  Short Stories
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Anecdotes
I was looking through recipe books today and came across something that I thought would be a great inspiration for all of us. This recipe book had recipes, of course, but it also had an anecdote with the ingredient list. The anecdote told a little bit about who and where the recipe came from. It was interesting to see some local traditions thrown in too.
I thought about all the recipes I have collected over the years from family and friends and some of the stories that went along with those cards. Some of my recipes were given to me by my grandmother. For years I never used them because when she wrote them down, she never used actual measurements. It would call for six scoops of flour, a soup spoon of this or that. Well how was I supposed to know how much that was? It wasn't until after she died that I found out. My aunt had kept her cannister set and when she took it home, inside the flour cannister was the old crockery cup Grandma used to measure flour. My aunt put flour into the old cup and then poured it into a new measuring cup. It measured exactly a cup. Anyhow, I shared some recipes I had with my Aunt and she shared the measurements with me and we both ended up with some wonderful recipes and memories.
I made sure to write on the backs of the cards where the recipes came from and converted the measurements. I did the same for the ones I got from friends and relatives. Now I'm thinking it would be fun to create a family recipe book and share some anecdotes with our far flung family members. Like the one about how my son thought sesame seeds were 'germs'.  Some of these little stories are the most precious to families, be sure to share them.
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Excerpt: “You see, it really is true.” The man babbled at the doorway to the woman inside. His nose dripped, his eyes were watery and red. He sneezed – massively and wetly, into his hands, thank the spirits. Wiping his hands on his blue jeans, he continued. “Vampires can catch colds. I never believed it before and besides, how could I resist? She was such a lovely redhead. I should have left her alone once I heard her sneeze, but I have such a weakness for redheads. And now I’ve caught such an awful cold and I can’t get rid of it! Please, let me come in.”
Excerpt: Tonight is the last time we will ever get to see it. That’s what the man on the news said. The Moon has been slowly drifting away from us since the dawn of time, and now the time has come for it to leave Earth’s orbit. It was strange to think that the Moon would no longer be in the night sky, but I don’t think anyone realized just what that would mean to us.
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1498584 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: “Thank you so much for seeing us at such a short notice, doctor,” Mr. Henson said.
“Anything for your father. How is he doing by the way?”
“He’s been alright.”
“That’s good. I hear he’s been busy up at the bureau.”
“Yeah he’s been a very busy man lately.”
“It’s a shame I haven’t seen him since college. We were good friends.”
“Here’s the paperwork, doctor,” Mrs. Henson interrupted. “Your secretary told us to give it to you.”
| |  | Lovers' Moon (13+)
A romantic Twilight Zone short story. A lonely young man makes a wish for a girlfriend.
#1069644 by Pen Name  |
Excerpt: Russell Peterson was lonely. Another Valentine’s Day was approaching, and he didn’t have a girlfriend. Rather shy, he found it somewhat difficult to talk with the pretty young women who came in the stationery store where he worked. He always managed to find the perfect paper to wrap gifts for their beaus, and was happy at the looks of delight on their faces – he only wished someone would come in with a gift to wrap and a look of secret happiness for him.
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1527918 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Julie frowned as she fussed over her hair for the third time in five minutes. She had exactly ten minutes to get out the door and to the bar-and-grill where she'd agreed to meet the second blind date this month.
Excerpt: The coffee was gone, but I continued to sit there, awe-struck. Across the table from me, she was fidgeting with her water glass and avoiding eye contact.
“I’m eight weeks along or so,” she said quietly, a hint of disbelief noticeable in her voice.
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1463967 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: In the ancient city of Tabius there is a forest that lies on the western border. There are no wrecked and crumbling battlements that you’ll find when walking along the northern wall. No towers with worn smooth steps spiraling heights to look out onto the sea found on the eastern wall. City streets merely come to an end; modest buildings turn their doors eastward towards the center square. And then the forest quickly begins; a natural boundary. It is all the walls that the city has ever needed.
Excerpt: There's a knock at the door. Not a good kind of knock, either-- the bad kind, the kind that awakens me from naps. I yawn and stretch, follow my old lady out of the living room to the entryway and coil myself carefully around her foot when she stops to open the door. "Hello?"
Excerpt: I began my cooking destruction early in life. Mama, a superb cook by any standards and certain her talent would be passed along genetically, brought my resisting body into the kitchen at the tender age of nine. She believed baking made a house into a home, therefore, it would be my first test.
| | | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1471971 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: Aside from altered states brought on by chemicals or illness, most people find three possible reasons a man might say things that make no sense:
He is stupid.
He is crazy.
Or he is incomprehensibly brilliant.
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This month's question: What are some of your family stories?
Last month's question: What part of your stories do you like to twist? Characters? Plot?
Replies:
Rebecca - expiring : A twist? When I write short stories, I like to twist the perception that the reader sees. What once was normal and always considered to be forever, is questioned at put to thought. If I'm working with a prompt, say, about the loss of heart, as I once was given for The Writer's Cramp, I took that idea, and made the 'heart' a physical place of battle, which was lost in war.
I love the see the responses of whoever reads my stories; they're as priceless as each story itself!
Strange Wulf : Mmm... twisting characters or plot? There's a bit of implied naughtiness for the former, and always a bit of fun with the latter.
For me, I'd say plot, but maybe that's 'cause a lot of my characters come out twisted anyway. Speaking of which, I need to go shopping... Rick wants to add to his "collection"...
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Short Stories: February 18, 2009 Issue [#2892]
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