the wind and the rain - 29. the hitchhiker

by nick nelson

part 29 of ?

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a dark night. an empty road. a five year old black toyota. briggs is driving. he needs a shave. constance johnson, stylish as ever, sits beside him in the front passenger seat. jack and jill sit quietly in the back. they drive along. silence. it is raining. a hitchhiker appears. briggs passes the hitchhiker by. none of the three passengers comments on the hitchhiker or the fact that briggs passes him by. the toyota proceeds down the road. the rain gets heavier. jack asks if briggs has lost his way. constance johnson and briggs both assure him that they are on the right road. how can you tell if you can’t see it? i can see it, says briggs. and there is no other road, constance adds. the road gets narrower and the night gets darker jill says, i think i see something ahead. jack replies - at last! suddenly a building appears - an abandoned barn. briggs says, i think we should push on. no, constance replies quietly, i think we should stop a while they stop. * fade out next

the wind and the rain - 28. else

by nick nelson

part 28 of ?

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constance johnson sat under her favorite tree. the sun was shining, and constance looked more aristocratic than ever. briggs approached, looking a little more disheveled than before.. ah, there you are. where else would i be? we have new instructions. again. yes, again. this operation is being shut down, and we are to report to headquarters for our new assignment. is that not a bit abrupt? everything is abrupt. what about our two young proteges? i have an address where we can drop them off on our way to headquarters. is it out of the way? only a hour or two. if we don’t get lost. i hope we don’t get lost. i don’t see why we would. i am glad you are so confident. do you remember the last time? of course i remember the last time. how could i forget it? i suppose we might as we might as well get going then. have you informed the children? i thought you might prefer to do that. whatever, i will do it. next

the wind and the rain - 27. next

by nick nelson

part 27 of ?

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what do you think? it needs work. that is what they all say. it needs saying. should i go on? no, i will take it from here. i did what you told me. i used all those words. you need to do more. give me some more words. later. i will take it from here. is there any end in sight? i will let you know. when? later. next

the wind and the rain - 26. phil

by nick nelson

part 26 of ?

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then the newest member of the council rose and made a sensational announcement. things suddenly took a subversive turn. the newest member was a contemplative young person of a beneficent disposition who had no thought of deliberately promoting apocalyptic notions. but in the seething tinderbox of the kaleidoscopic modern world, the most judicious statement could be construed as inflammatory. the name of the contemplative young person was phil graves. phil had an exhaustive upbringing which kept the student under strict surveillance and precluded gregarious happenstance . phil had many teachers, each one more fulminating than the last. but the curricula were lilliputian. phil’s selection to the council at such a tender age raised eyebrows all over the world. the initial reaction was less than magnanimous, somewhat delimiting in fact. but as nothing compared to the firestorm that exploded at phil’s tentative speech - what phil construed as a tentative speech - merely putting a toe in the water, to use a hoary old fashioned expression which phil thought would not hurt a fly or raise the dead. next

the wind and the rain - 25 - earlier

by nick nelson

part 25 of ?

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i am sorry about your loss, joe. my what? i am sorry the old lady is dead. i am sorry too. i liked her a lot. was there any kind of a funeral service? i am sorry i missed it. no, i just chucked her the swamp, like she always told me to. i see. i don’t know what the board of health might think, but i suppose what they don’t know won’t hurt them. i took her out a ways. she always wanted big al to have her, cause they went back a ways. yes, they must have been the two oldest inhabitants of the swamp. well, joe, what are you going to do? i suppose you will stay on at the store with mr higgins. you are a big boy now, you should be able to take care of yourself. what exactly did you want to see me about? i wanted to ask you something. and what was that? i don’t know if you can help me, but i don’t know anybody else to ask. yes? the old lady before she died, she told me something she wanted me to do. i mean, she told me about it before, but just before she left, she sort of - what do you call it -? emphasized it? that’s it . empha -a - sized it. and what was it that she emphasied? she wanted me to tear down the world and build it up again. i see. rather a tall order. i wasn’t really all that sure what she meant by that. wiser men than you or i might well wonder what she meant. i would hate to disappoint her. i feel like she is still watching over me, and i would hate her to think i was not trying my best to please her. tear down the world and build it up again, eh? did she give you any hint as to how t she wanted to build it up again? well, sir, i think she tried to, but i am not sure i exactly understood her. i can believe that. no offense to you, joe, but her pronouncements could be a bit on the murky side. like all great prophets and philosophers. do you have a book you could give me, or maybe i could get one from the library. that is an excellent idea, joe. i think i know a couple of books you could ask miss carter at the library about. here, let me write the titles down for you. next

the wind and the rain - 24. the contest

by nick nelson

part 24 of ?

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so, what do you think of my story so far? i think it is pretty stupid and boring. would you like to continue it? you mean do i want to hear more of it? no, i mean do you want to keep writing it. you mean, write it instead of you? yes, exactly. why would i want to do that? you said you wanted to play a game. i did? i asked you if you wanted to play a game and you did not say you did not. so if i write some more of your story that is a game? yes. what are the rules? who will decide who wins? we will go back and forth and when we are finished we will ask the impeccably dressed miss johnson to decide whose contributions are the best. that sounds dumb, besides, she will favor you because you are a girl. you are just afraid i will beat you. i am not. all right then, play up and play the game, just like in the old days when men were men. all right, but i still think it is dumb. look here, i will give you a start. here is a list of thirteen words. you can use any or all of them in your story. and what might they be? they are apocalyptic beneficent contemplative delimiting exhaustive fulminating gregarious happenstance inflammatory judicious kaleidoscopic lilliputian and magnanimous. those are big words. they are meant to be. what is the matter, do you not know what they mean? i know what they mean! then use them. and if you do, i have thirteen more just as big where those came from. next

the wind and the rain - 23. jill's tale

by nick nelson

part 23 of ?

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once upon a time there was a beautiful young person. they lived in a country under an authoritarian regime. the ruler was a bad person. the young person thought they were deserving of a better fate. and dreamed of an extraordinary escape. but fascist guards were everywhere, patrolling the border. the people yearned for freedom. but the fascists had a veritable genius for oppression and good people were cast into deep dungeons to rot. the beautiful young person resolved to write a groundbreaking manifesto. that would express everything that was human in the world. and annihilate all hypocrisy. and free the indigenous soul of the universe. * hearing of this from their spies who were everywhere, the ruler summoned his imperialist council. it is important to note that the ruler and his fascist dogs lived in constant fear of an uprising by the people. but as yet, no meaningful opposition had arisen. the imperialist council indulged in meaningless palaver before they were silenced by the ruler. before his ascension to power, the ruler had led a mediocre existence. but he regarded his rise as entirely natural and right. it was just a normal turn of events. power flowed like a river to those who deserved it. and privilege followed like a well trained dog. everything was reduced to obedience. the world itself is reactionary - does it not spin? the ruler enquired with a smile beneath his neat little mustache. then the newest member of the council rose and made a sensational announcement. things suddenly took a subversive turn. next

the wind and the rain - 22. the bird

by nick nelson

part 22 of ?

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hello. hello. why don’t you look at me when you say hello? i would rather look out the window, why is that? because looking out the window at the sky and the grass and the trees reminds of the good times i used to have with bucky, my only true friend and the only creature who understands me. do you have to spend every waking hour with bucky? i was given to understand that he is still your friend, they just want me to be your friend too. a bird just settled on the branch of the tree. how i wish i could be as free as it! you are being trained to rule the world, if all goes as planned, the day will come when you can delegate all your authority to underlings, human, animal, or machine, and sit and look at the birds ib the trees all day. i can hrdly wait. meanwhile, would you like to play a game? jack sighed. what game? what game would you like? let us see who can stand on one leg the longest. that does not sound like much of a game for the future ruler of the world. i have written a story. would you like to hear it? if you insist. as the future ruler of the world i must learn to be gracious, and i suppose this is as good a way as any to start. thank you. jill reached into the large pink handbag stting on the floor beside her chair and took out a black and white covered ruled notebook. outside, the sun cintinued to shine, but the bird in the tree had flown away. next

the wind and the rain - 21. jill

by nick nelson

part 21 of ?

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we have decided to get you a new friend. i already have a friend, bucky. we mean a friend who is not a dog. but he is my friend. he can still be your friend. because we get you a new friend it does not mean you can not have a second one. if you say so. there are many people in the world, and some of them have as many as four or five friends, what do you think of that? it seems like a lot. we are bringing you up to rule the world. when you rule the world billions of people will think you are their friend. but i will not really be their friend, will i? yes, you will, sort of. will i have to say hello to them every day? and ask them how they are feeling? you can say hello to them, all at once. as for how they are feeling, they can write to you, and zobo will answer them on your behalf. we have been through all this before. yes, of course. but my brain is slow, and i have a hard time remembering things. well, back to the subject at hand. your new friend will arrive tomorrow. what is his name? it is a her. her name is jill. you will like her. how do you know? she is not here yet. we hope that you will like her. you can prepare yourself for her arrival. you mean get a room ready for her? no, zenobia will do that. i meant, prepare yourself in your head for her arrival. my head is already is already full. i am sorry to hear that. why don’t you go lie down and take a nap? i can lie down here and take a nap. of course. but it might rain. then you can pick me up and carry me inside. next

the wind and the rain - 20. jack

by nick nelson

part 20 of ?

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a well dressed aristocratic looking woman, and a well dressed not quite so aristocratic looking man, were sitting on a shady verandah watching an ordinary looking little boy play with a sluggish dog on a wide green lawn that sloped down to a still pond. a clear blue sky surveyed the primal scene. he looks a big sluggish, don’t you think? the man asked. the boy, or the dog? the boy, of course. we are not training the dog to grow up to rule the world. maybe we should get a new dog. or a new boy. it is a bit late for that, isn’t it? not so late as all that. we can discuss it with sir john when he comes around. i think i would rather not. forget i brought the subject up. if you wish. the woman stood up and walked up to the railing of the verandah. jack, she called. the boy looked at the dog, as if expecting it to answer. next