Little Stories to Play With in Your Mind

By Kukuruza Judy

A collection of short stories and essays in various genres written to inspire you to think or to amuse you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Natalia Corres
• Release date: Jun 17, 2019

Book preview

Little Stories to play with

in your

Mind

Copyright © 2019 by J. Kukuruza All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Printed in the United States of America

Forward

Ever just want to take a break and grab something fast and easy to read to take you to another place? Often, if we can shift worlds, as in perspective, time, place, we find ourselves more relaxed and not       quite so overwhelmed with daily life and daily drudgeries.

This is exactly why these stories were written, and exactly why we think they will be:

a) fun

b) entertaining

c) thought provoking.

If they are none of these, we have failed you. And we apologize.

We are open to suggestions, criticism, and especially compliments. But if you simply toss it in the GoodWill bin and have not read each story—who knows what you might have missed!

Happy Reading!!!

Contents

Forward

The Letter of Cur Skib

NEWSFLASH: Girl Commits Suicide As Parents And Dog Stand By

Nothing

Moab’s Answer to Pain

George’s Day

Heaven Save Us From Hector

Burtie Lou Loves Henry

Responsibility

Vacant Eyes

Jewell and the Kerosene Lamp

Nothing is Really Free—Except Energy

Does the Truth Really Matter Now?

About the Author

The Letter of Cur Skib

Dear Sir,

I am writing this letter to you in regards to an experience I had which I feel merits your attention. It is one of imminent force and impact and has to do with my career goal: to enlighten the world to its own idiosyncrasies. But let us proceed to the matter and material at hand that will be of benefit to you and others should you decide to place my experience in print.

One dark, hot, noisy, frustrating evening in February, I was trying to do my homework for the local junior college, having very little success towards the completion of same. Not being a person of great concentrative powers, I sought a diversion and proceeded to remove myself to the outside of the home to clear my mind as I told my monitor person.

Once outside, I had great difficulty breathing in the heat and its cohort of high humidity. Looking to the sky, I arched my neck to try for whatever purer air there might be above me, and quickly noticed that the orange glow that we had seen for the last 39 days, without a break, was now a faint rose color. Had I been in Australia, this might have been the usual, but not in the S. J. Valley of California, Zone 563, Cross 421, ID #546578. We were too common for such occurrences.

Hey, Rot! I hollered up into the air. What’s up for the barbecue clique tonight?

Receiving no answer, I had to assume that Rot was nowhere in the vicinity. I continued to study the rose color as I sucked for air. Again, had it been anywhere but in the sky as we knew it, I would not have been so fascinated. Not since the Great Shift had the sky been tainted by any hue other than orange.

Cur! What’s O.S. tonight? You up?

Looking down with my eyes only, head still pointed up, I recognized Rot’s voice. I wondered if I should speak to him about the new sky. Debation, having always given me a headache before, was doing the same thing this time as I tried to decide what to do.

Cur, you blind or something?

I see you, I retorted. Don’t you know that some people can hear, too? A few of us still have ears left, you know. Check next time, will ya?

Blah, blah, blah. Been swimming yet?

Not tonight. I thought, well…Sure is hot enough now, isn’t it?

Hot isn’t my concern, he sarcastically replied.

Why so touchy? I asked.

Remember the Stephen King story about the mass in the lake that sucked up people and left no trace?

Sure, I answered. So what? Do we have our own little sucker-upper now?

Go ahead. Get fnurly on me. I’m not exactly obligated to bring you the latest news, you know.

I could hear him start shuffling away from my area, so I called out to him, Hey, Rot! Come on back! What do you know that I want to know?

The shuffling stopped Well, since you asked…

Could you come just a little closer, guy, so’s I can hear you better, I said, almost pleading.

Yeah, I forgot. Say, how’s the old eyesight doing? Any new developments yet? An uncharacteristically sympathetic tone colored Rot’s voice.

Screw new developments and eyesight and all that rot. Oh, sorry, Rot. I mean, no one has time to dwell on finding out what’s wrong with your eyesight as long as you still have some, you know? Plus, I’ve still got ears, so I’m one of the lucky ones. But this isn’t important—what about the lake and the sucker and Stephen King and all that stuff?

You’re never going to believe this, he started excitedly. Remember how Pik and Gon were always bragging that they could swim in the lake even with the crud on the water’s surface from the Great Shift? And how they initiated people into their stupid frarority by making them swim out there when the water hit 96 degrees fahrenheit?"

I laughed softly. That’s only because the jerks didn’t know the fahrenheit scale and thought it would be nice and cool.

True, that part was choice, even funny. But anyway, these two fnurly characters came along and wanted to join the frarority, too. Pik and Gon were in shift heaven! They decided they would outdo themselves this time and set up this really quibacious initiation. Then they invited all the menders to come watch.

Sexists! I shouted as I broke in.

Look, you wanna hear this or not, Cur? If we get started on sexism now, we’ll be here 15 minutes!

All right, all right. So what did you get to see? I grudgingly asked.

Okay. The lake was all gray as usual, right?

I nodded in acknowledgement.

Ninety-six degrees and holding. Got it?

Come on, Rot! Get on with it!

"Don’t rush me. This is worth waiting for. Anyway, the two fnurls are stripped down to their asbestos suits, ready to dive in, with about eleven of us watching. Pik goes over the rules of conduct, which bored us all to hell, and then starts in on how honored a person should feel to be a part of the father/mother complex. We all start yawning, so Gon picks up the old proverbial ball and says, ‘To be accepted you’re going to swim out to the markers with these containers, and bring them back full of the plutonium floating on the