Cosmos

A trio of ducks flew low over the Feather River.
They landed abruptly, feet first, heads held upward.
Indelicately splashing the shallow water.

Last hues of light over the mountains.
Darkness slowly settled along the bank,
Yellow moonlight floods across the water.

Rattling of leaves, swaying of branches,
A soft white feather from a nest,
Descent prolonged by the stirring wind;

Calm like awareness of breath,
Quiet like a meteor streaking,
Alone like the millions of stars.

Stars born with all desire and purpose,
Stars burning with essential elements,
Stars that are the genesis.

The beginning and the end,
A blinding flash of light,
Explosion and whirlwind,
Terrifying force of creation.

Galaxies are fleeing,
Withering away in light years,
Earth in her last dance.
With a certain smiling arrogance
An axe to the mother-root.

Shiver with the fate of man,
Pull the blanket tight around,
Shut the eyes against the night.
Waiting for the birds of morning.

Created by Bill Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Fish

Chapter 1 – The Fish Expert

Every story has a place. One such realm is our solar system. Eight planets circle around a huge spinning ball of hot gas that we call the Sun. Earth is the fifth largest planet and third closest to the center. Earth is 70% covered by water including four major oceans. There are seven land masses called continents which are divided into two hemispheres east and west.
In the Western Hemisphere on the continent of North America is a country called the United States of America. Along the Pacific Coast of the U.S.A., you will find the state of California.
Henry is an eight year old boy living in California. From his home it's about an hour's drive to either San Francisco or Monterey bay. Nothing could be more wonderful for a young boy with a great fascination for one subject, Fish. He always had abundant energy for reading books, searching the internet, or visiting the seashore to research his favorite subject. He even managed to spend a whole night inside of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Santa Cruz where he sat enthralled for hours at the sight of giant tuna, sea turtles, rays and sharks circling through an enormous tank.

"Did you know", said Henry, "that fish use their gills to extract oxygen. This allows them to breathe underwater." Anyone who knew Henry eventually became aware of his unnatural fascination with fish. In fact, most people referred to it as his obsession. His classmates, friends, and even his own family had endured Henry 's endless explanations for how each species of fish had evolved to live in some specific habitat of San Francisco or Monterey bay. He could provide a classification for just about any fish living in the bay and he could even talk about species of fish that most people had never seen or even heard about.

Chapter 2 – An Annoying Project

Henry’s teacher in the third grade was Ms. Edna Magilicuddy, who had recently celebrated her twenty-fifth anniversary at Bufkin Elementary school. Ms. Magilicuddy was well aware of Henry’s interest in fish and she had been trying to steer him toward some activity which might prove beneficial. “I know”, she said to Henry one morning, “why don’t you learn about the Choices for a Healthy Ocean program at the Aquarium and you can tell us which species in our own area are endangered because of over fishing and other problems caused by humans”. Henry had heard about this concept called extinction. It was sad to think about any specifies in these local waters that stood in danger of disappearing forever. “I’ll find out what can be done and tell people what they need to know. We can all gather together to do something!” Henry was charged up and after a visit to the Aquarium in Santa Cruz over the weekend, he came back with the Choices for Healthy Oceans Guide and a link to a website where he could launch in to more research activities.

In the next few weeks, Henry put in many hours at school and at home on his report which he called Choices for a Healthy Ocean. He had a Cause and he was bound and determined to see this through to action. Unfortunately, very few third graders or for that matter very few people anywhere could share the young boy’s enthusiasm for the subject. What once had been an admired trait had begun to wear on everyone's nerves. No one cared anymore how many books he read or how many scientific facts he could remember. All that anyone knew was that they just plain wanted Henry to shut up! Even Miss Magilicuddy had tapped him on the shoulder at school one day and politely asked him to be more attentive to other subjects. His parents began to dread when he would emerge from his room each day, his brain stuffed with more facts and figures about fish. One by one, his friends stopped accompanying him to bus stop in the morning or coming by to play with him after school.

Chapter 3 – Scootering

So it was that a spirit of ill will began to shape itself around the little boy and most people sought to avoid him. Henry had hardly even noticed at first, until he realized that lately he’d been spending a lot of time in his room daydreaming. It had been quite a while since the last time anyone had interrupted his studies with a request to come outside and play. “Maybe”, he thought, “I’ve just been feeling a little bit lonely”. Henry turned off his computer and trudged slowly down the stairs. He was quiet like a stone but remembered to throw out some parting words to his Mom and Dad. “I’m going outside to play!” Henry stepped into to the garage to get his scooter and put on his helmet. In a moment he was rolling down the driveway. “Oh yeah!” The rush of air and the sound of the wheels rattling on the pavement felt really good to him. It was the perfect anecdote for boredom or even for hurt feelings.

Henry raced down the court which ran nearly a hundred yards toward the main street. Garrett Ranch Court was actually built on the site where Travis Garrett’s ranch had once stood. The old water tower from the ranch still remained and had been designated as a city landmark complete with a plaque honoring the contributions of the Garrett family and connecting them with various events in the city’s history.

There were twenty-one brand new homes built in an oval pattern around the water tower and there were plenty of families and lots of children living in this new development that locals fondly referred to as "the ranch". The road ran along in an oval shape passing each house. In the middle was an island with some rocks, landscape plants, and a couple of patches of grass where children could play. In front of nearly every home, the developers had planted a sycamore tree to match the very old specimen which grew beside the water tower in the center of the island. After seven years, the young trees had already begun to spread their large leaves through the sky and all about the ranch. It was early November and the leaves were falling and swirling through the air and settling gently on the ground, sometimes only rise again in the next gust of wind.

If anyone had been watching, they may have also observed some very strange happenings at that moment when Henry rode out on his scooter. It was quiet except for the sounds caused by the wind. Not a single one of the neighborhood children was outside as might be normal for a weekday afternoon, but Henry was too busy to notice.

A flock of ravens settled in the tall pine trees beside the railroad tracks. From this vantage point, the birds looked down upon Garrett Ranch. Presently the flock descended across the tracks and over the rooftops, landing in the sycamores and effectively surrounding the small boy. There they waited silently, not a one of them cawing or taking wing.

Henry turned around when he reached the entrance to ranch and came back down the court. He used his foot to push hard against the pavement and able to gain a considerable amount of speed. With a strong burst of wind at his back, Henry was now flying down the street with very little effort. As he kicked and propelled his scooter, Henry was becoming mesmerized by the flurry of leaves floating in the air in all directions. It seemed that the laws of gravity had been suspended and all that was left was to admire this colorful dance of falling leaves.

Henry thought about what it might be like to surf on the breeze like a sycamore leaf and that thought led him to try ever more daring turns and jumps. The little scooter rattled up the sloping curb at each driveway, sending him airborne and landing on the road again with a satisfying clack of the wheels on the pavement.

Henry rode around the oval curve and headed back toward the center of the ranch where the water tower stood. He felt another burst of wind but this time it was in his face. Henry decided to try and jump up on the curb that bordered the center island. Cool! He straddled the curb and then jumped, shifting his weight in attempt to get back on the road. Suddenly his flight was interrupted! The little boy and his scooter were frozen, suspended in mid-air. Henry’s mind was transported to a dreamy state where there was no past, no future, and nothing you can touch…only images there were and sounds…thoughts, and a heightened awareness of emotion.

An angry sound thundered from above and then a streak of lightening angled down, striking the ground near the old sycamore tree and creating a screen of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Henry could see the figure of an old man. The man wore a blue robe decorated with moons and stars. His eyes were grayish blue and seemed to sparkle with madness. The old man's hair and beard were like white flames and in his hand he held a silver rod with a star on the end. His eyes were blazing right at Henry and he raised the wand skyward and began chanting in some mysterious language. With some great effort the old man pointed the wand at Henry and discharged the spell. A laser like beam emanated from the rod and enveloped the little boy and in a flash he was free again.

The scooter skidded across the curb as Henry twisted his body, trying to regain balance but he was too close to a lamppost. His shoulder and the side of his helmet crashed against the side of the pole. The impact separated the boy from his scooter and Henry tripped over the curb and landed in the grass. The scooter landed in the street.

As he lay there on his back, Henry could see a brilliant burst of color above and he realized it was the sycamore leaves falling from the sky. Orange, green, brown, and other shades softly falling and suddenly there were black shadows and the shapes of birds swooping over him. The ravens were cawing and cackling insistently, circling above the water tower and the sycamore tree. The ravens seemed to be taunting the small boy and Henry held his arm up as if to shield himself from them. He felt a dizzy and tired. Without thinking, he settled back in the lush green grass where he quickly fell asleep.

When Henry woke up, he remembered nothing about the incident with the old man. He was puzzled when he looked up and saw a flock of ravens circling above him. They lingered only for a few moments and then the flock was heading southward across the railroad tracks. Henry pulled his helmet back in place and rose to his feet. His scooter lay nearby in the road and he was happy to find that it had not been badly damaged. Just a few scratches here and there he thought as he examined it. “Good” he thought. “I won’t have to tell Mom and Dad about this.” He rode back to his garage, put his things away, and walked upstairs to his room. Everything seemed about the same as before, well almost everything! When Henry switched on his computer, he noticed something very peculiar. His bookmarks to the Aquarium and Academy of Sciences websites were missing!

Chapter 4: Some Missing Facts

Henry had a small bruise on his shoulder and maybe a few scrapes from his “accident”, but overall it was nothing much. He told his Mom that he had fallen off his scooter that day and she seemed happy that he managed to shake off the incident so easily. It was quite another thing though when she realized that there was some different about her son. He had tossed aside his books and was sitting on this bed doing nothing for the rest of the afternoon.

Another day or two went by uneventful except that Henry had absolutely nothing to say about his favorite subject. At one point, Henry had picked up some literature he’d brought home from the Aquarium and looked up at his Mom with a puzzled expression. It seemed that he wanted to say something, but there were no words and then the little boy simply looked down and then hurried away to do something else.

At school Henry no longer discussed his project with the teacher nor was he even thinking about the subject of fish anymore. Someone had asked him a question about stingrays after seeing some fantastic news story about a diver who had been badly injured when attempting to film the movements of a Bat Ray. Normally Henry would have been excited to use the opportunity to teach someone about ocean creatures but this time he avoided the question. The truth was that Henry was worried and he was also hiding a big secret. Whenever he tried to think about fish, his mind would go blank and he would feel very confused. If he actually tried to speak at such times, his throat would become dry and he could not talk. Try as he might, something was preventing him from speaking and he had no idea why. Henry was too embarrassed by his predicament to ask for help. Besides, wasn't sure he wanted to have any attention directed at him right now.

One afternoon, Miss Magilicuddy asked Henry to stay for a moment after class. He lingered near the doorway and waited, hoping this would be quick. He knew what she might be going to say. "Henry, I've been meaning to ask you about your project. We wanted to find out more about endangered species in our local waters. You know, I've been thinking that there is someone you can talk to…." Henry was nervous, but he interrupted her. "Wait, I've decided not to work on that right now. Mom and Dad said I should be spending more time studying Math and there is a Spelling test tomorrow also. I need to catch the bus now" he told her and took off down the hall. "Goodbye Miss Magilicuddy", he managed to throw over his shoulder. "That's OK Henry; we'll talk about it later then" she called out to him. "Strange", she thought as she watched the little boy hurry away. "I wonder if he's going to be ready for the little surprise I have for him?"

That afternoon when Henry returned home from school, he grabbed the mailbox key and ran back outside. "It’s about time. I think I might have a catalogue in the mail today. Maybe the one about architecture and building things!” he had told his Mom. That particular catalogue was not in the mail but there were indeed some other interesting ones. One of them was for electric train sets and another had baseball equipment. "Dad said I can get a new glove this year" he thought as he flipped through the pages showing all the different brands and types of baseball gloves. Henry was completely unaware that someone was watching him.

The young girl who was watching Henry was sitting on a swing at the next door neighbor's front porch. The swing was rocking gently, making very little noise. Her hair was dark brown with natural curls cascading down toward her shoulders in manner that would surely catch anyone's attention. She wore a light red dress that seemed a bit more formal than one might expect from someone who appeared to be about the same age as Henry. "Hi", she called. "I was wondering who lives here. I mean besides that squirrel over there", she said while pointing up in the old sycamore tree. Henry was startled but also pleased to hear a friendly voice. He was normally a bit shy around strangers but in this instance he walked directly over toward the girl. "Yes, I live here", he told her. He was wondering if this were his new neighbor. The house next door had been empty for a few months and the For Sale sign still was posted in the front yard. Henry couldn't remember seeing any activity with people moving in. Before he could ask her a question, she was speaking to him again. "My name is Myra". She pointed toward the old sycamore again. "I was watching that squirrel before you came out and scared it away". She scanned the area and then both children watched as a squirrel scurried across the driveway and headed toward someone's backyard. "It was up there chewing on something until you made some noise at the mailbox", Myra told him. "Probably an acorn" Henry replied. "Anyway, there are plenty of squirrels around here. Ravens and crows too" he said. He pointed across the way toward the railroad tracks and the tall pine trees. "I can't see them from here" she said but seemed to be thinking about something else. "Would you like to play a game?” Myra asked him. Henry walked over and put the mail on his front porch and came back to her. She invited him to join her on the swing and explained that they were going to pretend to be on a ship, sailing across the ocean. "Yeah! See the waves going up and down?" Myra told him as they were swinging back and forth. The children enjoyed their cruise. Soon they were off to visit different ports across the sea. Myra seemed to know more about the world than anyone could imagine. Henry wanted to ask her where she was from and learn more about her life but Myra was so enthused with their imaginary journey that it seemed rude to interrupt her. Anyway, Henry was enjoying their journey as well and this was one of those times when details just didn't seem very important.

After a little while the children abandoned the swing and switched to a new game of make believe. They started reenacting scenes from some of their favorite movies and shows. Henry had quite a talent for making up little songs while Myra seemed to be able to improvise a dance or even gymnastics routine to follow along with every song. It didn't matter to either of them if they had played for an hour or perhaps the entire afternoon. Eventually they did take a break. "What's that?" Henry asked her. He was pointing toward a small basket that lay beneath the swing set on the porch. "Oh, are you hungry?” Myra replied. "I have a snack I just know you will like" she said confidently. She lifted up the fold in the basket and Henry could see that there were cookies. "Yes, I would like one of those", he said. Henry 's eyes were wide with delight since he'd rarely seen cookies so scrumptious looking outside of those humungous Big Sky Cowboy cookies they served at Montana Mike’s BBQ joint. Myra reached inside the basket and pulled out a cookie. Then she pulled out a little bottle that appeared to be filled with multi-colored sprinkles. "Rainbow Dust", Henry thought to himself but before he could ask a question Myra had taken a bite of the cookie she was holding. "Mmm", she purred and then she said something else that was unintelligible as she continued munching on the cookie. Henry didn't say anything but he was thinking that the most important thing on earth would be for him to have one of those cookies. "Close your eyes and count to ten" Myra announced, having clearly understood what the little boy was thinking. As Henry counted out loud, Myra pulled out another cookie and then she sprinkled on a bit of sparkling rainbow dust from the bottle. "Ten!" Henry shouted and opened his eyes.

Myra's expression had changed and now she seemed to be considering something very serious as she watched Henry munch on the cookie. Henry had a way of taking his time when he ate; savoring those things he liked most. He looked back at Myra, expecting her to smile but her serious and contemplative expression did not change. In fact, the last thing Henry thought in those moments was that Myra was becoming ever more quiet and distant as though she were beginning to fade away. He felt tired and sat back in the swing to finish his snack. As he rocked gently in the swing he could hear the pleasant sound of birds chirping and as though from a great distance, the sound of children playing a game of jump rope.

Later Henry woke up and it took him a bit of time to remember where he was. Yes, he'd apparently been asleep for a little while on the swing and now there was no one with him. There wasn't even a trace of the little girl or the picnic basket either. He stood up and tried knocking on the front door and then he rang the doorbell. "Hey, don't you know that nobody lives there? What are you doing?" It was one of his neighbors, Melanie, who was standing out in the street with her friend Meaghan and a little boy named Donnie. Melanie was being annoying as usual. She was always trying to get in his face and provoke some reaction. "Do you want to jump rope with us?" she asked. Henry shook his head quickly just one time, implying that he certainly would not be joining them. The children went back to their game as if nothing had happened and Henry went back home. He was thinking about how strange his life had become lately, but he didn't realize the full extent of the situation just yet.

Chapter 5 - Fish

On Friday evening a big event was planned at Bufkin Elementary School. The children, their teachers, and the school administrators had been working hard to put on a great talent show. This year, the purpose of the event was to raise funds to support the enlargement of the school library. Every year a special guest would be invited to represent one of the organizations that had helped to contribute to the event. For the past few weeks, Miss Magilicuddy had been exchanging email with Ellen Parker, Director from the Aquarium of the Pacific. Mrs. Parker had agreed to appear at the talent show after have having read a draft of a paper written by one of the Bufkin students. You guessed it! Of course, it was Henry's as yet unfinished report on Choices for a Healthy Ocean. Miss Magilicuddy had planned to introduce Henry to Mrs. Parker who in turn planned to reveal that the Aquarium would be making a substantial donation of books to the Bufkin library on the subject of marine life.

Henry had really enjoyed the show that night, watching from the audience as his classmates came up on stage in various groups to perform musical skits that were full of dancing and even a bit of comedy. When the show ended, everyone lined up for a buffet of hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, sodas, and ice cream. Henry got a tray, picked up his food, and found a place at table with some fourth grade students that he didn't know that well. He kept to himself, thinking about how one day he would like to participate in the talent show. He would help create a segment and even write a song especially for the occasion. The idea made him feel good. It was about that time when Miss Magilicuddy walked by. "Henry sure looks a lot more relaxed than I've noticed in quite some time", she thought.

"Henry, please come with me. I want you to meet someone" Miss Magilicuddy said. She led him toward the center of a large crowd that had been gathering near the playground. "Oh good. There he is! Henry, since you were a kindergartner, you've always been a regular at the library". It was Mrs. Chandler the librarian speaking. "It’s a rare day when I haven't seen you stop by to visit. We thought it would be just perfect for you to share this moment with us. We have some news that will really interest you, Henry ", she was speaking to Henry but also addressing the crowd at large. Miss Magilicuddy stepped forward again. "Henry, I want you to meet Mrs. Ellen Parker from the Aquarium of the Pacific. Mrs. Parker has announcement to make, but first I was wondering if you can tell her something about that little project you've been working on?" said Miss Magilicuddy with a smile full of pride and satisfaction.

Henry froze up with fright and lowered his head. “After all, nothing has changed”, he thought to himself. His mind was completely blank on the subject of fish and now here he was about to be embarrassed in front Ellen Parker, Director and one of the founders of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Santa Cruz. Tears welled up in Henry’s eyes and he looked as though he had been summoned by the Pirate Black Beard himself to walk the plank. In some way he sensed that as he scanned the crowd that there might just be someone he knew there who could help him. Yes! He heard her voice and he knew immediately who it was. “Henry!” she cried out loud and shouted his name once more before he saw her sitting on a swing in the sandbox play yard. “Don’t worry. Go ahead and speak to her. It will be OK” Myra told him and even though she mouthed each word silently, he had understood. Henry turned back toward Mrs. Parker and as he started to speak the most amazing thing happened.

Instead of words there was something like a bubble which came from the little boy’s mouth. The bubble floated in the air and then exploded in a burst of brilliant animated color. Slowly recognizable image began to form. It was a grey fish with thick black bars and spots with a dorsal fin. It was a Leopard Shark! The animated cartoon shark began to swim in circles through the air, ascending upward as it went. The astonished crowd turned its attention back toward Henry when he attempted to speak again. Another of the same animated bubbles came from his mouth and lifted up in the air. Again a burst of light and another animated cartoon image! This time it was a large silver fish about three and half feet long with black stripes running parallel along its body. A Striped Bass! Soon the striper was also was swimming through the sky. The next burst of light revealed a whole school of sardines which promptly darted in synchronized movements through the sky and excited the crowd by changing directions with a mere flicker of motion. Next was a Green Sturgeon, a large bottom dweller most often found around the San Pablo Bay. The fish was huge, perhaps five feet long. The Green Sturgeon is known for hits boney side plates which it has instead of scales and a large sucker mouth. A fish like this one could be over fifty years old and weigh as much as three hundred pounds! The show went on for a while longer. It was as though the atmosphere surrounding Bufkin Elementary School had become a gigantic aquarium with Henry as the source. There were many strange and wonderful sights that night, but the one that really excited the children was a Bat Ray which glided majestically across the sky with its large wing span flapping and a long venomous tail floating behind.

It all ended as it had begun, with a little boy named Henry standing in the center of the playground. No one was sure what had happened nor could they understand any meaning for this strange event. When Henry looked back toward the playground the swing was empty and Myra was gone. Before he had a chance to react to everything that was happening, Mrs. Parker stepped forward and thanked him for working on this wonderful report on the health of the oceans. Next she presented Mrs. Chandler with a certification awarding the school with the large collection of books on the subject of marine life for children. Miss Magilicuddy placed her hand on Henry’s shoulder and the two of them smiled at one another.

On Monday morning a little boy rode his scooter through the school yard and came to a stop near his classmates. As they gathered around him, Henry pulled out an article from the Sunday newspaper about how the Aquarium of the Pacific had on display for the first time ever a Great White Shark. “No one has ever managed to keep a shark alive in an aquarium before” Henry explained and the other children were quite sure this was exciting and important news.

> ;}}} ' > > ;}}} ' > The End > ;}}} ' > > ;}}} ' >

Created by Bill Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Matchmaking

I Decided To Try Dating:
In the days before the internet, there were these so called “dating services”. They used video files, questionnaires, list of likes and dislikes, and other methods to divine what might be a perfect match. It was in the early 90’s and there’s not yet a hint of browsers, dot.com explosions, or anything like. Hey, it was actually a kind of depressing time period. The economy was in bad shape anyway.

As for me, I was busy working all day and going to school at night. I would come home tired but ready to plunge into my homework assignments or maybe sit down to read a book (Philosophy, Drama, Poetry) or listen to music. (Bluegrass, Blues) OK, to be clear, I was not actively pursuing my latent interest in romance. I had already turned 30 and the subject of romance was regulated to the “haunted dreams” space or might give me headaches lying awake at night. Fulfillment was not in the cards.

I started looking at advertisements for Dating Services. What the hell, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to put the element of force to work. If I was to make something happen, I would get a ticket and stand in line knowing something different was about to happen, even it wasn’t the natural “way” for men and women to meet each other. Now realize I say “men and women” because this period was a long ways from Brokeback Mountain, and dating services were not yet prepared to widen their scope of influence in bringing the diverse spectrum of humanity together. Anyway, I had my dream to meet a woman, share the action and adventure of life both physically and mentally, and move on to a new stage of life. And now to go along with this dream, I had adopted a new attitude. Here was a Class A fear factor situation and I was going to confront it.

I picked out one matchmaking service called Together. I can’t recall if I’d found Together in the Metro weekly or perhaps the Yellow Pages but the concept seemed simple enough. Men and Women with diverse experience and backgrounds would find each other with a little bit of help from these knowledgeable pros. I called and made an appointment. They were very willing to accommodate my busy schedule too and that gave me a good impression.

The counselor assigned to my case was a woman about my age. She asked me a few questions about why I had decided to come in and then interrupted my response to report that I was in good hands. She personally knew a few good women attendant to this service who would be very interested to meet me. Why not call them in right now? (I thought) But proper etiquette suggested waiting for a punch line and so I waited patiently through her explanation of how the service works. Finally, she stopped and asked me which of their annual plans I intended to sign up for:

1) Meet 2 women per month for $750
2) Meet 1 woman a month for $500.

So which plan would I prefer? Oh my, $750 is a lot of money. They were rumors of cutbacks at work too. So I asked about the $500 plan. Wouldn’t it be a bit scant on the “dating” activity if there was only one name provided each month? “But you’ve forgotten that these are high quality matches. You’ll want to spend time with this one person”, said the counselor. “What if I sign up today” I said and she told me it takes 30 days for the process to work itself out. “What about those women you mentioned earlier?” I had remembered the carrots that had dangled earlier in my star crossed eyes. Unfortunately, things became confrontational at that point. After all, this was still a business transaction and my time in the chair was beginning to exceed the value thereof for my counselor. So out came the hard sale tactics. This woman would have been OK selling used cars or just about anything that required a good lean on. Didn’t I believe in myself? Wouldn’t I think it worthwhile to invest in myself? What was happiness worth? To which I gave some lame reply about job stability and assorted financial concerns. But again, didn’t I believe that I could find another job if that was how the cards played out? Cards? Yes, this is the second mention of “cards” in this little essay. You see, love is a gamble and we need explicit metaphors to assist in discovering the ways of love.

I was hooked! Yeah man, I guess this had been my problem all along. I hadn’t believed in myself enough to take chances, even when it came to facing the prospect of an empty, lonely life. Or at least I hadn’t practiced the time honored strategy of giving myself a chance to win by agreeing to play in the game. “Be careful” said the counselor. “You might think about this during the next few weeks and you might even think you’ve made a mistake. You need to wait for the process to work.” I’m a Libra, so of course this only made me think harder before signing the check to pay for the service. I weighed the evidence before me. Of course! She’s trying to make sure I don’t take advantage of the cooling off period to back out of the deal. But no amount of skepticism could stop me now. After all, I had a new attitude and I was taking charge of my own love life. I wouldn’t be caught on a lonely park bench waiting for a miracle to happen now. I was a Gambler with a Romantic streak and I believed in myself. Besides I’d wasted money on things worst than this. What about that old pick-up truck?

I hope I haven’t misled you. There won’t be a finely detailed description of everything that happened after I walked out the counselor’s office. Nope, the pace of this story increases now. I’ve set the stage for the ending and I hope I’ve made it clear that it all begins with a state of mind. The most important adventure of my life began with a stumble, an act of bravery, and with assorted accidents of chance and circumstance. Think about it a moment. At some point we all take the gamble and set things in motion.

It was almost two months before I received my first “match” in the mail from Together. I had tried to nonchalant the whole thing, but started calling the counselor’s office squarely after 30 days had gone by with no results. Like most things, this “dating” process began under pressure and needed a push and shove to take off. Here’s the summary of what happened, and remember, these activities occurred at 30 to 45 day intervals.

First Date:
She was a Hispanic police woman who was hard to hook up with. She was only available on weekday mornings. She need a couple of hours a day to “work out”. Somehow we managed a brief dinner at the Pruneyard in Campbell. Was she on duty? She told me she needed to sit in the back of the room facing the door in case some outlaw should decide to “draw down” on her. She’d have to be ready for that, or deal with the the possibility of taking a bullet in the back. First impression? Well, I remember thinking I wouldn’t want this kind of thing happen either. I was OK her taking a seat facing the doorway. We spent about a half hour or so with her explaining how she would “take out” criminals in various situations. I walked away knowing more about the role of women in the police department.

Second Date:
She was an elementary school teacher who was overweight with short cropped blond hair. She offered to help me with college math and commented that I had nice teeth. Sort of like examining livestock for intelligence and breeding, I thought. We spent an hour with her discussing the bad habits of her ex-husband. He liked to watch TV sports. What did I think about it? Well, I could understand a little bit of what their life must have been like and I knew the relationship hadn’t ended well. Later I read some advice that people shouldn’t mention their previous relationships, especially on a first date. The advice had impact and now I had experience as proof. I also noted that my Together preferences were for height/weight proportionate women with medium or long hair. Someone must have missed that, I guess.

Third Date:
She was an administrator working in a law office. She was also a single mother with a young son. Hadn’t I mentioned to my counselor that couldn’t really handle a situation like that? It’s true enough that I was not prepared to deal with this surprise. I had a cheese enchilada and ate lots of chips and salsa and chased ‘em down with enough Coke to give me a caffeine high and help me stay awake late thinking about what to say to those nice folks at Together.

Fourth Date:
She was a tech worker at Apple Computer. An avid equestrian. She answered my phone call and told me that she had joined Together as a “knee-jerk reaction” to her recent break-up with her boyfriend. In fact, she’d learned that this whole dating service thing was not really agreeable. Did I sound a bit disappointed? She offered to “go out” with me anyway, knowing this might be my one opportunity to get a date this month. Now wasn’t that a nice gesture? I thought I was equally nice when informing her she need not go to such extreme sacrifice on my account. With that, she rode off into the sunset and I felt quite pleased. I was beginning to develop a fair amount of self respect and was even becoming impervious to rejection and disappointment. This was all good for me, you know win-win kind of stuff. I also decided it was time to ask for my money back.

Interlude – I glimpsed Oz behind the Curtain:
I returned to the offices of Together in Campbell and discovered that my counselor had been avoiding my phone calls because she had developed cancer and had to take time away from work to heal. She was back now and appeared to be well, but she didn’t remember me. She referred me to the experts who were responsible for matchmaking, you know, the supposed core activity of the company. After many attempts, I finally reached one of these people by phone. Her “last day” at the company was coming soon, but she’d be glad to help me. We went through the whole process of how the matchmaking was done and why it didn’t appear to be working. Basically, the problem was that there were very few women signed up for the service and it was on the verge of going out of business. The matchmakers had long ago given up on trying to match people by their “interests” and “likes” or even “dislikes” as divulged on the information cards. She shuffled through her "current" deck of info cards and said: “Here’s a nice young woman. She’s tall and she has long hair. She’s very cute. You’ll like her”. Now remember this was a phone conversation. We didn’t have email jpg attachments or url's to look at in the early 90’s, so I would have to take her word for this description of the young woman. I was intrigued! In fact, I was developing a plan. Maybe I could talk to this woman about helping me to gather evidence to sue Together! Perhaps I could use the money to pay for a vacation to the Greek Isles? This was indeed an action plan, and I was angry enough to carry it out too. Of course I'd also developed a lingering sense of curiousity about this young woman with the long black hair.

Fifth Date – I meet my wife to be:
She was difficult to reach and of course did not return my calls. She had a roommate though, so I asked some questions and got enough information to hunt her down at work. It turned out that this “roommate” was her Mother. It was a daring move on my part and I doubt the instrusion of calling her at the workplace was very well received. But I had a plan, remember? I asked her why she didn't want to meet, pushing to the conclusion that she had no intention of honoring the dating agency agreement. Instead she took up my challenge, revealing a humorous and quite charming personality. Her Mom wouldn’t let her out “after dark”. She worked long hours, etc. I made further inquiries. Would she help out by admitting that there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that she would want to date me? I don’t think either of us understood the other’s motives at this point, so instead of trying to explain, we decided to meet for dinner. It was summer in California and we could spend an hour together after work before it got dark and her Mom worried and all that. We met in Stanford University in the shadow of Hoover Tower. She was a little shy but obviously very smart with beautiful long black hair. She seemed to fit well with the matchmaker’s description. We ate dinner together and talked about a few things including Shakespeare. Blame me for this, but I couldn’t find anything wrong! And so it happened that I never gathered the evidence to sue the dating service. As time went by, I began to look at things differently. I would pretend the whole thing never happened. My girlfriend and then within another year, my wife…we met at Stanford. That’s what I told everyone when faced with the “how did you two meet” question. Such a nice couple!

Getting back to the future; It’s no longer shocking to tell someone how I met my wife. I never dreamed that one day there would be online Personals and whole communities of people meeting with the help of matchmaking services. Why it’s not even a very expensive proposition now! It’s mostly just self service nowadays and internet companies supply the tools to help people get their message of desire out to the world. There must be millions of stories about people meeting in chat rooms, instant messaging or email. There are a few things I’ve learned though and I doubt this is subject to change. No matter what method you use, you still need a good dosage of curiosity to get involved in these life changing conversations. You need to overcome the tendency to keep up a guard and you need to gamble a bit with your free time if you want to meet someone and spend a sweet and simple life together.

By Bill Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
facebook.com/bill.keys

Dedications:
To my wife Vivian, who shares together with me.