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Carol Higgins Plus One

Carol read the invitation again.  “Carol Higgins plus one.”  She sobbed gently into her bedside handkerchief.

Did Lord Henry not think her adequate anymore?  This business of mathematics had been sweeping the academic institutions and intellectual circles for some time, but for it now to infect the social ranks with its additions and subtractions?  It was all too much.

How does one even ADD to one’s self?  Must one visit a doctor or, worse, a shaman to achieve such a thing?  When she was a girl, it was enough to be simply Carol Higgins, but it was now obvious that the demands of society proper had surpassed her capabilities.

Carol kissed her portrait of Lord Henry one last time as she tightened the noose around her twiggish neck.  As she kicked the chair out from underneath, a folded note slipped out of her hand to the floor below, landing with the dainty whisper of a lady page.

In thin calligraphy, it read “Carol Higgins minus one.”

A Hiolaurios Sceine

There’s now an audio version of this story, for those of you who hate to read. Download it right now for free!

Karen Favlaird: I just bought this puppy from your store, but it has another puppy on top of it that I didn’t buy.

Damen Nale: So take the one puppy off the other puppy.

Karen Favlaird: I can’t, the one puppy is glued to the other puppy with puppy glue.

Damen Nale: We don’t even sell puppy glue. Let me see that.

(Damen Nale takes the puppy from Karen Favlaird and holds it up to the light)

Damen Nale (cont’d): As I live and breath, this is puppy glue what’s holding these two puppies together. I better call corporate.

(Damen Nale dials the telephone number 315-444-4905, which is the front desk of corporate)

Phone: Ring ring. Ring ring.

Damen Nale: It’s ringing.

(The phone continues ringing)

Phone: Ring ring. Ring ring.

Corporate: Hello?

Damen Nale: May I speak to Maynard Andrews please?

Corporate: Maynard Andrews I or Maynard Andrews II?

Damen Nale: The second one.

Corporate: Please hold.

Karen Favlaird: I better get a full refund for this mishap.

Damen Nale: Hang on.

Phone: Your call is important to us. Please hold.

Damen Nale (cont’d): I’m holding.

Maynard Andrews: Hello?! I was asleep! Who is this?

Damen Nale: Sir, it’s Damen Nale from the Puppy Spot. We have two puppies glued together with puppy glue that got sold to Karen Favlaird as one and she wants a refund.

Maynard Andrews: What are you blathering on about?

Damen Nale: I was told to call you, Maynard Andrews, in the event that someone wanted a refund!

Maynard Andrews: Oh now I see the problem. You want to talk to Maynard Andrews I, not Maynard Andrews II.

Damen Nale: Ohhhhhhhhhh.

Maynard Andrews: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Damen Nale: Sorry about that! See you at the Christmas party!

Maynard Andrews: Not if I’m in jail.

(Maynard Andrews hands up and begins loading his gun)

Damen Nale: I called the wrong Maynard Andrews. There’s nothing I can do to help you now.

Karen Wavlaird: Okay, I have to go drive my Chevy Impala now.

Damen Nale: Don’t forget your puppy.

(Pregnant pause for expectation)

Damen Nale: Or should I say puppies!

(Curtain fades)

Hey, I’m Your Downstairs Neighbor

Oh hey guys. Funny that we both came out of our apartments at the same time. Small world, huh?

Hey, now that I have you here, I actually wanted to invite you to this barbeque thing that I’m doing in my kitchen later this evening. I ordered like a ton of boneless wings from Wing Street, and I only have one mouth to eat them with, so help me out! My cat normally only eats one because those wings are pretty good size for a cat’s mouth, y’know? So that means I’m going to have at least…how many are in a box? I ordered 4 boxes. That’s probably like 40 wings. Minus the one for David. David’s my cat. But it’s going to be at like 8ish or 9ish or whenever, so you should stop by!

What?

Oh.

Oh, sure. No problem, yeah.

It’s fine if you can’t make it, that won’t offend me. Do I look offended? Sorry, that’s not what I was going for. I think movie’s are great, I think that’s a perfectly viable use of your time instead of eating free wings, sure. I would argue that movies happen literally every other time of life, whereas this wing opportunity is more of a “moment in the wind” kind of deal, but sure, no, it’s important to see the new Ice Age before the Internet spoils it. The squirrel thing really wants the nut. I hope I didn’t ruin anything.

Really, it’s fine. I invited a whole slew of people from all around to this fiesta, so I probably won’t even notice that you’re not there. That’s kind of crazy to think that I think about you. It’s a little self-centered, don’t you think? I don’t walk around assuming people are thinking of me, unless I have to sneeze when I walk by someone, because then I have tangible proof. Point is, I won’t even notice. It just sucks for Soo-kyung and Theresa that you won’t be there, because I know they’ve been curious about who lives in all of these flats. Soo-kyung? The mailwoman? You probably never see her because you’re at work during the day. She’s really nice, and Korean. She’s both. It’s not mutually exclusive. I’m surprised you don’t know Theresa, though. She lives a couple of blocks away, doesn’t get out much, but she says she knows lots of people, so I just assumed. Guess I made an ass out of myself by assuming or whatever. That’s a two wing penalty, me! Haha! Not really, I probably won’t enforce that.

But yeah, I thought for sure you two would maybe want to hook up with some of these ladies, but you’ll be busy laughing at the voice of Everybody Loves Raymond, so we all make our own choices. Did I mention there would be Mr. Pibb? I bought three two-liters just awhile ago, actually. That’s why I was on my way out, to pick up another few two-liters of Pibb in case people were extra thirsty. I guess I can just go back into my apartment, though, since it looks like I won’t be needing a surplus! Just kidding, I’m not upset.

What time’s the movie? Oh, you’ve got time then. I actually already have the wings inside my apartment if you just wanted to stop in for a few, grab a little wing bite and then scoot. They’re still hot, I just went and grabbed them while I was out getting the first wave of Mr. Pibb. What? Sure, no, that’s totally cool. You have to save room for popcorn. I totally get that, I go to movies all the time. Okay. Well…if you have the late night craves when you get back tonight, all I’m saying is don’t hesitate to knock on my door and talk to me and I’ll feed you while we talk. I mean…I won’t FEED you, because you all are men and not babies. I get it. Haha, wouldn’t that be something? Soo-kyung would pee all over herself if she saw that. But seriously, knock if you want some wings. Or if the music is too loud, which I guarantee it will be because of how hard the party will be bumping, come down and knock on my door and tell me and I’ll turn it down and we can talk. Okay?

Okay, well I guess I’ll just go back in my apartment now, since I don’t need those extra two-liters. Don’t forget to get your 3D glasses, it totally changes the experience! It’s like the movie characters are in the theatre next to you, I swear to God. You sure about the–? Yes? Okay. Alright. Have fun!

From the Desk of Tod Lancorn

IMPORTANT MEMO

From: Tod Lancorn (tedlancorn@bunnerybuns.co

m)
To: Managerial Staff
Re: New Party InitiativeTo all Bunnery executives and management-equivalent positions,

First of all, I want to say a hearty thank you and congratulations for continuing to make this company the number one source for hot dog and hamburger buns in the Northeastern United States. As we continue to expand our operations, both physically and in terms of bun types, you remain a vital component to the production and marketing of our delicious bread product. People don’t often think of the people behind their buns as they enjoy a meaty brat or double-stacked cheeseburger, but rest assured that your silent influence is being felt in the stomachs of a few million people scattered across a narrow geographic region. Way to go, everyone!

It’s come to my attention that we’re experiencing what has been described as a “severe” lack of parties in the workplace, which is something that I feel needs to be rectified as soon as possible. After all, parties provide a huge chunk of our business, so it doesn’t make sense for us to not enjoy the very thing that we promote. Therefore, I am announcing a new company policy which will require all Bunnery corporate and retail branches to stage a minimum of two parties every week. These parties can take whatever form your employees choose: birthday parties, holiday-themed parties, spontaneous weekday celebration parties, even living funeral parties, if you have someone willing to put themselves out there like that. Personally, I’ve always felt that funerals are the next frontier of bun consumption, so I wouldn’t mind seeing some practical examples from our more creative staffers on how to make this sparkle. Offhand, I picture a coffin shaped like a bun, so it’s like the dead person is a giant hot dog, and instead of being just dead, they also make people crave hot dogs and, in turn, Bunnery bun products. You can use that or not, that’s your call.

As per this new company policy, all branches will be required to keep track of their Party Points from week to week. You are awarded one Party Point per party you have. For example, if you had one party, that would equal one Party Point. If, though, you had two parties, that would be equal to two total Party Points. You’ll keep track of your Party Points on a giant thermometer poster, which will be sent to your branches in the next week. At the end of the work week, please submit a jpog photo of your giant thermometer with a funny caption that also indicates how many Party Points you have accumulated. You will receive no special rewards or accolades for exceeding the two party minimum, but if I see giant thermometers coming in with less than two Party Points per week (remember, that’s equal to two parties), I’ll be forced to deduct an additional three Party Points from your giant thermometer. This will create an endless cycle wherein you will never have enough Party Points to satisfy the quota and could, quite possibly, crash the system altogether. Just have the right number of parties each week and we won’t have to find out.

I’ll check back with you all next week after I receive the first set of giant thermometer photos to see how your parties are coming along. I expect a lot of short paragraph summaries of how well these parties are going to be flooding my inbox in the coming days, and I hope you all are as excited about this new mandate as I am in sending it to you via e-mail.

Yours with employer-appropriate levels of affection and regard,

Tod Lancorn
CEO – Bunnery Buns Inc.