A Very Short Collection of Very Short Stories

By Maniel

These seven short stories cover such topics as family, injuries and illness, journalism, war, and business. Based on real-life incidents, they are meant to provoke reflections on such character issues as integrity, friendship, prejudice, courage, and respect. Those who enjoy these stories might like the trilogy, The Manifest Destiny Network Chronicles, to appear in summer, 2012. The following stories are included:
The Baseball Practice gives us a glimpse of father-son expectations and relations through the prism of sports;
The Reporter and the Counselor is the story of a high-school journalist confronted with a serious issue of integrity;
Like a Finger Poking me in the Back is the story of life and death issues in the era of modern medicine;
Union Man portrays friendship, loyalty, and respect across a philosophical divide;
I know what to do is a look at life in a large company where things are never quite what they appear to be;
The Random Walk dissects a scary traffic accident which happens to more than just the apparent victim;
A Walk in the Past is a description of how, in the face of prejudice, honor and respect can sometimes be gained through creativity and courage.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maniel
• Release date: Jul 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476024462

Maniel

By training and profession, I am an engineer; my years of engineering experience have taught me that “good intentions” do not determine results. Success in engineering is objective: your bridge will stand, your machine will function, and your computer program will run correctly, only if designed and built in strict adherence to physical laws and principles; emotions generally have little to do with engineering outcomes. Since the discipline of engineering, meeting goals through actions based on proven principles, is lacking in our daily lives, it is no surprise that it is missing from our public policy.Having said all that, I am reminded of a personal ad posted in our school newspaper by a coed who described herself as "dynamic and attractive" and who wanted to meet a "passionate, active young man." The final words in the ad were, "no engineers." We are all well served by humility and a sense of humor.

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A Very Short Collection of Very Short Stories

by Maniel

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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Maniel on Smashwords

A Very Short Collection of Very Short Stories

Copyright © 2012 by Maniel

Thank you for downloading this free eBook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. The stories in this book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided they remain in their complete original forms.

Your support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated.

All stories in this book are works of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The characters and events are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

The Baseball Practice

By Maniel

I love that smell, says Jerry.

That’s manure, says Mr. Bloom.

It smells like baseball to me, Mr. Bloom.

Jerry has to smell baseballs because he can’t see them, I say.

Jerry playing baseball, manure, it’s the same thing, says Marvin.

You kids sure can talk. Warm up so that we can start!

It’s nice of your dad to take us out like this, I say.

He says it keeps him young, says Danny, but he does it for me.

Everyone ready? asks Mr. Bloom after several minutes of warm-up throws. Let’s take some infield, he says, carrying a long thin bat. We are on one of four baseball diamonds on the huge square field in southwest Los Angeles.

Bring it home, yells Mr. Bloom, sounding hoarse in the winter chill. Jerry at third base fields Mr. Bloom’s first ground ball and fires it home. Danny at shortstop and Marvin at second do likewise. Howard at first throws home wildly. At the plate, I can’t reach it and Mr. Bloom skips out of the way.

Hey, don’t make me an orphan in junior high school, yells Danny.

After about fifteen minutes, Mr. Bloom wraps up infield practice and takes a bag of used baseballs to the pitcher’s mound. Howard, you hit first. Wes, left field.

Right field, says Howard. I hit left-handed. I go to right field.

With short, powerful arms, Mr. Bloom looks like a tree stump on the pitcher’s mound. He reaches into the yellow bucket next to him, produces a grass-stained baseball, winds a bit awkwardly, and throws a low strike. Howard drives the pitch to deep right field, over my head. He hits most of the following pitches to right or center field. Then, Mr. Bloom yells, Danny, you’re next. Danny finds his bat, takes some warm-up swings, and steps up to hit.

Get that bat off your shoulder, says Mr. Bloom.

Danny ignores the suggestion. Mr. Bloom winds and throws – Danny coils and uncoils smoothly and meets ball in front of the plate, driving it deep to left-center field.

Yeah, Danny, get that bat off your shoulder, yells Howard.

Danny drives the next pitch toward the pitcher’s mound catching his father on the thigh. I don’t see how you can hit with that bat on your shoulder, says Mr. Bloom through clenched teeth, dancing off the mound and rubbing his thigh.

Sorry, Dad. Are you okay?

They’re here again, announces Jerry.

Who’s here? asks Howard.

That big guy and his little kid.

What are you talking about?

Look over there, says Jerry, pointing at the adjacent field.

What about it? asks Howard.

Watch the way the man pitches. He scares his kid to death.

We stop to watch the man wind and throw hard toward the boy at the plate. The boy backs away. The man walks part way toward the boy, points at him, and yells something.

Have you seen them before? asks Howard.

Yeah, says Jerry. It makes me sick.

Why don’t we go over there? asks Howard.

Forget it, says Mr. Bloom, still walking off the pain, it’s none of our business.

Then Howard says, I’ll be right back, and starts walking. Jerry follows.

We came to play, boys, not start a fight, yells Mr. Bloom.

There won’t be any fight, Howard replies, still walking. As Mr. Bloom, Danny, Marvin, and