Designed for the discriminating reader who expects a good story, good characters, and above all an aesthetic experience. It's in the language, you know? Contact me at R1234J@hotmail.com...

There goes Le Roi de Soliel rolling down the hill. Like Roy always says: the first thing you do when you open one of these gallon jugs is toss the cap away. Now, he’s tumbling down a dirt path in the Presidio with the lights of The City winking behind and the GGB, a waterfront hack’s “golden”, glistening through the light fog and beckoning dead ahead. Michigan Bob gets to Roy first to make sure the wine is intact, both of them laughing and coughing, a couple of lunatics in the darkness. Just like them to howl at a new moon as now here comes Tex plummeting down the hill to meet them, hoping he can arrest his momentum before he bowls them over like a couple of tenpins needed for a spare. ...

THERE GOES LE ROI DE SOLIEL... AN OLD SCORE THE GOOD PROFESSOR A VISIT TO THE LIBRARY WASHINGTON SQUARE CHANCE ENCOUNTER RELAY THE NATURE OF WORLDS THE EDUCATION OF HENRY APPEL, A NOVELLA...

The most interesting and important event for the boys of the old, already semi-derelict school of the small town was going to the movies and the following discussion of the new film. But most had rarely the opportunity to go to the cinema and everyone who was lucky to see a new film retold for days again and again the contents until all the others knew the whole movie by heart without seeing it themselves. Especially the younger pupils lacked the money, but even the older ones had often not enough to by a ticket. Because for a ticket one had to pay twenty kopeks, otherwise one could not enter the cinema....

The book keeper of the hospital of a small provincial town came one day home very tired. He had not the least desire to have dinner and so he decided to lay down at once and to sleep. In recent years it often happened, that he, after coming home in the evening, had dinner and immediately went to bed without a word to his already grown up children or his wife. She became more and more grumpy in view of his seclusion. He only wanted to sleep, to sleep soundly till daybreak of the next and probably again undesirably day which he always impatiently anticipated, only to immerse again in his coma. For any reason he remembered this evening his childhood in a state between vigil and slumber....

An intriguing short story about solving the mystery of the cosmos and the metaphorical identity of Kafka's and Shakespeare's mistress.

Poems by Jan De Raeymaeker

The Butt --------- Don't forget the butt Do you feel sorry for it? Shake your head sadly at its down-trodden looks So abused, now frayed and thrown away But observe the lipstick on its collar It has felt the embrace of a woman Or some painted lips Has been ignited: set on fire with desire Has been loved – however briefly Has been longingly handled, touched: caressed Sucked on wantonly Pulled into a heaving chest It lies now, not looking the best: broken Its core crudely, publicly, exposed Its heart torn open Used and tarred, then discarded Look at that butt Feel your pity But remind yourself It has known more life and love than most in this city ...

TABLE OF CONTENTS Car conch 5 Canal, early morning 6 Wind and demon 7 The Butt 8 Playthings 9 History 11 Wet drive 12 Silhouette street 13 Hug 14 The key 15 Steeple 16 Love sleeps 17 Rush 18 Lost scobe 20 A miracle at Michaels 21 Delusion 22 Searching for words 23 Mawes 24 This face 25 She puzzled 26 Finding his fun 27 Olive 29 Street-sweeper 30 Fire waking 31 Collectables 32 Beating my boundaries 33 Coffee quiff 34 Bite 35 The sparkling raspberry 36 In search of sin 37 Beautiful Slant 38 Burning morning 39 Wait at the Tate 40 Stifled life 41 Knee pop 42 Miserable weather 43 Mate of fate 44 Old Dublin anew 45 A ma 47 Dublin city marathon 48 ...

Ronnie is a young man barely out of his teens experiencing the appalling conditions of the average Bomber Command Gunner on missions over Nazi Germany in 1944. Battling to survive in a surreal world of death and fire Ronnie is however tormented by an even greater evil - a ghastly secret of a crime so vile he is sure his life is in even greater danger. Fast forward to the present day and we meet Mark. Also barely out of his teens Mark has made the bold decision to leave his homeland of Australia and venture across the seas to rural England to meet his long time no see Father. His quest leads to a life far removed and different from his own. In the lush fields of Lincolnshire Mark discovers the derelict remains of RAF East Wigram, a bomber command base long since abandoned to the elements. Out of misguided curiosity he ventures into a strange and dark building where the ghosts of the past are ready to engulf his mind and unleash the hideous secrets of the past upon his soul. This Building is - The Chamber....

The story is about people just trying to get along and make the best of what happening most of which they cannot control. It is not in a galaxy for far away or long long ago, it is in the next bit of our galaxy about five strings of stars to the left. Here life spins out all be it on a larger playing field. Here too people want a quiet life and a good job but sometime fate has other plans. Thus it for a data manager called John Harris....

Chapter 5 - - THE JUMP Harris stood waiting in the small switch room, waiting for what he did not know. Raftos was standing next to Harris, Mick was sitting on the floor in the corner watching the large panel on the main part of the wall. A small tinny sounding intercom speaker suddenly came to life and a voice came over cool and quite calm. " Command base control to Light Star, all personnel clear of the ground hanger, you may proceed to launch at your own time." Raftos leaned forward and pushed a switch near the intercom. " Light Star to base control." said Raftos. " All systems are steady, we are ready to make jump." Raftos let go of the switch. The speaker sounded for one last time. " Base control, good luck."...

The story is about people just trying to get along and make the best of what happening most of which they cannot control. It is not in a galaxy for far away or long long ago, it is in the next bit of our galaxy about five strings of stars to the left. Here life spins out all be it on a larger playing field. Here too people want a quiet life and a good job but sometime fate has other plans. Thus it for a data manager called John Harris....

Chapter 4 - - LIGHT STAR The shuttle circled the first moon of Morstan and headed toward Petra the furthest and smallest of the Morstan moons. As the dark side crescent of the third moon looped beneath the nose of the shuttle, the small barren moon of Petra appeared in view. It was a dark and uninviting place with no life except the very secret base where the Light Star project laboratories and assembly hangers were. The shuttle lurched as it gave a short burn to reach the high outer orbit of the moon. The planet below shrank rapidly smaller as the darkness of space enveloped the shuttle....

This edition includes the entire text of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Also included are a Foreword by author/actor Jon Koons; an Afterword by actor Danielle Manente; and information and photos about THE MAKING OF THE AUDIOBOOK....

Misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance – Jason Flanagan needs to make restitution for a crime committed fifteen years earlier. Problem is, the moral indiscretion isn’t punishable in any court of law....

A short story.

She showed Amber her penis. Amber was shocked. Cindy leaped at her and started kissing her. Amber thought for a minute then reciprocated. They necked.

Saving Rose Green is a short story that tells the tale of Rose Green, who is an inch away from unravelling the truth when the key witness to exposing one of the ugliest crimes committed is killed. Thinking she is backed by the most trusted organisation, she got caught up in the never-ending war between two worlds and their idea of a free world....

“Hi, do you speak English?” said the white slim lady to the nurse at the reception. “No, I did not go to Harvard because I am an Arab woman whose parents are low income earners!” answered the nurse. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way!” responded the white lady. “Maybe an identification and a ‘please’ added to your question would make your approach benign, don’t you think?” said the female nurse with a straight face staring straight into her eyes. “I am Rose Green, please I am here to see Doctor Abbas Hassan?” she replied smiling, a bit embarrassed by her first approach. “Now that, my sister is called courtesy. Our parents spend most of their precious time teaching us these things here!” remarked the nurse. She dragged a desk phone on the counter and picked the headset, dialled a number and spoke in Arabic mentioning Rose Green to the person she called then hung up, “Fifth floor, second office on your left!” “Thank you!” said Rose, she looked up the clock hanging on the wall behind the nurse as she walked away. “You’re welcome, Rose Green!” responded the nurse. “Excuse me?” said Rose as she turned. “ána úhibbu fustaanuk!...

Dedication Name tag Janice Carpenters Tear drops from the moon.

Following the fall of the most guileful witch in all the lands, young Otheris set on a journey for a much bigger task. This task was nothing other than to bring the heads of the Serpents of Qhudrus, after the king made him an offer he could not refuse....

“Let go of me Otheris!” cried the old witch in her black cloak as she struggled to free her neck from his grip, he kept walking and didn’t care to look back as he dragged her down the village, “Let me go!” she barely choked struggling with mucus all over her face and his hand. Other than her creaky old voice, only the chirping of the crickets and the hooting of the owls could be heard. Otheris uttered no words as he tugged her. “Please Otheris son of Delial, have mercy and free me,” she pleaded, “I shall not come near thy household again!” still struggling for air to breathe. “You shall be free. I have no plans of taking your life oh great witch of Moughdug. You should know that by now, the village folk need to see you in your true form,” replied Otheris. ...

Acknowledgments Dedication The great witch of Moughdug Otheris Devourer The road to Qhudrus The Serpents of Qhudrus

Editor’s note: Dexter Dietz, the Chuckwalla Reveille's owner and publisher, remains under federal witness protection while awaiting the unlikely but hoped for trial in the Hague of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir. I first met Dietz in San Francisco’s Haight, after knocking on an apartment door with the inscription “Only the illusion doesn’t deceive." He later became involved in shadowy transactions involving weapons transfers in Southern Sudan. Returning to the States, he sought a quiet enterprise that would print easy money. The Chuckwalla Reveille, the weekly in a tiny desert town, had a small but steady trade with several real estate brokers and a car dealership. Dietz had no interest in reporting or editing but these matters are easily hired out. He led a retired life until FBI agents took him into protective custody. I was sitting at the bar at the Merchants’ and Millionaires’ when Dexter rang. Could I come to Imperial County to guard his interests? I was at liberty, having just been fired for insubordination from a metro daily. I agreed to take the reins in Chuckwalla until the al-Bashir indictment is resolved....

Leaders in Motion A regular Reveille feature profiling vanguard personalities in the Tri-Desert area. This week we catch up with 17-year-old Boy Scout first class Henry Pipps, the highest ranking scout in Troop 354 and a senior at Chuckwalla High. Reveille: You were shot recently. Pipps: “Not the first time. What happened, I was working on a community service project by helping Bert (Bertinelli) at the Chamber of Commerce with a promotion for the Convergence Center. I had to dress up like a Martian and walk into town to meet up with Mayor Crane. Bert wanted the whole troop but he only had one costume. Anyhow, I’m coming up out of the culvert over near Via Bienvenidos and I’m testing out this electronic horn that Bert gave me when ka-boom, two dove hunters open up on me.” Reveille: Bird shot? Pipps. “I got peppered in the back. Nothing serious. Last year I was shot through the hand with a .22 during the Scout Expo in Big Moccasin. See.” Reveille: I’ve heard you scouts have an interest in firearms. Pipps: “We have our own range on Scorpion Peak. We’re interested in the original scouting idea of General Baden Pow...

Sylvia Mandelstam boasts what a wonderful time she had at the international literary symposium in Moscow. Truth be told, the trip was an unmitigated fiasco not unlike her marriage and personal life. She can lie shamelessly and dissemble to everyone - even Danny O'Rourke, the unassuming mason who arrives one summery day to repair her damaged brick wall. But not indefinitely....

Jerome Spellman, the simple schizophrenic in Grace’s eleventh grade class, acts like an extra in a B-rated horror flick - Night of the Living Dead. Grace prays for a miracle, while Dr. Rosen, the school psychologist counsels, “Think positive but plan for the worse.”...

Jerome Spellman, the simple schizophrenic in Grace’s eleventh grade class, acts like an extra in a B-rated horror flick - Night of the Living Dead. Grace prays for a miracle, while Dr. Rosen, the school psychologist counsels, “Think positive but plan for the worse.”...

Pearl Singleton, a forest ranger at the Pemberton Wildlife Preserve, is going to show eighteen year old Shawn Mariano her Osborne Smoke Finder, all six varieties of New England ferns, a beaver dam, and something he never bargained for....

Following his divorce, Dr. Stanley Gilford, chief of cardiology at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, restructured his life on the guiding principle of maximum gain, minimum pain. So what is the well-heeled doctor doing with Ruby, a high school dropout and waitress at the local greasy spoon, and what are his options visa vie the pallid, five year old boy whose damaged heart beats in three-four time?...

Tania's grandma has planned a surprise for her on Saturday afternoon. Tania is excited about it. But then her best friend invites her to a movie she really wants to see. And that is on Saturday too. Poor Tania does not want to hurt grandma's feelings but she does so want to go for the movie with her friend. What will she do now? Read on and find out. Suitable to be read to children of ages 3 to 7....

Told as a parable, and vividly observed, Rich Shapero’s Too Far is an exhilarating and heart-breaking story of an end to innocence that captures the triumphs and follies of the child’s imagination as it struggles to remain boundless and free....