09.03.08
Orphan fighter, pt. 12
“What the hell was that?”
09.02.08
Orphan fighter, pt. 11
We dragged the kid kicking and screaming to the gym with us. I don’t know what kind of life he’d had, but you could tell it had messed him up in the head. I didn’t mind so much — it made him interesting. When we got to the gym, there were a bunch of lazy looking guys sitting around and a group of kids sitting on the floor in rows.
09.01.08
Orphan fighter, pt. 10
I woke up a while later in the infirmary. I took a quick survey of the room, looking for someone who could tell me what the hell had just happened. The people who I’d seen lying on the floor unconscious during my bathroom visitation were also lying in cots, a few them still unconscious. Not seeing anyone else around, I figured I’d get up and find them myself. I tried to stand up, but when I got on my feet, I got so dizzy from the blood rushing to my head that I had to sit back down.
“Hey, Doc! Where you at?”
08.26.08
The Leavening
Orphan fighter is on hold this week. I could have written something yesterday, but I was too busy reading skip beat. I’m happy to say that I got through 106 chapters (~3180 pages). Today, I’ll be packing my bags and doing last minute preparation for a trip to the Northwest. I could probably also have written something today as well, but no dice. Naturally, from Wednesday through Friday, when I’m out of the state (of emergency? of mind?), I won’t have time to “write” because I’ll be too busy eating fresh seafood and attending PAX.
08.25.08
Life out of Context: Quashed Sentiments
…You’re a mystery I don’t want to solve. It’s like something out of a Greek tragedy. You’re the puzzle that, once solved, will ruin my life forever. You’re the knot that, once unraveled, will make the world fall apart.
I’d tell you to go away, but I don’t need to. You’re already on another planet.
08.22.08
Orphan fighter, pt. 9
A few days later, I got a call from Dale. He wanted me down at the office in an hour. I was annoyed. It was 2 PM, and I didn’t feel like getting out of bed yet. Still, I felt obligated to be there, so I fell out of bed and tidied up. 50 minutes later, I was at the office. Doris greeted me and said that Dale would be out soon. I didn’t feel much like talking, so I excused myself and loitered in the lobby.
08.21.08
Orphan fighter, pt. 8
Still fuming over the inexplicable lifestyle choices of my former friend Ferdinando, I went back to Dale’s office building. There was nothing I wanted more than to prove Ferdinando wrong. Getting out of the life? Why would anyone want to do something like that? We had it all. We were free from responsibilities and monotony. Why anyone would want to chain himself to a life of routine was a mystery. I pushed my way through the door and stopped at the front desk. The receptionist looked up, and, recognising me from earlier, she told me politely that Dale had already left for the day. I could have lost it then — my last resort had failed, and I didn’t have a plan anymore. I took a closer look at the lady at the desk. She looked all right. Maybe she’d take my mind off of things.
08.20.08
Orphan fighter, pt. 7
Ferdinando called me later that week asking to hang out. I was down with that, so it wasn’t long before we convened at the old diner. Oddly enough, he was already in the booth by the time I got there. It wasn’t normal, I tell ya. He’d never beat me to the punch in his life. I brushed it off, though, citing some quip I heard once about broken clocks being right twice a day.
“Yooo, Ferd! What’s the good word?”
He reached over and bumped my outstretched fist.
“Jus’ chillin’, bro. You know how it go.”
08.19.08
Orphan fighter, pt. 6
A few hours of downing expressos later, I was pretty amped up for the meeting with my prospective boss. The place was not at all like the LCO. The LCO was like an old haunted house or something while Dale’s was like business office. I walked in and the receptionist at the front desk asked me if I was looking into adoption. When I told her that I was here to see Dale, she buzzed him over the intercom and he was out to greet me. He had the air of a car salesman about him, and he greeted me like an old friend.
08.18.08
Orphan fighter, pt. 5
Having nothing better to do, I went down to the part of the city where Dale’s House of Orphans was operating. Unlike the LCO, which was in the middle of nowhere, Dale’s was in the heart of the city. It was around the corner from a hospital and across the street from a high school. I had a hunch that the location was deliberate — what with all the teenage pregnancies these days. While I was scoping out the block, I stopped in at a coffee shop to order a pick-me-up. Sure was cold that day, and I hadn’t slept much the night before, either.