Tag: government

“Q” Quill by Leslie Moon #atozchallenge

a to z challenge, Fiction

Today is “Q” for A to Z challenge. This week I am stepping into the writer’s circle and writing a  microfiction serial set in the metropolis of NewCago. It’s a bit noir, paranormal, crime and even some fiction. Though this is a serial, I do understand some of you will be dropping by via A to Z so you can read each day as stand alone microfiction.

The NewCago series – Missed , Never, Oldest Trick, Poison

Edgars desk

Murder is certainly not a new concept even the techniques get rehashed.

I was just cleaning up a scene where the victim had been stabbed with a poisoned quill – his own.

“Check his manuscripts,” I heard a whisper pass my ear.

” Luz, honey where do I start? There are piles of books and notebooks.”

“We need you to move on here, Sam.” The officer in charge was hustling to get behind the evening’s bars.

I put several notebooks in a satchel while he wasn’t looking and hoped he hadn’t heard me talking to my dead girlfriend.

***

That night- I was nodding off, with a notebook in my hands, when I heard a voice. “This is what they killed me for.”

The notebook opened to a page where the words were in his blood, “High officials are taking bribes from the gang bosses.”

“That’s not news.” I shook my head at the realization I was talking to another dead person.

“Yeh, but pretty boy is selling us out. You don’t do his bidding, he turns your kids and grandkids into body parts.”

“I’ve heard whispers of a chop shop for organs. I was hoping it was a sick rumor.”

“Nope, our guy is hi-bred evil. He’s turning the best and brightest into canned goods.  He killed me for the articles I sent to the Daily that will never get printed.  Not Now.”

“Ok Pen Man, there’s a red circle around his name.”

I grumbled under my breath, “Luz, The list is getting long. Too long.”

And then there was the morning news to deal with…

new cago daily

Some A to Z bloggers worth visiting today:

784.
804.

Filling in the Bubble (The New Educational Standard)

Uncategorized

I don’t usually merge my literary stuff with my editorializing but this one is too good to pass up. This is a reprint of an article I wrote.  Satirical in nature but too true.

I’m inspired by a conversation I recently had with a former dean of a university.  He told me that children decide if they are college bound in the fourth grade. Interestingly enough, that is the age I decided to go into health care and I started studying hard to become a straight “A” student.

How do we inspire this generation to learn when all they are challenged to do is learn to take tests?  We are doing a fine job in teaching children through high school how to fill in bubbles. Is that a life skill now?

I have two children who are incredibly intelligent.  The way they addressed the bubble page was like a game. “How can I make my bubble sequence create a pattern or look like I was trying to answer intelligently?” They both helped keep the school’s averages up by filling in the bubble in a pretty pattern. Fortunately,my children were challenged at home to take in life, to read, to learn.

What happens to those children who have no learning standard at home from no fault of their own? There aren’t enough teachers to go around. I guess the option is to outsource our entire country to other countries. Other countries have stayed focussed with education. They have taught children to fight their way up the ladder and to achieve success by applying knowledge not mediocrity. What are we waiting for???

**http://www.flickr.com/photos/sercasey/324341982/sizes/z/in/photostream/