Hope (a short story)

The floor was littered with unspoken promises 

disguised as flattened cups that once held bad beer.

Even now did he feel the grief that came with the thought of never seeing her again. 

Once they had been lovers but tonight they had been no more than guests 

at yet another party he attended that year.

Hoping to be able to forget her.

Hoping to meet her again.

It was hope that made him drift like a leaf on the wind from venue to venue. 

From woman to woman.

It was hope that caused his sleepless nights. 

Nights he spent in the arms of what was now his imaginary lover.

He might have had so much but by now had lost so much

that nothing was left to him but hope.

==================================

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

I just lost my part time job and am not making ends meet via entertainment because of covid, so a donation (click) is much appreciated:

Can your feelings be fake?

You don't like being lied to. I get that. So why do you like soaps and fantasy novels? Because the fake characters in those fake situations constantly give you the truth? Because you want to believe that one dragon in that one novel actually lay a golden egg?

Why do you get emotional when a favourite character in a movie or book is in distress?

Because your mind tricked you into thinking that person - or dragon - is real.

There are people whose endorfine levels rise when the soft voice of Siri talks to them. Because they like 'her' and research shows people find A.I. generated faces more trustworthy (click) than real faces.

It seems we really like to be fooled. It's why we love magic shows and keep voting for politicians that promise us our lives will be better if only we would vote for them. Although we know that they are not known for keeping the promises they make in election time. We even go as far as to defend our favourite politician when others point out to us they have been lying. Again.

So why do we like liars? Could it be that we prefer to hear 'You look great!' instead of 'Your hair is a mess and that colour shirt really doesn't suit you.'? 

My guess is that that is because we don't want to feel bad. Basically it comes down to this:

a person - or dragon - might be fake, but our feelings are real.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you prefer people to be completely honest with you all the time or is it okay to believe the occasional lie?

=========================================

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

I just lost my part time job and am not making ends meet via entertainment because of covid, so a donation (click) is much appreciated:

The same experience (a short story)

From a distance he saw how happy she was. 

He would have preferred it differently, though. 

Not that he didn't want her to be happy, 

he would have liked to be the one she was happy with.

Ankle-deep in water he marched his wellingtons through the surf.

A stiff cold breeze made him shiver and he closed his eyes. 

He was one with the air, the water and the earth.

Wind-blown and soul-tied.

He knew her to be somewhere ahead of him 

and that they were not together. 

But that was all-right, 

because they shared the same experience.

=======================================

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

Not all 'facts' are true

Roman soldiers got paid in salt, hence the world 'salary'. 

That's common knowledge, right? Yes. But also wrong (click). They usually got paid in coins, food and clothes. But yes, some of the money they used to buy salt and maybe that lead to the word 'salarium' aka 'salary'. The myth is based on an ancient text that lost some meaning in translation. But for years I took it as a fact. Chances are that you did too. Right? And that's okay because it's only human to simply take a piece of data for granted. If only repeated enough times.

Update: the idea that roman soldiers got paid in salt has been traced to a story (real or not) by Plinius about a Roman ruler who supposedly lived 600 years before Plinius. It was rumoured he paid people (not necessarily soldiers) to take salt from the coast to other parts of the country. And paid them in some sort of salted flower.

The same goes for Blue Monday, the third Monday in January. Blue Monday is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. But instead of having its roots in actual science, it was nothing more than part of a marketing campaign (click) for a holiday company.

But still magazines, talkshows and magazines write and talk about it as if it is a real thing. And for advertising revenue because we love to read and talk about it.

What was it that you absolutely believed to be true and only later in life found out that it wasn't?

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

The Future (a short story)

Dancing she came into his life

and dancing she came home with him

where she found a place in his heart

and his arms

They laughed together,

ate together

but lived their own lives.

Taking life one day at a time

they agreed

to not talk about the future

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

Only kids and conservatives live in the Upside Down World

Neo-nazi's, racists, fascists, misogynists, conservatives...in other words: people on the 'right' spectrum politically seem to live - like young children like to play - in 'the upside down world':

When they say: 'We demand democracy!', they mean they want to live in a country with a single strong (and male!) leader who decides for all and everyone should follow him like sheep. A school example is Dutch populist Geert Wilders and his 'democratic' Freedom Party, PVV (Partij Voor de Vrijheid=Party for Freedom) who doesn't want to be known that people of colour, women, handicapped and even Jews cannot become a member of his 'democratic because every member has a vote!' party. As a matter of fact: nobody can. PVV only has two members: Geert Wilders and the foundation 'Friends of the PVV', whose chairman and only member is...can you guess it?

With: 'Free speech!' they mean that people who don't agree with their Great Leader ('Führer' in German) should not be allowed to say what they want.

Funnily enough by shouting 'Antifa is bad!' 'realists' literally state they consider themselves to be fascists. Because 'antifa' stands for 'anti-fascism'.

When they organize a 'peaceful' demonstration, you know they will throw bricks, set cars on fire and assault policemen. What would they really mean by 'Blue lives matter!'?

Although they claim to strongly oppose criminal behaviour, a lot of people who break the law turn out to be conservatives.

They like to claim to be anti-drugs, yet they are known for their abuse of alcohol and other drugs

Conservatives are hypocrites when they say porn, homosexuality and sex with minors is really, really bad: they watch more porn (click) than any other group of people, tend to be more sexually attracted to minors (click) and a surprising number is secretly gay (click).

They never question their Great Leader yet call other people 'sheep'.

When you ask them for their 'own opinion', they simply quote their Dear Leader or the headline of an article on a conservative channel.

They really seem to think 'I do my own research' means watching videoclips spread by populists and crazy people.

People who actually do research and think for themselves, conservatives call 'stupid'.

When they say 'Everbody should always obey the rules!', by default they mean: 'I refuse to obey the rules!'

What are other signs do you know of that tell sane people that 'realists' live in The Upside Down World'?

Leave your examples in the comments.

=====================

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

The bridge (a short story)

His wallpaper

consisted of old newspapers.

Instead of having central heating,

he burned coal.

Holes in his attic wall

showed where he did his shooting practice.

Through the tiny window

he aimed his rifle at the bridge.

The nazis would only pass

over his dead body!

They found him in his hidden attic,

sixty years after date.

Rifle still with him.

Never a nazi crossed the bridge!

==========================

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

What's your biggest problem? And what's your favourite way of escaping it?

For some the biggest personal problem is: 'What can I watch on Netflix what I haven't seen already?' while for others it's: 'Will I be able to feed my children tomorrow?' But we all like to escape our daily concerns. Some resort to using alcohol or other drugs to 'escape' while others take up hobbies like larping, knitting, reading or something else that ends in 'ing'.  

Oddly enough even after tens of thousands of years muddling through life, we still haven't learned our problems won't go away if we simply ignore them.

A lot of people's favourite way to escape daily life is watching television (because I'm lazy I won't brake this down into the different forms: 'regular' TV, streaming, DVD, clips on internet, cinema).

The average American spends four hours a day watching something on a screen that's not work related. That comes down to two months a year. Or nine years for someone until he or she is 65. Americans spend a third of their waking hours watching TV.  The average Dutch person spends some two hours and fifteen minutes a day in front of a TV screen. Worldwide people over 60 are in the lead with elderly in the USA as the uncrowned kings and queens of TV-watching: over six hours a day on average. Funny fact for a group that likes accusing young people of watching TV a lot.

Personaly I watch on average two hours a day television (the occasional movie, episode of a favourit tv-series or documentary, including those watched via YouTube). 

Here are a few of my favourite YouTube channels:

https://www.youtube.com/c/HighlyCombustibleReacts I like how he reacts to videos with a totally open mind. His responses are real and never rude or insulting.

https://www.youtube.com/c/ItsCharlieVest A guy from Indiana who's really Dutch at heart. As a matter of fact, he took it upon himself to learn the Dutch language and you can watch his progress live! How's that for commitment when you want to learn about a country's culture?

https://www.youtube.com/c/Thoughty2 Thought provoking, factual, interesting and funny. And his English accent is an oasis of peace and quiet in a sea of American and Indian accents.

https://www.youtube.com/c/Mrwhosetheboss My favourite place to be for anything consumer tech related. Very human: his jokes don't always land and he knows that. And he simply accidentally drops things every once in a while, just like us regular human beings and doesn't re-record that part of his video.

https://www.youtube.com/c/DutchAmericano A young lady who used to live in the USA and now lives in The Netherlands, sharing personal, witty and interesting views on the differences between living 'here' en 'there'.

https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCharismaticVoice A vocal coach with a very nice aproach to singing techniques. Her enthousiasm (watch her having her first 'Floorgasm!' is very infectious.

What are your favourite forms of escapism and favourite youtube channels?

Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon