Delectus

By P Garrett Weiler

Delectus is a short and eclectic anthology ideal for passing the time while you're stuck in line at the bank or bogged down in traffic. Mainstream to westerns, Delectus is well worth a read.

• Language: English
• Publisher: P Garrett Weiler
• Release date: Jul 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476142128

P Garrett Weiler

Just your average guy, but one who can't stop writing (I know 'cause I've tried) Been at it a long time, too, with several publications. I'm retired now after cutting a not-so-wide path through the computer industry. Oh well, it paid the bills. Home is the Pacific Northwest, where you know it's summer when the rain gets warmer. I truly hope that anyone reading my stuff is both pleased with it and maybe even stirred up some too.

Book preview

DELECTUS

By

P. Garrett Weiler

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 by P. Garrett Weiler

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Delectus

Chatper 2: Wanderlust

Chapter 3: Jenny and Friends

Chapter 4: Comanche Moon

Chapter 5: Alien Assessment

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Chapter 1: Delectus

In the cool isolation of the big silver-sided Greyhound, Leland drowsily pondered his past. In the bus, desperation and disappointment were no more than a distant, barely heard echo.

A Readers’ Digest article had promised him that he’d be more acceptable to others if he showed interest in their opinions and ideas. So it was that one afternoon after work he sat in Tanks’ Town with a burly co-worker everybody called Mush.

This round’s on me, Leland shouted over the blaring jukebox. So, what’s going to happen now that Eisenhower’s teeing off at the big steel outfits?

Mush’s eyes flared beneath heavy brows. That son-of-a-bitch! My brother-in-law just got laid off ‘cause of him and them other union-bustin’ bastards. Empty beer bottles clinked when his meaty fist hammers the tabletop. "Damned

Republicans to hell! Oughta… Belch! Oughta string ‘em all up by the short hairs. He grunts and slides from the booth. Gotta go pee," he says.

The bus reached out for low barren hills. Around the door, wind warped into a low whistling, alive with some urgent intent.

Reader’ Digest had also told him that people were put off by a negative attitude, and so he stopped himself from ever complaining about even the mildest annoyance.

Johnny Harrison stumbled into the crowded city bus, dark pea jacket wet with snow, collar up around his scrawny neck. He glances at Leland, looks around for another seat, then shrugs and collapses next to him.

Stinkin’ weather, Harrison grumbles. He sniffs and runs a finger under his reddened nose.

Leland puts on another face, this one concerned and hopeful. Spring’s just around the corner, Johnny. Be here before you know it.

Bull shit! Damned cold hangs on all winter. Harrison sneezes then turns away to gaze listlessly at the grey city outside.

In spite of Readers’ Digest, nothing Leland did ever made any difference; nothing ever changed, no matter how hard he tried to mold and remake himself. Even when he tried to joke and kid around with the other guys at work, his puns and teasings usually stirred up nothing more than resentful stares, as though he was an intruder.

Three men outside O’Malley’s wire mesh cage. O’Malley thrusts a hand through the opening where he hands out supplies. His middle finger salutes the men. Up yours! the old man snarls good-naturedly.

The men laugh and slap at the cage. What’s that, O’Malley, one of them asks, Your IQ or your occupation?

Their fellowship pulls at Leland. He grins and puts on another face and leans against O’Malley’s cage. There he is, men. . .Jake O’Malley, living proof that Nestor Manufacturing hires the mentally handicapped.

Sudden silence. Glances dart away, joviality trampled by irritation. More puzzling than his failures were those people not blessed with any of the attributes hailed by Readers’ Digest.

In the smoke-filled lunchroom, Frankie Solano always dominated, usually with what Leland felt certain were contrived tales of lurid sexual encounters. Actually, Solano was more skilled at