CHit chAT & 013 Blind Ally

Good Morning Ted and Jody:

I remember about 40 years ago, give or take a year, when Jody, you asked me to keep Ted away from the house on a Saturday while got ready for a surprise party for his birthday.  Poor Ted, I had him till up my garden while I graded papers.  I don’t know who felt worse that day, my about working Ted or Ted for doing the work.  Then when he got home he realized what was going as from all the familiar cars parked in the neighborhood.  Remembering that reminds me that it is near his birthday, just been or just to bee, so Happy Birthday (early/late) Ted.  As I recall that was your 39^th Birthday.  Are you still 39?

Starting Friday, I went on Coricidin HBP^TW for a cold to stop the leakage from the nose.  I haven’t needed any since about noon yesterday now, so perhaps I am finally coming out of it.  Today would be the day as it is supposed to be in the upper 70-degree range today and tomorrow.  Best to kill a cold with heat.  However, I can tell that the cold is not yet gone as several synapses are misfiring (I see pink elephants without the benefit of ingesting spirits).

I have caught the speculation several times in the last week nothing for very long.  However, from what I can tell the speculators are still trying to find a rational basis for what the pestilence is doing and saying.  I talked the other day to a psychologist who explained that everything that the pestilence has done, including bankruptcies, have been tremendous successes.  He paints everything as a success so he can speak glowingly about what has happened.  The problem is too many damned fools believe his successes. I’m guessing we will have the most successful government shutdown ever in September. What I don’t understand is if he wants a shutdown, why did he not veto the bill that tides us over to the fall?

I did find a sky full of well-defined dark clouds and their reflections in Silver Lake yesterday and had them pose for me. 

I trust this finds you happy, healthy, and immune from the speculation (by the way, whatever happened to that crisis with North Korea?).

Warmest regards, Ed

013 Blind Ally

Fiction in 973 words by T. Edward Westen, 2017

 

“Captain, I’m sorry you didn’t get to meet Edison himself,” said, Detective Philipson.  “That must have been a disappointment.”

Captain Batan nodded his head slightly and smiled. “I met John Ott and shook his hand.  That man held some 22 patents.  He died a day or two before Edison and Edison’s widow had John Ott’s crutches and wheelchair put beside Edison’s coffin at the wake.  The two were close.”

“Wheelchair and crutches?  But that man was as mobile as I am,” said Detective Philipson.

“He had a fall in the late 90s that racked him up pretty bad.” Replied Captain Batan. “Nonetheless he was one of the muckers who made Edison’s successes possible.  I was surprised that I was able to concentrate as it was.”

Edith Gunderson had walked up and asked, “Why were you surprised you could concentrate?”

Detective Philipson told her, “He met one of his heroes from the past, 1881 to be precise.””

Holding up the Enquirer, Edith Gunderson laughed and asked, “Were you able to clear Edison?”

Captain Batan replied, “Yes, but we are now back to square one.  We have no clue who the bodies are.  We have no idea of where or when they come from.  We have no idea of how they died other than possibly in a cryogenic accident of some sort and we have no idea of why they all have 2×2 inch holes in their foreheads?”

Edith Gunderson said, “Enter their data in the DNA data bank.  I’m sure over time something will pop up.”

A light went off in Detective Philipson’s head.  “You mean like the Accumulated Writings Database that helped us track down Sylvia Chu who turned out to be Melissa Hickson.”

Edith Gunderson raised a finger and her eyebrows and winked at the Detective.  “Got to run,” and she left as quickly as she arrived.

Detective Philipson looked at Special Agent Fleishman and said, “How come we didn’t think of that?”

Special Agent Fleishman laughed and replied, “I think we would have, eventually.”  He thought for a second and said, “I’ll go check.”  He exited the squad room before he pivoted.

Thomas Aldrich Edison said, “

But, how can I resuscitate you if you aren’t dead?”

The man frowned and said, “Your help wanted advertisement said you wanted dead people to bring back to life.  Well, I am going to be dead any minute now.  The doctors gave me three months to live and that was 94 days ago.  I am close to dead.  It is just a matter of time.”

Looking down at the application, Thomas Aldrich Edison said, “Look, Mr. Clancy, I have to tell you the bugs are not yet worked out of the process.  The treatment could kill you. That’s why I need dead volunteers.

Samuel Clancy shook his head, “Dying, dead what’s the difference, I have no future either way.  But If you think I can be resuscitated, that at least is hope of a future, although, I must confess, it sounds farfetched.  But, what the hell do I have to lose?”

“But, I don’t know where you will end up,” said Thomas Aldrich Edison.  I have tried this on five and have no idea of where they are.  I even left a note on one to have someone let me know if they found him.  No word and that was three days ago.”

“I’ll tell you what,” said Samuel Clancy, “You can leave a note on me too.  But if I come out the other side of whatever this is, I’ll come back and tell you where I ended up.”  He held up his hand to show good faith the moved his hand across his chest, “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

Thomas Aldrich Edison shook his head and said, “It is just a bit more complicated than that.  You are alive now, if you die in the, err, experiment, I would have killed you.  I don’t want to kill anyone.”

“So, that’s it, then, you won’t help me have a possible life,” said, Samuel Clancy. “You are going to let me die with no hope.”

Thomas Aldrich Edison cocked his head and said, “There might be a way.”

Samuel Clancy perked up and said, “Yes, tell me, I’ll do anything.”

“Say, I was to set it up so you pulled a string that activated the device?” queried Thomas Edison Aldrich.

“I can pull a damned string, “said Samuel Clarence.

Thomas Aldrich Edison held up a finger to indicate Samuel Clarence should wait.  Then he got the tripod and frozen essence of human and set it up just as he had for the first five attempts to revive a corpse.  Instead of using the trigger, he reversed it and tied a string around the activator and rolled the string out so it was long enough for Samuel Clarence to pull it.  Then he wrote a note identical to the first, handed it to Suneel Clarence and said, “put this in your pocket?”

“Which pocket?” asked Mr. Clarence.

“I should think your breast pocket would be best,” replied Thomas Aldrich Edison, “Perhaps you could let it stick out a bit.”

After Samuel Clarence adjusted the note so it showed in his breast pocket, Thomas Aldrich Edison gave the man the end of the string.  “Pull with ready,” he said.

“You have a visitor,” the computer said

As Thomas Aldrich Edison turned his attention to the computer to see who his visitor was, Samuel Clarence pulled the string and disappeared.

Captain Batan and Detective Philipson were standing on 38^th Street

looking at the City Electric Utility tent.  “You know, it has been three days since the last body.  Do you think whoever is doing this had run out of bodies?”  asked Detective Philipson.

The arrival of the newly departed Samuel Clarence answered that question.