Sometimes we just need our heads in the clouds. Clear the minds, clear the noise, and just be… this is what CW&FT at a Glance brings. A little time to clear everything, read some, and think forever. As a creative writer to be, I always am thinking of all the above. I have decided to share these thoughts here for all… not to convince, not to change, but just to open the minds to the little thoughts that may run through day to day. Enjoy!

Angelo is faced with his first Choice…

“I am ready; I want to make what ever choice that means Lilly is happy and safe forever.” Jimmy looks at Angelo as he would any young buck willing to dive right in, “Before we get to there you should know what you’re up against…”

As Jimmy takes a deep breath, a man in a sleek black suit is pushing his way through the crowded masses. He is now face to face with Angelo. Angelo, looking up at this man feels his heart racing. The man lifts Angelo off the bench by his throat with just one hand… “you will be mine at the end of this” he says as Angelo struggles and is gasping. Getting out just a few words, “what… the… hell” Angelo strains. The man smirks and scoffs, “exactly, Hell is where you will go with me… I just know you will make it happen.”

Jimmy stands up and grabs the man’s shoulder and deeply yells “enough.” The man throws Angelo to the ground. Jimmy reaches out his hand to assist in getting Angelo up. Dusting Angelo off, Jimmy explains “this is how it is… you have choices here Angelo… you are the one that will decide yours and their fates. It is not him or me… it is you.”

The man in black smirks again… “three Choices to decide your fate boy, by the end I know you will be coming with me.” Angelo clenches a fist and Jimmy gives him a grandfatherly glare without saying a word. Angelo calms down.

“The first Choice boy… your death.” The three of them transport to the dock on that foggy night as omnipresent beings just watching it all unfold. “There you are boy, look how sweet of a couple you both make” the man mocks as Angelo and Lilly walk the dock right in front of the three of them. “Such a gentleman… about to propose on a pier… original.”

“But what is this… who is that burley man running towards you two… what’s in his hand Angelo… is that a… is that a gun?” The man patronizingly explains. “That is indeed a gun boy… it’s the gun he shoots you with.” Angelo stands in shock as he did not know this is what happened. “Your first Choice is simple… you can either let this happen and end up right where you are, or how about before he shoots you… he dies? I mean do you think he is worthy of life if he kills you for no reason?” Angelo is hesitant.

With tears rolling down his face, standing next to his grandfather and the man… “let it happen… Grandpa, you said she is fine right? If so, I should not change this for her. Why would I change it if she really is happy? Something worse may happen and I cannot chance that for her.” The man slowly turns to Angelo with distain… he grabs Angelo with his left hand and begins punching him with his right. Slamming him to the dewy wood of the dock, watching the blood trickle from Angelo’s nose and lip, “you son of a bitch! why wouldn’t you make the right Choice? You would be with Lilly right now as we speak and you wouldn’t know the difference. All you preach is you want her to be happy, wouldn’t she be happiest with you?” He slams Angelo’s body into the dock waiting for a reply. Jimmy grabs the man by the shoulder again to make him stop.

“You passed the first Choice Angelo… that’s why he is so pissed at you… he usually gets half of the people to agree to the first choice he presents. They go back to their happy existences but once they pass on in the future they go with him and never see their loved ones again in the afterlife.” Jimmy picks Angelo up again and wipes the blood away from his mouth with a handkerchief he pulled from his back pocket. The three of them standing side by side on the dock as the tragic event unfolds like it did so many years ago. Angelo begins to scream as he sees himself and Lilly in the distance. As the burley man with the gun is running towards them while the past Angelo is on one knee. A cop runs past the three of them watching and the burley man stumbles as he looked back to see how far the cop is from him. A shot… Angelo on a knee in front of Lilly falls to his side. Simultaneously as Lilly screams, the cop jumps on the burley man and handcuffs him. Angelo turns to Jimmy and the man as he just watch his past self go limp… “it was an accident.”