That's My Story!

By G.H. Monroe

A collection of short stories that include a man on the lucky run of a lifetime, a woman momentarily seized by her own road rage, a new twist on the ever-present monster beneath the bed, and many more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: G.H. Monroe
• Release date: Dec 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9780615229928

G.H. Monroe

Born on the eve of Christmas, 1960, I spent the larger part of my adult life working in the information technologies field but have never strayed far from my true passion, which is writing. My debut book, “That’s My Story!” materialized not from a quest to write a book, but from a passion for writing short stories. After years of writing short stories simply for the love of writing, I ended up with a collection of short stories that some say is suitable for compilation. I lives in Western New York near the Pennsylvania border where I am working on my first full-length novel while actively marketing “That’s My Story!”

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That's My Story!

That's My Story! Is a work of fiction; names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2008 by Gerald H. Monroe

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Published 2008 by Gerald H. Monroe

ISBN 978-0-6152-2992-8

Cover Art copyright, Brian Armstrong

Text copyright 2008 by Gerald H. Monroe

Also by G.H. Monroe

The Ramblings of s Lonely Stranger

The Hanley Chronicles

Dedication

To my daughter, Lindsay, who continues to believe in me.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Margaret Wood, Paul Aronson, Stan Holland, Lindsay Monroe, Kathy Osborn, Danielle Pierre and Brian Armstrong for their encouragement and/or hard work in helping me to complete this book.

Table of Contents

Rick's Lucky Day – A shy, nebbish fellow who is unaccustomed to the attention of Lady Luck, comes to Las Vegas for a long weekend and meets her face to face.

The Landlord – In this peculiar tale of just desserts, we get confirmation that like fate, comeuppance works in mysterious ways.

Road Rage – This story focuses on humanity's all too common inability to control its rage and lets us peer through a window into one woman's wild ride with her own fury.

Debts – The story of a man whose past acts catch up to him in a way that he would never have imagined.

Wreck – On a rainy night, two emergency medical technicians struggle to determine what, exactly, is the right thing to do.

What's Under My Bed? – The monster that has lurked under children's beds throughout the ages makes one more appearance in this warped kid's tale gone deliciously amok.

Nightmare on Haifa Street – A US soldier struggles with the horrors of war and tries mightily to hold on to a shred of his humanity.

Just Coffee – A busy executive is running short on time, patience, and composure, as she tries to grab a cup of coffee on her way to the office.

Cherry Icees – A snapshot of a disturbingly fortuitous moment in the lives of a doting father and his little girl.

Shaken, Not Stirring – A disturbing story that we all wish would never again need to be told.

The Morning Paper – An old woman's frightening morning encounter is not exactly what it appears to be.

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Rick's Lucky Day

Rick Schneider sat rigidly on his stool, staring in abject horror at the two cards lying in front of him on the bright green felt of the blackjack table. Six hours ago, Rick sat down at the twenty-five dollar table with what remained of his vacation fund. His vacation had been very enjoyable and it was winding down to an end. He figured he would play a little blackjack until he lost his last few dollars, and all he'd have left would be his plane ticket home and his prepaid room for his last night in Las Vegas.

But something peculiar was happening on this night.

He ran his hand through his black hair as his dark brown eyes squinted against the exhaustion of a long day. He was having difficulty grasping the reality of what was happening.

Sir? the dealer said, interrupting Rick's momentary haze of disbelief.

Oh … Sorry, Rick said, snapping out of it long enough to turn over the card that he'd already stolen a peek at.

Another Blackjack! the dealer loudly announced.

A statuesque redhead with vacant brown eyes leaned into him.I've never seen anyone this lucky before!

She was close enough to press various parts of her anatomy against him in a manner that made concentration impossible, and made the casino seem much warmer than it actually was. Being a rather nebbish fellow of fragile physique and limited social skills, Rick was unaccustomed to such attention.

It's got to end soon, Rick muttered as he anxiously organized his lofty stacks of hundred dollar chips.

Rick's words echoed the silent thoughts of the pit boss, who stood a few feet off to the side, quietly watching this spectacle of good fortune.

However no end was in sight, and in the next hour, Rick won fifteen of the sixteen hands that were dealt. He'd sat down with his last $175.00, and now he had something over $27,000 and he didn't like it. No sir, he didn't like it one little bit.

You see, in his thirty-seven years, Rick was never one to attract very much good fortune. As a matter of fact, he'd long ago resigned himself to the reality that bad luck seemed to stalk him like a crocodile slinking up on a sipping gazelle. He saw this run of