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Close Encounters of the Human Kind
There is a protocol to be observed on my lakeside walk. It governs the early morning greeting. Once it is firmly established that you regularly walk, then you graduate from a nod of acknowledgement to eventually saying “Good morning”. After some weeks, you may add a comment on the weather, but that is generally the limit of conversation.
By Keith Butlerabout a month ago in Writers
Close Encounters of the Human Kind
Early morning exercise over, resting on a park bench watching the sunrise change the light on the water. Thoughts tumbling through my mind, triggered by a bouquet, commemorating some ancestral anniversary, left by a brass plaque of dedication.
By Keith Butlerabout a month ago in Writers
Preservation for Eternal Impact
It is easy to feel as though most of what is said disappears. Words are spoken, written, posted, argued over, and then quickly buried beneath the next wave of noise. Attention moves on. Platforms refresh. What once felt urgent becomes invisible. In that environment, a quiet but persistent question emerges. What actually lasts. And more uncomfortably, what is worth preserving when so much seems to vanish without consequence.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcastabout a month ago in Writers
The Spoon. Content Warning.
Our company stared at his lifeless corpse on the floor, mouths aghast, Colonel David dead on the floor of the barracks. “I can’t believe this,” Tyler whispers with a tear in his eye “out of all people how is he dead.” I trek over to his body, while still in considerable shock, and notice out of the corner of my eye a bloody spoon in his hand. I start to slowly approach him, but the medic and some of the officers start screaming “Get away from the body,” to me and all the people that try to approach him. They pick him up, but the officers look even more rigid than they have been carrying him away. We are eventually forced to go back to training. During PT, there is an unusual buzz from everyone. “What do you think happened?” “I don’t know man, it all seems so sudden.” I tell Tyler solemnly. “Do you think there could be a spy?” “Probably not, killing him would make no sense, we would eventually find out who it was. In addition, the Colonel was the most tactical and intelligent person in the whole platoon. He was the last person I would suspect to die in this whole war ""The Germans could’ve used this to cause chaos internally ""I doubt that this war in itself causes enough chaos. I think this whole thing is so surprising because of how he died. He didn’t die in some grand way, but he died on the floor. It just feels weird and nothing adds up.” Tyler nods adamantly as I tell him this, but I can tell his brain is working on what it could be.
By Gabriel Huabout a month ago in Writers
