After School Stop

November 19, 2008 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

It’s 3:30 pm and I’m in Hemingway’s.  I really shouldn’t be here.  I really shouldn’t be spending the money even if a large draft is only $1.50.  I’ll have two beers and leave the bartender $1.00.  That’s four dollars I should keep in my pocket; but to spend five hours in front of a computer screen and then just go back and sit in my apartment would drive me crazy.

My pay check from the job training program I’m in should be in my mail box when I get home.  I’m praying it’s around $300.  If it is I’ll be able to add it to what I have in my account and pay my rent and have $100 left over for two weeks of operating funds until I receive my next check.

I should have been born rich instead of handsome.  Ha ha ha!

GHH

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South Braddock Avenue In Pittsburgh

November 19, 2008 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

It’s 3:00 pm and I’m on the 61B bus moving along S. Braddock Avenue in Regent Square.  Now we’ve just turned onto Forbes Avenue headed for Squirrel Hill.  There are trees on both sides of Forbes, most of the leaves reddish brown down on the ground.  This kind of weather makes me feel bored with myself.  I certainly need a change in my life, a change for the better.

GHH

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School’s Out

November 19, 2008 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

It’s 2:30 pm, the end of the school day.  I sit in the downstairs lobby of the Braddock Employment And Training Center and wait for the 61B back to Oakland.  Several other people wait in the lobby.  They’re waiting to sign up for LIHEAP, a program to help them pay their heating and lighting bills.  I’m in the LIHEAP program, too.  It’s a cold, gray day in Pittsburgh.

GHH

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Here Comes The Sun

November 19, 2008 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

There’s bright sunshine in Braddock PA right now.  I’m not going to take lunch today at the Braddock Employment And Training Center.  I’ll post this instead.

I’ll find out when I get home if I can pay my rent depending on the size of my check and what I already have in my account.  Man, I have to send the building management a payment.

While I was working at the computer one of the students working in the office came out to get me.  Another student was frantic on the office phone because she didn’t know where her job interview was at.  It was in the same building with the same company that I interviewed with last Thursday.  The company is on the Boulevard of the Allies.  So, over the phone I tried to explain to her how to get there.  She was flustered and was going to be late.  That’s no way to be for a job interview.

GHH

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The Magic Of Dialogue

November 19, 2008 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

I’ve read stories with no dialogue in them.  Some of the stories were very well written.  I didn’t like them.  I never got to hear the characters speak in their own voices.  A story without dialogue is a constant reminder to the reader that someone is “writing” the story where as dialogue allows the reader to “live” in the story.

So, if you want the reader to live in your story use dialogue to bring your characters to life.  Need examples of stories with dialogue in them?  Check out the stories on this site.  Just go to Flash Fiction Stories in the sidebar.

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Old Man Winter

November 19, 2008 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

Whew!  The high today will be just 22 degrees.  My brother Lloyd lives in California.  He said he was getting too old for the winters in Pittsburgh.  Although, maybe his ex-wife becoming too friendly with his new wife was part of his reason for moving, too. 

For some reason the radiators in my apartment didn’t bang as much last night as usual so I got more sleep than usual and feel more refreshed this morning.  Yesterday, I finally told the building manager about the banging so maybe maintenance will do something about it.

Well, let me make the bed, do a few minutes of exercise and pack a lunch; then it’s a quick hot shower and bundle up against the cold outside and then a five block walk to the bus stop at Forbes and Craig and a bus ride on the 61B for another day at the Braddock Employment And Training Center.

GHH

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Sleepless In Pittsburgh

November 19, 2008 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

It’s 12:15 am and I’m sitting at the computer in my apartment.  The radiators knock and bang and “Scrubs” is on TV.  I was so tired today from not sleeping the last couple of nights because of the radiators that I past out today at 8:00 pm.  Now I can’t sleep.  I even washed the dirty dashes in the sink and washed out a pair of blue jeans by hand to hang to dry in the shower.  What a boring life I lead.  Man, I need a job just to have a social life especially since I don’t have a job and can’t hang out like I use to. 

For some reason I stopped at Del’s Italian restaurant in Bloomfield (Pittsburgh’s “Little Italy”) Friday when I did my weekly food shopping and there was John, one of the owners, standing at the bar.  This was the place that three years ago you could find me every Friday night for karaoke.  Well, last Friday I stayed too long and spent too much money but I knew half of the people that showed up and it was just good to be in a social situation again.  I left before karaoke began. 

On TV, Ted Turner is being interviewed by Travis Smiley now.  I’m going to try to get some sleep.

GHH

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