my one crime

Q: have you ever committed a crime?

A: only one. there was a fellow, known to be brilliant, who constantly bragged that he had solved the problem of perpetual motion, holding high a little black book with the supposed solution in it. (this was before superconductivity.) he refused to share any more than that on the subject with the rest of us.

once a month, we held our poker game at his place. halfway through, when he was engaged in a tense, major hand with two others at the table, i got up to use the bathroom. while back there, i darted across the hall to his bedroom, rummaged quickly through the desk he kept in there and found the little black book. i stuffed it in my back pocket. after all, if what this fellow said was true, his discovery could have been worth millions.

i was never able to monitize my new possession and three weeks later when the poker game was held at my house, someone removed my prized 1948 California Gold Centennial commemorative postage stamp from its place in my U. S. Commemoratives album.

for Fandango’s Provocative Question

the round gift

PHOTO PROMPT © Todd Foltz

i grew up in rural utah near the goosenecks of the san juan, ninety years ago. my family was self-sufficient except for trips to the reservation general store.

my most anticipated present on christmas morning every year was the orange i would find in my stocking. so delicious. but one year the orange was larger than usual, and yellow.

mom explained it was a grapefruit. she cut it in half and sprinkled powdered sugar on it. i carved all the little segments free with a paring knife and ate them with a spoon.

sister to the orange, just as magical.

for Friday Fictioneers

christmas gift

MorgueFIle March2020 7ddd67d4e32d3a43dd30410548fcc7f1

i grew up in a remote area of southeastern utah, near the goosenecks of the san juan. this was ninety years ago. we were pretty much a self-sufficient family except for occasional trips to the reservation general store. we did have a sears catalog. everyone in the family peered into it at one time or another, us kids dreaming of the toys we saw there, mom and dad the tools and appliances and fabrics. Mostly we all just looked.

my best, most favorite, most anticipated present on christmas morning every year was the orange each of us received in our stocking. so sweet, so strange, so delicious. but one year the orange in my stocking was much larger than usual and yellow.

mom explained it was a grapefruit, not so sweet as an orange but she’d cut it in half and sprinkle some powdered sugar on it. we had to carve all the little segments free with a paring knife before eating them one by one with a spoon.

It was different but still magical.

for FLASH FICTION FOR THE PRACTICAL PRACTITIONER