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Weekly Contest #341
I want a very short oral biographical sketch of who you are,” Edith said to William. “How do you describe yourself?” Edith, a marriage counselor with three decades of experience, was meeting with William Randolph Pierce III and his wife, Susan, in her meeting room. Susan had requested the session, and William had reluctantly agreed. “My name is William Randolph Pierce, III, and I am a tenured Professor of Physics at Dartmouth University,” William began. “I am one of the youngest tenured professors at Dartmouth. I have r...
Weekly Contest #313
“Grandma!” Amy shouts as she runs towards me. She’s my 6 year old great granddaughter. It’s Saturday morning, and she and her mother are here for a visit. Amy reaches to me and gives me a big hug. Then she nestles into the sofa beside me hugging her stuffed teddy bear and says, “Tell me the lake story again. Please, Grandma. Please.” I’m 92 and I live in Duncanville, TX. My partner Bill passed away two years ago and now I live alone in a nursing home. These weekly Saturday morning visits with Amy and Dorothy ...
Weekly Contest #291
He ForgotbyBurt Sage Again he’d thought about it—all the way back on his flight from Boston to San Diego. Could he really do it? Could he really commit suicide? He’d thought about it many times before. “How would I do it?” he asked himself again. “Gun? No—too messy. Auto crash? No—cars are too safe now. With my luck I’d probably survive. Sleeping pills? With them, I’d just go to sleep and never wake up. But how many to take? And where would I get them? Too uncertain.”  ...
Weekly Contest #284
The results were in. There was a clear winner. More people had entered the contest than had been expected. The contest had attracted attention outside the Springfield area, and the art world was abuzz with the discovery of a new talent. Excitement reigned. But inside the inner office of the owner of the Springfield Clarion, the local morning newspaper and sponsor of the contest, the mood was far from festive. It was downright somber. “This was the last thing that we expected,” said Ja...
Weekly Contest #283
“I’m sorry, Steve,” J.P. said. “It’s not going to happen. There’s no stomach for long term investments right now.” Steve’s eyes closed, and his head sagged. He had been pretty sure that this was the answer he was going to get, but now hearing it was even more deflating. Steve Morris was sitting with J.P. MacAllister of the venture capital firm MacAllister and Johnson at the Cattleman’s Steakhouse just off the I-5 Freeway in Carlsbad, CA. A pleasant dinner had ...
Weekly Contest #282
“I must admit it was better than I expected,” Jose said. “As a rule I have a low opinion of motivational speeches, but in the best tradition of turning lemons into lemonade, you took a real life problem and showed a way to make progress in solving it.” Amos Williams, a motivational speaker, sat with Warden Jose Garcia at the conference table in his office in the Lancaster Correctional facility northeast of LA. An unremarkable office, it had one desk for Jose, the conference table with half a dozen chairs, and a small credenza in back o...
Weekly Contest #280
Someone SpecialbyBurt Sage Hello. You’ve reached Living Dolls, Inc. My name is Brad. May I have your name, please? You need my name? No, I don’t need it. It’s just that I’m much more comfortable speaking with someone who’s name I know rather than some anonymous customer. OK, Brad. My name is Alice. Thank you, Alice. How may I help you? I’d like to order a doll. Have you been to our website? Do you have a particular doll in mind? Yes. I’m interested in one of your custom dolls. It’s to be a gift for a friend. I see. As you probably...
Weekly Contest #278
Priority Number OnebyBurt Sage Two brothers grew up together in a tight, strong family with deeply ingrained work ethics. James and Richard were separated in age by two years, with James as the older. Their gender was about the only thing that they had in common. They disagreed about almost everything. And they were extremely jealous of each other. Their poor mother couldn’t even cut pieces of cake without one complaining that the other’s piece was bigger. Both boys excelled in school, but in different areas. James was the more intellectual...
Weekly Contest #277
Fairy GodmothersbyBurt Sage “You’re a fairy godmother, aren’t you?” Ray asks. “How could you tell?” Ruby asks sarcastically. “Well, the dress and the magic wand kind of gave you away,” Ray replies. Looking Ray up and down, Ruby says, “You’re not a sorcerer. This is a sorcerer’s convention. How come they let you in?” “I really don’t know how I got here,” Ray replies. “I just suddenly found myself here. Kind of like the orchestral music you hear on TV as a detective investigates a dark alley looking for a perp. That music is just there. I’m j...
Weekly Contest #276
The ChoicebyBurt Sage I want you to give me a very short oral biographical sketch of who you are,” Edith said to William. “How do you describe yourself?” Edith, a marriage counselor with three decades of experience, was meeting with William Randolph Pierce III and his wife, Susan, in her meeting room. Susan had requested the session, and William had reluctantly agreed. “My name is William Randolph Pierce, III, and I am a tenured Professor of Physics at Dartmouth University,” William began. “I am one of the youngest tenured professors at Dar...
Weekly Contest #273
Employee of the YearbyBurt Sage It’s the first of November, and the company is planning their annual fiscal year-end party. The team planning the party comprises Founder Ed Haskell, his son Tom, General Manager, Amy Hoskins, Tom’s administrative assistant, Phil Haskell, Tom’s son and Service Manager, and Ernie Spencer, salesman. It’s Amy’s responsibility to handle all of the details for the party, and she is told that she has pretty much carte blanche this year in terms of budget. “Go first class,” Founder Ed says. “Our employees have earn...
Weekly Contest #272
NightmarebyBurt Sage I awoke with a start. No, there wasn’t a bump in the night or other sharp sound that woke me. In fact, it was eerily quiet. I looked at the clock on my night stand. 3:08 am. I looked around, trying to determine why I would wake up so suddenly. But all was in order. My cat was purring on my bed beside me, pleased that I was suddenly awake. Through my window a crescent moon shone brightly in a cloudless sky. Except for a trio of dim stars keeping the moon company, the sky was empty. I closed my eyes and started to lay ba...
Weekly Contest #271
Thr AdvocatesbyBurt Sage I had just landed at Dulles and picked up my luggage. On my way to get a rental car, I passed the inevitable gaggle of limo drivers waiting for their riders. Each driver held up a sign with the name of the rider they were waiting for. One of the signs read ‘Derrick Bronson’. A neuron fired somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind. “I wonder if that’s the Derrick Bronson I used to know?” So I stood beside the limo driver and waited. I recognized him immediately. He’s 50 years older now, a little over 70 like me, bu...
Weekly Contest #270
The Missing LinkbyBurt Sage It was June, 1963. Jobs were scarce. I had just graduated with my Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from NYU and was looking for my first job. My degree in Electrical Engineering was kind of misleading. If I had had more room on my resume, I would have described the revolutionary changes that were occurring in my field. It was no longer about motors and generators and transformers and long distance energy transmission. Now it was all about solid state physics, signal processing, both optical and electr...
Weekly Contest #269
I’ll Never Do That AgainbyBurt Sage “You want my most embarrassing moment?” I ask. “Yeah,” Fred says. “I thought it would be a good way to get us going tonight.” Our next door neighbors, Fred and Susan, are over for our regular Saturday night get together. Every other Saturday night they come over here; on alternating nights Karen and I go over to their place. We have dinner and then talk about the old days, current events, etc., but never politics. The visiting couple gets to choose the initial topic of conversation, and for tonight Fred a...
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