The short stories listed on this website represent a collection of works written over a period of fifteen years. Behind each story there is a truth; a person, an event, a memory recorded from real life. In the passage of time they have been fictionalized and given a life of their own. Is it not strange how fictional characters take on more of a life that the average person who often lives in obscurity and bitter neglect? I dare to say that more people have heard of James Bond than of my neighbor next door.

The millions of people who meet their demise daily are often forgotten in a short time even by those whom they once loved, but characters of fiction can endure for ever.

The stories contained in this collection are not attempts at literature. They are merely reflections on the lives of people I have met and known by chance along my own journey into obscurity.Some stories are meant to be humorous, others a bit more serious but there are still others which I have not yet fully understood myself.

My stories are the children of my mind and,as such, they constantly grow and change on their way to maturity. should you return in a few months you might find them quite different from what they are now. They will have grown. And who knows? There may even be a few new sibblings among them to tell you their own story.

At any rate,I hope you may enjoy my stories for what they are and I welcome your critical response.

1. Feed My Camel
   A trip to Egypt brings Nelson into contact with an unwelcomed local character
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2. Bird in a Small Church
   A trip to a mysterious country once at war reveals that all the birds have disappeared
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3. Lithium
   They were an ideal retired couple but John needed his Lithium
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4. Communist Chopsticks
   A social studies teacher disciplines her students with a pair of chopsticks.
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5. I Want to See the Flowers
   An aged woman in a nursing home is visited by death but she has one last wish
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6. Mamma Ramphis
   A latino mother has second thoughts when her son tells her he is going to be married.
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7. Pendi and the Severed Nail
   Some people are obsessed with fetishes. This one involves a fingernail
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8. The Beggar
   The silent outstetched hand of a beggar disrupts the calm of a peaceful plaza.
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9. We Came For the Funeral
   Strange visitors in the night come to announce the death of a friend.
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10. Ujibawa
    The perfect place for a vacation if you can find it on a map
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11. A Little Piece of Paper
    Stella and Tony had lived together for twenty years but all she wanted was something that money could not buy
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12. The Caterpillar and the Butterfly
    A humble catepillar confronts an arrogant butterfly in love with the beauty of his own wings
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13. New Year's Card
    When the pack of New year's cards are delivered in the mail the name of one sender causes doubts and confusion
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14. Manuel
    Manual was looking for a job but he needed more than a letter of reference
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15. Sunday Pictures
    A Sunday visitor finds that he is the object of an unknown paparazzi
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16. Bruno and the Peace Bell
    Bruno was a weightlifter but his ringing of the bell has little echoes of peace.
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17. The Lion Who Wanted to be a Gazelle
    An African lion is not happy being "king of the jungle" and would rather belong to another species.
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18. The Bird Who Wouldn't Fly
    The early bird may very well catch the worm but this one is just plain lazy
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19. The Hunk of a Monk
    A monk has only two desires; to speak English fluently and to press one hundred kilos and maybe more.
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20. The Pizza Connection
    A worker in a nursing home flashes around a lot of money saying he made it by operating a pizza shop, until one day he disappears..
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21. Abandoned Cats
    Two park workers find a box with abandoned kittens. Later when they return the kittens are gone.
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22. The Apparition
    Aziz is a simple merchant who sells milk to the poor. his life is comletely changed when he is blessed with an apparition.
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23. The Final Confession
    A man confesses the sin of murder to a priest before deciding to actually do it.
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24. Selfish William
    A third grade student wins a bag of pencils in a raffle but is taunted by his teacher when he refuses to share them with his classmates.
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25. Smashed Potatoes
    A young boy is surprised to discover that his mother has been serving him 'mashed' potatoes instead of 'smashed' potatoes.
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26. To Live In The Present
    Nicole visits a 'mad monk' to buy one of his ink drawings. She is attracted to one of his works which is signed with a phrase which has great meaning for her. Later in a coffee shop that same inscription takes on a different meaning.
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27. Burqua Burger
    Fatima has a passion for junk food and more specifically a Mac Arab Burger. Clothed in a Burqua with only her eyes visible to the world, she is physically challenged when it comes to eating one.
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28. The Witch Doctor and the Sea Ghost
    A skeptical traveler doesn't believe in ghosts especially the ones that live in the sea. In a small Malaysian village he meets a bomo (witch doctor) who gives him special incense to burn to conjure up the spirits dwelling within the sea.
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29. The Day the Martians Never Came
    A young boy goes to school one day and hears a rumor that Martians had landed in Chicago and were headed towards New York. He spends a day in fear and cannot understand why his parents remain so calm.
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30. The Doctor or the Priest
    A traveler in Ethiopia becomes ill an seeks the help of a doctor only to be taken to a priest. In the darkness of an isolated church the priest prayers over him and a strange calm, peace and cure come upon him.
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31. The Homeless
    On a cold winter night in New York the homeless find refuge in the Greyhound Bus terminal only to learn they are waiting...waiting.
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32. Tang Fu
    He came riding on a bicycle into Mason's life and emerged from the mist of a rain. Little did Mason know at the time that he had an appointment with destiny.
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33. The Prodigal Son
    Ailan came from a poor family and wanted a sponsor to support him through college so that he could get a proper education. As Ailan got older he also wanted a motorbike and a cell phone. His journey to the world of possessions is an unfulfilled parable.
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34. The Spider and the Mantis
    In a garden lush with flowers a spider and a preying mantis argue over who is King. The mantis is stronger and commands the spider to weave for him a regal robe of the finest thread to show is homage.
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35. To Kill and to Die
    A young innocent boy who works as a waiter joins the army to become a soldier. It is his responsibility to support his family. He soon learns as a soldier that he is being trained to kill and to die.
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36. Security
    A young man becomes a security guard at the airport and works the night shift. His biggest challenge is to keep awake during the night. On a night when security should be most strict he finds the challenge more than he can bear.
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37. Rickshaw Driver
    In a foreign country a tourists is assaulted by rickshaw drivers who demand that he use their services. They are aggressive and philosophical to the point where they become a threatening nuisance.
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38. It is Peaceful Here
    A homeless woman finds refuge in a church because it is warm and safe. However, the regular member of the congregation are repulsed by her presence among them and ask their pastor to get her to leave.
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39. Sahar!
    A traveler has trouble communicating with his driver since neither of them speak the same language. But, an understanding between them is established and the traveler learns a new foreign word.
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40. Shopping Maul
    Maggie and Charlie have finaly retired. Their dream was to buy a trailer and see the world but they never got farther than the newly-opened shopping mall.
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41. Poluku
    On the shore of Lake Victoria Poluku, a security guard waits for the arrival of the ferry. With a loaded rifle at his side he keeps watch while drinking gin.
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42. Little Girls Grow Up
    Kumiko was an ideal student. She loved English and wanted to go to America. Her dream came true. But when she returned from the States she was forever changed and not for the better.
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43. The Crow and the Rat
    This is the fifth of my animal fables. A crow and a rat are always arguing over which of the two is more intelligent. They can never stop their boasting and become a niusance to all the other animals in the barn.. One night the farmer sets a trap with dire consequences.
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44. The Empty Seat
    A six hour "Red Eye" flight has taken off and every seat in the plane is occupied except 35B which rests between two passengers, an old man and a young lady. They are both tired and would like to stretch out on the seat next to them. But, a generation gap lies between them as well.
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45. The Handshake
    A man seeks refuge in a coffe shop where he tried to concentrate on his work. A young woman with ill-behaved children comes into the coffee shop. The man grows to dislike the kids very much. One day the woman asks the man to shake hands with them because she doesn't want them to be afraid of foreigners.
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46. The Boy in the Picture
    A woman has lost her son but his face aapears to her in a picture of Jesus where he is seen looking of Christ's shoulder.The picture hangs from the wall of her bedroom. She invites people, both friends and strangers, into her home to witness this miracle, a sign that her son is with God. But, when they come, what do they see?
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47. The Wailing Women of Brooklyn
    In order to make some extra money to support her family Carmela works a part time job. She weeps hysterically at the funeral of people she doens't even know. She hopes to keep this secret job away from the knowledge of her children but such secrets are difficult to hide from life in a small urban community.
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48. Let the Fat Soprano Sing
    A fat soprano only wanted to fall in love and marry the man she loved. He played the organ and was more interested in his instrument than her undying love. One day at Christmas she was singing the rold of the mother in "Amahl". A heckler in the audience causes her to go mad.
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49. Water in the Desert
    A visit to Egypt brings with it unexpected surprises. A tourist in search of Abu Simbal finds himself in the scorching desert with a busload of Egyptian farmers and locals and a bus with a flat tire. With his water supply exhausted, he wonder how he can survive the heat and sand.
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50. Repeated Song
    In a small chicken restaurant in an unnamed Latino town a woman and a young boy sit together waiting. The woman plays an old song over and over again on a juke box in the corner of the restaurant. The other customers watch her with interest and curiosity. Suddenly she has a visitor. A young man enters the cafeteria to find her.
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51. Cleopatra's Pillow
    A weary backpacker arrived in an unknown city well past midnight. His train is over six hours late. In the dark streets of an unfamiliar town he finds a place to stay for the night. To his surprise the hotel is filled with surprises he hadn't bargained for.
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52. Tag Questions
    Kumiko loved English and was always taking classes to improve her communicative compentency. Unfortunately, she used her boyfriend as a sounding block to practice her latest acquired point of grammar and drove him to the point of madness with a steady chain of tag questions.
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53. Salt and Pepper
    She had a unique collection of salt and pepper shakers which she had collected over the decades. They formed a strange menagerie in her dining room. But I never knew how strange her hobby was until I invited her to a fine French restaurant to celebrate her birthday.
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54. Fire! Fire! Burning Bright!
    It was a peaceful community in a small town near the sea. Everyone knew each other, everyone trusted one another, everyone loved the sense of being safe and secure. But one night mysterious fires occured in the night and no one beagn to trust each other until...
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55. Christmas Angels
    He was a terrible driver and hated to sit behind the wheel. Already he smashed up three of the four fenders and got a deep scratch on the side of the car. One Christmas he decided to take his two angelic daughters to see the Christmas tree in Rockerfeller Center when a cop catches him making a wrong turn on a one-way street.
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56. Ucellino
    I had always hated to listen to people telling stories of places they had visited as if they had discovered them for the first time. So when I overheard soem travelers boasting of their travel adventures I encouraged them to visit Ucellino, but the town had never existed.
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57. Convict Cabbie
    What began as a simple day of sightseeing ended up as a virtual nightmare. I trusted a cabbie by day only to find out that he was a murderer by night. When dusk had set in I tried to get back to the station only to find that I was captive in a cab with a madman.
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58. MaryLou and her Bananas
    MaryLou just loved bananas. Once she found out that they were filled with potassium she couldn't resist them. They found their way into her diet and Marylou became an ungainly sight. She finaaly found solace in the zoo with the monkeys.
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59. Before Television
    Life was different before television. Families gathered around the radio in the living room and children did their homework while listening to music. Then TV burst upon the scene and life was forever changed. But, with the new invention came a list of rules and regulations.
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60. Masai Warrior
    In a Masai village not far from the Masai Mara reservation Maskal, a young warrior who killed himself a lion when he was only fifteen years old tells some visitors about his daily life. When they leave he has just one simple request.
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