All This Digging and other Stories

By David Henderson

Debut collection of short stories: HERO - dreamer gets a chance; WATER - Getting ready; ALL THIS DIGGING - old man has enough; BLINDED - blind man sees his wrongs; DATE - teen gets a date; FORGIVEN - those two guys hanging beside Jesus; INTERVIEW - How honest do you have to be?; PURPLE HAZE - Based on a dream; STUPID ALARM CLOCK; SWITCHEROO - Two boys steal; DISHWASHER - elderly couple does chore

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Henderson
• Release date: Apr 18, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452411866

David Henderson

David Henderson is associate professor and chair of the Department of Music at St. Lawrence University. His work has been published in Ethnomusicology, Asian Music, and Popular Music and Society, and he is coeditor of Mementos, Artifacts, and Hallucinations from the Ethnographer’s Tent.

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All This Digging And other stories

David W. Henderson

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For my wife, Shannon, who puts up with much more than what ends up on the page.

All This Digging and other Stories, copyright David Henderson 1999, 2003, 2009. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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 person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

No part of this collection, whether in whole or in part, may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without express written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles, literary research and/or reviews.

First edition of this collection published in 2009.

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Author’s Ramblings

The original versions of these stories appeared in collections written for my Master’s Thesis. Approximately half were written in 1998-99 and the other half in 2002-03, with several of the first set being rewritten for the final thesis itself. The only story published outside of the project is Hero, which appeared in the 1999 edition of Proscenium, the literary magazine for Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

Not having touched the stories since 2003, I revisited them for the sole purpose of publishing them in this collection. They have been edited, though I chose to keep the stories close to the original versions, adding details here or there as I saw fit after having been away from them for so long.

Switcheroo was extracted from Interview, and I’ve included both stories so the read can see the birth of one story from another.

I hope you enjoy these tales and take pleasure in visiting some of the deepest, darkest realms that existed only in my mind’s eye before being placed on the page for the world to see.

Acknowledgements appear at the end of the book.

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Contents

Hero

Water

All This Digging

Blinded

The Date

Forgiven

Interview

Purple Haze

Stupid Alarm Clock

Switcheroo

Dishwashers

Acknowledgements

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Hero

Ever since he was a child, Jonathon had wanted to be a hero. He was nine years old when the notion first struck him. A building had caught fire over the hill from where he and his parents lived. It seemed everyone in the neighborhood showed up to watch the big, red shiny fire trucks wail into place. Heavily suited firefighters lugged their gear, axes, hoses, and extinguishers. A carefully orchestrated dance began. Each player knew his part and the stage was alive with action. Tenants screamed and shrieked as they ran from the burning backdrop. Others were carried to safety as the torrential downpour from the water hoses soaked everything nearby.

The battle seemed to last forever. Friends huddled with friends. Families searched for their missing. Strangers held onto strangers as the building quickly became a hollow shell of itself. Still smoldering, the brick building no longer had windows, doors, or a much of a roof. A solitary, empty structure stood as onlookers slowly made their way back to their houses.

For many nights after the fire, Jonathon played the scene over and over in his dreams. Oh, if only I had been a firefighter, he thought. He would have run into the building to rescue elderly grandparents, frightened babies, and damsels in distress. As the year passed, his night visions turned into daydreams. Elaborate rescue missions worthy of the silver screen played out in his mind. Nothing could stop him as he burst into the first-floor hallway batting the falling beams aside, fighting his way to the second floor. Not needing an axe, but using his shoulder instead, he breaks through an apartment door. The ever-faint whimper of a baby too frightened to cry out lead Jonathon to a rear bedroom. Smoke filled the air, so he would crawl to the door, calling out to the infant, Don’t worry; everything will be just fine. Lying on the floor, he kicks open the door and crawls over to the crib where the baby had been left behind.

Gently, Jonathon picks up the child, cradling it close to him. Dropping to the floor and removing his oxygen mask, he places it over the baby’s face. The infant gasps and wails as it begins to suddenly breathe again. Jonathon presses onward, taking only necessary breaths and crawls back into the hallway. Flaming beams crash all around him as he skillfully works his way back down the stairs.

As he approaches the outside doorway, he hears the crowd weeping. He had been given up for dead. Suddenly, through the smoke, Jonathon bursts out of building, carrying the little boy against his chest. The child’s parents rush over and gather the baby in their arms.

Time passed and eventually Jonathon forgot all about his daydream rescues. He was older now, a young man of sixteen who enjoyed biology and chemistry classes and wanted to become a doctor. Doctors make very good money, someone once told him, so he resolved to put his efforts into high school classes which would lead toward a career in the medical profession. Working hard in high school would get him into a Pre-Medicine program at the nearby university and from there into medical school from which to graduate and make lots of money. That was his plan. Then, a vision crossed his mind. It was a vision he hadn’t had in quite some time.

He would become a