What a weekend…

The heat and humidity were unbearable in Southeastern Pennsylvania this weekend.  I discovered upon doing a little digging, that my region of the state has some characteristics of a humid subtropical climate in the summer.  Yes, it’s actually classified that way!

So of course, beginning Friday afternoon we began to experience electrical problems here at the Sorick hacienda.  Upon investigation, we discovered that water had been getting into the main line that takes power from the meter box to the panel in the basement!!!  The wiring had become corroded and needed to be replaced.  What does that mean?  Well, besides being a huge fire hazard (understatement of the year), it meant we had to power down for a good long while to get it fixed.  No A/C, no WiFi, no TV, nothing.  Fortunately, the hubs (an electrical engineer by trade) is a pretty handy dude and with the help of an electrician friend was able to fix the problem by the end of the day, Saturday.

What’s the point of this story, you might ask?  Besides my trying to garner your pity?  Thanks in advance, by the way!  Anyway, I used my sweaty down time wisely.  I took my pen and paper and sat in the shade and wrote.  Pen and paper!  How quaint!  No keyboard, no mouse, no glowing screen!  My handwriting filled the pages.  I scratched out my mistakes, no backspace.  Crumpled sheets were set aside when I needed to start over.  By the end of the day, I had composed five short stories with five diverse themes.  One of them was my previous post:  Deathbed Confession, a 10 sentence short story I submitted for a writing challenge.  Over the next few days I will post the rest of them.  I hope you’ll enjoy the fruit of my tech free weekend!

A Color by Words writing challenge: 10 Sentence Short Story

Deathbed Confession

The body was frozen solid, making it nearly impossible to move. Why the old man had decided to off himself with all the windows open in the middle of January was a mystery to me.
My partner and I looked for clues while the team from the coroner’s office struggled to lift the corpse into the body bag.
“Sir?” one of them called out to me, waving a sheet of paper with his gloved hand. I took it from him and quickly scanned the neatly handwritten page.
My jaw dropped as I read the words, ‘the rest of the bodies are buried in the apple orchard.’ We had just found the murderer we’d been searching for all these years. The man, who for the last decade had been known as the ‘cider-house killer’ had been hiding right under our noses all this time.
I cursed under my breath as I showed the confession to my partner.  “Son of a bitch!” he exclaimed, as the coroner’s men finally managed to zip closed the body bag on the remains of the chief of police.

Obsession: A poem for Color By Words Challenge

When I tried to say goodbye
You begged me please to tell you why
Calling after me, I love you and and I’m sorry

My friends say maybe try again
But I’ll always remember when
You held on and wouldn’t let me go

Your handsome face is so sincere
But all you do is bring me tears
I lie awake at night for fear and worry

You sent me roses every day
Little gifts to make me stay
With a note that said I love you, please forgive me

I had to pull myself away
You stood outside my door to say
That you would never, ever let me go

You’d love me till the end of time
But you’d already crossed a line
I knew that you would never set me free

It seems I’m your obsession
You keep holding on
I’m not your possession
I just need to run
Away