Blue Zen And Five More Short Stories

By Tom Marlow

Introducing a full half dozen short stories, some humorous, some poignant. Blue Zen is perfect for those among us with short attention spans or limited time to read. Laugh or cry with the characters. It's your choice. Topics include love, philosophy, tragedy, uncommom culinary arts, diet science, and just how far a man will go for a beer. It's all here in Blue Zen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tom Marlow
• Release date: Sep 24, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311108005

Tom Marlow

Tom Marlow was born in 1951 in Toledo Ohio (holy Toledo!). After his formal education in computer science, he was employed at Ford Aerospace, NASA Ames Research Center in California and as a self employed software developer. During most of those years, he was engaged in writing software in obscure machine languages. After leaving the hi-tech world behind, he started writing in English, a slightly less cryptic language.Love of sailing and travel have influenced his writing. He started sailing as a pre-teen on an older brother's Sunfish, which was little more than a surfboard and sail. In subsequent years, he sailed aboard larger yachts for thousands of miles to destinations including Hawaii, Central America, BVIs and Greece. His sailing exploits are documented at www.ketch-22.com.He now lives in San Jose California with his wife Naty who shares his love for travel, but not for off-shore ocean passages.

Book preview

Blue Zen

And Five More Short Stories

Copyright 2014 Tom Marlow

Published by Tom Marlow

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with other people, 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 enjoyment, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

For a complete listing of novels written by Tom Marlow, go to http://www.svspider.com.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

1 - Touch Me with Your Eyes Only

2 – Blue Zen

3 – Thanks for Not Laughing

4 – Cockroaches, Meatloaf and Marvin

5 – Of Diets and Constipation

6 – Things a Man Will Do For a Beer

About The Author

Acknowledgements

The stories herein are fictional. As in all fiction, a nugget of truth survives. I want to thank those many, some known and some not, who provided me with the nuggets.

1 - Touch Me with Your Eyes Only

It was a Sunday in early December; a festive time of year in La Cruz. The days were short and warm and the nights were long and cool. The entire village was whipping itself into a frenzy of activity in preparation for the celebration of the anniversary of Our Lady of the Canyon. Young lovers Francisco and Lupita, caught up in the excitement, had dreamily meandered hand-in-hand into the town plaza. There they sat and conversed while awaiting the start of church services in honor of Santa Joni, the village patron saint. Excitement lingered in the air, mingling with the aromatic cooking smells wafting from the kitchen window of every casita in the surrounding pueblo.

In the plaza, jovial crowds were milling about. Small children were running around aimlessly, spasmodically jumping about in a youthful celebration of life. The adolescents were gathered in small groups; girls giggling in furtive conversations, the boys showing off for them. The adults sat on stiff-backed benches or stone ledges surrounding the town plaza. The men were discussing their day's work and the women were discussing the latest village gossip in quiet conversations. The town elders were engaged in melancholy exchanges regarding the state of their health and their lost youth. The mayor had only recently arrived and was in quiet contemplation. He was smugly absorbing it all, looking around with pride and barely concealed conceit. The overflow attendance in the plaza was an affirmation of the vitality of the village; his village.

Though already crowded, the villagers continued to wander in from the outer edges of the barrio toward the central plaza. Actively engaged in conversation with friends and neighbors, the hubbub grew louder as they approached the revelers already in the plaza. Everyone knew the year-end holidays were approaching and this particular feast day was only the first of many to celebrate the church's solemn liturgical schedule. Vendors selling from wooden carts with wooden spoke wheels ringed the plaza, hawking all things festive from cotton candy to fiesta sparklers. The unwritten rule of the village demanded that the merchants not appropriate space in the plaza itself. It