http://slow.writerscafe.org/PhillipWParsons The original writings of author Phillip W Parsons en-us Copyright 2026 WritersCafe.org 1776048173 WritersCafe.org RSS Generator 15 "You always do this" Emily was casting aspersions... again. "It's fine, Em. I'm not like you. I don't care how my steak is cooked. I really don't." Kim fingered the silver ingot in her pocket and ran an old latin rebuke through heer mind. Just in case she needed it. "Send it back!" Emily stage-whis.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2966341/ We stood at her grave. Were were not crying. We were not happy, but we were also not crying. We were dry. Perhaps we were too young to appreciate the reality of death. The permanence of it. The permanence of anything, really. We were, at least I was, at that perfectly misaligned age where childhood .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2962915/ Part IA Rare Moment Of AgreementThe great ship hovered ominous over the grass field of the park, perched about twenty feet above the lined soccer field, humming so strong and low it rattled the bowels of the onlookers, growing in numbers by the minute. They stood, slack-jawed, eyes not underst.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2922030/ The thing that lives in the mud sits quietly, fingers spread wide, awaiting the faint vibration of footsteps approaching from the path that leads from the tree-line to the shore. It is patient and it is selective. The thing can go very long without feeding. It can and does eat anything from branche.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2920054/ They're selling the house in the park. I never knew it was there until I saw the realtor's sign. "FOR SALE. NO NEIGHBORS. GREAT VIEW." It wasn't huge but it certainly wasn't tiny either. It sat back into a grove of pines and alders. It blended. It had no porch and only a single, small window that w.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2910672/ I stood at the edge of the autumn field feeling sad and lonely. I stared down into the wishing well, fishing pennies from my pocket. The face of the moon wobbled a bit in the surface and was distorted as I tossed down my coin. The water's surface shattered into tiny fragments of tiny moons, that sh.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2906871/ Here are the facts.1- I don't know how I died2- I don't know where my body is3- I don't know what condition my corpse is in but it can't by that much worse than when it was living If I could determine either fact 2 or 3 I might be able, given my skill and work ethic, the solution to fact 1. I am a .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2905852/ http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2905850/ The lake had been poisoned many generations ago. It was believed that the people had done it themselves to prevent invaders from utilizing its bounty. Some said it was a biproduct of industry that poisoned the lake. Either way the effect was the same. The lake was dead. Nothing swam in its depths. .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2902288/ Amy brought an armload of groceries from the car to the side door, her keys clenched between her teeth. She paused, thinking about how to open the door when it magically creaked and a shaft of yellow light pierced the relative dim. Richard smiled from within and grabbed one of the bags as he leaned.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2899138/ It is no picnic, to say goodbye to love of your life. She is in every memory and every story that has taken place for the last 23 years. She is the ground under my feet, tethering me to the earth. Well, she was these things. In many ways my public identity was based around being a husband. Her.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2899130/ January 10It is Monday morning and I basically did zero writing this weekend. I had an idea for a story-ish, but I failed to show up to the page. This is disappointing but what can I do from here except get back to work and create better habits.Rain is falling rhythmically outside. The house is stil.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2801331/ Dreams about the past tend to make me nostalgic... and claustrophobic... http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2801199/ Good morning all, and welcome to the show. Please take a seat and settle in. For the next several hours you will be enjoying our finest quality illusion display. I urge you to not believe your senses as they will tell you things that can not possibly be. You will find full harnesses attached to.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2800935/ The sun shown down long enough to release the window-wiper-fluid. It was a good thing. I got my booster vax plus a flu shot and a replacement vax-card. a three-fer!Almost the moment i arrived home a small earthquake shook the tidy block! So many butter dishes flung themselves into the street that it.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2800438/ http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2800435/ I was raised by my great uncle Frank. He was the last of the great Handshake-Dealmakers. His word was his bond and if you found yourself on the receiving end of that handshake, you could be assured that death himself would find it nearly impossible to stave the inevitable! He was tall and strong wi.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2781405/ I spoke as if I had power; God knows I felt powerful after that awakening. I'd slept for such a long time and the beings I saw before me seemed simple. Possibly stupid, in comparison. The dusty Earth wind traded gravity for the strange little squeaks of transit. I felt my feet below me for the firs.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2761443/ When the wrong rain fell we were confused and elated that our prayers had been heard. Beguarded men stood by. Splashes upon upturned pavement. We all thought we saw sprouts popping up immediately! And we did, but wrong-determined. Lesser a help to humanity. More a competitor. Si Glass owned exa.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2479930/ At the time, no one noticed the small crevice at the corner of the house, cut through the foundation. And the basement within was a place unseen by human eyes, unknown and mysterious as the deep Amazon. A door in the kitchen whose hinges had long ago rusted shut, stood in stubborn refusal. And so t.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2463876/ Dear astronaut, Are you safe up there? We are not safe down here. They stopped school because of the virus. I did not think I would miss school. I do. Does the Earth look different now? It feels different. People walk a lot but they cross all the way across the street when they get too close. Are yo.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2172024/ My Dearest Elizabeth, I pray this letter finds you well. I have dreamed of your alabaster skin every night after I lay upon my coyote skin bedding and the fire dies, leaving the grandeur of stars as my only true companion. The country is truly breathtaking so far out west in no-man's land. The mount.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2170521/ February 9, 1957Morris D RouffHiring Manager/"Creator"Formula 409 Corporation1522 E. Graves Rd.Transyltucky, Ma.Greetings, My name is Count Viktor Clorox IV and I am applying or, rather reapplying for the position of Chief Scientist for the newly named Formula 409 Corporation. I had previously belie.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2168981/ Dear concerned parents of prospective campers, Many of you have reached out over the past week seeking to cancel your children's sleep-away vacations to Camp Crystal Lake. While I understand your reticence to send your loved ones away to a summer camp where every last one of the Early-Summer sessio.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2168526/ To anyone at all, My name is Charles Davenbury and I am the captain of the ghost-yacht Mara-Nara, which went missing many decades ago while sailing the haunted canal that connects Lake Washington to Lake Union. Do not think that I am a ghost just because I captain a ghost-yacht. I am a living man (f.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2168274/ September 23rd, 198(?)Dear Alexey, My name is Simon Peterson. I am eleven. I live in Renton, Washington in America. My school has started a Sister City Pen Pal program and you have been assigned to me. Or I have been assigned to you. I had to research Kalach for this project and it sounds so cool! Y.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2168018/ Dear sir or madam, To be sure, it is with great frustration I write this open letter. You see, I have begun to notice, over the past few months, evidence of your existence in my basement. Each time I descend the stairs I experience a static-electricity event that causes the hairs on my arms to stand.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2167888/ February 8, 1891Board of DirectorsFormula 408 Corporation1522 E. Graves Rd.Transyltucky, Ma.Fine Gentlemen, As chief scientist of the Formula 408 Corporation it is my responsibility, nay, my absolute duty to report any and all occurrences under my purview. As you all know I have been quite verbose r.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2167806/ To whom it may concern, If you have received this letter, you have seven days to rewrite and send it to three other people. If you do not do this you will befall a terrible curse. I urge you to find three people and send it to them. I have seen what happens when someone ignores this talisman! I assu.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2167515/ My dearest Mrs. Abernathy, It was with great horror I learned of the sudden and shocking disappearance of your beloved Min-Pin, Javier. My wife Carolyn (a stern but fair woman) collapsed immediately upon receiving word of your peril and woke some two hours later, finding herself on the floor of the .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2167241/   Mr. Carlson, After much thought I have decided to write this letter informing you of my resignation from Gladhands LLC. This is not a decision I take lightly, nor to I take any pleasure in explaining my reasons for leaving a bartending job I've held for over a decade. But I feel I must tell y.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2167203/ Dear Stephanie, I was at the grocery store Saturday and ran into Charlie Crocker. So good to see him! He mentioned that you two are still in contact and gave me your address so I thought I'd Send you a letter to see how you're doing. He also mentioned you'd recently split from your husband. I'm sorr.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2167004/ Greeting, and welcome to our planet, It seems clear that, based on how you left this car, you are new to driving and parking in Earth's 1G (that's our shorthand for single gravitational unit). Completely understandable. You likely just arrived from whatever crack-head far, tip of a galactic spiral a.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2166962/ Dear Mr. Gary Cornwall, I am reaching out to you in regards to your recent application to Clown College. As you know we run a pretty tight ship here and are extremely choosy about who we allow to wear the C.C. colors (mostly red). As the child of two Clown College graduates you have been given prefe.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2166695/ Dear Principal Edwards, Please excuse the absence of my child, Adam Parsons Friday March 13th as he was under the weather. While I appreciate the automated voicemail indicating his absence I do miss the old days when you got a call from the office. Just kidding, I was a student the last time a .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2166477/ It is 4:40 a.m. I am awake. You are awake. The world is awake. Those who are asleep are sure to be awake soon. They will open their eyes and wonder what woke them. Then they will remember. They will roll over and try to fall back into that comforting slumber but it will not come. Some will wrestle .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2166428/ Have a plan. Execute the plan. Keep all correspondence coded. Make sure target is what you think it is. Check, check, meh, definitely not check. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2166248/ Dear John, Let me start with saying that it has never been about love. You are the part of my heart that longed to find itseldf.  http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2166165/ ATTENTION:-I have not lost a pet. I do not teach guitar. I do not have a yoga practice at the YMCA. I am not leaving a passive-aggressive goodbye note to a city I used to know but has changed beyond recognition.-There is no crucial town-hall meeting to announce. I am not looking for a recently stole.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2166157/ TO OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS AND DEAR FRIENDS Over the past 19 years it has been our absolute privilege and joy serving the finest clientele any business could hope for. As we all know, the recipe for operating a successful restaurant takes endurance, passion and just a pinch of luck. I am pleased to say.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2165874/ Dear Valued Customer, It was with great concern that read your strongly worded email. Typos and grade-school grammar and spelling aside, I was able to glean through vague and hostile, perhaps even racist ramblings that you were dis-satisfied with your recent visit to our establishment. I assure you,.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2164468/ An exercise in letter writing. So many types of letters. I see it as a coffee table book, perhaps done with graphics for each letter. We'll see. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2164465/ My Writerscafe friend Myra challenged me to write a piece from the point of view of the helicopter pilot filming the solo in the November Rain video. For better or worse, this is what I came up with. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2160916/ In the swale below the elmAnd not so far from the wooded hutWhere the ax-man restsWithin view of the great houseWhere nobody livesAnd cut through by the shallow brookWho's bed still hides little yellow flakesOverlooked by the violent GoldrushSet apart from the Valley By an ancient split-rail fe.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2156676/ By now the pirate was holding the secret paper in his palm pretending it was the sea on which his exploits took place, tracing battles and chases across its tainted, yellowish surface.  I interjected as politely as I could. What's it say?" "What's what say, then?" Pirate Captain inquired hones.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2156551/ The spy sat, his back to the wall, scanning the two points of egress. The white tuxedo hung flawlessly upon his well-muscled physique and his keen eyes followed the comings and goings of the high society guests as they mingled purposefully in their own rarefied air. He sipped lightly at his martini.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2156502/ Strange and rule-less games. A remote and secluded location.  Strange and ominous masked figures, who are sometimes just strange and ominous figure-less masks, left in cobwebbed corners of the retreat cabin, menace the occupants as they stroll the dark hallways. Chanting fills the stale ai.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2150136/ "I'll tell you what, Phil. You leave that patch for me." demanded Karl, pot-bellied and wise-eyed. He was the Alpha type; belt and suspenders, and he always had a way of making me feel like too little a man. He stared calculatingly at the doorknob-hole in the plaster silently accusing me of not ins.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2148226/ "Drive around the block again, Scotty! We need to meet up with George at the end of the second chorus!", he keyed the ignition and I began to strum the opening chords."How many time are we gonna do this? I'm almost out of gas!" the keyboardist rebuked."Only until we get this video shot! I mean, all .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2147981/ Who or what I was chasing escapes me now. It has been some very long time. But why? I can assume only one reason why, revenge! Exactly why? What purpose was my revenge to serve? Well, that hardly matters. As I said, it has been some very long time and I have exacted far too many tolls to be bogged .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/PhillipWParsons/2147893/