Five Sentence Fiction!  The word is: Clandestine.  This entry may or may not be grammatically kosher.

Smoke Break

Mario is long unkempt anarchy hair, brown stoner eyes, a fifteen year-old's half mustache, a smattering of acne on his chin because he leans on it in Biology when he's bored (which is always), his brother's hand-me-down uniform pants; his brother being taller, they're too long, so he rolls them up just enough that he steps on the hem to give them a respectable fray.

Clinton ('Clih-EN everyone in this town says as no one seems able to pronounce an -int) is a buzz-cut redheaded white boy and British, and he's even been to Africa on “holiday," and he rolls up packs of cigarettes in his sleeve because he saw it in a movie and because he thinks it makes him look like he has better biceps which might also give him the impression of having a six-pack.

Sister Dorothy (young but vicious and chinless and who can trust anyone with hair from the 70's?) goes on the war path at lunch time so Mario and Clinton sneak into the ball shed (heh, balls) behind the soccer field for their smoke and it's lucky no one is already in there making out; the place just smells like sweaty rubber and possibly sex.

They light up Marlboro Reds and laugh about poor ole fat Dave Alvarado's pit stains, Mrs. Abner’s gross thighs, Marley Benjamin's disturbing foot odor, and Mario eventually makes half-hearted mention of Sheila Sutter's tits just before he takes a drag and glances away at deflated footballs while picking at a zit before he thinks of what he's doing, and his hand does a weird fluttery thing that Clinton notices which alone makes his nakedly open Anglo cheeks go red for no reason that he can name.

There's a quiet moment during which Mario sees that his black Chuck Taylor is touching Clinton's steel-toe and with exuberant heart hammering and nicotine thrill he edges closer still staring at the floor, not realizing that Clinton has already taken great notice of how Mario's hair falls over his shy stoner eyes just so, and the really great part is that neither can figure out who made the move when their lips met or how the other knew to take the chance but both later agree to make underage smoking a regular habit.

Blog Hop Entry

There was a lightbulb hanging over Daika. She laid her head back on the steel chair and focused on the glare of white. The pain hit her kneecaps. Excruciating. It was as if they could pour it like water over her; gushing and torrid.

“Where's the base?” Mr.Green said.

Daika rolled her head to the side and squinted at Mr.Green in his clover suit. Staring at the light had clouded her vision and all she saw were spots where his head should be.

“Where's the base?”

“This...” She cleared her throat. They hadn't given her water in a day. “This reminds me...of something...”

Mr.Green said, “Turn it up.”

The pain came again. With authority. Daika grit her teeth and groaned. “Aww... You...” Her head lulled from side to side. “You guys suck.”

She thought she could feel the movement of the ship under her. But that was impossible. You could never feel the movement on a ship of this size. She closed her eyes and let herself settle into the agony as she had been taught. It was almost a thing of beauty. Feeling good had no flavor. But true pain and mortification; there were so many colors! She opened her eyes and saw the light of the bare bulb. No, it was the light of the sun. The sun in Marny Forest. That's what it reminded her of. That last morning on earth she had wandered off into the trees and flowers to stare at the sun. The next day ships landed. No more forests.

“Where's the base?”

“I guess...” She whispered.

Mr.Green leaned in. “Yes?”

“I guess...it's everywhere.” She blinked at him. Didn't he understand? It was obvious. But he was all light spots. “Isn't it?”

12 Reasons I Don't Want to See War Horse

1. I'm a cat person.

2. Weinstein threw out my 40 page treatment for Peace Horse.  I'm still bitter.

3. Saw the play.  Thought I was going to see Daniel Radcliffe in Equus.  Was very disappointed!

4.  Hot to Trot is the only horse-related movie I'll ever need.

5. Sooo not interested in World War I unless Maggie Smith is there tartly quipping.

6. Awaiting a Metallica video in which the horse becomes a blind, deaf, and mute quadraplegic.

7. What the hell did Kristen Stewart do to her face?!  Oh...ooooooh.  Sorry.

8. I preferred the original title, We Brought a War Horse.

9. Tree of Life RUINED me for movies without symbolic dinosaurs.

10. If I want to see a movie about Britain and a powerful beast, I'll see The Iron Lady.

11. Fassbender's not in it?  Then why are we still talking about this?  Let's watch Jane Eyre again!

12. I'm still all cried out from Chipwrecked.

3 Geekiest Quotes of the Week:

"Faster than a bullet!  Smaller than a mouse!" 

-James Adomian as Huell Howser on subatomic particles in the Large Hadron Collider, Comedy Bang Bang (alright, it was a re-aired clip from an older show)

"They could've been any fracking trees.  They could've been Ents for all it mattered."

-Matt Smith (but not that Matt Smith) on the trees of Androzani in the Doctor Who Christmas special, The Doctor's Companion

"Who would sit down and watch a football match?"

-David Tennant on soccer, The Nerdist

5 Podcasts for TV Nerds
All of these awesome shows are available on iTunes or on their websites, if I've included a link.

1. Breaking Good
After every new episode of Breaking Bad, Jim and A.Ron of BaldMove.com discuss the latest misadventures of White and Pinkman with a lot of thoughtful analysis.  If you're as obsessed with the show as I am and feeling the hiatus already, it's worth listening to the back episodes.  They started this show with the fourth season of Breaking Bad, and they've talked about going back to recap previous seasons.  The format is nice and tight; in dept discussion, predictions, predictions with spoilers, listener feedback.  Good stuff.

2. Watching Dead
Same guys as above, but it's about Walking Dead!  They've said they're thinking about picking up a new show to cover.  I hope it's Game of Thrones.  Ooh lordy, I hope it's Game of Thrones.

3. The Doctor's Companion
Scott and Matt of Geekshow Entertainment recap and discuss both new (starting with the fifth season) and classic episodes of Doctor Who.  I find this especially helpful for getting through classic episodes which can...be...a bit...deliberately...paced.  They're a little fanboy about things, but their critiques are solid.  They definitely call Moffat on his B.S. when warranted.

4. Previously On
David (of Battleship Pretension, which is a great movie podcast) and Sean go over a variety of shows as well as TV-related news.  They end every episode with a more lengthy discussion of a particularly big show (your Breaking Bads, your Homelands).  This show can be a little bit tricky to listen to if you aren't interested in whatever show they're discussing, although they're good about avoiding spoilers.  But they're thoughtful enough to include a general breakdown by minute/second mark of what they're discussing, so you can skip to the Big Show Discussion if you like.

5. /Filmcast and Reasonable Discussions
This one's a twofer because these shows don't discuss TV all the time.   The /Filmcast from /Film is a movie podcast (hence the name) and A.V. Club's Reasonable Discussions discusses (quite reasonably) all manner of pop culture.  But at the closing of certain series' seasons, they'll put out episodes of analysis and chat about it.  /Filmcast has had good talks about Game of Thrones, The Wire (I dug that one up in the archives and it was very worth it), and Breaking Bad in particular. 

What have we learned: It's possible I've had dreams about Bryan Cranston time traveling with Aaron Paul in a fetching ginger wig.

No Kiss Blogfest Entry

  So this is my post for No Kiss Blogfest.  It's a scene from a work in progress called The Twenty-seven Jewel Movement.  It's YA sci-fi, borderline fantasy, I s'pose.

 Here's a quick unofficial synopsis:

There are countless other worlds.  Some are just like ours, some are very different.

In the town of Roca Loca, New Mexico, fifteen year-old Jojo Rath just wants to take care of her brother, Elliott, and kill digital zombies online until the pain of her father's death goes away.  But when her uncle gives her a mysterious watch, strange things start happening.   Why is there a girl in Austin who looks exactly like her?  And what is the thread of blue light in the desert that beckons her in the night?

And... here is the No Kiss Blogfest scene:

     "Jo, tell me what happened in there." Maron kept glancing at her as he sped down Route 10. Jojo was hunched in her seat, hugging her knees, staring at the button-eyed voodoo doll hanging in the pick-up's rearview as it swung back and forth.

     "Did you see her?" Jojo said.

     "Who?"

     "My mother."

     "Your mother? Like your actual mother?"

     Jojo closed her eyes and saw her mother's face again; a little softer than she remembered, a little less lined. Her mother, who had abandoned her, somehow living in a house with a girl identical to Jojo.

     "I saw her. I talked to her. It was her, but just a little different.” Jojo swallowed the lump in her throat. She pulled the sleeves of her hoodie down over her wrists. “I don't understand what's going on."

     “I don't get it. Why would your mom be in Austin?”

     “None of it makes sense.”

     Maron rubbed his eyes and sighed. “I keep wanting to say, maybe you were seeing things. But if you were, so was I. 'Cause I also saw the girl who looked exactly like you.”

    “Frack that. She was me.” She leaned her head against the seat and gazed out at the endless miles of desert. “Don't be shy about it. I know you think I'm crazy anyway.”

     “Sure, but I always thought you were crazy.” He sneaked a faint smile at her and she rolled her eyes at him, smirking. A jolt of pain shot up her arm and her breath caught. He squeezed her shoulder. "Are you alright? You don't look so good. Is something wrong with your arm?"

     "No.” It took all her self control not to scream. She bit her lip until she thought she might draw blood. “I'm fine. I'll be fine.”

     They were silent as Maron drove and the radio played Portishead. Jojo felt nauseous and her head was starting to ache. Maron took an exit at Fort Stockton and she looked up, alarmed.

     "We gotta grab some coffee somewhere," Maron said. "I've driven like five hundred miles today, my brain is scrambled."

     "Okay. Do you think we're gonna get home in time, so you don't get in trouble?"

     "Not a chance. I just hope they don't ground me through Loca Fest."

     Jojo didn't say anything as Maron pulled into the parking lot of a diner next to a gas station. She hopped out of the truck and her Chucks crunched on the gravel. Night was coming on and the desert was getting cold. She gazed blankly at the retro diamond shaped letters spelling Restaurant. Roadside diners were so reliable. She clapped her hands to her face when a sob surged into her throat. Maron locked the truck and trotted to her side.

      "I'm so sorry!” She burst out. She pressed her sweat-shirted wrists into her eyes as if she could shove the tears back inside. It was embarrassing. She hated crying in front of people, particularly Maron. Her life was so depressing and weird. She never wanted him to think that she, as a person, was depressing and weird. "I'm so sorry I dragged you into this. You're going to get in trouble and it's all my fault. I'm just going crazy and I don't know what's happening to me."

      She felt his hands rest on her shoulders. “Hey... Hey, Jo. Come on, it's okay.”

      She shook her head like a little girl and he pulled her hands away from her eyes. Jojo blinked at him until the dark splotches cleared and she was looking at his mop of disagreeable dark curls and too wide mouth.

      "Don't worry about me. So I get grounded, it's no big deal. What's happening with you, that's a big deal. And I don't know what this is, but...” He squeezed her hands and Jojo searched his sad brown eyes. Maron always seemed happy and easy going enough when he was talking to other people. When he talked to her lately, he always looked a little sad. “It's gonna be alright.”

      Jojo couldn't help but titter at that. “People keep saying that to me. It's going to be alright.” She shrugged and stared down at their tangled hands. “But it never is.”

      “Fair enough. But even if it's not, I'll always be here.” He wrapped his arms around her and she sighed into the familiar embrace. He was tall enough to rest his chin on top of her head. Lanky, tall, dependable Maron with the calloused guitar fingers. He leaned back and smiled down at her. "I'll always be here for you. Okay? You're never getting rid of me, Jo. You'll have to kill me."

      Jojo gave him a shaky smile. "You're too good a friend, you know that? You throw off the curve for everybody else."

      Maron brushed a tear from her cheek with his thumb. They were standing very close. Just kiss me, she thought. Please kiss me. He got closer, just a little closer.

      He whispered, “Jo...” His lips brushed her forehead and she tipped her head up. A ghost of warm breath touched her lips as he pressed forward. A burst of white hot pain shot up her arm and she gasped, falling back against the truck. The pain was so extreme, she trembled and held her arm like it was broken.

      Maron's eyes were big. He stepped forward and cupped her cheek, all concern. "Seriously, what is wrong with your arm? This has been going on all day."

      "Nothing," she breathed. She forced a smile. "I fell this morning and I have a bruise, that's all." She backed away, trying very hard not fall down. "I'm just gonna go inside. To the bathroom. Get us a table."

      “Jo...”

      She walked backwards away from him and shrugged. “It's gonna be alright.”

-END!

As it turns out, the first post of my new blog is for the 3rd Annual No Kiss Blogfest which sounded like too much fun to pass up.  I was going to do my first post about my favorite podcasts, but that will have to wait.  This is all very last minute.  Oh well.
Second post for this brand spanking new blog will be a scene from my work in progress, The Twenty-seven Jewel Movement, and there will be no kissing in it!