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A Vodka Comedy
A Vodka Comedy; A Tourist’s Encounter with Vodka in Moscow by F.G Baker Harry woke up, vodka enhanced, to the sound of a woman screaming at close quarters. He did not understand how the screaming was related to the rather intimate scene he was dreaming about with the slender, blond Aeroflot stewardess, who had shed a portion of her flame red uniform and revealed red lace panties with a hammer and sickle pattern on them. Her “Da! Da!” had metamorphosed into the shill complaint of the young woman whose bed he now appeared to occupy. He did not understand her Russian but realized that something was wrong and she thought that he was the cause of that concern.Read More
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THE MODERN PIRATE
THE MODERN PIRATE By F.G. Baker I did not intend for my life to turn out as it did. I originally wanted to live an interesting life and somehow manage to write as well. I was off to a good start but then circumstance got in the way and I had a temporary change of plan. It seemed temporary at the time but it drove me onto another track all together. I don’t think I would change anything about my life now. Not that I could. But I like my life as it is. It is as exciting and adventurous as I could ever have imagined. And for the writing? Well, it has taken a back seat until now.Read More
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Rendezvous
Rendezvous F.G. Baker “Hoo-Hoo, hoo-hoo!” Said the owl as he sat high in the cottonwood tree that dominated this part of his domain. It had just turned dark and he signaled his territory to any who might accidentally intrude. “Hoo-Hoo, hoo-hoo-hoo!” He looked through the dark, cold air at the ground and nearby shrubs. He could not see anything moving, even with his penetrating gaze. He though he heard a rustle of grass below him near the stream bank. He looked down to better focus his acute senses. No, no. It was just the wind plying through the late autumn blades. He stared at the stream bank with care. There had been a rodent there earlier, but alas he had not had the advantage of surprise.Read More
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Hemingway Dialogue
Hemingway Dialogue F.G. Baker “So what do you think about Hem’s dialogue? Is it effective?” “I don’t know. What do you mean?” “Well, he has a certain style to it, doesn’t he?” “I suppose.” “Well, is it effective?” “Define effective.” “Does it add to the story or the character development?” “Sometimes.” “Be more specific.” “Sometimes he goes on too long.” “How do you mean?” “Well, it turns into banter.” “So?” “Banter isn’t dialogue. He uses it as filler sometimes.” “What do you mean?” “For a man of few words, he uses dialogue for the wrong reasons.” “Oh. You mean he has dialogue but it is unclear why?” “Yes.Read More
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The Owl
Christopher had been at a friend’s house playing board games all afternoon and they had simply lost track of time. Now Chris had to walk nearly two miles to get home later than usual. He just hoped that his mother would not be angry that he would be late for supper. Chris decided to take a short cut through Hillside Park to save several blocks walking but the park gate was locked. He tried the gate farther uphill but found it closed too. That left only one open path for him unless he wanted to walk all the way around the west side of the park, adding about twenty minutes to his travel.Read More
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The Leader
The Leader F.G Baker Response to prompt: “Undefeated, then fallen hero.” Bill had led the team through the worst of it. He always did. Honor! Duty! It was an honor to lead the team. It was his duty. He pulled them all together up the last part of the way to the new position. Now they had the gun set up and were returning fire, even though they still had plenty of incoming rounds landing all around them. The gun crew would not stop loading and firing the howitzer at the German lines. That was their job. They just did it, come Hell or high water, or Gerry’s heavy barrage. That was what a field artillery company did in this war.Read More
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Abdul’s Airplane
Abdul’s Airplane F. G. Baker When Abdul saw the silver airplane high in the sky, he was elated. Everything he could ever want was on board that shining, winged dream machine. Oh, he was so happy. Everything was going to be happiness and joy very soon. Yes. Very soon indeed! All he had to do was remember what his friend Jaul had told him to do to play the game. Abdul waited patiently in the market next to the vegetable stands. He had moved from the exact spot where Jaul had placed him, but the sun was unbearably hot this morning. And people kept shooing him out of the way when they brought their donkey carts of vegetables into the market place.Read More
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The Quito Temblor
By Fred G. Baker The man sat on the chair that he had moved onto the narrow balcony of his hotel room. He had finished his business for the day, was hot and tired and was looking forward to enjoying a cold cerveza and a small cigar in the light breeze on the balcony. He could see down the narrow street that ran beneath him along that side of the hotel. Here he had a modest view of the apartment house across from the hotel, the electrical wires and poles along the street and the few small cars and delivery vehicles that used the street below. He enjoyed the view and the relative quiet that the setting provided.Read More
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Book Review of the Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin, by Masha Geesen, (New York, Riverhead Books, Penguin Group, 2012), 314 p.
By F. G. Baker, March 23, 2014 Masha Gessen has written a very interesting summary of the conditions and politics that helped bring Vladimir Putin to his position as President of the Russian Federation. She provides a summary of Putin’s personal, professional and political life, based on the limited information that is available for such a secretive man. There was actually little known about his life and activities before his rise to prominence in 1999 when he was appointed as Prime Minister by the Yeltsin government. Much of the book focuses on what is known about his relationships with some of Russia’s notable politicians and his murky oligarch associates.Read More
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Another Day
Another Day By F. G. Baker Prompt: Childhood Fears… The shadow was the only warning that he had of an attack. In that instant, he caught the dark form against the sun and the ancient childhood fear surged through him as if it were yesterday. He only had time to step to the side and, staying low, begin strong, desperate beats to move out of the danger. He saw others do the same as they all sought the safety of the pond some yards away. The evil killer came on, ugly talons extended as giant weapons, wings tucked for sudden speed and eyes focused on one thing only, what he though was easy prey.Read More
