James Pyles's Blog, page 110
November 21, 2018
The Penny
Sadje tagged me to continue (or in this case, finish) A Special Finish the Story Challenge for Nov started by “The Haunted Wordsmith.” Here’s the story as crafted by the various contributors. Let’s start with Teresa: Sounds of children’s laughter and joy floated down the stairs. Liam breathed deeply and smiled. Never more content in his […]
After the War
The flowing water was marginally warmer than the frigid air, but Lance dressed for the weather and felt comfortable crouching down on a flat rock near the falls. At his feet patiently sat the urn. When he first met Tamara a decade ago, he never thought she liked the cold and the mountains so much. […]
Quoting: Two Ways to Make a Situation Worse
An ill person can needlessly worsen his situation in one of two ways. He can mistakenly consider himself not to be ill, and fail to seek the doctors and the medicine he needs. The second is the opposite. His sickness might be severe, but he exacerbates his situation by considering himself even more sick than […]
November 20, 2018
The Girl He Left Behind: A Short Space Opera
Twenty-five-year-old Lance Andrew Cain immersed himself in Miranda’s psychedelic beauty, his love’s long, white mane sensuously lifting and waving in a thermal updraft, while globules of incandescent plasma rose with her, surrounding her, isolating the both of them from the ravages of the Lorav Nebula, and cold space beyond. He raised his hands, as from […]
Quoting: Emulate the Great
If you have to explain something to someone who needs many repetitions, imagine that you are Rabbi Praida, who repeated each idea 400 times to a slow student. You personally might not yet have developed the level of patience of Rabbi Praida. But when you imagine that you are Rabbi Praida, you plug into his […]
November 19, 2018
Quoting: Show Children Their Greatness
Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein wrote: “The way to educate youngsters is to elevate them by pointing out the greatness they can achieve by utilizing their potential.” Sources: Ohr Yechezkel – Michtavim, p.219; Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s Gateway to Happiness, p.133 Advertisements
November 18, 2018
The New Dragon Saga: Impaler
Chapter 8: The temperature on this “night world” had suddenly become sub-zero, but that wasn’t the reason for Landon’s paralyzed muscles as the vampire Estaban lunged for his throat. The seventeen-year-old wizard was still holding tightly to his staff, and in a panic, he released a wave of light from the iron covered top, now shaped […]
Figeroa’s Mirror
Patrick Figeroa knew he had to get back inside the quarantine area and shut down the experiment within the next hour or it would become unstoppable. General Conrad Buchanan and his so-called “military experts” thought that just cutting power to the transfer unit would close the rift, and although the field remained active, they believed […]
Quoting: Elevate Your Outlook at Work
When you are working at your job, focus on how you are helping other people and fulfilling the commandment of “love your neighbor.” Moreover, your job is an opportunity to work on being honest and trustworthy in every transaction. Sources: see Rabbi Yisroel Salanter in Michtav M’Eliyahu; Chochmah Umussar; Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s “Gateway to Happiness,” […]
November 17, 2018
Quoting: Duplicate Spiritual Greatness
It can take a long time until something is invented. But once one person has already broken through the creative barrier, others can easily follow suit and produce the same results. For example, it took many years until someone invented the first railroad train. But after one person invented it, many others built similar railroad […]
