What’s a small moment from your past that you still think about years later?
Sometimes the future says run. So what do you do when you can hardly walk?
Well, in this story, I was tired of running. It was time to stand and face the music.
Fight.
When I was around 8, my family moved to a new place. A new town. New school. New friends. New everything.
It took some getting used to for a little flaming red-haired, freckled kid.
The neighbor boy was a bit older than me. One day I saw him and a few of his friends out in the street tossing a football… an American one. 🏈 The only kind there is. 😄
I love sports. I wanted to play too. So I mustered up the confidence to go introduce myself.
Before I even got far into my introduction, one boy says, “HEY LOOK GUYS… HE’S RED ON THE HEAD LIKE A DICK ON A DOG!!!”
Then they all started laughing at me and calling me names. Making fun of me.
I just stood there empty inside, wishing I could go back to where I come from.
Over the next month, things got worse. Every afternoon, when the school bus emptied, about ten of those older boys would chase me all the way home.
I would always try to sit at the front of the bus so I could exit quickly, then run for my life as fast as I could. I’d hope and pray I could make it to my house before they caught up with me.
This went on for a month. I had legs like a deer by the end of this crap. lol
Finally… It occurred to me that I can’t go on like this. Something has to give. So the next day, I told myself, no more. No more running.
When I got off the bus. I walked. Like normal. They surrounded me. Circled me. One boy says, “WE GOT HIM NOW FELLAS!!!”
Then a kid around my age entered the circle, with a look on his face and in his eyes that meant one thing, he wants to kill me 😂.
He walks right up to me and throws his fist up like he’s ready to duke it out! All the older boys are standing around cheering him on.
So I thought to myself, “This is it…it’s now or never.” I laid my book bag down. I put my hands up.
We danced around for a few minutes. I was waiting for him to throw the first punch. But he didn’t. I was tired of dancing. So I went first. I busted him right in the mouth. The cheers ceased. Him and his glass jaw hit the ground along with his pride.
…
I never ran again.
…
“Everyone has a plan… until they get hit in the mouth.” — Mike Tyson 😎
…
…
…
Future Says Run
…
…
…
On this day Nov 7th 1988… my best friend Joey was killed in a dirt-bike accident. I’m remembering him today
I’ve always loved horror movies. I think it started when I was a kid. There were four of them that literally scared the bejeezus out of me.
The Exorcist (1973)
Salem’s Lot (1979)
Carrie (1976)
Poltergeist (1982)
Oh! And also Stephen King’s IT (1990). I don’t like clowns. 😁 🤡 😬
And once I caught my breath from those, as I got older, I continued that love.
I’ll tell you a funny story. It was the year 2oO0, I think. Me and my girlfriend, my buddy, and his lady were all laying on my big California king bed, in the dark, watching the movie The Ring (1998).
The girls were already scared to death. Earlier, without them knowing, I’d taken some fishing line and secured it to the bottom of the bathroom door, leaving the door partially cracked.
I was laying on the edge of the bed closest to the door, with the fishing line in my hand.
At the perfect moment, during the scariest scene, when that thing climbed out of the TV and came for the guy, I pulled on the line.
The bathroom door eerily opened with nobody standing there.
Those girls flipped out, screamed and screamed and about peed their pants. My buddy’s girl ran out of the room screaming, and mine grabbed onto me like she was about to die or something.
Fun times. I know, I know. I’m a terrible person. 🤭
I’d do it all again, though. It was super funny. 😂😁😛😉
…
I’ve included some scary short clips below that you can check out. Unless you’re chicken.
The Exorcist one and The Ring have a lil bad language. Just letting ya know.
If aliens arrived tomorrow, what’s the first thing you’d ask them?
Hmm, I’d probably ask something and tell something… does your planet have whores? And watch out for frenemies while you’re here.
Seriously though, let me tell you a real alien story. When I was a boy, I used to enjoy looking through the family photo albums my mama had. There were like 3 or 4 big thick ones just full of pictures, and in between the pages were many loose ones, so I had to be careful handling them because they would fall out.
To me It was like reading these wonderful stories without words, I just loved it. One picture caught my attention the first time I saw it. It was a Polaroid the kind you shake lol. But it was all black except for right in the center was this silver lookin’ saucer shaped thingy that was all lit up. So I showed my mama and asked her what it was? And she was like “ahhh yes I remember this one, it’s a UFO”
So she began to tell me the story. One night, her and my dad and me (I was a baby) were in the car driving, and we were crossing the Chattahoochee river bridge just north of Atlanta in Roswell Georgia… wait! Hold up, Roswell Georgia, Roswell New Mexico, UFO’s hmmm. 🤔
So anyways we were crossing the river, with other vehicles when suddenly this flying saucer thing appeared in the sky over the river just hovering and it was all lit up and all the other cars stopped and everyone got out of their vehicles and was just gazing up at it amazed. Of course, I don’t remember any of this lol.
My mama grabbed her camera and managed to capture it before it shot out of sight on a blink.
Over the years, I would show the pic to my friends and stuff. It was so cool looking. I’m not sure if my mama still has it. The last time I saw it was like in the mid-90s.
But this kind of started a curiosity in me at a young age for unidentified things in the sky.
Also, when I saw this prompt and began to think about what i would write, the song ‘wish you were here, by Incubus popped into my head and i started singing it. So I went ahead and recorded it to go along with the story
Oh yes! Great Prompt! And I’m an expert at this sorta thing. I’ve traveled so much and I know what I’m effin’ talkin’ bout. Se se.
So the best way to explore a new city is on the back of a motorcycle being driven by a guy that looks like Arthur Fonzareli from the show Happy Days, while wearing just panties and a bra (regardless of your gender) and maybe even a cool Dolly Parton wig or something.
And just cruise around at a laid-back pace. Don’t be in a hurry. Stop by the ghettos. Go visit the landfill and see what the people are throwing away, this will tell you plenty.
Stop by all the local churches and go inside and see all the pretty people. Talk to the pastor. Introduce yourself. Let them know you’re on their team and that you went to school for this stuff. Tell them how they can get your new book. Then, as you’re leaving, give them the secret hand shake, rub the palm of their hand noticeably with your middle finger, mid-shake, and watch what happens next.
Then go to the nearest Chinese buffet and try and save as many cats as you can. Before it’s too late.
Then go have a snack and rest because you’ve earned it and worry about tomorrow tomorrow.
…
…
…
…
Wesley Willis 1963 – 2o03, American Musician and Visual Artist
A friend once told me years ago, “I don’t trust anyone that doesn’t eat meat,” and he was dead serious lol. I’ve never forgotten it, and sometimes I’ll say it jokingly, but I don’t really mean it. 😁
So my eating habits? I’m very disciplined. So much so that my friends and family are like, “How can you eat the same stuff all the time?” And it’s simple for me. I don’t live to eat, I eat to live. And to go even further with that, I eat for a purpose, and that purpose is to keep my body the way I want it.
So I have a high-protein diet, and I also mix in fruit and vegetables every day. And I eat the same things.
For breakfast most days, I’ll get my same little bowl and put a small amount of granola in it, then some plain Greek yogurt, which is 17g of protein per serving. Then I’ll cut up a banana and throw it in and add some dried cranberries. Occasionally, I’ll add different fruits, depending on what I have available.
Once in a while, instead of the yogurt, I’ll have a few eggs and maybe a piece of bread.
But as far as the yogurt goes, I only do the plain, Greek, unsweetened kind.
I can actually survive on one meal a day, and I’m hardly ever hungry in the morning or even by lunch. It’s usually late in the day before I get hungry, but I force myself to eat three meals a day because it’s better for me with my workout routine.
I work out every day except Wednesday and Sunday. Those are my rest days, and occasionally I’ll take an extra day off, usually Friday, if my body feels tired.
I’m in the best shape of my life currently. I look better today, and I’m way healthier and physically stronger than when I was younger because of how I eat and exercise.
A few hours after breakfast, I’ll do my protein shake. I do one scoop most days, which is 30g of protein, but sometimes I’ll double down on it.
Then for lunch, many times I’ll have something like cottage cheese and some fruit, maybe some nuts, or some eggs.
Later, at times, I’ll have another protein shake.
Then for dinner, it’s always between these three things: rice, baked potato, or pasta. Those are my carb choices. Then I’ll have a main protein source, which is meat, fish, or eggs. Normally, it’s chicken or turkey or tuna or eggs.
I don’t eat much red meat, although I love steak and brisket, but I only eat it every now and then. I love pork too, but I don’t eat it much either.
Then I always have a vegetable, and it’s usually broccoli, Brussels sprouts, or spinach every night haha.
Oh, and I drink mostly water. I stay away from sodas except maybe on a cheat day. I enjoy caffeine in the morning, so I usually have a cup of coffee, but lately I’ve been using pre-workout drink mix that contains caffeine, so I don’t have coffee on the days I use it.
Also I use mostly olive oil or coconut oil.
I monitor my daily calories and protein, and I watch and balance my weight. I’m 6 ft tall and 200 lbs, or 91 kg, and this is where I want to stay. So if I go over 200 by a few pounds, then I reduce my eating for a few days until I drop back down. And vice versa, if one day I weigh in and I’m around 195–197, then I increase my calories for a few days. I have a fast metabolism that allows me to easily manage this.
I don’t eat junk food or sweets, except maybe once every two weeks I’ll have like a cheat day where I’ll have some apple pie or a piece of cake or something. And sometimes I’ll order pizza or Chick-fil-A just to break the monotony of my food routine. Oh, and I do get a sweet tooth sometimes during the week, and when that happens, I’ll have a spoonful or two of peanut butter.
Don’t get me wrong, I like food, and I like to eat and cook and stuff,
but I refuse to be ruled by it or anything for that matter.
How do you write what people actually want to read?
It’s a guessing game really, and what may interest you is just not my thing and vice versa. So who cares.
Hey, how about a ghost story?
A true one, that really happened to me late one winter night in 2o15 when I was living in Florida.
Or are you chicken? bawkity bawk?
If you’re scared, just say so. It’s ok to be. I would probably be too right now if I were you.
Cmon, man up, turn the lights out, take the covers off your head. Stop calling for your mama. You can handle it. I believe in you.
Okay, without further ado, let’s get into it. Before you change your mind and scroll away.
It was around 3 a.m. and I was driving to work, and my wife at the time was with me. I was working as a commercial driver, driving an 18-wheeler on a dedicated run twice a week. I would leave Lakeland Florida, and head up to Atlanta and get loaded, then back down to Jupiter Florida, I was delivering helicopter parts to Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company, in Jupiter, where they make them, and then finally back home to Lakeland. The entire run was around 1,200 miles and took two days to finish. Then I would take a day off and do it all over again.
My truck was too big to keep at my house. There was no room for it. So I found a business down the road that had a secured, gated parking area for large vehicles, and I paid them monthly to keep it there.
So yeah, my wife and I were driving, I often took her along, she enjoyed it and it was nice for me also to have her, to help pass the miles, so we arrived at the storage place. I pulled up to the gate, punched in the code, voilà! the gate opened and I proceeded to drive to the back where I kept my big ole shiny black sexy brand new at the time Peterbilt 579 with 53-foot trailer.
So we pulled up and parked, got out and grabbed our bags and traded our little bitty Ford pickup for the big dawg Pete.
Also on a side note, after skillfully maneuvering the big boys around all the time, once you get behind the wheel of your personal vehicle, you feel like you’re driving a little go-cart or bumper car or something. No matter how big or what it is. It still feels so small in comparison.
We got in and got settled and I fired her up and started doing my pre-trip inspection and my log book and all the other paperwork, and entering everything in my onboard computer. There’s much more to it than just driving, like many think lol
It was always a ghost town around here at this time of night. No pun. No fun. Absolutely nothing or no one around, and it was an eerie place on an eerie stretch of road. Just had a noticeable feel to it. If that makes sense. Just had to be there to see for yourself.
I had been working this particular run for over a year and it was routine for me now and I was very familiar with it and my surroundings. Too familiar, actually lol.
So I got everything entered in my computer and all the freakin paperwork done, then one last look at all my dashboard gauges and air pressure and stuff, then a final nod and wink to my co-pilot and we are ready for take off.
Seemed like any other night.
The business sat right on Highway 98, and as I exited the gate and approached the road, I yielded and looked both ways and there was absolutely no other vehicles coming in either direction. We were totally alone. Or were we? So I slowly proceeded out. I crossed the two southbound lanes and made my way into the center turning area to make a left onto the two northbound lanes.
As I started the turn into the far right lane, I was going very slowly when suddenly my headlights hit the side of the road, I could not believe my eyes. WTH IS THAT!?! I slowed even more. So I could see.
She and I both saw it at the same time. She gasped loudly. Every hair on my body stood up as she said, “OH MY GOD, BRYAN, GO GO GO!”
It was right on the edge of the road, just a few steps into the grass, and it was directly in front of us, maybe 15 feet away, with my super bright headlights right on it, lighting it up like the noonday sun.
I can still see it so vividly in my mind today.
Would you like me to describe it to you?
I’ve never seen anything like it before or since.
It was a person, but yet it wasn’t.
It was wearing lighter colored semi baggy blue jeans and a red long sleeved hoodie sweatshirt.
It wasn’t transparent. It was a solid figure that you couldn’t see through at all.
About 5’8 or 5’9 and around 170 pounds if I had to guess.
And it was frozen there, looking through us. We were frozen too. We just knew at the time that it wanted us to see it.
Are you ready for the good part?
The hoodie was up and filled as if a head were inside it, but it had no face. Just thick utter darkness instead, that I can’t even describe well to you.
It had no hands. It had no feet.
And it appeared to be hovering maybe six inches or so off the ground.
It was just clothes that were filled out as if a person was wearing them.
But there was no person.
And it was staring us down, with no face or eyes.
My wife then cried out in fear again for me to “GO GO GO!”
And I did.
As I passed, I tried to look back in her passenger side mirror for another glimpse of it, but I couldn’t see anything. It was too dark and hard to tell.
…
We never saw it again but every time thereafter, when I drove by that spot I would nod and wink and think to myself, “Yep, right there, right there. That’s where that thing stood. That thing we saw. That thing we saw that night.”
…
I would like to hear your thoughts and comments.
Have you ever had anything like this happen to you?
What do you think we saw?
…
…
…
A Cover of Overkill by Men at Work
…
…
…
I’m 6’ft tall, but for some reason, I look short here idk. Maybe because the person taking the pic is up higher than me looking down. The Chocolate Hills on the island of Bohol in the Philippines 🇵🇭
What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done when no one was watching?
I’m not sure this is the bravest thing. I have some better ones I could write about but this just came to mind, a memory I had almost forgotten.
When I was young, growing up in Georgia, there was a beautiful 10 acre lake way back up in the woods behind my house. My birthday is in September, so I believe I was 13 at the time, about to turn 14.
Anyways, the lake was full of big bass and huge bluegill. Me and my friends spent many a day fishing it and sometimes swimming, but we had to be careful because it had its share of venomous water moccasin snakes, aka the Cottonmouth. I mentioned these in my earlier post on snakes, but if you got bit, there was no one around to help you and no way to call 911.
So one hot and humid summer day I borrowed my neighbor’s 12 foot aluminum jon boat. It was just what you call a blank hull. It had no motor or extras or seats except for bench type seating made into the body. It was as plain Jane as they come. It was also fairly lightweight as boats go and it had a long rope tied to the bow of it.
My friends and I would get 2 or sometimes 3 of us to a side and tote it with our fishing gear laid inside it, then walk the 45 minutes through the woods on the trails to get to the lake, stopping occasionally to rest.
So yeah, that particular day we made it to the lake, we put the boat in the water, paddled out and started fishing.
We didn’t care about life jackets in them days. They were for lil kids. We were grown ass men. Might as well have arm floaties on 😎😁
I remember the fish not biting that day, probably because it was so hot. After a while my friends got tired of fishing and began to joke around, goof off, act like dummies and started rocking the boat. Long story short, the boat filled with water then flipped and went under, so we all grabbed what we could and swam to shore. And we weren’t like panicked or anything, we were cool. It was no big deal. I had my rod and reel and my tacklebox in hand and still managed to make it, at times swimming on my back.
I remember I was pissed though because I had borrowed the boat and I was responsible for it. They didn’t really give a shit. They all ended up going home, but I stayed because another friend from a neighborhood on the other side of the woods was supposed to meet me there later that afternoon. Of course, we didn’t have cell phones back then, so I had no way of contacting him. I decided to hang out and wait.
I started back fishing from shore. As I looked out across the water, I noticed something. It looked like the very top tip of the boat was sticking out of the water. Then I realized it hadn’t sunk all the way.
I was so happy to see this and that it wasn’t at the bottom. I knew that long rope was still attached to it, so I thought if I could get to that, then maybe there was a chance to save it and pull the boat in.
I figured maybe it was somewhat buoyant being just a lightweight empty hull. Also, possibly it had some air or something trapped in it. I don’t know.
So I took my shoes and shirt off and got in the water and swam to the boat. It was a good ways out, probably 40 or 50 yards.
Did I mention I’m a great swimmer? Not to brag or anything but it is what it is for this story. 😁
Oh and also, there was absolutely no one around to save me if I got in trouble.
But I had to try. I didn’t want to have to look my neighbor in the eye later and tell him what happened.
So I made it to the exposed part of the bow and grabbed on and kind of rested for a spell. I was also able to tell that the boat was at a good angle and just sitting there about 4 feet under the water at the stern.
After I chilled for a few and regained some strength, I found the rope and pulled on the boat some and it began to move.
Ok I got this… here we go. Get ready, let’s give it a go and see what happens.
So I started swimming like a human tugboat. It was tough and it remained partially submerged, but I made it back to shore… with the boat, mind you. I was exhausted but never for a moment did I feel like I was in danger of going under. But if that boat went under, then my ass would really be in danger.
It was a great way to end a day of fishing.
Hey deddy… guess what? I caught a 12 footer today! You should have seen it!
And what can I say? Not too bad for a 13 year old Gen X kid, alone by himself in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a lake with a half sunken neighbor’s boat. 🤷♂️
