Double—Six Sentence Story

Since I didn’t know where I was going and since AI serves double duty not only as fiction but also as useful fiction, I put the address of the Six Sentence Story Café and Bistro into my phone while walking along the busy street. All I knew was the café was supposed to be somewhere in the area.

The voice coming from my phone told me to turn right so I entered the quieter side street, passed a cobbler shop and then a seamstress storefront which specialized in wedding dresses. As I continued walking I wondered if the software had any better idea than I did where the café was, but then I saw the three granite steps and Nick who let me in. Once inside I could smell Tom‘s cooking and there was Denise at the bar with Mimi while Chris and Clark sat at a table near the stage.

It was a wonderful place with wonderful people something my phone would never be able to appreciate although it did have enough fictional brains to show me how to get there.

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Denise offers the prompt word “double” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

This is my second story for the prompt, motivated by Clark who gave me a good description of the Six Sentence Story Café & Bistro which I am mostly repeating.

Red and Yellow with Background Green

Double Double—Six Sentence Story

Brian opened his eyes to the realization that reality wasn’t rational. True premises prophesying his doom like a curse of double double toil and trouble ran into the miraculous which flooded him with undeserved blessings that falsified the dreadful, but supposedly necessary, conclusions.

Although fond of a rational-enough universe that he could manipulate, what bothered Brian was that he didn’t know Whom to thank for the unexpected change of outcome. Who kept evil from winning when it held all the tarot cards in its hand as Brian failed to find solid ground in karma’s quicksand?

The problem may simply have been that Brian hadn’t completely awaken from his dreams which undermined a rational reality. But the miracle did occur and the prophesies over his life were voided and that left Brian overwhelmed with rejoicing.

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Denise offers the prompt word “double” for this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

A tangled web of rationality

Grain—Six Sentence Story

Like most of us Jerry believed in neither gods nor demons. Nonetheless, he had no more than a grain of sanity planted in that noodle of his since he kept insisting we were computer simulations. I’d ask him, what did he think we were simulations OF anyway, to smack some sense into him, but it didn’t work.

Eventually something did happen to Jerry (not my doing, mind you), that caused him to start following Jesus, of all people, especially since just the day before he was talking that simulation nonsense.

Jerry spent the last year blooming like a goofy, exotic flower which truly amused us. I’d remind him, though, on occasion, that by his own assessment he wasted most of his life since he “repented” of nearly all of it (including the simulation stuff), but all he could say was that he wondered when I would stop wasting mine.

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Denise offers the prompt word “grain” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Fancy flower next to the cathedral in St. Augustine, Florida.

Level—Six Sentence Story

As he prepared a nasty response to some nonsense, Steve heard the Voice.

Don’t let demons run your mouth for you.

“Yeah, but the level of this nonsense is really nonsensical,” Steve thought so only the Voice could hear him.

You were worse than he is now a few years ago.

“Yeah, but this guy really annoys me,” Steve thought.

When Steve’s heart remembered that, indeed, he was worse, he smiled and then laughed and then, because kindness is a blessing even the nonsensical understand, there were soon two mouths laughing.

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Denise offers the prompt “level” for this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Footsteps in the sand

Tonic—Six Sentence Story

Steve’s faith was the only tonic he needed.

When times were peaceful, he harvested peace. When times were less than peaceful, he sowed the choicest seeds of peace he had hoping for a hundred-fold harvest. When times were joyful he laughed with gratitude. Indeed, some thought he laughed too much, because—face it—nothing was all that good.

When all hell broke loose, as most everyone believed it would sooner or later, Steve didn’t notice.

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Denise offers the prompt word “tonic” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Cloudy Sunrise With Water

Core—Six Sentence Story

As Bret walked to the beach to photograph the sunrise he saw the moon near the horizon and imagined the sun’s approach for the upcoming solar eclipse. His interests had less to do with astronomy, which he knew little about, than the flowing colors of the dawns and dusks across the sky.

As sea birds and tourists came to watch the sun rise seemingly right out of the core of the ocean, Bret saw a very young woman approach along the water’s edge from the south and a very young man come from the north. He figured they would pass each other by, but they stopped and hugged lingering almost directly in front of him.

Not wanting to photograph their display of affection Bret moved a few feet to the side to give his camera a people-free view of the horizon. Just before the sun rose, and likely oblivious to it, they walked on the wave caressed beach to the north while the sun rose from beyond the curve of the earth to brighten his day as it darkened the other side thousands of miles below him with night.

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Denise offers the prompt word “core” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Story.

The moon approaching the sun still beneath the horizon setting themselves up for the new moon which would look like an eclipse to those in its shadow

Outlet—Six Sentence Story

Neither my brother, Stephen, nor I liked Miss Walters, his old 3rd grade teacher at St. Joseph’s and my new one this year. No one liked the lady not even Mom and Dad who talked about her after they thought we went to sleep.

When Stephen walked up to Communion last Sunday behind Miss Walters and in front of us, he heard Jesus tell him that He loved the way Miss Walters’ heart moves when she sings, whatever that meant. Then Stephen whispered to me back in our pew that he and I had to give that message to Miss Walters because she wouldn’t believe anyone else.

I was hoping we might wait until next Sunday, but Stephen rushed me through the outlet of our pew to hers after Mass and quickly said, “Miss Walters, Jesus told us to tell you that He loves the way your heart moves when you sing.”

Miss Walters looked at us and then her eyes filled with tears and then Stephen’s eyes filled with tears and then Mom and Dad were there and then their eyes filled with tears when they heard the whole story (which I still don’t know) and then we all hugged and then I felt my own heart move and then I felt Miss Walters wipe away my tears.

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Denise offers the prompt word “outlet” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Song of Solomon 5:8
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.

Sunrise at Techny Park, Northbrook, Illinois

Slide—Six Sentence Story

George picked up the couple near the entrance to the interstate knowing there would not likely be many cars going north at this hour of the evening. Clearly, the woman was pregnant, but when he found out they needed to go a hundred miles out of his way, George hesitated, but it was getting darker and she was pregnant.

Over two hours later George dropped them off at their apartment in a small town in the timberlands of Maine. As George started his truck to leave noting the fuel gauge with confidence that he had enough gas to return and getting ready to slide back into his normal routine that had been going nowhere, the man offered him the only thing he had besides his thanks: “May the Lord bless you.”

Decades later when George and his wife were hosting an Easter dinner with their children’s families and their children’s children’s families including their new great granddaughter, he remembered that young couple and told all of them the story.

When George said, “Their child would be more than sixty years old by now,” he realized, with the love of his family all around him, that, indeed, he had received over all those years blessing upon blessing with overflows of blessings to share.

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Denise offers the prompt word “slide” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Matthew 25:40
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Bank—Six Sentence Story

Anticipating the eventual manifestation of his healing Sam began singing a happy song which he made up as he went along mainly repeating the words, “Hallelujah”, “Thank you, Jesus” and “I am healed” over and over and over again.

Sensing an opportunity to get a word in edgewise and expecting Sam to know the difference between the play money of an “eventual manifestation of healing” and an actual testimony one could take to the bank, the devil said, “You’re not.”

When Sam’s wife heard him suddenly stop singing, she asked, “Did the devil say you weren’t healed?”

“Yes.”

“That devil’s a doofus.”

HA ha ha ha—HA ha ha—HA ha ha ha—HA ha ha—which offended their high maintenance devil so much that it threatened to leave and when it finally did even the bankers recognized Sam’s testimony as golden.

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Denise offers the prompt word “bank” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Remote—Six Sentence Story

While on vacation Willard and Matilda visited a notorious, but remote, congregation their pastor warned held services “too indecent for decent worship” so they could report back a few good words of condemnation against them.

With the service having gone on for hours and with no end in sight, Matilda told Willard, “Tell that girl behind us to stop giggling so much so I can hear the heresies the preacher is preaching.”

Willard said that for the past God knows how long the preacher hasn’t said anything worth noting but merely wandered up and down the rows of people touching some, here and there, who’d fall back laughing like idiots too dumb to stop.

“I have a mind to give him a piece of my mind before it’s too late,” Matilda said.

Willard wanted to say something, perhaps that it might already be too late, as Matilda, with eyes and mouth wide open, watched her husband giggle uncontrollably. Then, sensing the heavy ashes of mourning she didn’t know she was carrying transform into beautiful garments of praise, she herself began to laugh with tears flowing down her cheeks grateful that even she was loved enough to be anointed with the oil of gladness.

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Denise offers the prompt word “remote” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Isaiah 61: “…beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning…”