Eight Stories to Fill Downtime During Your Lockdown

When I built my first website in 1995 it included a section devoted to art by two crayon artists, Jeffrey Robert and Don Marco. I also used the web to share some of my fiction. The global internet--World Wide Web--was in its infancy then. Very early on three of my stories were translated into other languages. A couple years later I posted two short stories by my daughter. They ended up being published in California and New Zealand. 

Here are a few of the stories I shared at ennyman.com back then. No need to buy the books they appear in. I wrote them to be shared and enjoyed.

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The M Zone
The revelation came suddenly. Like an "Aha!"... only it was an "Oh no!."

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Two Acts That Changed the World
Of the dozen or so German physicists who had been assigned the task of building a super-bomb for Germany, Wilhelm Kurtweil more than any knew the consequences for humanity should the Nazis succeed in being the first to achieve this ultimate quest.

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The Unfinished Stories of Richard Allen Garston
How impossible to know what is real and what is not.

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The Nose
The crammed little bar sizzled with energy. So much was happening in the room that it began to unsettle him. He wondered why he ever said he would meet his friends here.

[Story inspired by an incident that happened to Italo Calvino's Mr. Palomar]

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An Unremembered History of the World
This story begins slow, does not follow modern conventions of quick exciting hook etc. It is old fashioned. It exists because the author believed the story was worth the work and the reader who worked at it would be rewarded. I would not have it on this site if it were not important to me.

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A Poem About Truth
The opening lines are derivative. The story is original. The message is timeless.

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Terrorists Preying
Although I'd been an art major in college -- mostly painting and drawing -- I became discouraged with it shortly after graduation and gave it up. I was living with my family on Long Island at the time and for some while afterwards I still visited the New York art galleries, making regular tours of the Whitney, the Guggenheim and the Modern.

What finally got me out of art was the whole directionlessness of it all....

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The Breaking Point
It was a Wednesday when the bill arrived. Cassie Hedberg's birthday was the following Monday, so it wasn't too difficult to put one and one together to make two.

Winner of the 1991 Arrowhead Regional Arts Fiction Competition

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Still looking for more good reads, here's a link to four more, stories by Anton Chekov, Jack London, Jospeh Conrad, Jorge Luis Borges.

Memories: Both a Comfort and a Curse

Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

"What makes old age hard to bear is not the failing of one's faculties, mental and physical, but the burden of one's memories."--Somerset Maugham

While assembling quotes about writing, by writers, I stumbled upon the above quote by Mr. Maugham, which so resonated with me.

It somehow seems that as the years pass, experience offers us new perspectives on our past, like a receding landscape while ascending a mountain. These new views from a higher elevation reveal much that we missed when we were in "the thick of it" so to speak.

Life is an experience. For much of that experience we weren't as attentive as we might have been. "I was there but where was my head at?" we may be asking ourselves.

In reflecting on life we see highlights such as weddings, breakups, transitions, travel experiences, deaths. These major moments and events each left a mark on our inner narrative. But in truth, there were other events which seemed so insignificant at the time that we failed to notice them. Or we noticed but failed to give them their due respect.

My grandmother's poem Aftermath of a Stroke shows how the good times, remembered, bring us comfort in our later years. This may be why as people age and slowly distribute all the things accumulated over the course of  lifetime, the last thing they part with are photos of the children and grandchildren and those special people in their lives.

As I've aged, I seem to have become increasingly aware of that other class of memories that causes one to cringe, to be ashamed. Friendships destroyed by one's own careless stupidity, relationships marred by one's failure to see what was really happening, opportunities wasted by personal weakness. How could I have been so blind, so foolish. Worst of all, I have only myself to blame.

I accused, I misunderstood, I failed to see. I spoke when I should not have, and failed to speak when I should have....

Marcel Proust in Swann's Way wrote, "We are healed of a suffering only by experiencing it to the full."  Maybe this is why the more painful memories still surface from time to time. It may not be possible to go back and find resolution through asking forgiveness from those we've hurt, but we can choose to accept, even embrace, the pain it causes us, instead of denying it or trying to escape it. Fully experienced, it loses its sting as we forgive ourselves.

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I don't know if every generation has paced so much emphasis on "living in the now" or "in the moment" but it's certainly been an oft-repeated message over the course of my own lifetime. I doubt that anyone really does this fully, though. There are simply too many experiences and so much nourishment received as we relive them through our memories.

It was this kind of thinking that led me to write my short story The M Zone 25 years ago, which you can read here on Medium. The story also appears in my eBook Newmanesque.

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EndPoint: Each day is an opportunity to make new memories, for ourselves and for others. Wherever you be, live with your eyes open wide and make a difference. 

The M Zone: A Short Story That Could Make an Interesting Short Film

This past week, hard on the heels of our local Duluth Dylan Fest, we were treated to the 5-day Duluth Superior Film Festival. Saturday afternoon I found my way to the Short Films segment, fortunate to have a seat. Certainly the price was right (Free) and the bad weather outside could have played a part, though it's clear by the participation of local film makers and the consistent size of the crowds that Richard Hansen and his film fest team have been gaining traction in our community. Over the years I've enjoyed a lot of original films, and have especially enjoyed the shorts.

Four or five years ago the DuSu Film Fest showed the Adam Fish/Matthew Detisch screen adaptation of my story Episode on South Street. The film came about as a result of my having shared many of my stories on my first website in the 90's. Three of the stories I posted there were translated into foreign languages. Two stories that my daughter wrote when she was twelve ended up in print, which was cool.

Another of my stories, The M Zone, led to my receiving an email that had a 3-4 page screenplay attached. I liked it. A few weeks later, a the short film script had been revised to fill five minutes. I found it interesting how they turned the incident covered in the story into a news story.

Picture the familiar scene with a cameraman focused on a news journalist holding a microphone, staged in front of a scene. In this case, the executive offices for a successful tech firm. The journalist is telling the audience that a something is happening inside and a major story is about to break.

Translating the written word into cinema has many challenges. This past winter a friend and I attempted to convert my Young Adult novel The Red Scorpion into a screenplay treatment. When all was said and done, after many false starts it became a wholly other story, much more dramatic but not at all the story that I'd originally spent many years writing, revising and re-writing.

All this to say that if you're casting about for a story that might work as a short film for next year's film festival season, this one has possibilities.

It begins like this....

THE M ZONE

The revelation came suddenly. Like an "Aha!"... only it was an "Oh no!"

Richard Busby slumped into his chair, leaned his head back and stared off into space, attempting to make himself deaf to what he was hearing. "This is verified?" he asked, referring to the data in a report that had fallen from his hand.

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir," Dr. Frey, Director of R&D, said.

Busby's brain was numb. Even though he begun to suspect it, had himself experienced the effects, he had remained in denial. "Do you realize what this means?" Busby asked.

Frey nodded, the small, thin line of mouth grimly expressionless. His dark eyes scanned the desktop and came to rest on the latest Forbes, which featured the ten most significant men of the first half of the 21st century. There, alongside Bill Gates, the world's first trillionaire, was Richard Busby, developer of the M Zone.

In the instant of Busby's epiphany his whole life flashed. His birthday in 1991. His celebrated experiments in computer design at age twelve. His national awards for innovation in computer aided brain mapping while still a teen. His leadership on the A.I. Research Team at Stanford resulting in the development of silicon implants to improve memory. His discoveries regarding the nature of memory, including his renowned theorem that memory is a series of hyperlinked rooms in an endless hallway, each room filled with neural impressions braiding internal and external stimuli.

His father had been an entrepreneur who distrusted government. Like his father he brought his ideas to the marketplace. Eventually he founded a company of his own with enough venture capital to attract the best minds from around the world. His breakthrough using wet wire connectivity allowed computer hardware to be integrated with brain synapses.

His chief claim to fame had been the development of the M Zone product line. By means of a cerebral probe a person could locate and re-experience memories. Busby verified, in his early research, that each memory is contained in a tiny shell or room within the brain, draped in such a manner as to both reveal and conceal it. When properly stimulated, the full and complete memory is revived and re-experienced.

Connections between man and technology were nothing new. The twentieth century saw the development of pacemakers, cochlear implants, pain relief modules and other forms of embedded electronics. Implantation of chips inside the heads of paraplegics to interpret brain signals and silicon retinal implants to recover sight were ancient history now.

Utilizing the M Zone Activator (MZA) one could safely locate, experience and re-experience the best times of one's life. Once approved by the FDA and BGS the patented MZA took the world by storm. At first it was presented as a means to comfort people in their twilight years. Before long Busby's marketing team exploited the general consumer markets with ads like, "Relive the Best Times of Your Life!" and "Can Memory Be More Real Than Reality? Try It & See" and "Deja View? Yes, You May!"

Read More...

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Meantime, life goes on all around you. Make the most of it. Especially today.

Psych 101: Pixar' Inside Out

Disgust, Anger, Joy, Sorrow and Fear @ Riley HQ

Just finished watching the latest Pixar gem Inside Out. I intended to watch it on DVD while doing something else, but the beginning is so compelling I just couldn't detach my retinas.

There are really two stories in this animated film, just as there are two stories in most of our lives. There is the external story where we move about from place to place geographically in the space-time continuum. And then there's our inner story where our various emotions reside, with experiences of their own. Inside Out is primarily about the five characters who express themselves within our heads and define our personalities -- Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear. The movie does a great job of showing how the memories that accompany us through life impact us, often comforting and sometimes shackling us.

As with many a story there's a problem that the hero must resolve, the hero's quest. And the Pixar story is no different. Just as Woody and Buzz must find their way home (in Toy Story), so it is that two of the characters -- Joy and Sadness -- somehow get whisked away from Riley's Head-quarters so that Anger, Disgust and Fear are all that Riley has left.

Making memories that will reside in Family Island

Ah, yes... Riley. The external world story is about a girl named Riley whose family moves with her family from Minnesota (a world of good memories) to San Francisco, which becomes a challenge for various reasons, not the least of which is being alone and tentative about her new life.

One of the unexpected characters we meet, during the journey of Joy and Sadness in their effort to get back "home" to the place where they belong inside Riley's head, is the hilarious forgotten imaginary friend from Riley's early years, Bing Bong. Bing Bong strives to help them in their journey, but he's a bit of a doofus and his leadership at various points creates more setbacks than solutions. Nevertheless, he's fun to have along.

Although this is the inner story of Riley's life, the main storyline seems to be about Joy's journey. When Joy is absent from headquarters, where she belongs, how empty our lives become.

One of the scenes I enjoyed was in the kitchen where Riley's parents are trying to deal with Riley after her first day in school. The same five emotions live inside her parents as well, and when we go inside Mom's head we see her inner emotions trying to dissect the situation, to determine a course of action. Then we go inside Dad's head and see he is initially oblivious because he's following a game on his smartphone. Finally his own Anger step up, for Riley is interfering with his own Joy.

Ah, how much fun we had being silly when we were kids.

It's probable that some folk might see the film as overly simplistic psychobabble, but it's a children's flick and yes, like The Velveteen Rabbit or Beauty & the Beast, there are story lines for the kids and for the parents who share memories with their kids.

One of our favorite books when we were raising our own kids was Let's Make a Memory. (My fact checker has noted that I never read this book, but liked the idea of its premise.) The importance of good memories cannot be underemphasized. Inside Out underscores this key truth as well, showing us the various "amusement parks" where such memories reside.

Each of Riley's core memories build the island that make Riley Riley: Hockey Island, Goofball Island, Friendship Island, Honesty Island, Family Island etc. Imagination and exploration and environment all contribute to to the whole, and for the sake of this story it is a wholesome whole.

After thinking about the story for a day I wondered if there was something missing from this entertaining film. I'm thinking here of my inner narrative, out self talk. Are we really only a bundle of emotions responding to inputs? Somehow this simplification goes too far, and may even be part of the problem we have as a society. Emotions respond to thoughts, which are interpreting the inputs of our experience. How we talk to ourselves, interpreting the inputs, produces emotional effects. We consider people immature who do not reign in their emotions, who let their emotions continually get the best of them.

Woo hoo when Joy is in ascendency. 

Overall, though, the story is well told, engaging, entertaining, and fun. The writing is good, the Pixar animation up to snuff, and it even begins in Minnesota.

There are a lot of subtle touches as one might expect in a well-conceived and executed Pixar flick. For example, when Riley and her family arrive in San Francisco, she's wearing a sweater comprised of the colors of the five emotion-characters inside her head. What we are on the inside is revealed on the outside. Or so it is with Riley.

One thing missing from the film are memorable songs, though I didn't initially notice till after. The Lego Movie has "Everything Is Awesome" and Elton John's soundtrack for The Lion King was stellar. This did not, however, diminish my enjoyment of the movie.

All in all, another stellar offering from the Pixar Hit Factory.

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Two decades ago I produced a story that deals with one of the roles memories play, and their special importance in our lives. It's called The M Zone, and it's a bit darker than this tale. I invite you to read it. You'll find it here at ennyman.com.

The M Zone

The revelation came suddenly. Like an “Aha!”... only it was an “Oh no!”

Richard Busby slumped into his chair, leaned his head back and stared off into space, attempting to make himself deaf to what he was hearing. “This is verified?” he asked, referring to the data in a report that had fallen from his hand.

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir,” Dr. Frey, Director of R&D, said.

Busby’s brain was numb. Even though he’d begun to suspect it, had himself experienced the effects, he had remained in denial. “Do you realize what this means?” Busby asked.

Frey nodded, the small, thin line of mouth grimly expressionless. His dark eyes scanned the desktop and came to rest on the latest Forbes, which featured the ten most significant men of the first half of the 21st century. There, alongside Bill Gates, the world’s first trillionaire, was Richard Busby, developer of the M Zone.

In the instant of Busby’s epiphany his whole life flashed. His birthday in 1991. His celebrated experiments in computer design at age twelve. His national awards for innovation in computer aided brain mapping while still a teen. His leadership on the A.I. Research Team at Stanford resulting in the development of silicon implants to improve memory. His discoveries regarding the nature of memory, including his reknowned theorem that memory is a series of hyperlinked rooms in an endless hallway, each room filled with neural impressions braiding internal and external stimuli.

His father had been an entrepeneur who distrusted government. Like his father he brought his ideas to the marketplace. Eventually he founded a company of his own with enough venture capital to attract the best minds from around the world. His breakthrough using wet wire connectivity allowed computer hardware to be intergrated with brain synapses.

His chief claim to fame had been the development of the M Zone product line. By means of a cerebral probe a person could locate and re-experience memories. Busby verified, in his early research, that each memory is contained in a tiny shell or room within the brain, draped in such a manner as to both reveal and conceal it. When properly stimulated, the full and complete memory is revived and re-experienced.

Connections between man and technology were nothing new. The twentieth century saw the development of pacemakers, cochlear implants, pain relief modules and other forms of embedded electronics. Implantation of chips inside the heads of paraplegics to interpret brain signals and silicon retinal implants to recover sight were ancient history now.

Utilizing the M Zone Activator (MZA) one could safely locate, experience and re-experience the best times of one’s life. Once approved by the FDA and BGS the patented MZA took the world by storm. At first it was presented as a means to comfort people in their twilight years. Before long Busby’s marketing team exploited the general consumer markets with ads like, “Relive the Best Times of Your Life!” and “Can Memory Be More Real Than Reality? Try It & See” and “Deja View? Yes, You May!”

After its much ballyhooed market introduction the safety of the product had never been questioned. Testing showed that memory could be re-played endlessly without being damaged. Or so Busby had been told. Richard Busby never realized that Dr. Frey had not allowed his staff to present contrary findings. It was only a matter of time before inklings of a terrible truth began to emerge. The tech support hotline began receiving complaints from people who had trouble finding and dialing in their favorite memories. Tech support staff insisted that the product was not being used properly. The problems were designated user error. That the MZA was slowly and imperceptibly depleting the contents of each memory until it was used up seemed inconceivable.

When Busby learned of the increasing number of complaints he requested new studies. The truth had not been discovered in part because memories are like a gas which expands to fill the space available within a container. While being depleted the gas thins but is still present. Likewise a nearly depleted memory can be re-lived in full force. Holographic in nature, one atom of memory contains the whole. But when that last atom has been tapped, there is only a void and nothingness. A blank. An empty shell.

With horror Richard Busby understood what the MZA was doing. With an M Zone Activator in nearly every home in the civilized world his invention was erasing the best memories in human history. Everyone who had purchased his product would eventually erase all of their good memories, memories designed to comfort us in our old age when memory is all that we have.

Formerly heralded as a hero, he now realizes that he has unwittingly been worse than a fiend. His face is pale as he turns away from Dr. Frey and stares at the wall, then closes his eyes.

When he opens them again he is seated in a plush cushioned chair at his cabin on Lake Tweed. He glances down at the MZA which which is connected to his cerebrum via the electronic probe. On a notepad he is making hashmarks, four downstorkes and a diagonal, four downstrokes and a diagonal. He counts 194 strokes. “Only 306 to go,” he mutters to himself. “If I’m lucky.”

He leans forward once more, doublechecks the settings and pushes the button.

The revelation came suddenly. Like an “Aha!”... only it was an “Oh no!”

Richard Busby slumped into his chair, leaned his head back and stared off into space, attempting to make himself deaf to what he was hearing. “This is verified?” he asked, referring to the data in a report that had fallen from his hand.

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir,” Dr. Frey, Director of R&D, said.

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More Original Short Stories by Ed Newman HERE

The M Zone

Among other things I have been writing fiction since my youth. At a certain point in time I had determined to become a significant writer, studying all of the great fiction writers of the modern era, and striving to find my own voice. As I applied myself to the craft I eventually found myself creating works in which I could find a certain amount of satisfaction.

The fiction markets proved difficult to penetrate unfortunately. Even when winning a fiction competition or two, I found myself unable to see my works in print. Without a reader, the writer feels a sense of futility, for there has been a great deal of sacrifice made, and a deep pouring out of oneself in one's best works.

Alas, the world wide web emerged, and I what a wonderful gig it was. As soon as I could master the basic skills, I produced a website where I could begin to share my unpublished stories, poetry and some of my best articles that have appeared in print.

Today, stories I have written have been translated into French, Russian and Croatian. These and other works can be discovered on my website at http://www.enewman.biz/stories.html

But even more thrilling was having two of my stories transformed into screenplays, Episode on South Street and this one, The M Zone. The former actually became a short film which was shared at the Great Lakes Horror/Suspense Film Festival to much fanfare, and this latter which unfolded into three screenplay variations. Though never produced, it was quite satisfying to see the story captured or re-invented in this manner.

Here is the beginning of my story. Follow the link to enjoy the rest of it.

THE M ZONE

The revelation came suddenly. Like an "Aha!"... only it was an "Oh no!"

Richard Busby slumped into his chair, leaned his head back and stared off into space, attempting to make himself deaf to what he was hearing. "This is verified?" he asked, referring to the data in a report that had fallen from his hand.

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir," Dr. Frey, Director of R&D, said.

Busby's brain was numb. Even though he begun to suspect it, had himself experienced the effects, he had remained in denial. "Do you realize what this means?" Busby asked.

Frey nodded, the small, thin line of mouth grimly expressionless. His dark eyes scanned the desktop and came to rest on the latest Forbes, which featured the ten most significant men of the first half of the 21st century. There, alongside Bill Gates, the world's first trillionaire, was Richard Busby, developer of the M Zone.

to continue: http://www.enewman.biz/mzone.html