Baggage: Act 1: Quickies

By Colby Van Wagoner

Before the perfect proposals, and the I dos, rather than telling tales of nostalgic romance and love, comes a diverse blend of unique participants facing awkward encounters of ambiguity in the dating scene! Baggage presents an anthology of people immersed in social interactions, internet dating and swiping, encounters leading to choices between hook ups, mishaps, or agreeing to disagree.
The environments vary from restaurants, clubs, coffee shops, even the library, and public places or behind closed doors. Experience the dates, hang outs and hook ups, all the passion and desire within moments of quickies, packed full of Baggage! The experiences in life when things are not as they appear. Expect the worst and hope for the best, but join the rest, during an upstream struggle among the other fish in the stream, trying to achieve the impossible dream at the end of the dating pool!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Colby Van Wagoner
• Release date: Feb 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781650182377

Colby Van Wagoner

Colby Van Wagoner is a versatile and descriptive American author. Offering a variety of genres, the vision is to create unique plots and exciting twists in storytelling. His first book release, Massacre Cave, was written as part of a trilogy called "The Crow Mountain Series". The Crow Mountain books evolve around the Navajo shape shifter, commonly referred to as the Skinwalker, blending between combinations of horror and classic authentic late 1800s western authenticity.H.H. Holmes: The Devil In Me, is Colby's fourth full length release and best seller. The book is based on the true events of America's first captured, tried, and sentenced, "termed" and documented serial killer. Chicago's twisted killer H.H. Holmes. The book presents a unique and controversial twist, which delves deep inside the mind and from the serial killer's point of view.A 5th book release, Earth Mongers, combines historical events in an unexpected science fiction twisting finale, which explores a thrilling new approach to natural disasters, and global disasters. On the brink of global catastrophe, populations are forced to look at their choices, leaders of countries are forced to make tough decisions, or face extinction.Dead in Love is Colby Van Wagoner's 6th, and first, release in "The Dead" Zombie double release. In a small town, local residents rumor of the military's basic operations and chemical experiments taking place inside. In their complicit living is the facility's development of two separate and top secret compounds, tested on lab animals and soon local humans mysteriously removed from nearby hospitals and the local surrounding. Baxter a local resident, is soon caught up in a secretive fight to save himself and the love of his life, Laylianna, during the impending outbreak.Volume One is a collection of eight horror novellas that stretch between the paranormal and supernatural. Released in 2013. As a young child, Aurora discovers, "Baby Doll Head" a vessel possessing mysterious mind control powers. Stories include a family of inbreds who terrorize and seek to control families inside the Cult House. A Love Not Lost, explores an aging embalmer who has lost touch with reality after the loss of his wife. Alex in Horrorland takes a young boy on a journey through an imaginary world of horror. A group of travelers board a train and fall victim to a family of rail workers in Blood, Flesh, and Bone. The Shadows of Kayakoy come to life as a group of travelers make a terrible choice to remain overnight in the ghost town. Bleak, the end of all existence? Finally, Aurora's all grown up in Parallel, where her realities unite and realities occur in real time as she mentally deteriorates. She is committed to an asylum, influenced by nightmares and the supernatural, Volume One takes readers on a rollercoaster ride of suspense and horror.Compound is about a group of diverse travelers making their way through a Brazilian quarantine zone. Fleeing from town to town, the travelers attempt to survive and seek refuge from a viral outbreak.Fever is about a Texas Ranger witnessing the murders of his family. Texas Ranger Zeke Slade takes matters into his own hands. Instead of bringing his family's killers to justice, to stand trial, he makes the decision to serve his own justice, avenging the murders of his family on his own terms, breaking his oath as a Texas Ranger. The Adjutant General offers Zeke Slade the choice of facing prison time, or accepting a marshal position in an Alaskan mining town, Fever.The Jack and Jillian Book Series are Colby Van Wagoner's children's books. Jack and Jillian write about learning and creating new things. They write about the sports they are learning, how to play safely, and learning the rules to play fair. Jack and Jillian also learn about art and how to create different forms of art. The series is aimed at encouraging, challenging young minds, and motivating them to remain active, both physically and mentally.Massacre Cave, Crow Mountain, Return to Crow Mountain, H.H. Holmes: The Devil In Me, Earth Mongers, Dead in Love, Volume One, the Jack and Jillian Children's Book Series, Compound, and Fever are available online at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, and other U.S. and international book retailers. In its first month out Colby Van Wagoner's books have reached the top 50 on the Amazon bestsellers rank!After experiencing a traumatic brain injury in 2014, which required a craniotomy and recovery, Colby Van Wagoner completed a bachelor's and master's degree in psychology. After 4 years of recovery and adjustment to the physical and mental challenges, he was able to complete a new title called, A Time for Heroes: 2017 Las Vegas Shooting. The book was completed in 2018 and covers the tragic Las Vegas mass shooting through first hand witness accounts, local law enforcement's and the FBI's official case files. Working with factual combined evidence, and a thorough historical background on the shooter, the detailed research and work includes a full psychological and behavioral profile assessment of mass shooter, Stephen Paddock. The book also accounts harrowing and gripping stories of survival and honors, in remembrance, those who were lost in the Las Vegas, Nevada public attack.Colby continues to challenge his writing style and plots, improve his craft through learning different writing and editing techniques, through distinct and unique story progression, while combining historical events and exciting fictional exploration and original ideas.

Book preview

Baggage

Act I: Quickies

By

Colby Van Wagoner

© 2020 Colby Van Wagoner

Baggage – Act 1: Quickies

Published by:

Colby Van Wagoner

Smashwords Edition License

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the author's work. All rights reserved by expressed ownership of the author. Any unauthorized use or reproduction of this work restricted, in any form, except with author permission for a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

No humans, animals, or insects were harmed during the typing of this book.

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1650182377

Other titles available from the author:

See Through Myself: A Memoir

A Time for Heroes: 2017 Las Vegas Shooting

H.H. Holmes: The Devil in Me

Crow Mountain Series

Massacre Cave - Book one

Crow Mountain - Book two

Return to Crow Mountain - Book three

Life of Zeke Slade Series

Ranger - Book one

Fever – Book two

Compound

Dead in Love

Volume One – (The Volumes)

Earth Mongers

Jack and Jillian Children’s Book Series

Visit the author’s website for updates on future books: @ www.colbyvanwagoner.com

Thanks!

To my Mom, Lynda, and all the wonderful memories, as my guiding light. Gill and Julie Van Wagoner. To the best cats, and three wonderful little feline souls, my cats, Boots, Sage, and Siris. Vaughn, ‘Uncs.’ My good friends; Kathy and Daniel, and Larry, Heike, Danny, Angelo, Mary, and Walker, Rachelle, and Jessica. Thanks Lehi, and Eureka, Utah peeps! Ashford University. Thank you to all my friends and, you, the reader. Life inspires and influences a motivation to continue improving my craft.

Thanks to Duane at:

Books and the Bear Editing @ www.booksandthebear.com

Contents

'Prologue'

Chapter 0 ‘Wingman’

Chapter 1 'You Play, You Pay'

Chapter 2 ‘Sassy Cats!’

Chapter 3 ‘Room Service’

Chapter 4 ‘Wait for it, Surprise!’

Chapter 5 ‘Receptor Tickler’

Chapter 6 ‘Whoa, Easy, Easy!’

Chapter 7 ‘Single’

Chapter 8 ‘Wicked-Type Thing’

Chapter 9 ‘Switcheroo’

Chapter 10 ‘Catfished’

Chapter 11 ‘Top Hat’

‘Epilogue’

‘Prologue’

A person in the dating scene is more likely to experience:

A) This

B) That

C) Nothing

D) The other

E) All the Above

The answer is in the Epilogue of the book.

Chapter 0

‘Wingman’

Ladies and gentlemen welcome to Baggage - Act 1: Quickies! It’s a privilege to be here with you. My name is Jesse Woods, and I am your host, presenting the first paragraphs before each chapter. Look, we all know the confusing process a single person can experience, internalizing the thousands of approach methods, asking someone for a date. Some people might even say, I just want to hang out with you. That is some slick shit singles have discovered as a loophole to get their quickies. Let’s put it in perspective, the first approach toward some potential dating material feels like being a rookie pilot during the first landing attempt in some serious, life-threatening, treacherous conditions. Our first participant is Amanda, and her life lacks organizational skills, among other things. Of course, no one is perfect; who is? Rest assured, Amanda is in the steady hands of Captain Will Starks, our attentive pilot with extensive skills in all flight scenarios. He is the master when it comes to the male and female strategies and understands the importance of having an equally skilled copilot, also known as your wingman, for lack of a better term.

The pilot performs beyond attention to detail when going through the motions, is precise with all maneuvers, aligns movements for each final approach, and nails every landing in the exact position. Depending on the airport terminal’s location of approach, swift changes in weather conditions always present unexpected winds, sudden occurrences through extreme updrafts and pressing downdrafts or side shears of microbursts. A pilot’s skills adapt to between turmoil, resulting in some harsh runway conditions, just like the dating scene. Amanda, she is never fully prepared for the expected or unexpected departures, and prompt arrivals, because of a lack of focus, complications, and distractions, and nonexistent practice time due to her inexperience. Yet, Captain Starks is not only there to bring her in for a comfortable, safe landing but instruct during and after her flight experiences. Take off is honestly much more natural than landing in the harshest of conditions, not for Captain Will Starks. Even with people’s false concepts of auto pilot, a pilot and copilot must always have the controls, in every situation, and perform in unison! So, without further ado, folks, let’s start the show!

~

Amanda feels the need to post her flight itinerary to social media: On my way to the airport. The flight’s at 1:35; boards at 1:20, planning for a noon arrival.

Another update to her followers: Never

been this early to the airport in years, stopping for a quick snack.

That message and each of Amanda’s updates receive dozens of likes and responses from people who feel their blood pressure rise, imagining what it would feel like to arrive early to the airport with an hour to spare. A much simpler life, if only a passenger could arrive at the airport early or with extra time to spare. But, for some passengers, it is an impossible challenge to achieve because some never make the ticket counter or even pass through the security line. These are people who miss their flights, entirely!

A late arrival is a risky gamble when running the gambit inside any airport. Passengers arrange their schedules in hopes nothing unexpected occurs, from leaving the house early to the point of carefully handling their ticket like a precious trinket until reaching the gate attendant. A misplaced ticket means an inability to board the intended flight; tickets tend to be a major focus for all skilled travelers. People plan strategically, well-oiled robotically programmed machines. This way, if one out of the hundred imperfect sequences of unexpected events goes wrong, the one passenger is to blame and not the hundreds of other passengers who plan with precision to arrive early at the airport.

Amanda’s last experience missing a flight happened right as the gate doors shut in front of her during a last-second dash for the entrance. The gate attendant exclaiming, Sorry, this flight has already boarded; next time, try arriving earlier! as he turned up his nose and left. No excuses could get her through those doors to board; in her hand, a non-refundable ticket.

Airport arrival styles are diverse ways of minor indications for emotional problems: the extreme anxiety of airline travel, and each person’s various abilities to manage high stress situations. One person is efficient, highly prepared, while others articulate their stress in unusual manners. It’s not that late people aren’t as stressed out as early people; only their coping mechanisms show a complete lack of the ability to effectively address the negative aspects of their lives. For some people, it is simply not reasonable to feel calm and relaxed in their day-to-day lives. Everything requires the need for an overly dramatic performance, by throwing public fits filled with chaos and all forms of gross abnormalities in every detailed observation they make in the surrounding environment; oh, the humanity!

Their actions feel entirely reasonable, and acceptable to them because it has become the status quo to their reality. Nothing out of the ordinary, behaving like a ranting lunatic when forced to wait in a line like everyone else. Attention; what makes being at an airport, checking in for a ticket and weighing each bag, going through security, and walking onto an airplane any different for a person with stress in their life? People like this have somehow managed to learn how to deal with their stress levels in public; they think before they react!

Others, not so well, and it becomes an OUTRAGOUS deal, You will be speaking with my attorney!

Amanda is halfway between managing her public stress but tends to cause a scene from time to time. Still, she can lose her composure in unfamiliar environments, and it can become quite uncomfortable, not intentional, just awkward. Suddenly, it becomes the perfect example of the transformation into the frenzied passenger late for a flight. She moves about irrationally, snarling at innocent bystanders, at times starts foaming at the mouth, weaving between the on-time travelers at a pace between power walking and a sprint, trying to avoid embarrassing injuries.

At the security line, she elbows ahead, Please, it’s an emergency! Excuse me, let me through, to the front of the TSA line; she pleads her case, I need to have an immediate screening; my brother died, I need to make this flight for a funeral! Amanda panics, becoming red in the face with bloodshot eyes, and the suitcase wheels will not cooperate, flailing behind her.

Amanda travels on regular occasions but prefers driving to her expected destinations, avoids air travel altogether. She drives at a turtle’s pace; which is why she is always late; hours late, during expected trips, just for the sake of enjoying the scenic route. However, this flight is different, considering a death in the family and extreme stress levels strike in a moment of panic. She moves as quickly as someone can through the security check; quite impressively removing those high heels, her electronic tablet, and every item sealed in plastic, realizing she could miss the flight as well as her brother’s funeral. The security agents look on with wide eyes at Amanda’s intensity, exchanging impressive looks at her manic but skilled frantic levels of organized chaos.

Amanda is typically late on every occasion. On any other day, sure, but today it is not acceptable, Please return your items to your carry-on bag, miss. The TSA agent finishes the security scan, Yoouu’ree weelcoomee! the agent says in a slowly awkward tone among the crowded line of passengers chattering and rolling their eyes. Passengers not at all preparing for their turns to move through the security checkpoint.

Amanda is annoyed by people who know their responsibilities but cannot follow through with expectations, even though she holds others to lofty standards. A complete hypocrisy and significant means to express displeasure using displacement, highlighting other people’s problems, overshadowing her inabilities to face and manage her accountability issues. Such as being late to the airport; if she would only prepare beforehand, pack the night before, set the alarm to leave early, and drive straight to the airport, check in, and walk to the gate. The pilots, airline staff members, each of the mechanics, baggage handlers, all work in unison to ensure every passenger’s prompt arrival for landing safely at their destinations. Their focus is on the job, the demands for high-quality service, and managing all the issues that can go wrong or prove fatal on an airline flight.

If only Amanda could manage an early airport arrival, the flight could run a little smoother within the machine. She cannot recall losing the accuracy for a clear state of mind, an ability to concentrate, and her frame of mind to set the alarm, leave and arrive five or ten minutes early for once. She is always assuming other people who were rushing through the airport did their best to be on time; if their best is not good enough, it’s subjective to other people’s points of view as being unreliable. A person who is about to fly, as pricey and anxious as flying is, can reach extreme risk levels. The consequences raise the levels of internal stress and throw it all into chaos, which is the time some people hit the bar!

A man ahead of Amanda turns, I hope your next experience is less stressful, involves more planning. I couldn’t help but overhear about your brother, and I’m sorry to hear about your loss.

She is wiping the tears from her cheeks, Oh, thank you! I don’t know the reason people feel the need for these rushes of panic, literally running through the airport barefoot because now I don’t have time to put on my shoes, and my laptop is out. She retrieves her belongings, rushing away.

One of the TSA agents calls out, I will try and contact the gate and have the attendant notify the pilot to wait as long as possible, considering your circumstances! as if any gate attendant, security agent, or pilot would hold up a plane for any reason, rock the boat, unless there was a high level threat scenario involved, No guarantees.

Amanda recognizes this last dash is all on her shoulders. She could use her cell phone to call in an anonymous bomb threat to hold up the plane, but that is another entire risk factor. The threat level risk in one that includes the traceable phone number, consequences, and the chance for federal prison time! She considers reaching into her purse for her cell phone, No. She makes a smart choice by avoiding the bomb threat.

Her path takes her across the airport in a barefoot sprint, at breakneck speed, through slow moving people and motor carts, extended lines stretching out into the pavilion and from bars — other lines extending from the bathrooms, and some into restaurants. Nothing stood in the way between Amanda’s attempts to make the gate like a sprinter in an Olympic marathon, or the skills of an NFL running back maneuvering through other players; it is a record-breaking first-rate performance.

Amanda spots the gate and sighs, seeing an open door supervised by the gate attendant, "Hurry, we are in the