Approximation.

Memory Corner #7

The Well-Fed Rats

I used to work at Kal Kan Foods in Vernon as an in-house teacher. I taught management classes for supervisors and foremen trying to climb the corporate ladder. Students would come to class two hours before their work shift started, and the company would pay them overtime for coming to class. I was a contractor, which meant I made a lot of money, but no benefits. It all balanced out, as long as I didn't get sick or my car didn't break down. I was available for the three shifts the company had: Day, from 8:00 am to 10:00 am; Swing, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm; and Graveyard, from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am. The factory ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so it was easy for me to arrange a suitable schedule for myself, what with college classes to attend and all. 

Vernon was the "Meat" Capital of Los Angeles County. All your familiar brands were there: Kal Kan Dog Food, Oscar Meyer, Farmer Johns, Hoffman Food (Hoffy), and others. During the day wasn't so bad; it was at night that things got dicey. Truckloads and trainloads of cows, pigs, and chicken rolled into these special warehouse docks. The workers wore their hazmat suits to unload the "protein" (as the animals were referred to) in one of the few areas I was glad I was not allowed in. The "Killing Section". There was no high falootin term for the slaughterhouse; it was spelled out what it was: k-i-l-l-i-n-g s-e-c-t-i-o-n. That was where the production all began. 

Then the "protein" traveled via conveyor belt to the butcher's section, onto the mixing section, the cooking section, the packaging or canning section, the boxing section, and, finally, the warehouse section, where trucks would pick up their orders for supermarkets, sports venues, and concert venues. 

But let's get back to that first section. All the prime cuts of protein went to section two. The "leftover cuts" were sold to the employees at cost. Every Wednesday, where I worked, employees would line up by the protein unloading dock to buy not-so-prime cuts of protein. My students once described this meat as edible if you lived in a bomb shelter. Then why do you buy it? I asked. To sell it to my neighbors, of course. Some of my students owned stores and would sell the meat there, sort of under-the-table. But that wasn't the only place this meat ended up. What unloading dock couldn't sell, they dumped into these dumpsters. 

Two types grabbed meat from the dumpsters: one, poor folk who tried to sell the meat on the streets as "stolen from the market" fresh. I heard they made a few bucks doing that. Two, rats who were big enough to lift the dumpster lid, grab a chuck of protein, and muscle their way out with a mouthful of meat. And, I mean, these rats were big. Not David Bowie "rats the size of cats", but rats bigger than dogs. The coyotes stayed away from these packs of muscular well-fed rats. Vernon rats ate better than many families in the neighboring communities of these factories. 

I had a few encounters with these rats. 

The first encounter was the one that prompted me to buy a car. I was using the bus system up until then. But one night after work, while I was waiting for the bus on a dark street corner by Farmer John's dumpster area (which was fenced in), a big rat approached the dumpsters and stopped when it saw me. Stopped for one moment, stared me down, and proceeded on its way. It wasn't afraid of me, but it did go around me by about several yards, and from the size of it, from foot to haunch, was about two feet tall. It was about three feet long, but the tail made it seem longer. Right away I could tell, it was not going to let me get in the way of its meat. 

So the next day, I called in sick and went out to buy a car. 

The second encounter was the one that made the deepest impression on my psyche. I was pulling into the car lot at the factory, and some lady came up to the driver's side and banged on my closed window. "It's got my baby," she almost shrieked. Like an idiot, I pointed to the security guard who watched over the lot at night. She kept banging on my window. The guard came over, and the woman rapidly told him what had happened. After parking, the guard asked me to accompany him. I think he wanted to be sure the woman wasn't crazy and needed a witness since she wasn't an employee of the company. Apparently she was trying to enter the dumpster area to steal some meat when a "giant" rat ran off with her little dog. She had left the door open, she explained. She was going to be quick, she told her dog, but she just turned around and the dog cried out in pain. We approached the dumpsters (they weren't fenced in where I worked like they were at Farmer Johns). 

Whoosh. A rat ran by with a little Chihuahua in its mouth. My mind went into shock. The guard kept the beam of his flashlight on the creature the whole time, until it ran into a mass of shadows at the end of the block. I know the lady was screaming, My baby, over and over, but we all just stood there. Damn thing was bigger than the rat from my first encounter. That's not what shocked me though. It was the fact that the thing turned its head to look at me as it ran by, as if daring me to do something. Or maybe it was my writer's imagination. Except the security guard told me later, "Man, that rat didn't like you." 

Cops came. It was procedure for the guard to call them. They couldn't do anything, except tell her to stay away from the dumpsters. Guard added unsympathetically, "Man, everyone knows that," which earned him a dirty look from the cops. They kept asking me if I was okay. Guard kept telling them, "He's just spooked, just started working here. First rat, t think." Once they figured it was a routine call, they drove off, with the lady driving off right after them. I went to work after getting a coffee. I was the talk of the town. I was waiting for someone to say, "He met Old Blue, the Mama Rat." But no. Nothing so sinister. Just a little old, "He met one of our residents," and they'd chuckle. "Don't you worry. Leave them alone, they leave you alone. And don't play stare down. They always win."

Just ask that poor little Chihuahua, right?    

 

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The Subconscious Writer in

Gateways To Abomination

In today's literary world, we have horror story as metaphor. Its not a werewolf, it's an abusive spouse. It's not demonic possession, it's childhood trauma. Matthew M. Bartlett takes the horror genre one layer deeper than metaphor. For him, it's subconscious nightmare brought into the light, where its dream quality remains intact without the fear or dread one finds in the waking world. Its a cross between the grotesque in Naked Lunch by William Burroughs and the stream of consciousness of Ulysses by James Joyce.


Luckily, you can avoid total subversion into the abyss because Matt was kind enough to break the book down into wicked little anecdotes. Some critics might call them chapters or short stories, but that's not accurate to the experience you'll have of getting lost in the dark and glimpsing only flashes of horrifying indescribable madness. And you'll go mad yourself trying to choose whether to stay in the light or darkness. Some would recommend the book in one sitting for a totally immersive experience. I say, Read a few anecdotes at at time, take a breath, smoke 'em if you got 'em, and then read a few more. I'd even suggest going back and re-reading those haunting ones as that eerie feeling increases as you read further into the book with each re-read.


In an age where this thing is a symbol for that thing, Matthew M. Bartlett ignores the norm and goes straight for your subconscious mind. Here he plants the seeds of horror. What grows there? Well, each experience is unique to each reader. But there will be nightmares, I can promise.

 

Kemberton

by David Moody

Reviewed by Anthony Servante

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Summary:

When Kemberton was four, he witnessed something horrifying. He hasn’t spoken since.

Life moves on, but not for him. Several years have passed, and he’s struggling to keep up. The gulf between him and the rest of the world is widening. He’s in real danger of falling through the gaps.

He needs support, but he’s getting the complete opposite. Aiden – his stepdad – is playing with fire. He’s a low-level racketeer, with ideas way above his station. He’s got himself involved with people he really has no business messing with, and if things go wrong, they’re going to really go wrong. Aiden can’t afford for there to be any complications right now, and Kemberton’s increasing unpredictability is proving to be a concern.

With everything on the line and the odds increasingly stacked against him, how far is Aiden prepared to go to stay in control? And who’ll be left to pay the price?

What Kemberton witnessed all those years ago was awful. What’s going to happen next could be even worse.

Review:

David Moody has added a new horror gem to his oeuvre, and it's a welcome addition. It has a narrative cadence that is inviting and smooth, while the narrator seems a bit cold in the delivery of the story, culturally astute but sardonically distant. It's always a welcome treat to have a narrator who fits in like a character in the story rather than just a storyteller. Horror as performance piece. Imagine a theater set where the narrator sits beside the stage and tells the audience what they are watching, while adding snide comments on the play itself. It's a hard act to pull off, but David Moody's latest work fits right in with the best of his stories to date.

The story itself centers around our main characters: Kemberton, the tramatized young boy, his pregnant mother, Sarah, his gangster step-father, Aidan, and his grandmother, Joan. Through the narrator's eyes and voice, we witness a plot being woven from these characters' point of view, as filtered through the narrator's point of view about the characters. We see a family tragedy morph into a mobster storyline in the span of a few years. When the horror kicks in, you are so invested in these characters that good guys and bad guys have blurred into a bloodbath. To say anymore might rob you of the experience of twists, turns, and shocks.  

It took me three days to read the book because I wanted to savor the story. I highly recommend Kemberton by David Moody. Order your copy and let this engaging narrator take you on a journey through the minds of some unforgettable characters. 

 

The Seven Orbs

Chapter Two

The Dragon Wakes

2

The King's legs were tired as he ascended the length of the East Tunnel leading to the Lair. He traveled the path alone, lest the Guards panicked at the sight of the great beast. He loosened the skull key on his broad leather belt and inserted its six-prong silver head into the latch. It turned with some difficulty, even as he had the smithy secretly keep the key way functional at a given notice. But it was old, the smithy complained, and I don't care for working here alone. Can't even bring my apprentice. Still, the lock mechanism moved, if somewhat roughly; it moved enough to unlock the huge door. In younger days, he could open the door with one hand, but now, even with two strong and wrinkled hands, it required both to pull the door open, squeaky and slow. Had it been so long?!

He entered the Lair. So much gold in all manner of shape and weight, from coins to trays to statues. More a hill than a mountain. The townsfolk often said dragons slept on mountains of gold. The King laughed to himself. The noise caused the dragon to stir.

" Time to wake, my old friend," the King said sadly.

"A dragon never sleeps. It only dreams," the beast with wings declared in a stately voice that filled the huge Lair.

"And what do dragons dream of?" asked the King.

" Death. The real sleep. No more dream. Is dream time over," said the Dragon.

"Yes.," the King confirmed. "War is at hand."

"So soon?" asked the Dragon, shaking his great head in disgust.

"For you, I guess 'soon' is the blink of an eye, but for man, it is one forever after another, an hourglass as tall as all the tomorrows filled with the grains of forever." The King smiled at his exaggeration.

The Dragon simply guffawed. "And they say dragons speak in riddles. Speak plainly. I clearly thought this day would never come. I believed that peace had arrived. But I guess that was my dream."

"The governors chose the way of threats over the path to peace. We must quell this uprising once and for all." The King slammed his fist into his palm, a silent gesture of defiance. A futile gesture, thought the Dragon with disdain.

The King sensed his gesture annoyed the Beast, and chose a new topic, one of curiosity. "Why is it that I can hear your thoughts and you mine? We don't even talk in the traditional way of men."

"Your bloodline is ancient, most ancient, from an ancestry long forgotten, except by Land Serpents, as we were called, for there, too, existed Sea Serpents and Cloud Serpents. I, for one, am both Land Serpent, with four legs, and Cloud Serpent, with two wings. Your clan, called Terrian, for the soil, the earth, the land, ruled the land from the sea to the mountains, but somehow, you lost your way and traveled the length of the long river to see if it connected to a greater sea or if, indeed, there was more land than sea, as you philosophers taught. Yet your curiosity for answers ended here where the land met the forest. You no longer sought the true distance of the river, instead choosing to conquer the inhabitants of the Forest and claim their land. And then you met the River folk by the mouth of the mountains, where I was born, and chose to conquer them as well. But because I was neither Cloud nor Land of and in itself, I was considered an aberration and exiled to the mountains.

"I saw your arrival. As a true Land creature, as I am partly, we understand the tongue of the mind. It was my curse to see all the dragon-folk die off with the arrival of men-folk. I endured alone in the mountains, till you heard my thoughts and sought me out. We were united by blood-kin: The Land. We talked. We learned. We warred. Together we brought the River folk and the Forest folk to bear, to surrender to a temporary peace arrangement. The time is up, is it not? And you broke your promise, your tongue of the mouth, so easily corruptible, your language. And that is where we differ. I cannot lie. I made a promise to you, Land King, to fight for you, to KEEP the peace. I KEEP my word to a King who cannot keep his." The Dragon stretched the sleep from its wings and swatted away the piles of gold that served no purpose but the vain greed in his blood. He could not eat it or love it. It was worthless save to men-folk, and so that was his only purpose, to keep as much gold away from the hands of men-folk. What a foolish life, the life of an aberration. "You are old, as am I. How are we to fight again with Death waiting at our door?"

The King stepped up to the Dragon and looked up into its gigantic face with those sad black eyes, and said, "You won't be alone."

The Seven Orbs

Chapter Two

The Wizard's Apprentice

3

Coming soon...

The Seven Orbs

Chapter Two

The Secret Passage

1

One day, Wisdom decided to walk around the King's castle just to see how big it was. It indeed was big, three times bigger than the village steads and stores combined. Toward the rear of the castle was a small outlet where water drained from somewhere inside the tall stone walls. The outlet was just wide enough for a young boy to fit through, of which, luckily, Wisdom qualified. However, he had to stoop and wade in a liquid that was neither water nor waste. It didn't smell, and its texture was more vapor than slime. He followed the entrance, bowed over, till he reached a separation of directions, a T point, as his mother called such roads. Here the stoop ended, and Wisdom could stand to his full height, if a boy of nine could be considered "full". To the left was the path of the stream; to the right was a walkway with steps leading upward to what looked like a doorway without a door. He chose the doorway. 

Red drapes covered the threshold. There was no part in the cloth for him to enter. He had to crawl underneath. Hundreds of candles lit the room. A diffuse light from a full moon on a cloudy evening shone through the stained glass window just above the King's Throne. The King's Throne! Suddenly, the small boy felt even smaller, a speck of flesh in the mouth of the Dragon, a single soldier on the field of battle. The awe wore off more and more with each visit, always sneaking in just at the time when he knew the Throne-room would be empty of royalty or advisors. But still each visit had a touch of that original awe. 

Tonight, for instance, that touch was present, and he needed to feel it, more so now that he felt unworthy after humiliating himself before his older brother and that awful Agyle. If his mind weren't so occupied with his own troubles, he'd have heard the King enter. 

"What do we have here?" asked the King. "How did you find your way in?"

Startled, Wisdom turned toward the voice and grasped the hilt of his wooden sword, such as it was, neither threatening nor comforting. 

It was the King, he realized and froze like a statue, no, more like a fool. 

"Am I under threat?" the King mocked with jest in his heart. 

"No, no, my King," Wisdom spoke quickly, trying to find the words to explain himself. "I was only surprised, my King."

"Two 'my Kings', when there is only one of me," the King laughed. "Have you come to join the King's Guard?"

"Truly?! Yes, I would," answered Wisdom, not quite understanding the jest. He then withdrew his homemade sword from his cloth sheathe. 

"Restore your weapon lest your pant legs slip to the ground," the King said as he sat back onto his throne of stone and iron. "Come, sit in my Counselor's seat, for he is away."

Wisdom did as instructed.

"Now, to the point" How did you find your way in?" the King asked without humor.

"There's a passageway behind the red drapes," Wisdom answered honestly. "I found it attached to the drain exit behind the castle, your castle, my King."

"You know we are at war now, don't you, lad?" the King's voice grew stern. "Spies abound with clever schemes to enter the secret meetings of the Council."

"Yes, my King," Wisdom responded. "I understand. I'll report any if I see them first."

The King laughed out loud, then a frightening thought crossed his mind. "From the passage, did you come straight here? Or did you try the west end at the T point?"

"Straight here, my King, I swear," he said as he crossed his heart. 

"Good. Now to this 'my King' stutter of yours," he said as he sat up straight. "In times of war, you must address me as 'my General.' It is tradition."

"I understand, my General," said Wisdom with a bow.

"No, no," the KIng scolded him gently, "a Guardsman salutes with his free fist across his chest, since his other hand will be occupied with his weapon, no doubt. 

Wisdom crossed his small fist across his chest and reached for his sword. 

"No, lad," the King ordered the boy. "A Guardsman never unsheathes his sword unless he is ready to kill... and ready to die. So you keep your sword sheathed till you are summoned. Tell me your family name."

"I am Wisdom of the Jenri Clan." Wisdom stood at attention.

The King lay his fist on his heart. 

"My General?" asked Wisdom shyly.

"What is it, lad?" he responded with curiosity. 

"What lies in the east passage?" he said with the smallest of voices, as if he didn't wish to be overheard.

"Victory, my lad," came the answer from a proud King. "Now it is best you go home to Mama Jenri. She must be looking for you. Tell no one of your visit here today. And straightway you'll go. No side trips to any curious passageways on this day, my lad. Grow wings like a dragon and fly."

The King stood as if to emphasize his words, and Wisdom obeyed. He ran as quickly as he could with images of flying serpents in his eyes. 

The Seven Orbs

Chapter Two

The Dragon Wakes

2

Coming soon...

 

Memory Corner #6

The Stranger in My Room

I taught at several colleges in the City of Los Angeles, always on the move, sometimes driving on the 10 Freeway, or catching the Metro Train to destination and home again. But that was the problem, you see. I had no home. I gave it up to teach. Jobs were scarce, but I was in demand thanks to good word of mouth. And the job offers were plentiful. Trouble was, I couldn't say no to any offer because once you say no, they never ask again. You are viewed as unreliable. So, I said yes every time to gain my good reputation. 

Thus my troubles mounted. Often I had to get to one college to teach within a few hours, ready to teach, after only just finishing up one class on this side of town. From West Los Angeles College to Santa Monica College to the University of Southern California, day in, day out, seven days a week. But you must make a lot of money, I was told by close friends. Sure, but when did I have time to spend it? I didn't. So I spent it on good hotel rooms, dead center of my places of employment. 

My favorite stays were the ritzy hotels in Downtown Los Angeles. On the outside they looked rusty and antique, but inside, they were graced with white marble floors, brass hand railings, and private elevators for the top four floors. In the lobby, there were old photos of Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, and other Golden Age celebrities who once occupied these grand suites. 

Of course, the suites, back then when I was staying, looked all the same. Even the hallways looked the same. You had to be careful about which floor you got off because floors 9, 10, 11, and 12, were identical. Same carpet, same lighting, same drab paint. And the room numbers were all the same no matter which floor you got off. For instance, floor 9, room 20, was not room 920, as one would expect in good hotels. Nope, whether it was floor 10 or 12, room 20 was room 20, not room 1020 and room 1220. Only until you inserted your key into the lock would I realize I was on the wrong floor. 

Thus it was that the first time I learned of this room number discrepancy, I was not prepared. 

I got off on the 9th floor after teaching at USC that evening, so it was around 11:30 pm or so. I usually kept all my valuables in the room in the drawers and on a small table I had a top of the line stereo cassette player with Bose headphones. I'd settle in with a few Guinness brewskis, some music, a movie, and hit the hay. But before I could insert the key into the lock, I heard someone rummaging about 

It had to be a burglar. My precious things were at risk. Should I call the front desk? No, I refused to leave the doorway. They would have to exit by the only door out. Should I open the door quietly and surprise them? What if there were more than one? I did the only thing I could think of: I pounded on the door and shouted, "I know you're in there." And pound I did. Louder each time. Till I got a response. A woman screamed, "Oh, my God" over and over. I pounded some more and cried, "I can hear you."

When I realized it was a lone woman in the room, I decided to unlock the door. The key didn't fit. "He's trying to get in. Somebody help me." Yes, I was on the wrong floor. I avoided the elevator as I didn't want to run into anyone responding to her cries for help, so I took the stairs down one flight, you know, those stairs with the white marble floor and brass railings. 

Once I was oriented, I had to walk up two flights to reach my floor. I quickly entered my room and double-checked to make sure all my stuff was accounted for. It was. I opened the window and listened to the commotion upstairs. "He tried to kill me." "Can you describe him?" "Oh, he was big and mean. He wanted to kill me." "Well, ma'am, he's gone now. He didn't come down the elevator. The front desk clerk would have saw him. Now you say he was big, like six foot tall or bigger, you think?" "Oh, much bigger. Big hands, pounding on my door, trying to knock it down. I'm lucky to be alive. He tried to jimmy the lock, but he must of heard you coming cuz he run off right quick." "Yes, ma'am. We'll make a report and keep an eye out for him."

And the commotion was over. Last thing I heard as the door closed was the woman saying, "They ain't gonna do shit."

You know, for a long second there, I wanted to get my hands on that thief in my room. It gladdened my heart to hear her scream in terror when she realized that I had her trapped. But the gladness turned to utter fear when I realized I was the bad guy. On the run till I reached my room. That night, after my brewskis, I took a yellow hi-liter and colored the bottoms of my room number.

 

Memory Corner 5

The Puppeteer

The puppeteer came to the projects a few times a year. No one knew if he had a schedule. One day, one kid would tell another that the puppet man was setting up his theater by the Chavez house or by Kike's house or who knows where. It was never the same location. But the word of mouth was always the same, and all it took was one kid to spread the word and soon dozens of kids would grab a seat in front of the puppet theater. Early birds got right up front. Late comers had to sit in the back, behind the big kids usually. 

On that day, the last day it turned out to be, my friends and I got front row seats sitting there on the lawn of the Jimenez house. We watched the frail old man gingerly set up his puppet theater on the TV tray he used as a foundation. After the set up, he gently lifted the puppets from his leather bag and place them on the stage. There were several puppets dressed like from the time of Jesus, and lastly, there was the Jesus puppet with a wire halo above his head. 

Once everything was set, the puppeteer acknowledged the crowd of kids with a bow, and they applauded as he disappeared behind the theater. The red curtains parted with a squeak, and the old man spoke through one of two puppets on stage. "Jesus is coming," he said. The other puppet answered, "Lord be praised." The puppeteer changed voices with each character on the stage. Two more puppets joined the first two. "Rejoice, rejoice," they cried in joy, "the Lord Jesus cometh. Yonder. Look." 

The Jesus puppet rose into the air from behind the stage and floated there with a huge sun behind him. The sun was cardboard, from the look of it, with yellow glitter glued to it, causing a sparkling from the real sun hitting it. At that moment, I realized that's why he chose this spot: It captured the sunlight to add sparkles to his cardboard sun to silhouette the wooden Jesus doll. 

The crowd cheered and clapped. One of the puppets on stage said, "Hail, Jesus, come to save us sinners." A second puppet said, "By the brilliance of the sun does the Son of God arriveth." A third puppet added, "Children, be ready, for Jesus is coming to save the and take you to Heaven. He will arrive in the chariot of the sun."

And with that, the puppeteer packed up his theater and placed the puppets back in the leather bag. He bowed to the children and pointed to the sky with a smile. Then he rolled the wheeled cart carrying his set up and bag. 

It was about noon, and the older kids went off to play, but the younger kids looked up at the sun, at first shielding their eyes with their fingers until their eyes adjusted to the glare as best as they could stand the intensity. "There's Jesus," said one, and more kids tried to withstand the fierce stabbing of the sunlight. "I see him," cried another. Then some started crying, while others rubbed violently at their eyes as if trying to erase some ink blot stained on their vision. 

Soon parents started approaching the kids and asking what was wrong. Too late. The damage was done. Permanent blotches in their vision. Some small, others not so small. The eye doctors told them that their young eyes would adjust to the spot in their eyes, almost until it looked like it wasn't there anymore. Much like older adults with floaters adjust their vision till their eyes see right through the spots in their vision. The spots don't go away. Your brain simply adjusts to it. 

This information didn't comfort the parents. They gathered all the parents in the projects and banned the puppeteer from ever returning. Some parents even made police reports. Rumors had it that the puppeteer would be arrested if he tried to return. 

We never saw or heard from the puppeteer again. There are lots of projects in the Los Angeles County. And there are lots of kids in those projects. I'd like to think he's still out there, teaching of Jesus standing in the sun, if you just look for him.