A Little Taste

What follows is the briefest of excerpts from 'The Sarah Pierce Story', the book which shall arise from the story of 'The Kid'. This story begins just two days after the events which transpired in the alley behind the cheese warehouse - two short days after The Kid was assassinated by Sully. For those of you who have not read 'The Kid', there are links down the right side of this page which will take you to the story - if you wish. Now, without further ado ....

Vigilante
The Sarah Pierce Story


THE GUN


She walked into the little desert gun shop with no idea what it was she was looking for. She had a mission - just no idea how to do what she had in mind.
"Can I help you?"
"I hope so. I need to learn how to shoot. Can you recommend someone?"
"I think so. What are you looking to use? Handgun? Rifle? Long range? Close in?"
"I don't know. I suppose I probably want to keep as much distance as possible between me and my, uh, target. Yeah, I'm not exactly a hunter, you know. I'm not going to be creeping up on anybody, uh, anyTHING."
"Well, then, you'll probably want a rifle. Something light and smaller caliber. High muzzle velocity."

Jake Bertrett was an ex-Marine who had been badly wounded on Guadalcanal. The VA treated every wound they could find. But the wounds inside his head were worse than those on his body. They denied the existence of the wounds they couldn't see; which left Jake Bertrett an angry and bitter man. This little gunshop was all he had in the world. That and the collection of 'special' firearms he kept in the cellar, the arms he and his compatriots would use when the Uprising came, and the State of Nevada exerted its right of Sovereignty and seceded. The Sons Of Nevada would make sure her veterans were well cared for and tended to. The revenue from the casinos that were popping up all over the state would supply the money to take care of the vets. They'd see to that.

"How much is a rifle like that going to cost?"
"I don't know. Depends on the piece. Could be a couple hundred, or more. Of course, the piece will depend on your ... target ... and your hunting ground."
"Okay. What about learning to shoot?"
"I'll teach you to shoot. I was a sniper when I was in the Marines. I've got a small range out back - I can teach you everything you need to know. How much you willin' to pay?"

She stared at him for a long moment, trying to size him up. Average height, very muscular build, head shaved and scarring visible on his arms and hands. But his clear blue eyes said 'pain' - and there was a haunted look there, a look she had seen in other people, other vets, those that had seen, and done, terrible things during the war. She didn't know why, but she knew, instinctively, that this was a man she could trust.

"Look, I have this gun I ... found. Would you want to buy it?"


Ndinombethe.

Friday Haiku - almost

It's almost normal,
The 'look and feel' is coming,
The scheduler works.

Soon will fonts be fixed,
Everything aligned, pretty,
returned to normal.

She did it so well.
Honeybell's work looked easy,
Looks are deceiving.

We are almost back to where we started when Honeybell built this site. Take it from me - this stuff ain't easy. Thank you, again, Honeybell.

Ndinombethe.

Sacrificial Lamb

I am afraid my Wednesday post has to become my Sacrificial lamb and suffer a shortened shelf life. I have just completed testing the scheduler and it WORKS!!! WOOT!!
I can go back to my normal posting routine now.

Which mean I need a Thursday post.

Which is THIS one. The one you're reading.

I guess I'll have to retire Wednesday's phallic symbol early - posted in honor of Kelley at Magnetoboldtoo and her raging hormones. I didn't tell her about it anyway.

Ndinombethe.

Wordless Wednesday - Pistols

Pillar of Pistols

 

Located in the Tower Of London
UPDATE:: I just tested - and the scheduler WORKS!!!! Everything now goes back to normal.

It's Tuesday and NOT Belgium

When I awoke this morning I was actually confused as to what day it was. For a moment, I was convinced it was supposed to be Wednesday. It would have been nice, if it was Wednesday - one day closer to Friday, you know.

I'm convinced this confusion arose out of my change in habit. I am off kilter. Like a washer in which the load has shifted and it's making that banging sound as it spins. I need to stop for a minute and open the top, move the load around, and start it up again. Figuratively. Because, you know .. the literal chain of events would be difficult - if not messy.

I am going to try to re-construct some of what Honeybell did for me on this site. To that end, I have asked her if I can use some of the graphic files she made for me. I can, perhaps, restore some of the look and feel that I liked so much - and which so many of you commented about when she made the changes originally. I want my header back. I LIKED the header she made for me.

UPDATE: Actually - I've gotten my files and you see the header now. I just need to fill in the functionality.

Damn. Pink X, Emily. (Cubs lost)

The 15th member of the Illinois National Guard was killed in Afghanistan on Monday. The price gets yet steeper. And I am even further off kilter.

Ndinombethe.

A little STUFF

In just a little over two weeks, BlogHer starts. I don't have a ticket, but I'm beginning to think I may not need one. I'm going to the People Party on Thursday evening. On Thursday morning, I'm picking up an attendee at O'Hare, and late Thursday afternoon, I will pick up two more and take them to the hotel. I will be around the periphery of the conference for the duration. Me and my camera. I hope I get to see everybody I want to see. I hope those who have expressed a notion that they'd like to meet up with me have a chance to do so, as well. Of course, that's pretty much everybody I want to see anyway, so hopefully, everybody gets their wish.

Cubs win, again. Emily. She's a Cubs fan, like me. Actually, she's not like me at all. First of all, she's a girl. And she's young. And pretty.

I had to go to Naperville this evening. #3 Son left his Calculus Book at home when I took him back to school yesterday - so guess who made the trip - with book in hand? The good part of that was that I had a little time to spend in the Barnes&Noble Booksellers store there, where I picked up a book on XHTML, HTML and CSS. And a book on GIMP - the open source Photoshop workalike. Because GIMP is free and CS4 is like 800 dollars. Easy choice.

It's still a bit strange doing today's post in the evening - especially after posting the other way for a year and a half. I'll get used to it.

Oh, and one more thing. Well, two more actually. First - 'One Knight's Story' will soon be back on weekends. And Second - I will soon start feeding in bits of 'Vigilante - The Sarah Pierce Story', the story which follows 'The Kid'. Like Fred says - stay tuned.

Ndinombethe.

The long hallway

#3 Son was home for the long weekend. I took him back to school earlier this evening. He'll be there for another couple of weeks - the program ends July 19th. I helped him carry his stuff into his room and, when done, I turned around and walked down this long hallway - from his room, to the entrance.

It's a typical institutional hallway, cinderblock, painted a bright yellow, square incandescent fixtures spaced evenly in the low ceiling. It struck me that soon, very soon, this place will become as familiar to my son as the walls in his room, at home. There's even a chance that soon, very soon, different walls will be 'home', different places and faces will become the familiar and everyday in his life. We will become what he references when he says, to his new places and faces, "When I was growing up." - looking back over his shoulder at where he has been, on his way to wherever it is he is going.

I don't know if I'm ready for this.

As long as we're on the subject ... I don't remember whether I've mentioned this or not, but #3 intends to major in Japanese. At first he thought he might double major and add Computer Science with a minor in Education, but he has decided on a more realistic approach and he's going to double in Education. There's a government program that will pay part of his tuition if he commits to teaching for a while in 'high need' areas after he graduates. He's interested. I hope it works out.

I still don't know if I'm ready for this.

It was hard enough sending him off to the residential high school when he was a Sophomore. But it was High School, and he was still our responsibility. Now he's 18. And it's college. And he's legally an adult.

And I really don't know if I'm ready for this.

And I don't know if HE'S ready, either. It's a long hallway.

Ndinombethe.