15-Minutes of Infamy

Went out with with some friends last Friday night to Powerplant Rockwell for a round of drinks, a bunch of guys I've known since high school. It was the usual session: passing the time razzing each other, strengthening bonds, updating each other on our lives, yaddah-yaddah.

(Also wanted to raise a bottle in honor of Jim, who managed to pass the bar on his second try. Huzzah! To paraphrase the Abominable Snowman in Looney Tunes: Our very first attorney!)

Anyway, near midnight, Jay dared me to write a short story on Jim. Giving it a second's thought, I decided to up the ante: I dared back that I'd write a short story on each of the guys in the group.

Of course, I added with a grin, I'd put in a little speculative spin to the stories like zombies or something. Dino piped in something like that they have to survive in the end. Alrighty, that's not a problem, I agreed.

Not that I'm running out of things to write about. Hell, I'm way behind schedule in my plan to write at least ONE SHORT STORY A MONTH, dammit. And way, way too many things to read, including one each from Mahesh and Dean.

So here's the deal: I'll start a series of short 15-minute stories or excerpts about one of the guys (maybe in the vein of Jeff Van's Secret Lives). It'll have something weird or wacky or scary about the story. Of course, I'll let the guys live in the end but aside from that, everything's free-for-all.

Heh. The things writers do to their friends.