opal instantly grabbed one of the papers that were neatly folded into an envelope and slid it across the table.

“What is this?” David asked.

“Just read it.” Opal barked back.

A serious gloom came over David as he knew this was bad news. Opal hardly wrote anything down. All their communication up until now had been the spoken word. David opened the envelope slowly and read it silently as Opal took a power bar out her bag and cut it in half using a plastic fork she must have taken out the community kitchen in the building. She wrapped up the other half and put it neatly back in her bag. She sat there chewing loudly as David read in silence.

“Opal this is your resume. I never knew you had a resume. It says here you have been a nurse. This almost makes me feel like I have not been doing my job here. You never told me that you were a nurse.”

“Number One you never asked and I am not sure I would have told you anyway.” Opal said as she finished the last bite of her power par. A crumb had lodged in her Auburn grey hair and David instinctively brushed it away. This gesture put Opal on edge as she flinch as David reached his hands across to her. Another human being had not touched her in the last 8 months. It was a simple gesture from her friend and counselor. She wanted simple things like this to be part of her everyday life.

“I did not want to alarm you Opal. I was just getting the crumb out of your hair.”

“Yeah I realize that, but you could have just pointed it out.”

A long silence blanketed the room. David thought to himself, how awkward he had become. His self-confidence was at an all time low. He wondered if he could not solve his own problems what business did he have working with the less fortunate.

“Opal are your nursing credentials up to date?”

Opal seemed be staring at a distant object and answered without looking at Seth at all. “Cabot they were up until about six months ago. I was working as a nurse at St. Vincent’s and I was good at what I was doing. I had a hard time getting to work on time. I had to take the Max train out to Beaverton. I managed to make it on time most days. The last couple of months I would take a small flask of my alcohol of the day to work. One day I lost 2 months worth of a patients paperwork. My bosses called me into office and he confronted me. I waited for them to arrive and I stashed the flask into a full trashcan. I was more than a little drunk that day. I just quit on the spot without fighting it. “

“Opal are your nursing credentials up to date?”

“No they are not. I went over to the library and used their internet station. Apparently I have to take a refresher course and then I can apply for my license again.”

“Opal what’s stopping you from doing that.”

“Besides the obvious money constraints, I am the only person holding that up. I am never sure of myself anymore and my demons are just that. How can I be caring for other people when I have a hard time caring for myself.”

David gave a knowing laugh.

MoonStruck

The Moon and SixPence had all the business they could handle. Any other time of the year they would have had plenty of room the handle the rush. There was a fenced in outdoor area in the back but with the weather today, nobody ever used it. It was 430 in the afternoon and there was a slight lull in the action. Emily already looked tired on her feet. Sonia was a little punch drunk. She did not anticipate this type of business when she made the schedule. Sonia and Emily could easily handle tending tables for on a normal day, but today was a little out of control.

Emily and Sonia sat a table in the corner folding knives, forks and spoons into cloth napkins. They both liked doing this busy work. It was a time that they could get off their feet and just sit and talk. Paige had just arrived, Paige usually had trouble handling more than three tables but tonight she had little trouble keeping up. It seemed like everybody were simply sitting and drinking. Nobody seemed to be in a hurry and if Paige was a little late it was not a big issue. Snow days are like that. People are generally happy and do not complain about much. It is an impromptu vacation of sorts.

Emily had just finished the last of the napkins and she started talking as if she had lost the filter from her cognitive thinking to her voice. “I have no idea why I have worked in this bar so long. It is not as if I love this job. I guess working in a bar keeps me out of the bars. Sometimes I feel unqualified to work in a bar.”

“Why is that? Sonia absent mindedly asked as she was getting up to freshen her face in the woman’s room.

“Like I just said if I did not work in a bar I would be a regular customer of this bar. I love all the beers and the scotch. I would simply drink all the time. In all my years working here I have very rarely had consumed any alcohol. It keeps some of my demons at bay. At least when I go home and have a few drinks; I do not have the option of going home with a relative stranger. I have terrible judgement in this area when I am drinking.”

“That makes you overly qualified for this job.” Sonia said quickly and loudly as she almost sprinted to the woman’s room. When she got to the bathroom, she found that both of the bathroom doors locked. She really had to go so she paced the small hallway outside the bathroom repeatedly. She was regretting the coffee she had been drinking all afternoon long.

She was getting desperate and started banging the door to the left. The Moon and SixPence did not have traditional Male and Females stall. Both rooms were unisex.

“Could you hurry up in there,” Sonia yelled.

“Lady I’ll be out when I am good and ready, what is the hurry? The voice behind the door yelled.

“There is a Grease Fire in the kitchen you have to get out of there”. Sonia recognized the voice behind the door as BIG Fat Jimmy. Big Fat Jimmy could sit and tell stories but he was a gullible as can be. He was not exactly the smartest patron. However, she just assumed that he could recognize her voice.

She stood there silently waiting for the door to open and she felt like she standing in the back of airplane waiting for the vacancy word to slide to the left. It was at this time that the other bathroom door opened with suddenness. The person using the other bathroom came dashing from the bathroom as he was running a race. Slow down partner” said Sonia to the man running from the bathroom.

“Are you crazy there is a Grease Fire”; the man in the bathroom yelled as he ran rapidly from the room.”

“Don’t forget to tip your waitress” Sonia yelled as the man sped toward the front door. It was at this point Big Fat Jimmy also exited the bathroom. He was not in quite the rush that the other person was but still he looked a little alarmed and Sonia sensed that he was uncomfortable with Sonia going in the bathroom right after him.

Emily felt a little better after having sat down for a while. She ate most of the Ploughman’s Platter. She loved the hard cheeses and she especially loved the chutney the chef had prepared. She finished half of it and put the second half in her purse for later. She knew she only had to work until 9:00 and she wanted to go home, put her feet up and finish the book that she was reading. She tied the back of her apron and walked back to the people arriving in the far Corner of the room.

A Boy Gregor

Gregor was being a real pain in the ass today. Apparently, when Unix had called in sick yesterday Gregor had to call of the customers whom had orders to pick up. Gregor hated normal interactions with people. He also detested talking on the telephone. He sounded like a robot on the phone and customers sometimes thought it was a crank call. He carried this grudge with him throughout the entire next day. It also did not help that Gregor had a tenth grade crush on her. He was a social misfit. The only real life he really had was his life at A-Boy Plumbing. Once his day was over, he would immediately take the bus home. He would then sit at his computer terminal and play computer games. Most of the staff assumed that he lived in his parent basement. However, Unix knew that he had a place of his own. He owned a Condo, down by the new Voodoo Doughnuts on Sandy Blvd. He stayed inside hours on end and played those violent video games.

One time about eight months back, Unix went over to his condo because Gregor said he had some decent weed that he could sell to her. At the time, Unix was bored and took him up on the offer. They completed the transaction silently as she slipped 20 bucks on his coffee table and a minute later she handed him a Pete’s Coffee bag which she assumed had contained what she had come to but. She was thankful, to have completed the transaction and in a gesture of kindness she sat down on the couch and asked if had anything to drink in the in that silly Kelly green refrigerator. He simply said “Yes he Did”.

She waited for him to get up and get her a drink but he sat there on the couch smiling. He sat there smiling for a few minutes, which suddenly turned to ten minutes, and Unix had to break the silence as the last thing she wanted to do was fall asleep on the couch. “Hey Gregor, thanks for the drink, I have to run. Thank again for the hookup.

For the longest time, Gregor felt like she had led him on. He thought that the visit from her was a date. He had expected more from the transaction. He honestly had no clue as to what was a normal code of etiquette around people and this was especially true when it came to woman.

Today while working he had called her out in her attention to detail. He said that her work orders were incomplete; she was lazy when it came to asking customers to buy some accessories for what they had purchased. “It is called up selling Unix. If you do it the worst a customer could do was buy some additional product.

At the end of the day Unix confronted Gregor and asked him directly what his problem was and Gregor towed the company line that he was doing what the ABoy plumbing wanted. At one point during the day Gregor asked her to get him some coffee. Unix just wanted to avoid confrontation, and in a gesture of shutting him up she got him some coffee. When she returned with coffee, he simply said that she was finally her niche at A-Boy plumbing.

It was a very hectic day, with almost most of the customers were home owners making small purchases such as ice scrapets or supplies they needed for a home project given the extra day respite from work the snow storm had afforded. The industrial customers always knew what they wanted but the homeowner variety needed to have their hands held. They looked for her to know what they needed but Unix winged it. Still Unix had recorded the highest sales for today relying on customers who were looking for products she knew about. Those products, were of course, snow scrapers and portable heaters. She knew the customers wanted this product so she worked the system and concentrated on these customers. It was a banal strategy but it worked today.

Tommy Cougarfood announced that Unix had won the daily commissions rate to the five people who worked that day. It was only the second time that he had won the daily sales contest. She never read any of the company newsletters, so she was surprised when she received 25.00 dollars in cash. Boss Cougarfood simply shook her hand in front of everybody as they were preparing to leave for the day. Unix thought to herself that she probably should have been paying attention more. She thought she could do this every day, given the fact that she could earn a little extra money.

Gregor seeing an opportunity walked over to her and asked if she would like to get together and celebrate later.

Unix looked Gregor in the left eye and then the right eye until she could find the courage to stare at him directly in both eyes. “Gregor you can be an asshat on so many levels. I am so sick of you riding my ass all day long. It is petty bullshit. You ride my ass all day long and then you want to ask me out. If I were a person like you, I would sue you. I am going to be a big girl here and end this conversation.

That is exactly what she did. She ended the conversation and headed straight out the back door where she was reminded that she had forgot her warm winter jacket. She thought for a second and crisply recalled that she taken her coat to work. She remembered that she had hung in on the hook in the workroom. She knew where it was but she was not inclined to go and get it. She would rather be freezing cold and off from work then having to walk back into A-Bay Plumbing. She simply put her hood on and then tied it below the chin and started the 6 block walk up to Moon and SixPence.

William Donovan

Never saw this coming. He had been married to the same woman for what he considered fourteen good years. His wife had left him in the middle of the night. Bill was completely blind-sided by this. He spent so much time in his own mind the past eighteen months. He had always been with Wendy. He had always been with Wendy in his own mind. The last eighteen months had been a time to get used to being single. His separation with Wendy had been amicable as both parties simply parted ways not wanting to fight for the relationship. They had tried to have kids over the years but that somehow took the fun out of it. It had brought them closer together having a common goal, but farther apart when they realized their mutual goal would not be reached. They were both in their late thirties and decided to part ways with both thinking the other was their reason for conception.

Bill did not date much before he got married to Wendy. They dated through all four years of college at Oregon State. They were study partners in obscure Landscape Architecture class. After a long night of preparing a lab, neither of them understood, they met up with a group of Wendy’s friends. Bill was insecure around people he did not know, so he drank steadily while the rest of the group talked about something he did not have a clue. He barely said a word. He was happy that he was not studying, and before he noticed, everybody was heading his or her separate ways. Everybody except got him and Wendy. They sat there at the table all alone. In addition, Wendy said to him “You can stay at my place tonight.” He did and he was has been hooked since then

And this addiction took along time to heal. He was afraid of dating after the divorce because he had never really dated. He had always been in a relationship and he lacked the skill set required to pursue an actual court ship. Fortunately, for him, courtship just landed on his lap. They had met at ban art class that he decided to take. He had always dabbled in painting and drawing and decided to take a class. His motive for taking the class was to improve his painting, but also he did not trust himself with free time so he tried to fit his schedule with activities such as this. He learned many tricks of the trade during the first eight weeks of class. On the ninth week there was a new teacher in class as the regular instructor was out on maternity leave. It was a class where there was no lecture. Unix took a liking to the work that he was doing. He never thought of himself as a great artist. He thought of himself as someone who loved paint. Unix hovered over his work and challenged him to be bold. And that he did for once in his life. He painted himself silly on that night. He stayed and painted long after the rest of the class had left. Time got away from him and suddenly there he was again in a place that he had been before.

He was terrible at making a date, when one was thrust upon him; he went back to his basic instincts. He faintly remembers actually trying to pick her up. They just ended up walking after class. He had no idea where this was going to lead. They walked up and down East Burnside both conveniently forgetting where they had parked their cars. They walked around the corner and Unix decided on the spur of the moment that should see a movie at Laurelhurst theatre, She wanted to see the movie ‘UP’.

Bill suddenly felt like his old self again. He liked having his plans made for him. He had no idea how he was going to pay for the movie but still he went with the flow. Unix paid for both tickets on a credit card she had secured in college.

The Laurelhurst Theatre is the perfect place for a date. They show movies in a bar room atmosphere. Unlike conventional movie theaters, they could sit and talk if the movie was not to their liking. Unix did this for entire twenty minutes leading up curtain call. Now she was the student and he was the teacher. She talked about getting out in public more and working on relationships that meant a lot for her.

Bill, of course took this as a sign that she wanted to be in a relationship with him. There were so little clues. He meekly held her hand during the movie, but that only made him feel more entitled. He rubbed her shoulders without thinking about the ramifications. He even unbuttoned the first gold button on her jeans. His hand felt the top of her underwear. This sent him to another world. But little did he realize she was sound asleep. Well at least she was sound asleep when the movie ended. He had spent the last hour somewhat watching the movie and inserting his hands below the top of her shorts. The entire time he thought she was enjoying his stolen forays.

But when the movie was over she seemed oblivious to his advances and she also seemed to have benefitted from the much needed sleep. That is how she ended up in his bed a few days ago. She bristled awake as soon as the movie ended and insisted on going back to his place. Bill was flattered and confused at the same time, But he was in no place to argue as he aroused by his observations. He liked the way that she felt. She was all woman with a flat stomach to boot. Of course, she could go back to his place. But that is all the evening had come to. They went back to his place and watched a few episodes of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” She never asked for anything to drink or anything to eat and he did not offer because he usually did not have a lot of food in the house and this visit was quite unexpected. They sat on his futon and watched the shows together. Her head was on his shoulder and he put his arm around her. They did this for two episodes and, from Bill’s perspective they seemed to be enjoying the show. They didn’t talk much but they laughed together at the same scenes.

All of a sudden, Unix announced it was time for bed. That was like her just to announce something like this and see the nuance in it.

Bill asked her with a wry smile on her face, “Are you planning on staying here” and with out leaving time for a response he added “Well at least it is close to your work”.

“Yes it Bill, but I do not work tomorrow. I never work on a Sunday. It is against my religion so my employer thinks. I hope you don’t mind. Besides the buses do not run this late and I can not ask you to drive me home”. She walked toward his bed room for a minute and shut the door firmly behind her.

Bill always being the cautious type sat on the couch and worked on half finished crossword puzzle he had started earlier that day. He really was never good at the Saturday crossword puzzles because it usually contained long words. He hardly ever finished a Saturday puzzle and usually let them linger around for a day. He wondered to himself what she was doing in his room and what the rest of the night would entail. He was happy with the prospects; almost giddy but of course, self-doubt was in the back of his mind. But in his mind he felt he had it coming. He had treated her to a nice afternoon and evening out and they got along famously. He found himself thinking to himself that he really like this girl a lot. He was really excited about his prospects. The prospects were for well past tonight. She turned him on, but he liked her as long-term partner. He really wanted to settle down again and he could see himself settling in again with somebody like Unix.

All of a sudden, Unix burst from the room wearing the same thing she was wearing before. Only she was not wearing her blue jeans. There she stood there in her long shirt and said “Hope you do not mind I just put my jeans on the wicker chair in your room. I cannot sleep in those. I am ready for bed, How about you?”

“Yeah I am ready for bed also.” Bill went into the bathroom and slipped on a flannel pajama and walked back into the room not wearing a shirt.” And there he spotted Unix in his bed. The only problem was she fast asleep. He had not been in the bathroom more than two minutes and already she off asleep. There she was stretched on the bed with the covers loosely over her shoulders, It did not like deep sleep as she almost looked angelic. He stood over her and watched over her for a while and she looked so peaceful and serene. She certainly was not aware of him in the room and here sleep was not fitful at all. She seemed to have fallen asleep fully trusting him to do the right thing.

But what the right thing is mind was not clear to him. So he took the high toad and he let her sleep as he read a magazine on his night stand. Then in a bit of panicked and he saw his room as he had never seen it before. It looked like the room a single man. Clothed were on the floor and some of winter workout clothes were drying on curtain rod across from his bed. A half eaten bag of Twizzlers sat on his bedside table. He then noticed that Unix must have some as three half eaten short Twizzlers sat on the outside of the bag. He never ate half a Twizzler

He rolled into bed beside her and listened to her breath. He watched her right hand move a little in her sleep. He watched her roll over facing away from her. He thought he did the right thing as he touched the small of her back in a non suggestive way as he slowly nodded off to sleep,

He woke up the next morning and she was no longer sleeping next to him. He thought to himself that maybe he had not the right thing the night before.

He was pleasantly surprised when he walked into the kitchen there sat Unix at the kitchen table working on the crossword puzzle he had been working. He looked at the crossword and it looked like she nearly completed what he could not.

“How did I not get TottemPole ?” Bill said as he slowly glanced over the puzzle.

“Billy I can hold my own on these puzzles. There is no shame in me finishing your puzzle”

Bill explained that he had to head out until mid afternoon as he was going to be helping a friend move. He told her that she could stay and wait for him if she wanted to and they could do something together later.

“I just might do that Billy, I just might do that.”

They both sat at the table and ate a bowl of cheerios. Both of them sat and crunched on their cereal as they read a separate section of the paper. He read the sports and she read the classifieds. They looked like an old married couple. Bill later got up and said he had to leave, Her walked over to her and kissed her on the lips. He was fully surprised when she held his kiss a split second longer than he anticipated.

Unix stayed for much of the day. She read the book she was reading and fixed herself a can of soup for winter. She thought to herself. Whom am I kidding? She left Bill a note thanking him for a wonderful day. She had things to do and places to be. This is how she came across the adorable dog on the previous Sunday afternoon.

Back To The Moon

A snowstorm in Portland Oregon is a rare occurrence. During a snowstorm in Portland people tend to come together. The temperatures have dropping throughout the day and s steady fine white snow had started to fall somewhat harder. The clouds had dropped low where it had become difficult to see. The wind picked up from the east ushering in the Gorge driven cold air. Unix and Tommy were in a playful mood as the marched up past the Billiard hall on the corner of 41^st. The intersection was unrecognizable to them as no car had been through in a while and there were now snowdrifts that came up past their knees. Tommy joked with Unix about how much of an idiot Gregor had been today. “Yeah I can handle him. He is all talk and little bite. He said he may come out with us later. If he tries anything stupid out in public he better be prepared.” As Unix said these words a bus rolled down

Sandy Boulevard

. Unix was glad that public transportation was still running. She really looked forward to getting home tonight.

The Moon and Sixpence was dark and comfortable tonight and much to their surprise they found seats at the bar. It seemed like most people had come in groups, as there was buzz to the place. Coats were piled up on the floors beside each table, They both placed thir coats on the bar stool and ordered a hot rum drink and settled into each of their own silences. Unix enjoyed the opportunity to not talk. She enjoyed the warmth the pub exuded and the hum of the people talking. She thought to herself about the old lady from the bus. She thought about how she fared on a cold day like this.

She sat there in her own little world and she was happy for a few minutes. That was until she got a tap on the shoulder, which startled her out of her bar induced Zen like trance. She sat looking straight ahead ignoring the nudge at her shoulder thinking it was the her dreaded co worker Gregor. She turned rather abruptly, with a look on her face and out of the corner of his eyes she was relived to see Anthony’s smiling face.

“Holy shit Anthony you are everywhere. Are you sure there is not more than one of you in this town?” Unix said this in am overly ambitious tone as she scan the clientele for Gregor.

Anthony seemed to think about this comment for a while and he laughed a full ten seconds after Unix had finished her snarky reply.

“Hey Tommy this here is my friend Anthony. Anthony this is Tommy probably the only person I work with that I like.” Unix said with an emphasis on the word friend and like.

Emily walked over from the kitchen to behind the bar and asked Anthony what he would like and Anthony asked for one of those strong Belgium beers that come in a small glass. And Emily said that was a strong choice for a day like today. Anthony sat on one side of Unix and Tommy the other side so by default any communication between the two would have to go through Unix. However, that was all right for the three of them as they were away from work. That is except for Unix, She has become paranoid all of a sudden. She did not want to run into Gregor even though she had as a senseless act of kindness told him where they were going. Then again, there was Billy whom she had not talked to once she had somehow unexpectedly stayed the night. Those were the delights of not owning a cell phone. She was at her usual lying self that night. Just pretending she wanted to be with Billy but in retrospect, it was not very bad. Billy had been a true gentleman however she did not want to run into him here.

She had recently concluded that her constant lying was taking more work to cover up then saying or acting out the truth in the first place. It was a constant area of frustration for her. Sometimes she did not even believe her self. She just sat there at the bar and remembered that she was happy five minutes ago. What was behind this sudden funk? But that was Perhaps it was that she could not always tell the truth. The door opened a few times as she sat and stared into space. She could feel the cold air every time the door opened but all of a sudden she just wanted to not be here. She wanted to be home in her warm bed. She decided at that point to make an abrupt exit. She walked over to the bar and threw fifteen dollars on the bar and told Anthony and Tommy that she had to leave for an emergency at home. Those two being real close friends never even questioned how she could receive a message like this as she neither had a cell phone or any activity at home that would warrant an emergency. They were two people in the world who actually believed her most of the time.

She made a quick beeline to the front door and as she got near the front door in walked Billy and the guy with dog on the porch. She could not recall has name but that was beside the point. Then she remembered that they were next door neighbors. She had left Bill’s house on Sunday morning only to find a dog heading through the bushes and she had returned it to Bill’s next-door neighbor.

She was wearing a heavy coat and a scarf around her neck to head out into the cold so they had not seemed to recognize her. Still she was curious and said from underneath her warm clothing. “Hey Billy how’s our friends dog?” Seth did a double take and looked at Bill and said did that girl in big coat and scarf just call you Bill?” “I think she meant Hill Billy. “ Bill said as they walked to a suddenly empty booth by the window. Unix followed right with them. She was curious and she was on a mission.

Fredos

John had loved running what he called a Speak Easy. It was a place people could come to and try out his home brews. He had always had five of six beers on tap and he encouraged people to try the beers. He did not want patrons who were here to get drunk. It was a part of owning a speak-easy. It had become a bit out of his control. His place had become quite popular this past summer. It was quite common to have thirty people drinking his beer on a given night. Neighbors were sensitive here. Christmas time on the Beaumont ridge usually meant more traffic in the neighborhood. Beaumont was a beautiful place right after Thanksgiving up until Christmas as all the merchants decorated to fit the season. The neighborhood sparkled. It was a special place to be. But this came with a cost as people from all over Portland would park on side streets and this would make locals more protective. This is probably why somebody had complained about the noise. Or maybe because it had become more popular than John had bargained for.

Thus the cease and desist order against his fine little drinking establishment. The locals had started to pay attention and complained about the people coming and going. Therefore, somebody lodged a complaint loud enough to get the attention of the police. The police officers knew the Speak Easy existed. They came out to investigate. They had a long cordial conversation and asked him to cease and desist up until Christmas day. There were no official charges filed. All they needed was a gentlemen’s agreement. This would keep the locals happy and John was kind of in need of a vacation of sorts. It had grown from a hobby to full time job. Today he had invited off duty police officers to his establishment. They had always come to his bar and he thought it would be an act of goodwill to have them sample some of his fine beers.

He was surprised to have four officers today given the current conditions. It was getting icier by the minute and to get up on the Freemont ridge by car required the navigation of at least one steep hill. But here they were and they were enjoying the first round of samples he had served. He served a dark seasonal; that was one he had taken great pride. He had added a bitter spice that gave it a nice contrast to traditional seasonal brews.

“Hope you guys are enjoying the new beer. My hope for this beer was that the cloves would give it an unusual taste. I was hoping for a taste that is distinctive and stays with you.” Officer Hartenstein sat very quietly and tasted the beer more than he drank it. John it is nice to have your beer and I love this establishment. How do you propose to have this bar and the community co-exist? I am only tasting here as I am on duty later tonight. We really do not want to be policing your bar. It is a nice little establishment so how do we keep it as a nice little establishment”

“Officer Hartenstein, I am not breaking any ordinances here. The place has grown larger than I am comfortable. I plan to limit the number of people here at 15. That’s good for me as that’s all I can handle. I hope that works for you. I plan on opening only during the week and that will be Tuesday through Thursday. Then you know when I am open and when I am closed. Anybody in this neighborhood can have a party when they want to and I feel I am free to do that also, I am not charging for the beer. This is my hobby and plan on keeping this thing going. I will have one person monitor people coming and going. I will post a sign inside this place so all people know they have to be quiet in the neighborhood. With the limit of 15 I will ensure to know everybody who walks through the front door.”

Officer Buckley sat next to Officer Hartenstein and he was taking this all in. He was on his second glass of beer. He had tried the pilsner and voiced his displeasure that it was rather light for a cold winter day. He warned John that the last time he was in here, there were people dealing minor drugs in the side room and he did not want to see that any more. He understood it was Portland and the laws were lax but he reiterated that he did not want to see it here. If the drug dealings continue, then the neighbors have a legitimate complaint.

“Buckley if that were true you would have to shut down half the bars in town. You have my word. You heard my plan and I plan to enforce it.

“I guess our work is finished here boys Hartenstein announce to those huddled around their beers. I would suggest you put a coffee maker in this place. I could use a cup of coffee right about now.”

I’ll take that into consideration.

The officers left soon after and John walked over to his tip jar he set out for cash contributions and in was five five-dollar bills and a note that read like this.

Speak Easy should not

Have Police because it makes

Speaking Easy Hard.

Zues

The note was in perfect Haiku. It was not a great Haiku. The note had been there awhile. The money had not.

Re-Entry

That stupid ex boy friend of hers could not even handle finding his own dog, Kendra thought to herself as she trudged through ankle deep snow as she approached the little green house on 32^nd. She had returned the call on her cell phone. She was soon quickly in touch with somebody who claimed they had Beetle. It was that easy. But then again, they had called her so Seth was not entirely to blame. Still it cannot be that difficult. She was actually mad at herself for taking on the task. Why had she not just called Seth and told him where his dog was? The answer was simple. She simply would rather deal with getting the dog back rather than the complexities with Seth. The walk was good for her. The cold wet air made her lungs feel good today, as did the brisk walk. She would usually go for a run on most days but with the snow and ice a brisk walk did the trick. It got her heart pumping a little higher. Or was already beating harder? She was tense with her move back to the Rose City, she felt herself falling into the same trap. But at the same time she was happy to be back in the City she loved. In a few short months, the Portland Timbers would be making their debut as a real MLS team. It was a day she looked forward to for a long time. In a few short days she would be back playing indoor soccer with her friends and then the real season started. She convinced herself, that was had brought her back the Rose City; that and pulling in a few steady paychecks.

She knocked on the door of the little green house on 32^nd. I certainly looked like nobody was home. There were no fresh footsteps to the front door and the snow was starting to pile up in drifts close to the door. She rang the doorbell once and there was no answer as she started to get colder. She was damp from her walk and the winds were starting to howl from the east. She then knocked loudly and suddenly the house came to life with footsteps as well as the distinctive bay of a beagle. A young girl in her mid teens came to the door dressed in her pajamas. She greeted Kendra with a warm smile, as Beetle stood right besides her tilting her head slightly to the right. Kendra immediately recognized Beetle and there was no doubt this was Seth’s dog.

“Hello there, I can tell you recognize the dog. Isn’t she a sweet one and a bad one at the same time. She has been at my house for the last 2 days. She actually was in our backyard when I came home from school on Tuesday. We already have a Beagle. Freddy is out in the back yard. From what I have gathered, the mail carrier delivered her here thinking it was our Beagle. I got home from school and she was in the yard. Here is the note the carrier left in the box. He found her over on Freemont ridge near

46^thavenue

. She had been knocking over trash cans and he offered to deliver her to where he thought she lived. She has nor tags so I started calling around and the Vet up on 50^th scanned her and traced the phone number back to you.”

“Portland is such a small town. She is not even my dog. She belongs to my old boyfriend. He is not great with follow through but he certainly knows she is missing. I honestly did not even think she would be here so I neglected to bring a leash.“

Bev offered her a leash, which she attached to Beetle tag less collar. Unix gave her a name and phone number where she could be contacted. She did not know why she did this as she was never one to let a silent moment pass. Bev I really cannot thank you enough. I would like to compensate you for your troubles but I have nothing to offer.

That would be nice. We could use the help.

Meanwhile on the other end of the Hollywood Opal took the elevator up to her tiny fourth floor apartment. She was clean as a whistle but her sobriety seemed to be slipping by the hour. She opened the refrigerator slowly and quickly scanned it for what she could have for dinner. Her refrigerator had a stock of power bars, seven cans of Generic chicken soup, three bananas, a bag of rice, seven triple A batteries and the box of wine she had snuck in the building earlier that day. She was able to get past the front desk, as most of the staff was dealing with the mounting snowfall. She had a small clock radio on her kitchen table and sat and listened to the local Public Radio Station. The radio was always on that station because the control for changing the station had fallen off years ago.

It was a sparse existence but it was hers and hers alone. Until 18 months ago she had been living on her own as newly single nurse and Mother of 2 teenagers who have since moved away to find jobs outside of Portland. Both kids had made their way through college using scholarship money and assorted student loans. Her and her husband has helped with school as well as they could. Her ex husband had a series of problems with his anger as well as assorted chemical addictions. He had been long out of the picture; and she had not seen him for three years and she had no idea where he was. She lived a simple normal life up until then. He had occasional work and she was a full time nurse.

Her drinking and smoking were her downfall. Two years ago she was rushed to the hospital with what everybody had anticipated to be some form of cancer. Everybody assumed this because of her constant use of cigarettes and wine. Her daughter and her husband were the only real visitor she got during her hospital stay. Her son travelled cross-country to help her move out of her home. If she were to survive, her children knew she could not pay rent. He children truly expected her not to live. At one point, the doctors had called in her children, explaining that she probably would not survive and they should prepare for that. Nobody could kill Opal except for Opal. She made a miraculous recovery in the hospital and when she emerged from an induced coma the first thing she asked for was a cigarette.

Upon release from the hospital, she started in on the cigarettes and wine in a heavy way. They were the sole reason for her existence. She lived by herself in a small publicly assisted flat for a while. One day when she was hitting the wine hard, she was lost and disoriented walking the streets on the lower east side. She could not tell the police who she was and since she was not carrying any identification, they put her in a detox center for the night. It was then, that City Services deemed that she be put into a monitored assisted living home. She was fifty-four years of age but from the look of her ashen skin, she looked close to eighty. She could not walk two blocks without stopping and gasping for air.

Her new high rise on 44^th and Halsey seemed to do the trick. The understanding was there was no drinking, and smoking was restricted. The county enforcement was strict about this. There were times that she appeared delusional. She told many people she was searching for her own personal Jesus. Outsiders interpreted this as a search for religious belief and intervention. In Opal’s mind, this search was a lot simpler than that. She was looking for a reason to stay sober. She was looking for an anchor in her life ;whether it is a close friend, a cause she could get behind or just finding something or someone that she loved. She still had not found her own personal Jesus. But she had started going to church recently. She was a non-believer and that is why she chose the Unitarian church. Well that was not the only reason. A new storefront church had opened up right up the street from the Bank. She could walk there now that she had cut out the wine. It was a great place to meet people.

She sat eating a bowl of chicken soup in her sparse apartment. She listened to the weather forecast and it did not sound great. More snow for was forecasted for tomorrow. Maybe she would just stay in tomorrow and do some reading. There is nothing like a good book and a few glasses of wine. For tonight she was plenty tired and sleep would come easy.

The Gathering Storm

Emily was tired on her feet but the tips were piling up today. People were in a good mood with the snowy weather and they were drinking slowly and tipping heavily. It was her perfect type of evening. Her shift was over at eight but at the owner’s insistence, she decided to stay until close. She could certainly use the extra money and with the weather like it is she was not going anywhere tonight except for home. And from the look of things this may be an interesting night.

Sonia was just plain in a bad mood. She too was asked to stay late and she had someplace to go. Sonia and her girlfriend of many years had planned on sitting on the couch, ordering some Thai food and watching old movies. It was not much but for chance for her to get off her feet. She called Tracey and asked her if it was okay top work late. They needed the money but Sonia was surprised, as Tracey seemed somewhat happy to have the night alone. For some reason, hearing the relief in Tracy’s voice ,had put her in a bad mood. Sonia was often the victim of the halo effect as she one let one thing either spice up her mood or bring her down almost completely. She was a trooper and she would get through the night. She had her own ways to amuse her self. She had her own ways to keep her happy on a job she simply tolerated. Sometimes she made herself laugh.

The lights at the Moon and Sixpence were low to begin with much like any other British Pub. For the last hour or so, the power had gone off for a few seconds here and there. Every time the lights flickered off the place went completely quiet. When they flickered back on, the usual chatter started up in earnest. It was an electric night it was an odd night.

Seth and William sauntered into the bar almost larger than life. They were louder than usual and happier than usual. They walked in as if they owned the bar. The each had spent enough money here to deserve a seat in the corner. They sat across from each other and Seth gave a knowing smile across the table saying, “It felt good to be here tonight. Let us have some fun”.

As soon as they sat down there was somebody hovering over their table Bill instinctively looked up and started to order. But he was out of his rhythm because that was part of the beauty of this place. That is waiting for your beer. Only it was not their bartender as hoped for but rather someone who looked very familiar but he could not for the life of him put a name to her. And much to his surprise she sat right down with him and Bill and she just looked at him with a knowing crooked smile and said; “I hope you two don’t mind if I join you, There isn’t a empty spot in the pub tonight.” Once again she removed her coat and seem to settle into place unaware how awkward the situation could be.

“Holy shit Unix what are you doing here?” Pierce said this almost like he had seen a ghost. He thought to himself how small the city of Portland could be. It was the story of his recent life. The pub was somewhat electric tonight. It felt very different then most nights. He had not heard a word from her since he had spent the night with her on Sunday night. How could he not remember, that he did not spend the night as one conventionally thinks. He had been perplexed what the night actually was. In his mind, he thought they had a real connection. He thought he had played his cards right by being a pure gentleman on this night. On the other hand, he was frustrated with him because he found her a complete turn on. He loved her quirkiness, the way her mouth was half-open when she slept and he hated to admit he was crazy about her legs and her total body. He half expected and anticipated her making the first move that never came. Her sitting at the same table with him reminded him rather quickly how he felt. He had tried to bury this memory back in his mind but still he had thought about her for too much in the last four days. And here she was sitting at his table barely noticing.

Unix was transfixed on Seth. She had no real opinion in his looks but could not quite make the connection as to where she knew him. Then she put two and two together and got 3.96. She remembered finding the little dog in the front yard when she left Billy’s house last Sunday morning He remembered back to that Sunday morning and she remembered the man on the porch with the dog as a much younger un organized man. She had her doubts but she boldly blurted out “Do I know you from somewhere or do I know your Dog from somewhere?”

The silence from the three of them was heard from across the room if you were actually listening. It just hung in the air as none of the three of them could actually figure out what was really going on here. There were obvious connections that all three of them missed and even the ones they had knowledge were still shaky, Unix had the trump card on both of them as she had most of the knowledge as to how they all fit together, But she wasn’t in the position to play them. She really did not want anything from eeither of them and that is usually when she lost interest in people. That is when she did not need something from them. She was genuinely curious. She liked Bill well enough. She was also confused by that night also. She enjoyed their evening together, but she could not shake the innate feeling that he wanted something more out of that evening. It is all part of her recent pattern in life. That pattern was of course not telling the complete truth. Maybe tonight was a fantastic place to start. She had nothing to lose.

“Hey Seth your friend the waitress is working tonight. You know whom I mean.” Pierce said just before Emily greeted them at the table.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Hey there Seth how are you today?. You have not been in here for awhile. Have you found your dog? What was his name? I should remember that. I swear when I work here; I push out all other things in my mind except for what people order. Speaking of orders what is everybody drinking tonight. We have Spaten on tap for $3.00 a pint.” Emily said while she spun a three-colored pen in her left hand and they all agreed that a Spaten would be perfect.

Seth looked at William and then he looked at Unix (she had never told him his name) and he had the lurking suspicion they knew each other but he did not push any further. Portland is a small town and it works that way sometimes. Emily brought them 3 pints of Spaten and they settled into an uncomfortable silence, which was broken by Unix speaking first. “I assume you two know each other. Is that a safe assumption?”

“Yes that would be correct we are neighbors” both men responded nervously almost at the exact same time.

Seth then looked up slowly and snickered while saying “I take it you two also know each other.”

There was no answer from either of them as they went back to enjoying their beers. They both seemed to think that they had established that already. Unix had almost finished her drink before the other two had taken their second sip. She seemed like a woman on a mission for no apparent reason. She still had the ace card as she knew how all the pieces fit together. She really did not care how they knew each other. She wanted to speak to Billy and clear the tension between them and she hardly knew Seth at all. But there were no reason at all not to like either one of them. Billy had done nothing wrong and she hated to admit that she was probably the flakey one and she could see how he could be confused. She was a master at stretching the truth. And he knew that somehow she had to correct that. It was something about herself that made her uncomfortable..

At this point Seth caught the eye of Emily from across the room. He admired the sparkle in her eye and now that he knew her he felt more comfortable approaching her. In retrospect, it was probably Emily that caught the eye of Seth. Yes that’s exactly what happened in both of their minds.

And Suddenly the British pub on 42^nd street was as quiet as it had been all day long. Nobody said a word for a full ten seconds as the subtle sound one could hear was the sound of icy snow blowing against the windows. One could hear the wind blowing and a chill crept into the room as the room grew suddenly dark. Unix reached in the dark and found a full glass of beer and drank from it slowly as the room started to quietly buzz again. The street lights from outside were no help as the everybody in the bar sat and listened to winter scene taking place outside. You could not help but notice. The lights stayed out for a full 30 seconds and suddenly returned. This only seemed to fuel the people in the bar, as the noise in the room rose slowly well beyond what it was like before the lights went out. But somehow Unix had last her momentum for the evening as she was reminded that the weather was making a turn for the worse and she was one long treacherous bus ride away from home. She was not sure why she had the sudden yearning to be on her own warm bed at home. But despite her recent past she trusted her instincts. All that she knew was that she had to be home. Her flannel brown sheets she had put on the bed sounded so warm to her, her little radio on her desk sounded so calm to her, the wash that had to fold sounded so every day and comfortable. She just knew she had to get out of this bar now.

“Sorry boys the weather is getting nasty and I have to be on my way.”

Once again there was complete silence at the table drowning out the subtle roar that was the rest of the room.

“Sorry boys the weather is getting nasty and I have to be on my way.”

Unix threw twenty dollars on the table and told Seth and Billy she had a bus to catch.

William replied with uncertain resolve. “You Can Stay at my place if you are worried about the weather.”

She looked him in the eye and absolute kindness resonated in her voice. She grabbed him softly on the shoulder and almost at a whisper replied. “Thank You, that is nice of you, but I really have to be on my way.”

She finished the rest of Seth’s beer in one quick chug and headed for the door. She put and Old Yellow wool hat as she headed out the door.

She turned and winked to both Seth and Billy. She concentrated on neither. She simply headed out into the cold of the night.

Home Sweet Home

I really need some time alone Unix thought as the bus rolled quietly toward her place in Sellwood. Unix could feel herself sinking back into her old self and she did not really like it. She was happy that she recognized the trend but felt helpless to do anything about it. The bus was completely empty on the ride home except for her and the bus driver and she was not in the mood for conversation so she rode in absolute quiet at the back of the bus. It wasn’t all that late after her quick exit from the Moon and Sixpence. For the moment, there were only flurries in the air and she glimpsed a small crescent moon close to the horizon and it disappeared behind a cloud and reappeared again giving her a sliver of hope that the snowstorm would be over soon. She just wanted to get back to the normal flow of things. Her body felt dead tired and she knew that she needed some sleep. She said good night to the bus driver and as she walked off the bus she stepped in a massive puddle left by the tracks of previous bused that had stopped here. Her feet were now soaked straight through to her socks and she knew that the combination of being cold and tired usually did not end well. A cold wind had picked up from the east and she was downright uncomfortable. She checked her phone quite briefly which seemed to by a habit that she did not realize that she had picked up. There was a text message from William and from Seth asking if she got home okay.

She did not even realize that she had given William her phone number and she surmised that Seth had gotten the number from William. She really did not want to talk to anybody but she was warmed just a little that somebody was thinking about her and she had no expectations of answering back. She was not particularly adept with the cell phone and never cared to master the worldly art of text messages.

She approached her house and she noticed that there was a light on. She did not remember leaving a light on and she wondered to herself whether her room mates had come home from their ski trip early. Her car was nowhere to be seen. It was an unlikely scenario given the winter barrage that was taking place in the State of Oregon. Winter had come early and it did not seem to be letting up. A shiver ran up and down her spine when she went to un lock the front door as the key turned easily indicating that it was not locked in the first place. She entered the house and there was no need to turn on the lights as the lights were already on and the house was far warmer than anticipated on this colder than normal day. She looked around slowly and the paints were right where she had left them and nothing that she noticed was out of place. She still had this creepy feeling as she usually did not leave the lights on and she certainly did not keep the heat at this level when she was going to be out of the house. She walked back into the kitchen and there sat on the table a box of cheerios and carton of milk. Now she was starting to get a little freaked out. She knew that she would not leave things out such as this. Somebody had been in her place and it just occurred to her that somebody may still be at her place. This was not the quiet night alone she wanted. All she wanted to do right now was to take a warm bath and get a good night’s sleep. She still had to be at work in the morning and it would probably be okay if she did not make it into work, but she really needed the money and the over time would start to kick in.

She walked the steps up to her bedroom and entered the room slowly without saying a word. She hardly made a sound and the floorboards were quiet as she entered her bedroom. Her robe laid where she had put it this morning. Her journal and scratchpad sat on her bedside table opened. She could not recall whether she had left it open the night before. She stood there studying the scene and noticed a puddle had formed at her feet from her incident getting off the bus. She quickly removed her wet and damp socks , threw them over the end of a laundry basket and slip on a pair of soft slippers. She realized that her jeans were also soaked all the way up to her knees and she slid off the slippers and slowly removed her cold jeans that clung to her body. She stood there in her underwear and realized she could be doing this with somebody else in her house. Once again a shiver ran down her spine. She felt like a cliché from a tacky horror movie and this would be place where an intruder would make an appearance. She quickly threw on some old sweat pants and her slippers once again. Not that it made her feel safer but it seemed to be right thing to do.

She walked in the hallway where it was very dark and quiet and she heard some breathing coming from one of the other bedrooms. She walked down the hallway as quietly as she could and she did not even think to knock. She opened the door ever so quietly inch by inch with hardly a sound and there sat her roommate sitting on her bed reading a novel.

“Holy Moley Kris I did not even know you were home. Did you not hear me come in.”

“Yes Uni I heard you come in, you come all the time like that and I never say a word.”

“You usually lock the door when you are home alone and most times half the lights in the house are on, so I did not think you were back from your ski trip. I did not see your parked anywhere.”.

“Oh sorry about that, I must have forgot. My car broke down about an hour out of town. The car is in the shop. My budget is going to be shot for awhile and the ski trip was not in the cards.”

“Sorry to hear that. I am cold and I am tired and I am going to take a warm bath”.

“Yeah you look like hell”

“Thanks”

Seth the Plumber

Seth was up and at it early the next day as he felt somewhat refreshed from an early night and a great night’s sleep. He did not even bother to check in with work as he assumed today would be another snow day. The day had started much like the previous day had ended with a light snow falling once again on a bitterly cold day. As he looked out the window, he saw that the puddles from the night before had frozen over solid. He also noticed that the water in the bathroom was not working and he realized that either a pipe had probably frozen over or he had not paid the water bill on time. He suspected the frozen pipes.

He had time on his hands and he decided in his own mind to tackle the job on his own. He knew that he was not the most handy person but he had good experiences with the plumbing store down the street giving directions for idiots. They usually talked him through a project step by step and after he took copius notes he could muddle his way through. There was no way he was going to get the car out of the driveway this morning, so he dresses as warmly as possible. His outfit consisted of blue jeans, a flannel shirt, a hooded sweatshirt. A ski cap that covered his entire face and some old gardening boots that would certainly keep his feet dry. Hardly anybody had cleared the sidewalks from the night before except ironically the Moon and SixPence had cleared their walkway and he remembered Unix’s odd and sudden entrance from the Bar last night. He hardly knew her but he felt that he liked her and an odd way. She was a bit of a puzzle and a tough nut to crack. As he crossed sandy Boulevard a car skidded quite close to him as he rushed across the street. As he started to sprint out of the way he lost his footing a fell down rather suddenly on his tail bone. My oh my. falling directly on ones tail bone hurt. The pain shot straight down his legs as he got up gingerly and stumbled the remaining two blocks to the plumbing supply store. He walked into the store and there were already a fairly long line of people asking questions and looking for insulation or the perfect tool to complete a home project such as this. He looked in the bargain bin as he hoped the lines would die down soon and he found a copy of A-Boys “Handyman in –Your-Pocket” and leafed through the small writing as he what looked like Unix walked toward him asking him sardonically if he needed help with anything. From the look on her face he did not seem to recognize him as she took on a rather out of place business person approach.

“Yes you certainly could help me. Unix is the name right. I did not know you worked here or maybe I did I am looking for a machine to make something disappear”.

“Okay wise guy I know you are referring to my quick exit last night, but please leave it be.”

“I was only trying to be funny. What I would like to make disappear is a frozen pipe I have in the house”.

“Yeah you and every other person who walked through this door today,”

“Well point in the right direction then.”

She walked over to Seth and said in a hushed tone. “Just walk over to Rite Aid across the street and but the strongest hair dryer they have. That should do the trick”.

Suddenly Gregor appeared on the sales floor and said to Seth, “What she meant is we have a tool right here that is designed to warm up frozen pipes. It works like a charm and it costs only about 40.00 dollars.” Seth could sense the tension between Gregor (he had read his name on his name tag) and Unix and he did not really want to get in the middle of it. But he sort of felt sorry for her because the condescending tone in his voice made it apparent that Gregor was not easy to work with.

Gregor continued to ramble on telling him how Uni never would advance here at A boy because she simply could not sell and he rambled on how plumbing was a place for a man to work.

“Thank you Gregor for your advice, I can see you are a company man but not a community man. I need to own one of these instruments much like I need to own a hair dryer. Which I unfortunately do own. Well it is not mine, my old girlfriend left it behind so I think I will put it to good use.

Seth walked out of the door into the cold morning and the snow was now a heavier powdery snow much like what fell in the mountains all winter long. As his feet hit the side walk he once again confronted by Gregor on the street corner. Gregor simply stood and blocked his way as he once again tried to re cross Sandy Blvd. Seth asked Gregor in a terse tone what exactly is your problem. I am not going to Rite Aid so simply leave me alone.”

Gregor asked Seth to empty his pockets and as he reached in his pocket he realized that he still had the HandyMan book in his back pocket. He must have put it in his pocket without thinking as he talked about alternatives for his clogged pipes. Gregor was really starting to work on his nerves. Gregor asked Seth to come back in the store and was going to write him up for a shop-lifting citation.

“Oh come on man I put the book in my pocket by accident as we were talking. I did not mean to steal a 5.00 book that I can hardly read without my reading glasses. Can I speak to the manager?”

“I am the manager on duty today, You are speaking to him and I am going to write you a citation.”

Seth walked into a wood paneled office that smelled of something familiar but he really could not place it as the smell was dispersed with what ever smells come from a plumbing supply store. But what he smelled the most was fear. Not fear in him but rather insecure fear from Gregor.

Five minutes later he was the owner of a shop lifting citation. There was no denying the fact that he took the book, despite the frenzied circumstances. Despite the fact that Gregor is a complete Jackass.

He walked home mad at himself and to be more exact completely pissed off at Gregor. He was like an insecure security guard at a shopping mall. He was trying to be way more important than he actually was and he obviously had a grudge against Unix. There was no the reason for the ticket.

What a start to the day.

Opal Byers

Opal hated this snowy weather as it made it tough to get around.

Opal loved getting up in morning with a clear head.

Opal hated the idea that she could not have a celebratory drink after she conquered the day.

Opal loved that she had somewhere to this morning.

Opal also liked to cook breakfast.

Opal hated that she should watch her cholesterol.

Opal was walking conundrum as tried to do the things that were supposed to be good for her but she hated that she could not do what she liked which of course was bad for here. She did like having somewhere to go and that place was her daily meeting at the Rehab. She liked calling it that as it was far away from being a Rehab center. It was more like a home with its warm sofas and a soft lamp light. And of course she looked forward to seeing Cabot as he was like a rock to her. His voice made her calm and reporting to him that she stayed away from the booze kept her going. He seemed to have a glow to him when she reported that she had not drank again. She knew that she could not lie to him as Cabot would see it in her eyes. Or she believed that he saw it in her eyes, Her sobriety was a right rope ride. A ride right now that she was not sure she was winning.

Despite the actual argument she had going on in her mind, she sat down and made herself some toast

. .

Unix4TheWin

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Chapter Summaries

Cast of characters

The Girl with The Dog on the Porch