Something I’ve been trying to do is submit a story for the Spillwords’ 12 Days of Christmas feature, and this year was no exception. This year, however, time got away from me (life just keeps getting in the way) and I was unable to include some suggested changes. Que sera, so they say. With that, here is my story – much, much longer than my regular scheduled programing –
island tales 
A fairy tale with a cast of characters floating around the young and troubled Krissy, bringing a sense of the world – her own thoughts – to life. Old Yeller/the book/the myth buried and gone, but can never be forgotten. Charlie, the TV star, is a kind of angel; part Andy Griffiths part Dick van Dyke, I saw anyway! Also I sensed an erotic frisson between Krissy and Millie….?
Thanks, Jim. All the best to you and those you hold close.
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Hello, David!
Thanks so much for the kind comments (and taking a moment to do so!). Charlie is loosely based on Jonathon Winters, whom I met several times in his wanderings around the Montecito Village (just south of Santa Barbara, California – affectionately known as “Beverly Hills North,” due to the number of celebrities living there) when I was a young phone man back in the late 70s / early 80s. He actually did go around in his various characters putting on a “show” for all – the Bank of America being one of his favorite hangouts. For the longest time I thought he’d simply lost a screw or two along the way, along with the real person buried under all those guises. But after a number of chance encounters with him, in which he became the “real” Jonathon, I saw he was simply a really good person who just loved to see people laugh.
I think (who knows when we write, eh?) that Krissy was a bit more enthralled with Millie than anything else. Here she was, nicely dressed, a surfer, and seemed to have the luxury of time, something Krissy, going down to Santa Teresa to become a doctor, was going to lose (and probably with her studies to that point, hadn’t much of anyway – along with money to afford the nice clothes).
Anyhoo – with that long winded reply, thanks again for taking the time to read the story, and come back here with a reply. I really appreciate it.
Take care
Best to you and yours
Jim
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