Month: June 2024

MLMM Saturday Mix Lucky Dip — Small-Time Hood

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Detective Fred Morrisey and his partner, Detective Ronald Hayden, pulled up to the crime scene in Morrisey’s car. “I’m going to touch base with the ME, Ron,” Morrisey said. “Go talk to the officer who was first on the scene and see what he can tell you.”

“You got it, Fred,” Hayden said. Both men got out of the car and headed off in different directions.

Morrisey found the medical examiner inside the tent the crime scene team had erected over the location of the victim’s body. “What can you tell me, Doc?” Morrisey asked the ME.

“Blunt force trauma to the back of the head,” the ME said. “Time of death was around mid-morning, say 10:30 or 11:00. Stomach contents shows he had a bacon and eggs breakfast not long before he was murdered.”

“Any personal effects with the body?”

“I gave all that to the office on the scene who bagged it,” the ME said. “But strangely enough, there were two passports, one U.S., and one from the UK. And let me see. Oh yes, one aerosol inhaler for asthma, one child’s crayon, and a 35 mm film strip with maybe half a dozen frames on it. Anyway, I should have a full postmortem report for you but the end of the day.”

“Okay, thanks, Doc,” Morrisey said as Ron Hayden came walking up.

“So, our vic is a small-time hood,” Ron said, “But what may have gotten him killed was what was on this film strip.” He handed it over to Fred, who held it up to the light.

“Jesus,” Morrisey said.

Written for the Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Saturday Mix Lucky Dip, where the story cubes are car, egg and bacon, crayon, tent, aerosol, passports, body outline, and film strip.

Weekend Writing Prompt — A Spoonful of Medicine

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“Give him one spoonful every four hours,” the doctor told Pat’s mother. “Keep an eye on him and call me back if he starts to get a fever or if his cough persists.”

(Exactly 33 words)

Written for Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt, where the challenge is “spoonful” in exactly 33 words. Photo credit: freepik.com

SoCS — Sweating It Out

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Linda’s challenge for this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt is “water.”

“Can I get a bottle of water?” Johnny asked. “I’m really thirsty.”

“Sure, Johnny,” Officer Kline said, “as soon as you start answering our questions.”

“Please, my throat is so dry,” Johnny said. “I just need a cup of water. Please.”

“Are you nervous, Johnny?” Kline asked. “Yeah, I can see that you’re nervous, Johnny. You’re sweating, Johnny. Did you know that when people sweat a lot during police interviews, it’s because they’re guilty?”

“Water. I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear if you just give me some water,” Johnny said.

Kline gave one of the other police officers in the room a nod, and the officer got up and left the interview room. “Johnny, I don’t want you to tell me what I want to hear,” Kline said. “I want you to tell me the truth. That’s all.”

The other officer who left the room came back in and handed a bottle of water to Kline. Johnny’s eyes were fixated on the bottle of water. “Okay Johnny, I’ll ask you again. Think carefully, Johnny,” Kline said as he grabbed the water bottle at the base with his left hand and moved his right hand slowly up and down the bottle as if he were masturbating the bottle. “Did you witness Victor pulling out his pistol to shoot Officer West before the officer unholstered his gun and shot Victor?”

Johnny looked at Officer Kline, then at the bottle of water in Kline’s hand. “Yes,” he said.

“Yes what, Johnny?”

“Yes, Victor pulled out his gun and was about to shoot Officer West,” Johnny lied, “and then Officer West grabbed his own gun and shot Victor. Now can I have some water?” Johnny pleaded.

“Sure, Johnny,” Officer Kline said, handing the bottle of cold water to Johnny. “You’re a good kid, Johnny. I’ll be sure to tell the DA about your cooperation with our investigation.”

FOWC with Fandango — Vary

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FOWC

Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “vary.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, ÿplease manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.

MLMM Friday Faithfuls — Where Is Everybody?

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For this week’s Mindlovemysery’s Menagerie Friday Faithfuls challenge, Jim Adams asks us to respond by writing anything about Fermi’s paradox, or if you think that Earth is more advanced than life that developed on other planets, or if you think that every civilization that reached our level of advancement self-annihilated, or the reason that we don’t see aliens is because inter-stellar travel is too difficult and just not worth the risk, or you could write about whatever else that you think might fit.

Last week Jim asked us about “liminal space” and now he’s asking about the Fermi paradox. He is making my brain hurt with these Friday Faithfuls prompts.

I actually embrace the first part of the Fermi paradox, which is based on the very high probability — the likelihood — that extraterrestrial intelligence exists somewhere else in this vast universe aside from planet Earth. But if that is the case, if there is intelligent life elsewhere, why haven’t we encountered any advanced extraterrestrial civilizations yet?

Jim already touched on several reasons why we haven’t encountered any intelligent extraterrestrial life forms. Perhaps interstellar travel is too difficult or would take too long or is too risky. Maybe these intelligent life forms are, in fact, on their way to visit us, but their journey started many, many years ago and it will be many, many more years before they are close enough to make contract with us.

Or maybe they have already sent scouts to Earth, checked out human behavior and how we are destroying each other as well as our home planet, and have hightailed it back to their home planet.

I have no solution to put forth regarding the Fermi paradox. And I am not an astrophysicist with any unique insights about intelligent extraterrestrial life to offer. But personally, if I had to choose between (1) accepting that there is a supernatural, all-knowing (omniscient), all-powerful (omnipotent), ever-present everywhere (omnipresent), and perfectly good and loving (omnibenevolent) being that created everything and who chose one planet — Earth — in the entire universe to populate with intelligent life, or (2) accepting that in the unimaginably vast universe comprised of billions and billions of stars and planets, some forms of intelligent life exists on at least some habitable planets, I choose #2.

But if there is extraterrestrial life in the universe, I don’t know the answer to the question, “Where is everybody?”