Twenty days In a town in the distant mountains lived a young boy. His name was Arturo. The mountains were the Crunchy Mountains. The snow on them was hard and icy. Arthur felt a little lonely. He had no brothers and sisters. His father worked all night in the car factory and slept during the day. His mother worked at the local shop. Arthur spent a lot of time by himself walking in the meadows around the small cluster of houses. He did not go to school. He was on the spectrum. When he was not roaming the fields, he read books in his room. They lived in an apartment above the town square. His uncle owned the gelato shop. He often called in and his uncle would give him an ice-cream. His uncle knew he spent a lot of time alone. He worried about the young boy. It was not good for someone so young to spend so much time alone. But Arthur was happy enough. Sometimes in the fields he would meet shepherds and occasionally a nymph. On one fine day he saw a young god holding court around a tree in…
New Year’s Eve
Downtown central Auckland, New Zealand I hadn’t been out for a while. There were four of us. Bill was the president of a motorcycle gang. His friend Rangi was a big Maori guy. They had been in prison together. Kelly was Bill’s girlfriend, over the last week. She was very young and thin, with a face like an avatar. We were an unusual group. I was a bankrupt lawyer. We loaded up on pure Peruvian coke and Long Island Iced Teas and headed downtown. Rangi was so drunk he was sick in the back of the car. With a compassion born of doing a lag together, Bill cleaned him up and we found him a new shirt. Downtown was pumping. We headed for a small club in an old art deco building next to the waterfront. The security at the door let us in and we paid money to a bored looking girl at a desk who ushered us down the stairs. The club was packed and the carpet was wet with booze. As we stood in the queue at the bar, I noticed a tall blonde girl a few people over. I was pretty high. Thi…
Downtown central Auckland, New Zealand I hadn’t been out for a while. There were four of us. Bill was the president of a motorcycle gang. His friend Rangi was a big Maori guy. They had been in prison together. Kelly was Bill’s girlfriend, over the last week. She was very young and thin, with a face like an avatar. We were an unusual group. I was a bankrupt lawyer. We loaded up on pure Peruvian coke and Long Island Iced Teas and headed downtown. Rangi was so drunk he was sick in the back of the car. With a compassion born of doing a lag together, Bill cleaned him up and we found him a new shirt. Downtown was pumping. We headed for a small club in an old art deco building next to the waterfront. The security at the door let us in and we paid money to a bored looking girl at a desk who ushered us down the stairs. The club was packed and the carpet was wet with booze. As we stood in the queue at the bar, I noticed a tall blonde girl a few people over. I was pretty high. Thi…