Trickerie Exits the Picture.

 

No one is sure whether or not you find it beneficial to sit with us. We tend to veer toward the quiet side of the ledger. That, however, doesn't prevent one or another thing from being said, sometimes in a surprising tone. If I had to guess, I'd say it probably happened two or three times. You would enter a room. A hush would gain strength. We would all resume breathing once you removed your glasses. I'd go from room to room, checking on campers. If anyone was still pretending to be awake, I'd be very blunt. They'll not likely get very far if the wind has been whipped up something awful. Just so you know, I'm very cognizant when it comes to staying on 'this' side of any line, imaginary or otherwise. The Orsted suit I wear by and large provokes massive comments on social media. I represent my tribe with grace and denial. This is what keeps us bound to the land of our ancestors, even if their birthing papers inspire not a little doubt all around.

When you are given a tiny wafer and requested to make a swirling motion to indicate time-in-motion, a small piece will be deposited in your name just below and to the right of our Trophy Panel. There you will find a number which corresponds to your stage of completion. Now we all come forward. You should feel free to discuss this with a trained Counsellor. He has studied at the Magnat Institute on a Fulbright Fellowship. His bona fides are in order. There is no hesitancy to say that he will make a fine husband one day. But not yet. A bit of buffing around the edges will make some lucky girl's dream come true. If we see you following his foreign-born in-laws through a primitive marketplace in a third country, it won't surprise us at all to have your name delivered up, no questions asked. If, however, it can be proven in the full light of day that all of your objections were made in good faith, then why would anyone stick their neck out in the first place, is what I want to know. Unfortunately, questions are easier to come by than answers. This is when I'll be due downtown. Doodie never waits, alas.

Each of the friends is marked with a steamboat symbol on their left lapel. A tapered paper cone is to be ordered from a trusted source. Once the stain is removed, our instruments should start to detect just where your sympathies lie. In the order of approval, your case is now firmly affixed to a moving pastel core. Any paste around the edge can ignored at your peril. I will leave to your best judgment as to whether or when you'll be motioned to deliver an alarming comment. This will trigger all kinds of delays. But not to worry. Everything is in hand. Our paid opposition still frets when they get wind of your evil plan. Is the beverage suitable? Does it drag on you to understand how and by whom you were implicated? As the details are fully ironed out, you can poke your head out to sniff out the possibilities. Each carbon tablet we feed you can make a year feel like a measly inch. This is not a trick.

______________________________

A Thoughtful Morning Outline . . ...

 

As the day approaches, I will come to myself, through the inside if necessary. Even if a step is secured, the goners who append my name as their last line of defense may find themselves in a formulaic enclave, looking to all the world like six or seven of the least selective maintenance engineers who have never once foiled a failed accomplice on this, the blandest of missions. When the Conference issues its preliminary exclamation, the targeted individuals, who up to now have prided themselves on an ability to fade into ever denser backgrounds, are apt to volunteer in numbers equal to or exceeding those who pleaded for relief from shore duty on a night shrouded in the recent mist. We have all lived to see the coveted wall hanging sustain minor sound damage as the result of an impending legal imbroglio. It takes us no more than a moment or two to focus our eyes on the results of a superficial plan.

I had originally scouted her country-of-origin in hopes of making contact with someone who was aware of a minor discomfort she had once faced as a young adult in the capital formation. My search paid off handsomely in raw bones and pleated scamble-backs. There were trace amounts of crystallized ammonia and phosphorus micro-discs embedded as per the complaint. If there was any doubt in the minds of any of those present that this would be wrapped up before the morning duty got under way, we made sure that they would be unable to register even a modest misgiving. Why is it that if you apply yourself at scale, an innocent onlooker will be forced to feign entry? It's always held a secret fascination, for one. For another, forgiveness is, most definitely, NOT a two-way street. I was with the person as the seconds ticked by. He had already told a nurse of my acquaintance that we were all to be given short shrift and sent outside to find a  way. This is all about seeking opportunities for unsupervised training. And, I will drive myself over in the same way that I gave out: mad as heck.

The impenetrable mind game adapted for custom applications had been sold to us as a sensible remedy for all who have wavered in their deification of a Fallen Lord. For that we give them a salvage opportunity of great risk. My own tremulous portion of an as-baked seed could possibly feed a monitor of unproven insults. The names are to be drawn from a hat which will be passed from hand to foot to shoulder as the Feds close in, for real this time, if anyone still insists on keeping score. When we spot her grasping a clamp, any of us could be the one to make the 'final' decision. As the one who lives and dies by a sword of a very different Mother, I am all but eliminated from consideration as per Laxis-Mingo . For my assaultive Judge to extend the Hand of Power in a general direction would take even the sniveling beast herself by complete surprise. This is why we pay her to live in our shadow without a willing flavor. One says that he grieves for the apprehension of a day of release. Another grooms a stalwart pattern-clearer. I choose the foot rather than the maw. This will clear all of moribund chains of insight. Please check again before a third mild petting incident is reported to our ensufflated segurity auflaw. You are welcome, but not after this. If it comes in tamer frames, you will be contacted. 

__________________________________

These two guys share certain proplinquities. Can you blame me?

 

There is one who I know. Not by name. Only by height, hair color, demeanor and pastry preferences. The other one, Oscar Biswald, has had it up to 'here' with my implosive blaspheming. Between the two of them, there's just no contest. Each has a (faulty) idea about where my favor lies. I am forever looking at their eyes between innings and hoping for a sign. Once in a while, there's a slight rustling off to the side. I know where my bread is buttered, though. They  just haven't figured out yet whether, how or why I've set about caring what happens when the news drops. Someone once said that I had a lot of nerve. Each of them tried to push that guy into a doorway here in town. I told them to 'knock it off'. They acted like it was no big deal. So I made it my business to hold one, and then the other, inside a lead-lined chamber that we had set up a few years ago. I prayed to God that no one would get hurt. In the end I had to eat my very own words. Anyone who says they like that kind of treatment should try living for a few moments in the shoes that I call 'my life'. They won't like what they see, is all I'm saying, okay?

Now that they've both found work in the 4th quarter down south, I'm starting to get the hang of interstitial living. And even though I make it a practice to keep the bottom-feeders at arm's length from a pair of winsome broads who moved in downstairs, I still like to field calls from the disconsolate brats whose smell can shake up a room real good. On a good day, if I read somewhere that I'm supposed to arrange with our people to have something carried by a person whose perspective can't be questioned, that's when, all of a sudden, I get an announcement in the mail to the effect that a question of basic morality is now front-of-mind and our own checkmarks could come under effusive assault. Unless, that is, an extremely sought after signature could be affixed in a superlative nail-biter, come what may. This is when it is sometimes asked whether a home-bound beneficiary would think it wise to stand with their back to a third floor window and 'flood the zone' with a compact set of opinions which get people talking in real time. At which point I make it my business to be seen in the company of a Native American painting contractor of dubious resolve. He'll know where to put my trust when sanity makes an instant comeback. As for those who never pretended for a minute to have none, there's only one word which applies. It's just not one which comes balefully to the lips of the easily flustered. And for that any of us would give not even a rheumy glance in the other direction, paltry at best. So far, so good. Now beat it.

___________________________