It's Friday, out-of-control TGIF celebrations are in order. ;) Now if we can only get by next Wednesday (Hump Days have been rough, recently) things just might settle down to a dull uproar. (crosses fingers)

Sarah, a blessing on you for the cookies and the comfy chairs.

Coffee's been prepared in due and ancient form and the tea kettle is doing its thing. Think I'll fill my mug, grab a few cookies and go check out those chairs Sarah installed.

Later, Inspirators.

Morning, Spacers. Pokes at the snoring form of Mendalla sprawled across the corner table. That walk must have taken the starch out of you. Guess I'll make a lot of noise while doing the coffee pot and tea kettle.

Okay, coffee's pretty good and the tea kettle is ready for action. My mug is full and so is my other hand but with Sarah's cookies.

Scott, you mind scootting over just a tad? I'll take that snort for a 'no'. So let me tell you what I'm agonna do, I'll just slip around to the chair nearest the heater. Granted, it's one of those folding plastic jobs and uncomfortable as hell but a small bit of suffering is acceptable in lieu of disturbing Scott, probbably.

Y'all feel free to come join us, he says while wondering what was in that tea.

Later, Inspirators.

Morning, Spacers, and a happy Hump Day to all who enter. The coffee pot has been rinsed out and filled with whatever off-brand of coffee was located under the counter. Pristine tap water was then added to both the pot and tea kettle prior to their being cranked up.

A generous supply of cookies are still available. So feel free to take one, maybe two, right after I grab a handful, that is.

With a filled mug of coffee in one hand and a bunch of cookies in the other, I'll stumble over to the corner table to sit and contemplate life, its consequences and inevitabilities.

Later, Inspirators.

Morning, 'Spacers. The coffee pot has been hosed down and filled with prime dark roast and the same fine tap water that now fills the tea kettle. Enjoy.

Think I'll grab a ration of cookies, fill my mug and weave my way to the corner table to ingest both while catching up on Stories Space, you know, stories. ;)

Later, Inspirators.

Moanday mourning greetings to all. The coffee pot is good to go as is the tea kettle.

Now that the dynamic dietary duo of Sarah and Anna May have supplied well balanced hints vis-a-vis cookies, I'll just take a few (hey, what happened to the carrot cake cookies?) and, coffee mug in hand, retire to the corner table, then crank the heater up a notch and fret over whether my beloved New Orleans Saints can beat the Bucs and their 'All-Universe' quarterback, Tom Brady, three times in one season. (worry X3)

Later, Inspirators.

Morning, 'Spacers. Sarah's being mean to me. Among all the fresh cookies are both 'carrot cake' and 'pineapple coconut'. I mean, how can ya risk insulting one type by picking the other instead? what's a fella to do?

While it grieves me to take a sampling of both for fear of starting rumors involving being a greedy-gut. Since in this case the rumors are correct-a-mundo, I'm compelled to take a representative sample of both.

I'm also gonna requisition a double handful from the day-old tin for the patrons at a seedy dive over on the red light district where I'm doing a bit of missionary work.

Later, Inspirators.

Morning, 'Spacers. Here's hoping your TGIF celebrations are delightful.

The coffee pot has been rinsed out and filled with breakfast blend coffee and sparkling tap water. Meanwhile, the sacred and ceremonial tea kettle has been activated and has hot water (same source) waiting on our tea sippers and coco fanciers.

Now let me check: coffee is ready to drink, the tea kettle is full of hot water, lights have been turned on and the radio is playing 'Jailhouse Rock' in anticipation of Trump's eventual destination. ;)

With a full coffee mug in one hand and the other wrapped around several soon to be consumed Sarah cookies, I'll slide over to the corner table by the heater to await further developments from DC while thinking about this weekend's NFL playoff games.

Later, Inspirators. .

Morning toall, especially those mourning what happened yesterday. :(

Larry, thanks for the 'heads up'. I'll check my settings but something tells me getting in touch with Gav is in my future.

Glad I am to have 'The Big E' stop by. etairay has been around here since way, way back when.

Time for the three C's (coffee, cookies, and contemplation) over in the corner table by the heater.

Later, Inspirators.

Morning, Larry. Is it just me, my software or general incompetence, but is the story picks list missing. I'm not even sure that's the correct name but there used to be lists of top stories and writers. Best I recall, there was a ten vote minimum for a story to qualify. As for the writer list, beats me.

Any elucidation would be depreciated. ;)

Happy 'Hump Day' to all who enter. Coffee's cooking, the tea kettle is kettling and Sarah's cookies await both one and all.

Me, I'm editing my last SS story, 'A Winter's Day' down from just under 3k to under 2500 words. That's the word limit for a story site called 'Magnets and Ladders' which twice a year posts stories by writers with disabilities.

BTW, here's a link to, 'A Winter's Day'.
https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/general/-a-winters-day-.aspx
I'm hoping for three more votes so it can qualify for the story picks list. (hint, hint, hint)

Now let me grab a mug full of coffee and a handful of cookies and retire to the corner table by the heater and get to work.

Later, Inspirators.

The weak light from a leaden sky revealed a scattering of forlorn leaves clinging to the dark, wet limbs of trees bordering a deserted playground and half-empty parking lot. Cold, misty rain and swirling winds hastened the inevitable outcome of this doomed struggle.  A typical winter's day in New York, thought, Gwen Kaplan, as she took in the scene from inside her snug bedroom. To her,...

Added 27 Dec 2020 | Category General | Votes 8 | Avg Score 5 | Views 162 | 7 Comments

  “...and in local sports, the Mets and Yankees both dropped road…” Debbie Morris automatically switched off the alarm radio she’d carefully set last night to turn on later than usual and glanced at her wristwatch.  Satisfied she was now, as planned,  exactly ten-minutes behind schedule,  she nodded and went back to re-checking her hair and make-up. As usual, she didn’t like what she saw...

Added 26 Oct 2020 | Category General | Votes 8 | Avg Score 5 | Views 172 | 8 Comments

Folks always claimed ‘Buck’ Granderson got his nickname because he still had the first dollar he ever made. It wasn’t true, at least not the part about his name. I had it on very good authority that his parents, two otherwise sober and responsible individuals, named him Buckalew Lavelle Granderson. While few knew about his full name, those who did all agreed it must have been a long and...

Added 24 Feb 2020 | Category Flash Fiction | Votes 13 | Avg Score 5 | Views 476 | 11 Comments

Listening In The Rain I'm a good listener; always have been. Especially here inside the cemetery—just sitting in my truck, listening to the rain, hearing it tell the story, and waiting for Holly. We don’t have nice winter weather around here, just cold and rainy. The only thing it’s good for is hunting, especially for deer. But I don't hunt—not anymore. Winter became my favorite season...

Added 30 Oct 2019 | Category Supernatural | Votes 16 | Avg Score 4.94 | Views 664 | 14 Comments

The Tumultuous Tale of the Tormented Terrier Well, let me tell you, it was like this. Once upon a time, our humble hovel was being run by the daughter-unit’s pet, a small, cute, cuddly and constantly yapping Yorkshire Terrier that answered to the name, Puh-Pet, but only if she happened to be in the mood. She loved nothing better than people-food treats and patroling the backyard. Since it...

Added 15 Aug 2019 | Category Memoirs | Votes 10 | Avg Score 5 | Views 619 | 10 Comments

Newly polished toenails safely propped on the crowded coffee table, Darlene Barnes let out a long plume of cigarette smoke and waited for her friend to come back from the kitchen. Waiting in silence, however, had never been her 'thing'. The thirty-something bottled-blonde looked around at the empty doorway to the kitchen. "You know it's hard for me to believe you're this messed-up....

Added 13 May 2019 | Category Young Adult | Votes 5 | Avg Score 5 | Views 1,029 | 4 Comments

“You guys are nuts.” The Skeptic was in rare form as the four men studied the petite singer flitting around on the dim stage.   “I mean, sure she’s cute, but in a small-town high school cheerleader sort of way. No way is she this smoking’ hot sex object you guys keep raving about. But…”   The Skeptic stopped as the singer approached the microphone stand. Waited for A bright spotlight...

Added 05 Feb 2019 | Category Micro Fiction | Votes 8 | Avg Score 5 | Views 1,151 | 7 Comments

For the benefit of any unsuspecting reader, let me state now that this is NOT an article about how one might become a contented courtesan or smiling strumpet. Nope, not even a titillated trollop. Sorry about any confusion, honest. Truth be told, this assault on good taste and English letters is concerned with the fine art of creating attention grabbing hooks in the opening lines of your...

Added 18 Dec 2018 | Category Musings | Votes 10 | Avg Score 5 | Views 641 | 7 Comments

Now and Forever: a love story The dream was back--so were the eyes. They hovered in an angry sky just above the horizon, seeing everything but focusing on nothing. Amy knew those eyes—knew a time when they’d been filled with happiness and a love of life. But that had been before her brother came back from Vietnam. Young, naked, and skinny, she stood alone and vulnerable on a hill surrounded...

Added 14 Aug 2018 | Category Romance | Votes 8 | Avg Score 5 | Views 598 | 5 Comments

How’s by you, Grady Lee? Funniest thing happened yesterday. This nice lady from the Veterans Administration stopped by and said what I really needed, I mean with my having gone from hard of seeing to being blinder than any known bat, was one of those so-called smart Apple iPhones. I told her I knew a bit about the thing, how you made gestures to work it, and let her know I'd been...

Added 04 Aug 2018 | Category Flash Fiction | Votes 13 | Avg Score 5 | Views 663 | 11 Comments