TODAY IS DAY 21 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Tomorrow will be the third week of reviews. I have thought a lot about survival today. What happens when they shut down the power, the internet and whatever else they do when they can’t stop freedom. It was serendipity, in a way, to get this email from
. I think you should know about them, and the subjects in their newsletter from today is intense. The pathologicals are really tuning up the new technology to hurt human life. They do not believe in freedom or your inherent, inalienable rights, at all. I like to stay away from overt politics, and keep it cryptic, but we do have to be vigilant. We’ll get into the story, but here is this article. I’ll keep the story light.
Time to thank my 2 new followers,
and . Thank you! I hope you can stick around and enjoy my 15 minute podcasts every day. And, there are over 133 of them, after today. Maybe you want to catch up with them. lol. I have a new subscriber too. . I have a lot of respect for the people who do what he does. Working with abuse survivors isn’t something a lot of people want to think about. So God, bless this guy, for sure.Follow the Bouncing Ball
Sing Along With Grampa
581 WORDS WRITTEN IN ABOUT A HALF HOUR.
Marcie and her Grampa are sitting on a sofa watching an old movie. Marcie thinks these old movies are silly, and she loves watching them with her Gramps.
“That’s so silly!” Marcie says to her Grampa.
“What is?”, says Gramps.
“That little ball on the screen, bouncing on the words.” She says.
“Why is it silly?” Gramps asks her.
“It just is silly, Grampa. No movies have that silly ball like that.” She answers.
“That’s a lot of fun,” Grampa says. “That was the best time of the movie at the theater.” He explains.
“What was fun?” Marcie asks him.
“Singing along to the movies,” he told her.
“The movie would be running, and everyone was in the theater, then there would be a musical number coming up, and the little ball would appear on the corner of the screen, that’s how you knew music was on the way. Then, a lady’s voice would interrupt the movie, she would say: 'OK, everyone, follow the bouncing ball’. Then the words would appear just like you saw here in this movie, and everyone in the theater would sing along to the movie.”
Marcie looked at him from the side of her face, incredulously, with her mouth open, alternating her gaze from her Grampa to the TV. “No.” She said.
"Yes, we did. It was the best part of the whole film, really it was. What great times and fun we all had.” He told her.
“You would get in trouble. The people would come and tell you to be quiet, you can’t do that.” She said.
“Well, no, they wouldn’t, because they’d be singing too. Everyone would. It was practically the entire neighborhood, it was a wonderful time.” He said.
Marcie is still looking at him in disbelief.
“What happens when the little ball stops bouncing?” She asked.
“I don’t think it stops, it just stops when the song is over. The words and the ball disappear from the screen, and that’s the end of the singing.” Grampa says.
He continues. “I think a sing-along is coming up here in a minute. We can sing the words to the song, and then I’ll pause the movie, and we can see what happens. OK?”
Marcie smiles widely and nods her head. When the singing part of the film comes up, the lady announces, ‘Follow the bouncing ball!’ Marcie and her grampa start singing along to the film. “I’m Popeye the sailor man, I’m Popeye the sailor man, I’m stro...” Just then, Grampa hits the pause button on the remote, and the movie stops. He and Marcie freeze while they are singing, looking at each other, their mouths in the middle of words open, and their eyes are locked in fear.
Neither of them can move as they are locked in place. Panic is growing. Their eyes are tearing up and burning because they can’t blink, and Grampa has drool dripping from the side of his mouth. Marcie has never been so scared, but she is inquisitive, and her sense of curiosity is overtaking her panic.
Just then, Grandma comes in the door from an afternoon of shopping. “What’s happening here?!” She exclaims.
She drops her bags and runs to Grampa. “What’s wrong? Move, say something!” Grandma sees that Grampa is holding the remote up toward the TV, and she takes it from him. She presses the play button, and Marcie and Grampa are no longer frozen.
“I don’t think that was very fun, Grampa.”
The End.
That would be scary. I think that there are a lot of people who do not know the difference between TV and reality, and that is also very frightening. Thank you so much for listening, or reading. This is the Smell the Inside of Your Nose. Do it Right Now podcast. I hope you might get a paid subscription, or buy me a coffee, or donate some bitcoin. I wish you the best. I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help.
Follow the Bouncing Ball