text: Skewing the Context | Ann Linquist Writes
  The Non-Dialogue →
  25 responses to "Skewing the Context"
  Walterburgle (Ward Weatherford) | November 15, 2014 at 1:53 pm | Reply
  The supple leather hugs her edges and teases me. I run my left hand over her spine, gripping in just the right places. I pull her close to me. Her intoxicating scent draws me into her world and demands my complete attention. My right hand caresses her as I soak in her every word. I set in rapture as I read my leather bound Shelley and Stoker collection.
  cranberrylodge | November 18, 2014 at 9:18 pm | Reply
  You could write romance novels with lines like these.
  Walterburgle (Ward Weatherford) | November 18, 2014 at 9:33 pm |
  But, I was going for horror. Oh dear.
  annlinquist | November 16, 2014 at 6:18 am | Reply
  Good one, Ward! Love your new picture too. Horror books, huh?
  Walterburgle (Ward Weatherford) | November 16, 2014 at 6:21 pm | Reply
  I love it all. Although, I have been reading horror since I was about eleven. Horror, especially the craft of old, is a different language. My father has Poe's "The Raven" memorized. That always intrigued me as a child. Reading further works of his like "The Masque of the Red Death" made me think. I go back now and read them again to find the "real" horror of the subject. Contemporary horror I think leans on the gore-factor too much. Give me a "The Tale Tell Heart" and I am there.
  I think that the new picture is a very close likeness of me. He stares at me all the while I type. In fact, he is looking at me now. Those beady eyes and knowing little grin. I should think they contained malice. Unblinking malice. However, since he was designed to hold a lollypop in his head, I can only laugh at his intensity.
  cranberrylodge | November 18, 2014 at 9:16 pm |
  I agree completely Ward. Contemporary horror does 'lean on' the gore way too much. Same for mysteries. I love the old fashioned Sherlock Holmes where something was left to the imagination.
  jeffswitt | November 16, 2014 at 2:53 pm | Reply
  Hi Ann, I really liked Chair Ride – I got a fragrance of Frost and Sandberg from it. If I may offer a suggestion, the "like two off-work ditch diggers," part just seemed out of place and interrupted the flow of the moment.
  galelikethewind | November 16, 2014 at 9:54 pm | Reply
  The daylight savings sun paints across my face from the southern window above my bed, gently waking me from my second sleep.
  I reach for my Ipad, and put on my specks. After it powers up, I click on my "Good Morning" folder at the bottom of the screen. First look is to email, searching through the spam onslaught for the automatic email from Bank of America announcing the current balance in my checking account.
  Next is Facebook, where I see posts from Friends in other time zones who have been awake for hours. The usual posts surface at the top of the page; cat videos, funny quizes, and pictures of families and friends.
  My fingers are getting numb from holding the heavy tablet now, so I shift hands, and prop myself up a little higher on my thick pillow.
  Let's see, have any of my overseas friends taken their turn on the WordsWithFriends game? I realize I have over twenty games going at once with five different people. Never played this many Scrabble games in my life back in the day. But it stirse the synapses into gear, and prepares me for the
  ArtWithFriends games that await in that App. I think we used to call it Pictionary in the non digital era, right?
  Taking quick look at the Tahoe Cam atop Harvey's Hotel about a mile from my ninety-two year old Mom's house, so I can see her weather challenges for today.
  My Calendar is next. Why would a fourteen year retiree need a calendar? Just to make sure I don't disappoint anyone with a promise made and not kept. At my age, it has become a crutch.
  Finally, time to check the QuakeWatch App, (it is Southern California afterall) to see what the latest shaker news is around the globe.
  I place the Ipad back on my nightstand, and reach for my daily morning meds.
  How did an hour go by so fast?
  cranberrylodge | November 18, 2014 at 9:21 pm | Reply
  I cannot believe you wouldn't need a calendar! Sounds like you're a busy guy!
  kbug | November 17, 2014 at 1:23 am | Reply
  "Somewhere, over the rainbow, hmm, hmm, hmm," she sang softly as she leaned back and relaxed into the vision of pink, blue and yellow bubbles. It was exactly how she'd envisioned traveling by rainbow would look. The colors began distinct and true, then swirled and trickled into each other, creating new shades in every direction. Soft and frothy like the world's best bubble bath, it was a visual delight and she couldn't help but smile.
  The sounds were the only discordant note in the magic. Traveling by rainbow should be accompanied by a symphony playing Judy Garland's classic song, but instead it was the thwump, thwump, shwish, of the machinery behind the magic. Not for long though, the trip was exceptionally quick and the machinery very efficient. In fact, here it was, the growling surf and roaring wind that marked the gateway from magic to mundane.
  She sighed and looked for the signal. There, the light changing to green. She shifted into drive and pressed on the gas, exiting the car wash, re-entering reality.
  Walterburgle (Ward Weatherford) | November 19, 2014 at 8:30 pm | Reply
  galelikethewind | November 20, 2014 at 12:36 am | Reply
  Kbug, a perfect post for this challenge. IMHO. Made mr chuckle at the end.
  Tink | January 3, 2015 at 11:55 pm | Reply
  I just saw your post here. I was in Ann's BWW with you.
  Great turn into the car wash. That was totally unexpected. The next time I'm in the carwash, I'll turn the colors of the soap cycle into Somewhere Over the Rainbow too and think of you.
  annlinquist | January 4, 2015 at 2:13 am | Reply
  Good one! I hope you hang around for more!
  peanutberanski | November 17, 2014 at 11:04 pm | Reply
  Each life is an epic novel, written one moment upon the other, until the story is complete. Most events are routine and unexceptional. But in each tale, there are also instances of growth, brilliance, despair, levity and genuine love.
  My aim is to destroy these life stories, one chapter at a time. I begin my work by removing the last chapters first, until I have totally disrupted the narrative. I am Alzheimer, and I will delete your life before I kill you.
  Walterburgle (Ward Weatherford) | November 18, 2014 at 2:01 am | Reply
  That was truly powerful, Peanut.
  Wow! This gave me shivers, Peanut.
  Brighteyes | November 22, 2014 at 3:44 am | Reply
  Peanut this deserves to be shared and it will be, at education sessions. I promise to credit the source
  peanutberanski | November 22, 2014 at 4:42 am |
  Bright, you have my complete permission to share…if it helps in some way, it is doing exactly what I intended. Thank you.
  annlinquist | November 18, 2014 at 2:21 am | Reply
  At first I thought you were going mainstream on me, with comments that no one could argue with, but that took us nowhere new. Jeepers, I thought. Is Peanut going soft on me? Then you so craftily give us paragraph two. Your narrator appears, and it's the last one we expect. Super deluxe, Peanut. Always such a pleasure. So stunning.
  peanutberanski | November 18, 2014 at 3:55 am | Reply
  Thanks Lady Linquist. My father and brother had this killer, so I wanted to address it head on. Rest easy, my friend….I will never go "Mainstream" on you. I love you all way to much to behave myself.
  garytreible | November 20, 2014 at 12:17 am | Reply
  The seat-back is fully upright and in its locked position, as it always is.
  It's a bit uncomfortable, but at least the magazine is interesting.
  How about that Taylor Swift?
  It's relaxing in a way.
  The only sound is the rush of the air from the overhead fan,
  Clear air turbulence is a harbinger,
  this is going to be a bumpy landing.
  Thank God for the fan, but the air isn't what it should be.
  On a steady approach now, the proper glide slope, and not pushing it.
  Definitely not pushing it.
  And then, like clockwork, the gear doors open with a thump.
  Down go the wheels, making skid marks.
  Turn the page, shift a little to the left, and adjust the lever on the seat-back to get a bit more comfortable.
  This truly is the 'best seat in the house'.
  Walterburgle (Ward Weatherford) | November 20, 2014 at 5:46 am | Reply
  Nasty. I have to admit, I giggled.
  annlinquist | November 22, 2014 at 4:48 am | Reply
  I had to read this several times, but when all my thrusters started firing, I laughed. Hope this wasn't after last night's taco bonanza.