LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 22

     The snow crunched under, and into, Matt’s shoes.  Not knowing the protocol of such things, he had gotten out of the cab and sent it away when he was still a goodly distance from the gate.  Seeing an uneasy man approach on foot, the gatekeeper, already disgruntled at being dragged away from Saturday morningContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 22”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter Twenty-One

     The first glimmer of sunlight was a great relief to Matt.  As long as it was dark, he felt rather obliged to stay in bed and try to sleep.  Whenever he dozed off, however, he found himself in the year-end party room full of corpses he had imagined for fictional purposes, except that atContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter Twenty-One”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 20

     Opposite the restroom and the janitor’s closet, in the little side corridor, was an open doorway screened for tonight with a large grey cubicle partition on wheels.  At other times, the cozy room beyond might serve to house small gatherings of men and women whose decisions would be blazoned in large black letters inContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 20”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 19

     Her eyes flashed with the petulant outrage of a little girl caught in the cookie jar, thinking it very unreasonable of you to have come into the kitchen at that precise moment.  Then her eyelids lowered.      “Your mother think of that?”      “I don’t need all my fingers to count to nine,” MattContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 19”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 18

     Matt growled at the paper plate on his knee, rehearsing what he should have said.  He gave himself points for being able to conduct a conversation at all around mouthfuls of calzone, but he was convinced he had said at least three stupid things to each person who stopped him to chat.  Had heContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 18”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 17

     Muzak and mistletoe but more to the point were the mugs of egg nog clustered under a large statue of a bandaged finger in flight.  Not far away. Trays of glasses—wine and soup—surrounded an artwork made up of the exclamation points from a hundred junked typewriters.  Mugs and cups had been in straight linesContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 17”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter16

     No one attempted to kill Matt that afternoon.  Outside the city building, a light snow gave the huddling, hustling crowds a bit of sparkle.  The sight lowered Matt’s blood pressure.  He slowed down to enjoy the array on the plaza: the big Christmas tree with perhaps too many snowmen hanging on it, the massiveContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter16”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 15

     Not only had Matt had the joy of getting up late this morning, but in rushing to make a lunch, he had realized he had not picked up anything to replace the turkey he’d finally finished.  Today he had to make do with dry rye bread and even drier cheese.  The apple turned outContinue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 15”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 14

     Matt was late for work the next morning, for which he blamed Ada Silberwetter.  It was not her fault; he knew that.  He was so exhausted after an evening of conversational combat that he should have taken to his bed as soon as he and his mother got safely back to the apartment.  Instead,Continue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter 14”

LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter Thirteen

      Three meals had been spoken for; the bonbon in the gold wrapper had departed, perhaps to return one day.  Ada announced there would be tie enough to solve five murders before anything like food arrived.  The dim light of a candle and gold-shaded globes in the ceiling fell now upon the body of evidence:Continue reading “LIKE A MIGHTY QUONKER, Chapter Thirteen”