“Fine.” Lindsey plodded across the small dorm room. A tall table stood next to the door covered in junk. Lindsey slung her book-bag over her shoulder and plucked Jerome’s phone off the table. “You won’t need this.”

Jerome’s heart went into overdrive as she stormed out. His legs itched to follow. The door was propped open and her feet echoed from the hall. She stopped. His mind was struggling on the hand-break on his legs. The elevator chimed. His mind letting go for just a second, his legs took off out the door and down the hallway.

He reached the elevator just as the door started to close. He pushed on the doors and they opened again. “Give me my phone.”

Her scowl curled up. She dangled the phone, holding it by the small plastic antenna, in front him. He made a grab and she pulled it away. She dangled it again, teasing a dog with a treat.

He watched her eyes and moved his hand slowly for the phone. When it was just an inch away he made another grab. She pulled it away again.

“Damn it Lindsey, it’s my phone.”

She dangled it again. The doors chimed. She palmed the phone and waved to Jerome as the doors closed, separating them on either side.

“Bitch.” he yelled as the elevator descended. His legs were ready before he even made the choice. They took off for the stairs. He opened the door just as three students entered the hallway. They passed Jerome carrying armfuls of groceries. He held the door while the energy in his legs channeled into his foot tapping wildly. He made it to the first floor as the elevator chimed again. Watching her as she read though his phone, the elevator closed and headed up. “I don’t have time for this shit.” He yelled at the doors.

Jerome was panting as he made it back up to the third floor. He walked over to the elevator but it was empty. He walked back to his dorm room. Lindsey was sitting on the couch with her head in her hands. Her shoulders rolled with each sniffle. “Now you’re crying? What is with you today?”

“Nothing.” She wiped her eyes.

Rolling his eyes he sat next to her on the couch. “Come one, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

He put an arm over her shoulder and scooted next to her. “Something’s wrong, you weren’t crying when you left.”

She pulled out from under him and stood up. “Here’s your stupid phone.” She hurled it at the couch.

Jerome stood up and towered over her. His arms over his head made it look like he could completely engulf her. “What do you want from me? I’m trying but you won’t tell me what’s wrong. This is bullshit.” He rubbed his eyes, sighed, and wrapped his arms around her. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to piss you off.”

She oozed out of his arms and back on the couch. “You don’t even care.”

“Of course I do.” He kneeled on the floor in front of her. Using on hand, he gently lifted her chin so their eyes meet. “I thought you were just mad, why are you so sad now?”

“You know why.” Her eyes darted to the cell phone.

He stood up and stretched his back. “I’m not going to do this every time. You said you understood, that you wanted this.” He was pacing. “I don’t love you alright? I never will. So you can just walk out and never come back, or just deal with it.” He made his way to the door and pretended to hold it open. “You need to leave now.”

She stood up and stomped a hoof on the floor. “Fine.” She made her way to the door. “I hope you two will be very happy together.” She took her book bag from his hand and walked out.

©Chris Richards 2009

Taking several deep breaths, Russell paused outside of the principals’ office. Should he just enter? Or would the principal come out to get him? He looked around but the rest of the office was empty. The secretary must be out to lunch or something. A trembling ran though his body. Russell tried to force it out before anyone noticed. He knocked lightly on the door.

“Come in.”

Fighting back another wave of tremors Russell opened the door. The room was bright as the fluorescent lights reflected the posters covering the walls.. The principal wore a shirt that said “The principal is your pal” and sat behind a large wooden desk.. The desk was littered with brightly colored doodads. In front of the desk sat two chairs, a girl with short blonde hair was already sitting in one of them. As he approached, her blue pleated skirt came into view. He couldn’t help but look up her legs to where the skirt took over. He fought back a different sort of trembling now. As he came around the open chair, her face came into view. “What’s she doing here?” he blurted before he could catch himself.

Billie snapped her head and held up her chin. She made a loud “Hmph.”

The principal folded his hands over the desk and leaned forward. “Do you two know why you’re here?” The two middle school students shook their heads slowly. “There was an incident in the library yesterday. It just so happens that you two were the only ones there. I already know what happened, but I’m giving you the chance to confess.” He leaned back in his leather chair and waited for them to speak.

Russell looked at Billie; he tried to mentally ask her why she did it. She looked at him for a moment, raised an eyebrow and turned back to the principal.

“I don’t know why I’m here.” She said. “Whatever he did, I didn’t see it. I didn’t even know he was at the library yesterday. It’s not like I keep track of him or anything. I’m not his girlfriend.”

The principal leaned forward and started to say something. Russell interrupted him. “Yeah I did it.”

“He’s lying.” Billie snapped. Russell and the principal stared at her. Her eyes darted around the room as she realized she said something wrong. “I mean, yeah, that’s right. He must’ve done it.”

“That’s right” Russell added. “I was smoking in the library and I uh … I dropped, the cigarette and set the library on fire.”

Billie rolled her eyes. “Idiot” she mumbled.

“Who you calling an idiot, idiot.” Russell shouted at her. “That’s what I get for trying to help you.”

“Oh now you want to help me.” She matched the escalation in his voice. “You’ve never even talked to me, why would you suddenly want to help me now.” She turned away from him and pouted in her seat. “You don’t even know me.”

“I don’t know you?” Russell crossed his arms and pressed his back against the seat. He took a breath and lowered his voice. “We’ve been in the same classes since elementary school.”

“It’s not like you’ve ever talked to me.” She pressed her hands down her skirt, flatting it out. “This is like, the longest conversation we ever had.”

“Fine whatever, I don’t know you. I don’t know anything about you. But I do know one thing.” Russell leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. “I know I didn’t start that fire.”

“Don’t blame me.” She came undone. “You already admitted to it. Go ahead” she motioned to the principal, “call his mother, send him to jail, he admitted to it.”

“I didn’t blame you stupid.” His voice was starting to creep back up. “You blamed me, twice. All I said was that I didn’t do it.”

She gripped the armrests. “You are blaming me.” Her eyes started to tear. “This is exactly why I never talked to you. You’re such a jerk. All the girls think you’re a jerk. I don’t even know why I like you.” The water stopped as her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. “I mean…” her body tensed turning each knuckle white. “It was an accident ok? I didn’t mean to do it. I just tripped and the book hit the fire sprinkler thingy and the alarm went off and I didn’t know what to do.” She looked at Russell for a moment and quickly turned back to the principal and pouted. “I’m really sorry okay? It wasn’t my fault.”

“Wait, What?” Russell watched her very carefully. He watched every rapid breath, the sweat forming on her head. “You like me?”

Her mouth hung open in half horror half smile. “Yeah.” She managed to say.

“Are you kidding?” He watched her watching him. Taking a deep breath and making sure his mouth wasn’t handing open like hers. “I’ve liked with you since that first day on the playground.” He winced slightly waiting for the whiplash.

“Why the didn’t you ever tell me?” She finally closed her mouth.

“Why would I? We’ve never talked. And besides, you’re all cool and popular. You’d never date a guy like me.”

“I would if you ever asked me.” She said.

The principal stood up and they followed suit. “Seeing how it was an accident. I think we’re done here.” He opened the door and led them out. “Go have fun but don’t do anything your mothers wouldn’t approve of.”

© Chris Richards 2009

Tiff boarded the 2:45 bus to the mall. She looked down the bus; the passengers hypnotized themselves with the backs of seats, cell phones, and shoelaces. She was only two seats back when she noticed an old lady wearing a muted red sweater with a white collar. A small paper bag sat in the window seat next to her. The old woman was eating a peach.

“My I?” Tiff pointed to the seat.

The woman looked up at Tiff for a moment and then looked at her bag. She swallowed a bite and said “Not at all, dear.” She took the small bag and sat it in the aisle. Tiff squeezed by and sat down. The bus lurched forward and the paper bag fell over.

A small peach, who’s lifelong ambition to explore the world has taken it down a very dark road, decided to use this opportunity to roll to the back of the bus.

The old woman picked up the bag and put it in her lap before any other peaches rolled out. A siren sound entered the bus. The bus driver caught the faint lights up ahead and pulled the bus over. Tiff watched as a man walked along the bus with a pack of dogs.

The Labrador, whose father was a police dog, recognized the siren and ran out into the road. He was afraid of being missed, so he stood in the road calling his father’s name as the oncoming police car sped towards him.

Tiff stood up and watched the dog out the windshield. Other passengers followed suit and stood to watch as well. The police car was flying down the road blaring it’s horn at the dog. The dog stood its ground. Tires squealed and the police car spun around. The tail slammed into the bus launching the passenger’s heads into the next seat.

The peach, which had been feeling trapped in a dark corner in the back of the bus, used this opportunity to roll to the front and down the stairwell.

The bus driver pulled his head up and touched the steering wheel shaped bruise on his forehead. Shaking his head, he opened the door and jumped the stairs. His left foot landed on the poor peach. The driver slipped and fell down the stairs.

The peach, feeling bruised from the incident, rolled out of the bus before the police could question it.

The passengers started moving around, their hypnotic spell broken. They noticed each other for the first time and started mumbling. Tiff sighed and wondered why the busses always had an accident every time she left the house.

©Chris Richards

Like many people I’ve been considering whether or not to buy an Amazon Kindle. It’s a very promising device with a large library available. But it seems Amazon has made my mind for me. They deleted copies of paid books off peoples Kindles. That is simply unacceptable.

If I buy something, no one has the right to take it away from me, not even the person I bought it from. Just because Amazon refunded the money for the books, does not give them the right to remove it. Frankly, if I had known that Amazon could do such a thing, I doubt I would have considered a Kindle in the first place.

As long as Amazon can delete my files remotely, I will not buy a Kindle.

I just had PRK surgery last Saturday and haven’t been able to see a computer. So there is no story this week, but next week I’ll have two stories.

The earth billowed under my feet. I reached out instinctively, my arms flying wildly as they tried to hold on. I managed to keep balance as the earth rolled passed me. I turned around to watch the barren landscape rise into the air like water. Another wave of earth caught me by surprise. I fell hard on my knees. Trying to push myself up, my hand slipped and I fell face first. Citrus invaded my nose and throat. Coughing I pulled myself up and looked around. The ground was littered with oranges. I picked one up. It’s surface a deep blue hue. I pushed my nail into its thick, rubbery surface. It resisted, I tried another spot but it was impossible to peel the skin.

The ground billowed again and oranges flew through the air. I clenched my face as two flew at me. After a moment with out impact, I opened my eyes. The oranges hung, frozen in the air. I reached out and grabbed another orange. This one had a dark pink hue. It giggled as I attempted to peel it. I turned it around expecting to find a face; instead it changed to a violet color. The suspended oranges started to rain down, each one hitting the earth with a soft clank, as if the oranges had skin of stone. More and more oranges fell. Together they created a deafening sizzle sound. I noticed how incredibly thirsty I was. I tried biting into the orange but it was like biting into a rubber ball. The earth’s rolling intensified, I couldn’t keep my feet on the ground. I fell upward, the orange floating along with me. They laughed like little girls.

I hit the ground face first. Darkness surrounded me, long plastic fibers filled my mouth, the unmistakeable taste of carpet. I pushed myself up and light clawed at my eyes. The giggling came from behind me. I shielded my eyes and made out the outline of a small child. She giggled.

“Wakey wakey Uncle Chris.” She said jumping off the air mattress and next to me on the floor. “Momma said to wake you up for breakfast.”

I rolled on my back. The familiar shapes of the room came into focus. “Did she tell you to jump on the bed?”

“Yes.”

I laughed. Sitting up my knee ached. I rubbed it. “Did you jump on me?”

“Sorry uncle Chris. I didn’t mean too.” She ran to the stairs. “Momma says breakfast is ready.”

I took a deep whiff. Bacon, eggs, and fresh squeezed orange juice. I love staying with my sister.

© Chris Richards 2009

If you’ve played around with the demos, then you might have noticed a little bug. If you click down in one square and let the mouse up in another square, the square you clicked down in will stay green. I haven’t addressed this issue in earlier examples because it’s not actually a bug. What I want to happen, is to allow the user to draw lines.
(more…)

Last time we managed to create a very simple grid and change colors when you clicked on a cell. But, being a first attempt the grid wasn’t flexible and it had a lot of duplicated code. In this post we are going to improve it.
(more…)

I’m going to need a Grid, so let’s start with a simple grid. A 2 by 2 grid will work just fine. There’s three ways to draw the grid, one is to draw filled rectangles, another is to just draw the outlines of the rectangles, and finally we could just draw a few lines. It doesn’t really matter how we draw the grid. For this example I’ve draw four outlines.
(more…)

A flashing yellow turn signal caught Roxy’s attention. A hunter green pickup truck slowed down next to her. She checked her rearview mirror, nothing behind her. She sped to let the truck in, it roared its engine and sped up with her. She pressed the breaks slowing down. The truck merged and hit his breaks. Beaded necklaces hanging from her mirror slapped the windshield.

Bright red light filled her car. She squirmed in her seat trying to see why they stopped. Up ahead the stoplight turned from green to red and back to green again. They didn’t move. The truck turned on it’s turn signal and veered into the next lane. A small, fading blue sedan slammed on it’s breaks, the father reaching his arm out instinctively to protect his little girl. Squirming again, she saw the hold up. A skinny teenager with a faded pink mohawk was trying to push a black beat-up to the side of the road. Cars were honking and trying to switch lanes. Roxy pulled over to the side of the road and walked up to the teen.

“Need some help?” she asked. She gave her best smile.

He looked up, meeting her in the eyes for a moment before staring at the ground.
“Uh yeah, kind of.”

“Sit in the car and steer, make sure all the breaks are off.” She put her hands on the trunk and waited for him to sit down. The car was covered in pockmarks and rust was forming around the wheel wells. She pushed, her feet slipping on the asphalt, and the car moved to the side of the road. The other cars honked a few more times as they sped off.

The teen came out, his eyes still on the asphalt. “Thanks.”

“Do you need a cell phone?”

“Huh?” he twisted his foot on the ground.

“Do you need to call someone? Like your parents or a tow truck or something?”

“Um, no I haven’t called anyone.” He kicked one of the small rocks around his feet.

“Do you need to?”

“Oh, yeah, I got a quarter.”

Roxy fished a phone from her back pocket. “Here, use this.”

He looked up far enough to see the phone. “For what?”

“Call your parents, a tow truck?” It was obvious to Roxy that he had an invisible monster devouring his left shoe. “Let me guess, you live alone and don’t have the money for a tow truck?”

His face betrayed him with quick smile. “How’d you know?”

“Trust me, I’ve been in worse. Where do you live?” Roxy called a tow truck. They sat down on his trunk. Cars blurring past them. Gary told her how his dad walked in on him and his lover, Mike. She laughed and gave him a sympathetic shoulder squeeze. She told him how lucky he was to have a place to turn after his parents kicked him out. She paid the tow truck driver and Gary promised a free meal at the Mexican dive he worked at.

An hour late, Roxy came home. Her boyfriend came around the corner, smiled and gave her a kiss. She told him all about Gary while he cooked dinner.

© Chris Richards 2009