The End.

Death is the ultimate motivator. There are some that think (hope) that death is not the end. They pray it is only the finish line and an after party awaits. They are wrong. They are children unable to sleep from the fear and excitement of what Santa might bring Christmas morning. They don't want to believe that there is no Santa. There is only their parents. And what they leave under the tree depends on their wealth. It may not coincide with their hopes and dreams. Hope, dreams, are advertisements for the life we want to live. Few of us can afford the courage to live these lives. But the potential is in all of us. First, you must admit that death is the end of everything. What you do now, today, matters now, and today. Don't save up for a vacation you will never take. Explore your world now and learn everything you possibly can. Allow your mind to change as you take in new information. An open mind is not a sponge, it is a spell-checker.

Relax, you are alive. And the odds against that ever happening are unfathomable. Open your eyes, ears, and mouth. Take it all in. The dead cannot taste. They don't know The Doors, and they've never seen Avatar.

Preview - Piso Mojado

Here is a preview of something I've been working on for awhile.  Hope to have the completed work posted soon.

She slipped inside and did her best to close the door without a sound. Before she even bothered switching on the light, she bent over to take the bear traps off of her feet. She sighed in relief as they popped off of her heels.

Still bent over, she could tell something was out of place. In the darkness of her living room she could see the silhouettes of her furniture and that they were arranged differently. There was a new piece of furniture in the center of the room. It was very long and came up to her shoulder's height. “Is it a surprise?” She wondered. She grew excited and wanted to guess what it was before flipping the light switch on. At that size, it had to be a couch or something similar. But why was everything else rearranged? She gave in to her eagerness and turned on the light.

She squinted at the shock of the light hitting her eyes. She drew her gaze to the floor until her eyes could adjust. She could see her couch and coffee table had been moved up against the wall. She could see the surprise out of the corner of her eye. It was about seven feet long and was resting on a cart with wheels. It looked like polished wood with metal trim. She had seen one several times in the past, just not in her own living room. “Why the hell is there a coffin in my living room?” She said aloud.

The Quixotic Dick - Part 5

It took a huge chunk out of the deposit I received for this job, but I was able to “rent” a uniform from one of the bus boys in the hotel restaurant.  I decided I should start accumulating various disguises for the future, it would save me money in the long run.
Once my disguise was secured I had to stand guard at my suspect’s door.  I had to intercept the room service guy and pay him off to let me deliver their dinner.  When I saw the suspect slip a hundie to the waiter and whisper in his ear, I knew he was placing a special order for his room.  I was proud of my keen detective’s intuition.
I waved to the server as he pushed the cart down the hall.  I smiled and acted like we were best friends.  I told him I could take it from here and he was wanted back in the kitchen immediately.  This was met with an appropriate “Que?”.  Of course.  He didn’t speak English.  What was I thinking?
Did you know that if you add the letter “O” to any word it becomes Spanish?  A lot of sign language and a few million pesos later, I was able to get the cart from the guy.  It was frustrating to watch my money bleed all over the place like that, but it was the only way I knew how to get what I needed.
I could hear laughter behind the door.  I knocked and delivered my Oscar nominated dialogue “room service!”.  I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t what I saw when the door opened.

The Quixotic Dick - Part 4

The clothes do not make this man.  

I dug out an old suit I bought for my grand-dad’s funeral.  That was the first and last time I wore it.  After I walked into the lounge I realized that most of the people were too plastered to even notice how horrible I looked.

I got a cup of coffee and sat at the bar.  I strained to keep my eyes off of the rich hotties and focus on the task at hand.  Just before I was ready to blow my brains out from boredom (I can only stand so much idle chit chat about yoga, organic food, and Obama) the woman walked in.

She got a table in the corner and waited for her “date”.  I primed my phone’s camera in anticipation for his arrival.

When he walked in I half expected an old English butler to announce his arrival to the entire room.  He strutted over to his table with an air of royalty I’d never seen before.  I felt intimidated by him.

When his mind control spell wore off I started taking pictures, pretending like I was sending text messages (one of my favorite detective moves).

They wasted no time and left the lounge after a couple of minutes.  I saw him slip a waiter some cash and whisper something into his ear.  I had immediately made up my mind about my next move.  This would secure my spot into the official private detectives club.  I’m pretty sure you don’t get your official membership card until you’ve dressed up as a waiter to sneak into someone’s hotel room.

The Quixotic Dick - Part 3

My hotel room’s shower was enormous, big enough to stretch both arms out and not touch anything.  The room was also equipped with a giant bed, properly positioned in front of a TV with all of the right channels. I wasted most of the afternoon showering and watching the Food Network.  My suspect’s romantic rendezvous wasn’t until eleven, so I had plenty of time to enjoy the things my shabby apartment didn’t have.

When the sun began to set I realized I had better take a stroll around to familiarize myself with the layout of the hotel.  The sheer luxury of the place was intimidating.  I felt out of place.  I took my mind out of the equation by cramming my headphones in and cranking up some music.  I needed to focus; no outside distractions allowed.

My client gave me the room number that her husband was staying in, and I used my time to find the fastest route to and from his room.  After that, I scoped out the bar and restaurant area. 

After I felt comfortable with the layout, I checked my watch and was delighted to find that I had enough time to fit a fourth shower in before my suspect showed up.