About the Author, Story Time

School Storytime: Bear Skin

While in high school, I was in the Gateway Club. This was a group which possessed its own room with a teacher. It was a place for those who did well in school to focus on studies or work on extracurricular activities. Very helpful since they geared up with computers. This particular day I needed them for a project. I don’t quite remember what it was… something about designing a room for a character, I think? Either way, I thought a bear skin rug would be appropriate. So, I typed it into the search engine then looked at the images. I looked at the screen, back up at the search bar, and blinked twice. On the screen were several naked women along with some bear skin rugs.

Stunned, I stammered, “I think there’s a cyber problem.”
The Gateway teacher gasped and exclaimed, “KC! That’s not appropriate!”
“It’s not what it looks like! Just look at the search bar!”
She looked at the location and then laughed hardily and replied, “Oh, yeah that is a problem. I’ll let the IT person know right away.”
“And while you do that, I’ll get the picture I need and shut it down.”

She nodded while heading next door. I grabbed my picture and shut the search down. A long breath came out as I looked up at the ceiling. Then the room filled with my own laughter. I couldn’t believe the school overlooked such a simple mistake. The funniest part? A month after the incident, I searched this again with no one in the room. Guess what wasn’t fixed? Laughing to myself, I shook my head and shut it down. It seemed students weren’t the only procrastinators after all.

About the Author, Story Time

Family Storytime: Rotation

I’d say I was in upper elementary/middle school when our family decided to go to Niagara Falls for vacation. It was my first time leaving the country, so I was very excited. (Yes, it wasn’t far from the US, but I was a kid.) In I was packed into a van with my parents, grandparents, and my brother. We spent hours in the car… most of the time watching the same particular movie over and over on our little portable DVD player. Oh, it was tempting to throw it out the window once or twice, but sleep was the healthier option. Somehow my family was allowed entry into Canada. Now, I could go on and on about the trip as a whole, but I’d like to focus on one event. See, there’s this tower which overlooks over the city and Niagara Falls. One gets to the top of it by taking an outdoor facing elevator. This allows their customers to enjoy the views while ascending to their destination… unless they’re afraid of heights. It so happened three of the adults in our group possessed this fear. Naturally as the good-natured children my brother and I were, we didn’t dare tease or nudge them towards the window. That would be so mean and rude… did you detect the sarcasm?
Anyways, we arrive to the top to find a somewhat fancy restaurant. The uniqueness of this place was the floor rotated to give the tables a view of the city. Got that? Only the floor moves. A long window wrapped along the outside of the dining room with a small ledge. When you go to sit down, they adamantly say not to lean or put anything on it since it stays stationary. Naturally, they put the kids near the window where we proceeded to forget this detail. An elbow slip there and a squeak here were to be expected. However, my brain forgot these moments and I placed my glasses on the ledge. As a couple of minutes passed, I realized my folly and chased after the spectacles. Apologizing to a very nice table who handed it to me. Daggers were glared at me from the servers who gave the warning. You’d think this would be the cream of the crop for embarrassment, right? Wrong. For you see my brother had to unintentionally top it. While calming down from the incident and enjoying my meal, I gazed out to see the falls. Smiling at how enjoyable it was to myself. It seems my brother shared the same thought. I know this because he was so distracted by the fantastic sights that he ended up on my lap. I giggled at first until I realized he was dragging me with him. Somewhat trapping both of us between the window and the seat. We were only freed when our parents helped. They lifted up my brother so I could pull myself out. I’m pretty sure through all these antics every eye was on us. As an adult, I’m surprised we weren’t asked to leave, or my family wasn’t too embarrassed to do so themselves. All I remember was a lot of laughing as we rotated round and round.

About the Author

Whirlwind of Worry (Poem)

They started as whispers in my ears…
Something I’ve dealt with for years.
The doctors delay,
Stacking bills to pay,
The body creaks
For answers we seek,
The house now stands
Costing many a grand.
How will I pay?
It says day after day.
Oh, how it howls,
As the collector scowls
There’s little strength in these bones.
Feeling like they were beaten with stones.
Nothing you can do to fix it.
Only watch as you fall behind bit by bit.
Failure at everything you do.
Surprised anyone would stay near you.
After all, your friends are gone.
They needed to move on.
You’re nothing special, just a joke.
Given the opportunity you’d choke.
It all started as a whisper…
And now the words are crisper.
You think it’ll change?
That you’ go beyond the range?
How sad. The world is cruel.
If you don’t know that, you’re a fool.
To cling to hope and a dream,
Will only rip you by the seam.
Stronger and stronger it whips about…
I cannot stay strong and stout.
Of course, you can’t…
Just go ahead and rant.
Your words fall flat on the ground…
I know exactly where you’re bound.
Alone and under a bridge you’ll be
Crying, “How did this happen to me?”
But I can answer that simply for you…
Believing in the phrase anything I can do-
Cease and desist this prattling on!
If I can give in my life would be gone…
So, fly away far from here.
Don’t want to feel you near!
And even as they fly away,
The whispers will return the next day.