Category Archives: Write Now

Write Now Prompt April 15, 2014

Ed woke to his alarm clock as he did every morning. Today was the first day of December, the last month of the year and the month that he is supposed to close all of his open accounts from the past year. See, Ed is the local property tax collector and a field collector at that.

He had breakfast with his lovely wife and he talked to her about his job and how he had a few accounts that needed to be closed by the end of the year. They finished their breakfast and cleaned up the morning mess. Ed kissed his wife as he did every morning, wished her a good day and headed out to the bus stop.

Waiting at the bus was the usual crew and they all did their little morning small talk, “How are the kids, Mike”  “How is the remodel going at your home Gina” “Ed how’s work doing for you”. The usual morning pleasantries. Ed always had a smile and always seemed joyous.

He got to the office, grabbed a cup of coffee and headed to his cubicle. Turned his computer on, loaded the days list of visits and printed it out. Ed grabbed his coffee and headed out to the bus stop again. The first of his stops is on the other side of the town other wise he would have walked. As Ed got off the bus he was smiling hoping this would be a productive day and that all the people he needed to see would have their taxes and he would not have to do anything to force anyone to pay their taxes on this holiday season.

The first stop was a little laundry shop, the charming lady who ran the place was reluctant to pay but she eventually paid her due. Off to a coffee shop who had owed since the year before, when he got to the shop there was a sign saying that they would be closed till the end of the year, he made a note in his pad to arrange a visit at the beginning of the year with a new bill with all the late fees attached.

The next few stops had their taxes ready to pay and just handed him the checks not really feeling good about it but knowing that they had to pay their taxes. The final stop, Hervey’s Toy Emporium, was just around the corner from the office so Ed headed back to the bus stop and was grateful that he got there just as the bus pulled up.

He was glad that the shop was opened. Ed hoped that this man had his taxes ready to pay other wise he would have to seize his property. Some of the guys back at the office would be all giddy about seizing the toys of a toy shop during the Christmas season but despite appearances to the contrary, the tax man really did not like his job, and these are the times that Ed realized this.

Unfortunately Hervey was not willing to pay his taxes and this made Ed feel a little ill in the stomach as he said with a smile that was as forced as his pleasant voice was, “Well sir, I will have a crew here in the morning to seize all your assets until you complete payment of the years property taxes.”  hoping that he was not going to have to follow through on this warning.

Hervey got a flushed face as he realized that this man was not going to back down and that he would lose all his merchandise during this the most prosperous time of the year. “Can you hold on for a minute while I check my bank account to see if I have the money in there.”

“Of course I can wait a minute, I would rather get the taxes than to go through with the seizure.” Ed said hopefully.

A little bit later Hervey came back from the bank with the cash for the taxes. Ed was feeling really good about the out come of this day. He collected from all but one of the businesses he visited today. As he walked back to the office to turn in his collections from the day he had a hopeful thought that the whole month would go the same way.

Awakened by aches, he wished for something stronger than aspirin, but Roger knew that if he took anything stronger than a simple aspirin it would mess with his senses. As lead investigator at the Paranormal Investigating Agency he knew he had to keep his senses sharp. So he took the the tiny white pill and hoped the aches from the chase the night before would subside.

As he ate his breakfast the phone rang. “Hello”

“Hey Rog, this is Rick” came the voice from the other end. “We have a new recruit that we would like you to check out his story, help him out and see if he will make it as an investigator. Karen thinks he has what it takes to make it in the field.”

“Sure no problem Rick, just email me the particulars and I will get right on it. Have a good night.” Roger thought about it for a minute and decided to finish his breakfast first. Hehee, breakfast he thought, who eats breakfast in the middle of the night. Well investigating ghosts and spirits usually just happens that way. “Ah well, you can get used to anything when you put your mind to it” he thought.

He finished breakfast, cleaned up the mess and went to log on to his computer. Yup, Rick always the punctual one. had already sent him the file for the new recruit, Aaron Stimple.

Roger did some research on Aaron, found out he had been a construction contractor for ten years and was doing really well till about six months ago. He had put a lot of money into a new piece of land, started clearing out the land and digging new foundations for new homes. It seemed like a financially sound project. Then six month ago every thing stopped on the project, equipment was just left behind and no one had seen Aaron since. Roger gave this some thought and then decided he would look into the property history before making contact with Aaron.

It turns out that the piece of land was owned by a local farmer. Half of it was graded land that was once a field used for his farm, the other half being a large dense wooded area that had not been cleared. Roger decided he was going to go take a look at this land first to see what he could find out,  He wanted all the information about Mister Stimple he could before he went and talked to him on behalf of the agency.

Aaron woke to the sound of a knock on the door. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes he realized that is was dark out side and that it was most likely around mid night. A quick glance at his watch proved him right, it was almost 12:30. Now who would be visiting me at this hour he thought.

He opened the door to find a woman dressed in business attire holding a clipboard standing there.

“Hello Mister … umm”. she took a moment to look at her clipboard, “ Stimple, my name is Karen and I am from the Paranormal Investigation Agency. I am here to conduct your final interview.”

Aaron stood there for a moment with a look of bewilderment as he tried to remember.  He had thought that phone call was just a dream, how could anyone call while his phone is disconnected he thought.

“I’m sorry Karen but I have no idea what you are talking about. You must have me confused with some one else. I have never even heard of the Paranormal Investigation Agency let alone applied for a job.” Aaron said confusingly.

“That’s Ok Mister Stimple, I get that all the time. Mister Spangle called and set up the appointment for this evening with you correct?”

Shaking his head to clear out the sleep cobwebs Aaron was starting to wake up and realized that this has not all been a dream. “I received a call from Rick Spangle the other day but I am still confused about what is going on here.”

“Well Mister Stimple, if we get the interview underway maybe things will clear up for you. Do you mind if I call you Aaron?”

“Um  yes Aaron would do nicely. What exactly do you do.”

“Well I am one of the recruiting interviewers, but this is not about me. Could you tell me when exactly you started to see disembodied spirits.”

Aaron thought on this for a moment before answering. “I could say maybe about six or seven months ago. When I started excavating on this new piece of property I was developing. Umm  how did you know?”

“We can get to that later Aaron. Now have any of these apparitions actually spoken to you.” asked Karen

“Yea, and when they started talking that is when I just locked myself in my home, that had become the only place that I was not seeing or hearing any of these ghosts spirits or what you want to call them.’ Aaron went on, “that was until my disconnected phone rang and it was your Mister Spangle. I was even thinking that I had gone crazy. I am still not sure that I have not.”

Karen wrote a bit on her note pad as Aaron spoke. “Well Aaron I can say that you have not gone crazy and that there is an explanation to what has happened to you and if the hiring committee accepts your application that will be your first case. I can say that what I have makes me think you are a strong candidate for a field investigator. Thank you for your time.”

Aaron escorted Karen out of his home and walked to her car with her. As they walked out Aaron noticed that the Aurora Borealis was rather bright tonight and he commented to Karen about this. They looked closer and realized that there were spirits floating around. They had seen the Northern Lights many times. but they had never seen them like this, it appeared as if there are spirits floating around the shimmering lights. Karen makes a note on her pad, bids Aaron good night and drives away.

Aaron stood outside watching the shimmering lights and spirits floating around the lights and realized that some how his life has just changed.

Write Now Prompt: April 4, 2014

He walked by the garage and heard the sounds coming from inside. The sounds of some one tinkering with some kind of a machine. Everyone in the neighborhood knew about the new guy, he had moved in about a month or so before. First it was the delivery trucks coming day after day then the sounds coming from inside.

Of course they all talked the way people who lived close together do. “he’s working on a car” said one of the men. “He’s gotta be building something for the house” said a couple of the house wives. As the rumors flew about from all the neighbors non of them could have guessed what was really going on in that garage.

Dave was puttering around in his garage working on his mechanical masterpiece. When it is done it will change everything. His wife, always the supporting spouse, would make him dinner and serve it to him in the garage on the nights he was so disposed.  

On this night she brought Dave his dinner but he was busy working off to the side so she set his dinner on the work table. Not realizing it she hit a button on the table. Whirring and clicking started behind her, she turned to see the eye lights starting to glow. Dave dropped what he was doing and ran over to see what the commotion was and was started to see his mechanical beast starting to wake up.

Dave knew the programing was done and that it was very unstable. He ran to the power cord, hoping that the internal battery was not fully charged, unfortunately there was enough charge for the motor to start. The robot, not knowing what is going on but feeling threatened, crashed through the back wall of the garage, Dashing through the fence and off into the next yard.

They were enjoying dinner when they heard the crash. Running to the window they all looked out to see the robot crash through the fence. He got on the phone and called all the neighbors and told the what he saw, then he ran out after the crazed robot. All the neighbors where gathered in the cul-de-sac. The robot having crashed through another fence then through a house ran confused about all the people. Then they saw Dave running out with something in his hand.

Dave had the remote for the robot, hoping he could get the beast back into the garage and shut him down. Fortunately for Dave the robot was too confused not to allow the remote to work on him. He walked the robot back to the garage and shut it down. He turned to his wife, happy to see that she is ok, and dropped down on his chair. HIs wife sat down next to him also happy to see that he was ok as well. They were alone at last… except for the robot. Glad that no one in the neighborhood was injured or worse and all that needed to be done was to repair some structures, Dave decided to dismantle his mechanical masterpiece believing the world was not quite ready for a robot with a mind of its own.

Write Now Prompt: March 25, 2014

Bob is a happily married man, he has a good job at the local supermarket, two loving children and a tiny little problem. Mary, Bobs wife. has finally gotten fed up with Bobs little problem and has told him that if he does not stop she was going to pack up the kids and leave.  Bob promised he would.

As he left for work Bob thought about his problem and knew Mary was right it was wrong and if kept on this path it was going to lead to a bad place. He loved the rush, the excitement and the thrill but still it was not worth losing his family over.

During the work day Bob thought about what kind of help he could get and where he could go for support and decided he would check the internet when he got home for work. After work he stopped at the local bar with his friends for work for the regular after work beer and chatter.

Mike, one of Bob’s co-workers, called him aside to tell him about this deal he had heard about. “It’s a sure thing Bob, I got this friend of a friend that says the fix is in and  Barbies Dahl in the forth is going to take it.”   He knew he’d promised never to gamble again, but this…this was a sure thing. He couldn’t lose and Mary need not know anything about it.

So Bob, with all the confidence of a fool, went to the track with Mike. Bob went to the window to make his bet, Barbies Dahl at 55 to 1 to win. “Damn” Bob thought with the fix in and being a sure bet Bob plopped down all the money he had in his pocket, 280 dollars. When he won he could get Mary a nice gift.

Down to the grand stand ticket in hand, Bob found a seat right on the rail and sat down waiting patiently for the race to be over so he could collect his winnings.

The horses were lead to the gate and set to run, the gun goes off and their off. It was a close race at first Barbies Dahl keeping up with the pack and looking like she could not lose. Then it happened, Barbies Dahl stopped, just stopped running. The jockey on her was trying to get her to start running again to no avail. Then she bucked the jockey off and made a mad dash, right back to the stables.

Bob, now horrified at what he had just witnessed, looked at his ticket, sobbing and tore it up. What was he going to tell Mary. With his head hung low Bob made for his car and the drive home.

Write Now Prompt: March 14th

Aaron sat there watching the flames flicker and listening to the wood crackle and allowed his mind to roam. It went to that day he bought the 80 acres of farm land. He woke in the morning feeling really good about what was to come. He knew he was taking a big risk and that it could put him in the poor house if anything went wrong. But Aaron Stimple was not a man who wanted to sit on the side lines.

He got up early that morning, showered and had breakfast before he headed out for the two hour drive to meet with Mr. Camden, the owner of the property, and his lawyer to go over the proposal he had drawn up for the purchase of the property. Aaron felt it was a good deal for all involved and besides it was all he could afford for such a risky venture.

The land it self was way out of the way with only one way in or out but it was perfect for developing into a neighborhood community. Hoping it would attract people tired of living in the city and wanting a quieter place to live in to invest in property. Yes Aaron looked at this as a turning point in his life. 

Aaron arrived for the meeting and put on the presentation that he put together and he felt very confident until Mr. Camden and his lawyer stepped aside to confer. It was at this point Aaron realized the worst, there could be no denying it, the proposal was a complete failure.  Or at least that was what he thought. The two men conferred for what seemed like an eternity. When they finally came back Mr. Camden reached out his hand to Aaron and said “ it seems like we have ourselves a deal Mr. Stimple.”

Feeling good about himself and what the future held for him, Aaron walked back to his rubbing the chill off the back of his neck,

Aaron threw another log on the fire, it was a cold winters night and the oil had run out days ago. He sat there in the light of the fire as the electricity has been off for weeks now. As the warmth from the fire started to warm him up he sat thinking about what had happened.  It has been months since he has gone out of his house. All the savings used up just to keep the necessities and now that was all gone.

Aaron Stimple was a fairly prosperous contractor. Building and selling houses. It started when he got the new property. A single sale from a retiring farmer just selling out his unused fields. Simple  enough, or so it seemed. Then it started, slowly at first, glimpses out of the corner of his eye. Then quick, hazy views. It was when the ghostly images started to hang around that Aaron started to think he was going crazy. When they started to talk to him he knew he was over the edge. Home was the only place he felt safe, so home he stayed.

He was startled as the phone rang, which was strange, since they had disconnected it weeks before. He looked at it with a kind of stunned blank look, Was he imagining it or was the phone really ringing. He slowly approached the phone, reached out and picked it up.

“Hello Mr. Stimple” said the voice on the other end. “My name is Rick Spangle. Your application to the Paranormal Investigation Agency has been accepted for review pending a face to face meeting. Our interviewer will be out to see you in two days time,”

With a shaky voice, Aaron said thank you and hung up the phone. Paranormal Investigation Agency, he thought. I have never heard of them let alone applied for a job to such a company. He sat in his chair staring at the flickering fire and wondered if maybe he really had gone crazy.