Happy Easter to those who celebrate! Hope everyone has a fantastic day.
Mother Nature gave us a fairly dry week. While clouds were the predominant feature, there was little rain. As a result, we managed a couple of walks in the nearby forest, did more work in the flower beds, and cut the grass for the first time this year. As the amount of daylight increases each day, so does the chirping and twittering of the various birds in our area. Coupled with the growth of buds and leaves popping out, spring is definitely here!
Here’s this week’s quote (Compliments of http://www.wisdomquotesandstories.com/):
“Sometimes, burning bridges isn’t a bad thing. It prevents you from going back to a place you should never have been to begin with.”
So who was born on this date in history? Let’s find out who in the writing world was born on April 17th, the third Sunday of the month and International Haiku Poetry Day:
John Ford, English dramatist (‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore); Henry Vaughan, English poet (Silex Scintillans); François Valentijn, Dutch vicar and writer (Old and New East-India); Robert Blair, Scottish poet (The Grave); Ray Stannard Baker, American journalist (Puliter Prize 1940); Anton Wildgans, Austrian poet and playwright (Armut); Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen-Finecke], Danish baroness and writer (Out of Africa); Antonius Coolen, Dutch author (Village by the River); Thornton Wilder, American playwright and writer (Bridge of San Luis Rey); Edward Chodorov, Broadway playwright and director (Story of Louis Pasteur); Humphrey Sims Moore, British pacifist and journalist (founder of Peace News); Ivan Goff, Australian screenwriter (Man of a Thousand Faces; Hervé Bazin, French writer (Head Against the Wall); Bengt Anderberg, Swedish poet and writer (Kain); Lloyd Biggle Jr., American sci-fi author (Silence is Deadly); Donald Richie, American-born author and (Japanese) film critic; Cynthia Ozick, American author (Pagan Rabbi & Other Stories); Joyce Molyneux, British chef and author; Ruth Etchells, English poet and principal (St John’s College-Durham); Mario Brenta, Italian writer and director (Maicol, Barnabo of the Mountains); and Nick Hornby, English writer (High Fidelity).
Any names familiar to you? I struck out this week. Whether you recognize anyone on the list or not, if today’s your special day I hope you have a great one!
My Work in Progress
I continued moving forward with Ultimate Escalation, completing chapters thirty-seven through forty. My manuscript received another thirty-five reviews, bringing the total to 699. Once again, plenty of suggestions to enhance my writing.
I also updated my manuscript’s outline again. One chapter was deleted while several others were combine, Barring any further changes, there will now be forty-seven chapters when it’s completed.
Here’s another snippet:
The Emirates Airlines flight bounced on the runway at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi before settling into a smooth roll, jerking as the pilot applied the brakes. A wing tipped in a strong gust of wind as the plane cut onto a taxiway before lurching to a halt at the designated gate.
Despite announcements from the cabin crew to remain seated, many passengers undid their seatbelts, jumped to their feet, and pushed toward the exit.
Evelyn shook her head as she turned to Barbara Battersea, one of her Bedlam Charlie teammates. “Despite the dozens of flights I’ve taken over the years, it never ceases to amaze me when people think they’ll disembark before the crew is ready.”
Seconded from New Zealand’s Security and Intelligence Service, petite with an athletic build, Barbara ran her hand over her blonde, spiked hair. “Are you nuts? For the most part, civility disappeared years ago. I’m flabbergasted when a gentleman comes along.” Barbara grinned. “Too bad I can’t carry my Ka-Bar on the plane. I’d clip a few Achilles tendons and let them crawl.”
As the aircraft door finally opened, the impatient passengers surged forward, ignoring safety warnings from the crew.
Evelyn and Barbara opened their seatbelts, stood, and reached up to the overhead bin to collect their bags.
“Let me help you.” Noah Appleman, the quietest team member and originally from Israel’s Sayeret Matkal, dropped his backpack in the aisle as he assisted Evelyn and Barbara.
“Thank you, Noah.” Evelyn slipped her arms through her bag’s shoulder straps and headed toward the exit.
Barbara, Noah, and Ollie followed.
After stopping by the baggage carousel and collecting their checked luggage, they cleared customs without any difficulty and left the terminal.
Evelyn spotted two men dressed in casual clothes standing to the right. Both wore mirrored sunglasses and were of similar height.
One man, who clearly worked out based on the size of his bulging biceps, held a sign with a single word: Skylark.
After she nodded, the men turned and led the Bedlam team to a restricted parking lot. They stopped by two identical red and black Kia Sonet SUVs.
The man with the body-builder physique gestured to the far vehicle. “The packages you were expecting are already loaded in the back.” He hit the key fob and unlocked the SUV before handing the keys and an envelope to Evelyn. “Inside is the information regarding your hotel in Chandigarh and a contact information card. If you need any further support, ring the top number, and we’ll get things sorted.”
“Thank you.”
Both men nodded before climbing into the other vehicle and departing.
The Bedlam team stowed their gear on top of the three packages.
Noah closed the door and climbed inside.
Barbara and Ollie raced around their vehicle, both reaching the driver’s door at the same time.
Evelyn shook her head as she edged between them. “Listen, you two. You’ve been at each other since we boarded the plane in Australia. You act like siblings instead of professionals. If you were my niece and nephew, I’d clip you ‘round the ear. Button it.” She dangled the vehicle’s keys from her hand.
Barbara and Ollie grinned at each other. She grabbed the keys from Evelyn. “I’ll go first. Ollie, you can navigate.”
More next time.
This brings us to an end for another week. I hope you found something of interest. If you have any suggestions for a topic you’d like to read about, please let me know. Until the next time, thank you for reading and hope you drop in again.
© Copyright 2022 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved
