Author: Joe Class III
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Landsurfing
“Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff. . .” Han Solo, Star Wars IV: A New Hope Han Solo was right. There are a lot of strange things that happen on our planet. Some cannot be explained away by science. Yet, this…
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Bullets and Danica Part III
Imagine overfilling a lawnmower and getting the gas on your fingers. That’s what it smelled like. I tried to wash off the smell, scrubbing it from my fingers, but all that did was turn my fingers an angry pink color. The hot water and the soap suds foam coated the bottom of the sink.
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You Said What?
What’s the best way to describe speaking to authority figures, saying the most audacious things? And after saying these things, you find the authority figure laughing or chuckling under their breath. Making statements similar to these would get ordinary people in trouble. But not you. Wouldn’t you think twice about saying something like that again?…
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Unintentional Truancy
So, the first time I got in big trouble, and I’m talking grounded to the house for a few days, was when I was six. That’s right. My first time in that situation, and I’m barely in school, hanging out with my best friend, Mark Driscoll. He lived on 3rd Avenue South, just a few…
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Leaving James Behind
I was what you might call the idea man when I was younger. I came up with all kinds of wild, crazy ideas. Melville may have been my given middle name by birth but adventure? That is my real middle name. Adrenaline junkie? Also me.
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Bullets and Danica: Part II
Danica Incorporated. A dream come true. After years of hard work, late nights, weekends, and some overnight hours my dreams of being the number one seller of sheet metal and steel were realized. With the takeover of Nucor Industries, Danica Incorporated is the number steel manufacturer in the United States. “Mr. Danica, I’m not…
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The Coffee Shop
Waking up this morning, I realized everyone has a story. Every person born on this planet has a story. Some are good. Some are tragic. But, like it or not, miserable or elated, everyone everywhere has their own story. Of course, there are common elements: love, hate, mistrust, lying, friendship, happiness, wealth, poverty, and…
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Pig Farmer
“You owe Mrs. Ranchelleti a whole lot of green, know what I mean?” Brad almost laughed, thinking immediately of Jim Varney.
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New World
Photograph reprinted with permission from “an old guy I know who worked for Industrial Light & Magic years ago.” Closing my eyes, I anticipate adventure, uncertain of what awaits me, reaching the surface of a terrain that my Earthbound life isn’t ready for after being asleep for the better part of ten years. Expectations. That’s…
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Trouble at the Trailer Park
Flames burst from the explosion, sending pieces of shrapnel overhead, smoke billowing high into the air. Seconds earlier, instincts kicked in, and Julio kissed the sun-cooked blacktop. Not giving the heat emanating from the ground a second thought, he covered his head and face the best he could. That instinct, seconds earlier, forced him to…
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Room at the Hilton
Opening his eyes, he blinked a few times, trying to remember where he was exactly. He knew he was at home. That much he was sure of. Something felt off. It’s like that feeling of vertigo just after walking off a spinning carnival ride. You know your balance is a bit off, and you’re…
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Bullets and Danica
Bullets. Brass casings ejected from the barrel of a gun. Any gun. I could care less what kind. The copper metallic smell after you touch them. For some reason, I felt connected with them, not unlike the feeling a tennis player has connected to their racquet. I woke up, my head ringing, the smell…
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Stories, Anecdotes, and Real Life
Before I was old enough to read, I told stories. Imagination incubated, spit out into the world through my limited toddler vocabulary. After being taught how to read and write, the magic turned from oral stories to written stories. Now I was writing my own material, reading everything I could to get ideas, even the…
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Jared and Marie
Staring right at me, I thought she would start screaming, yelling at the top of her lungs. Before you start in on me, I just want to set the record straight – I didn’t start this argument. No. Really. I didn’t. It wasn’t my fault. But then again, the guilty always have a way of…
