Henri's Companion, Henri's Loss....Henri's Companion.... again?

I've worked diligently on this little scrap of what is now about 1500 words. I've probably written 5000 to 6000 words trying to "get it right". I've had great critiques on this piece... clarifying, insightful and much appreciated.

My non-writer readers have been very helpful in pointing out problems which never occurred to me... the "why didn't they paddle over to the drilling rig and board it to save themselves" resulted in research on drilling rigs/production platforms with my brother and the ultimate writing out of anything thus related. The observation of my boating expert reader that Henri was obviously a negligent boat owner because the boat must have been poorly maintained causing it to sink sparked a discussion with my writing group in which we decided it didn't matter why the fishing boat caught fire and sank. There has been discussion with various readers and writing group members about vague references to the "companion" and more specific references to "Hank". I'm still working on that issue. Currently the necessary big fix has to do with the last paragraph where Henri's condition on rescue is being evaluated. Research from a knowledgeable friend has finally come through and I'll be fixing that today.

By far, the most frustrating issue for me has been the name of the piece....Henri's Companion... Henri's Loss... now, Henri's Companion again. Henri's Companion is the title that causes music in my mind. It feels right. That said, I recognize that titles are extremely important and what feels right may not always BE right. The title is still up in the air and I'm not so sure either of those will be correct in the end. The jury is still out....

Henri's Companion

I've been struggling with a story for Humble Fiction Cafe's current project, our "Split" anthology. My dichotomy "appear/disappear" story was progressing but had grown much too unweldy for the time I have to devote to completing the project. I knew I had to do something different or risk not being able to meet our deadlines. I'd been reading a book (I'll supply the title and author when I have time to find the book again) on creating "scenes".

I went to bed last Friday night thinking about needing to do a new story which takes place in a limited locale and with a limited number of characters. I got up Saturday morning with the idea in my mind for a story I'm currently calling Henri's Companion. After my meeting Saturday morning I spent two hours at the Octavia Fields Library in Humble doing my discovery draft. I'm very pleased with the results and I'm very relieved to finally have something completed to work with. I know the rewrite is going to be brutal, but with some very good suggestions from Victor and Dorlana already in hand, I'm looking forward to working on it.

Spelling Confession... Entry 4 (and 5)

The word is bona fide and the issue was whether it was one word or two. I spelled it correctly but was unsure of my choice so I had to look it up.

bona fide – (for my purpose) neither specious nor counterfeit; authentic

“I’ve created a bona fide ghost in my dichotomy.”

Okay, these issues seem to never end. I misspelled authentic (even while looking at it in the dictionary ) when I was writing the above definition, soooooo….

authentic – worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact

“The signature on the inside cover of the book was verified as authentic by the book appraiser who researched it on behalf of the museum.”

It's All About Haden...

My oldest grandbaby graduated from high school last Saturday afternoon. It was a wonderful event, marked by the seventeen family members and friends who made the trip to Beaumont.

Haden graduated 16th in his class of about 300 students. He graduated wearing the collar of the National Honor Society, the golden ropes of an Honor Graduate and the multi-colored ropes of a Gifted and Talented Scholar. He received UIL Scholar recognition, scholastic merit recognition by the U.S. Marine Corps, and was honored as the only member of this senior class to have perfect attendance through four years of high school.

Haden will attend Lamar University in Beaumont in the fall, planning to major in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Business.

Our lives changed dramatically when Haden was born in November 1988 and I expect it will again be dramatically different when he moves away from home for the first time August 18th.

Note: Photo is of Haden and Halee, his girlfriend, on the patio at Carrabba's, where we had dinner after the graduation exercises.

Spelling Confession... Entry 3

The word is "ecstatic"... members of Humble Writers Group will know why I needed this particular word... meaning: of, relating to, or marked by ecstasy.

(A nod to Dorlana)... "Victor was estatic when his commercial won Grand Prize!"

....fingers crossed.......

Spelling Confessions... Entry 2

The word today is "naive"... meaning marked by unaffected simplicity; or deficient in worldly wisdom or informed judgement.

This is a word I've looked up a million times and still am uncertain about and, therefore, I continue to look it up almost every time I have to use it. In a Word document, it's easy: Spellcheck will reassure me. Places where I don't have the convenience of Spellcheck, it's back to the dictionary. (sigh...)

The Rescue of Darryl, the Tech Guy

Darryl is my computer tech. He's not mine, exactly. He actually belongs to the county in the sense that they pay him. Darryl has helped me out of more than one computer related jam in the last four and a half years. Today I had the chance to return the favor.

The AS400 serving my county government is in our building which is attached to the county jail facility. Our north end annex is getting a long-overdue T-1 line. It's been installed for a week or so but only today began to do its job. Darryl came by to tell me he was working on it. I talked to him briefly when he let me know what he was doing and I got busy with my work and forgot he was on the premises.

Then I got a phone call.

"Sheriff's Office..."

"Joy! This is Darryl... I need help!"

"Sure, Darryl... what's up?"

"I'm locked in the Boiler Room... COME GET ME OUT!"

I grabbed my ID badge and headed out the back door into the jail lobby and waited impatiently while the big doors were opened. When I made it past the internal security door, I asked the first jailer I met where the boiler room was. She pointed to the near hallway, a door I'd never noticed before. It wasn't an automatic door but one that only opens with a key so large as to look cartoonish. I banged on the door and yelled for Darryl. I could only faintly hear him banging and yelling back. The jailers looked at me as if I had finally lost it. The gawking jailers grew quickly to a group of six.

I asked, "Who has a key?" They looked at each other and shrugged.

My impatient "Find a key!" sent several of them off in different directions.

One of the remaining jailers asked how Darryl got locked in the boiler room. Then a newly arrived jailer admitted to having found the door ajar earlier. She had closed it for security.

Finally a key arrived and the door was opened. Darryl rushed out, sweating and very relieved to be released. He related how, after completing the T-1 inspection in the boiler room, he found himself locked inside. As it turns out there is only one corner in the boiler room, between the boiler itself and the pipe rack, where his cell phone actually got a signal. He had to hold the phone in the corner to get enough bars to make a call.

By the time we got back to my office, Darryl had cooled off a little and was able to laugh about the incident.

Any Friday is a good one when you get to rescue a friend.