RICHARD
It’s me
I was the one who never paid attention in school.
I was the one who spent time doodling, rather than studying.
I was the one who never got good grades.
I was the one who never cared about grades anyway.
I was the one who didn’t turn up for the last two years of school.
I was the one who only got a minimum wage job.
I’m the one who works on the checkout.
But you never see me.
I’m the one crouched beneath the register.
I’m the one making the ‘boop, boop’ noises as the cashier scans your goods.
LISA
FACTS
We set about collating the various newspaper articles we’d found and created a makeshift register, it felt good to have a task, something to do.
Two girls- never been here in the basement- DEAD
Ten Boys- not here MISSING
And our names. All fifteen of them.
We use a separate page for each name and add dates of birth, ages, eye colour, where we worked, lived, and were taken. I was trying to find a pattern or connection but apart from the fact we’ve been sharing a basement for months; there doesn’t seem to be much else that links us.
SERENDIPIDY
I’m here, although you never acknowledge me.
Always with you, biding my time, just waiting for my moment. I barely register in your consciousness, and you may never even discover me there, but be assured, I am.
So, I wait.
And, just maybe, one day I will burst forth and reveal myself and all that I am.
All that you are.
When the chain snaps, and the gloves come off, you’ll see me for who I am.
I am the murderer, the avenger, and the destroyer – the secret side we all harbour. Never revealed.
Did I say never?
Maybe not!
LIZZIE
To attend the Social Club, one must register by performing a few tasks. A first edition for the library, one gold coin for the coffers, and a finger. At first, he assumed it would be his fingerprint. No, an actual finger and not his own. Well, that could pose a challenge. They nodded. He tried. He did. But who would’ve thought people were so attached to their fingers… He ended up hiring a squirmish hitman who refused to do the chopping. Then, he hired a butcher with morals. And here he was, at the Social Club, but not that one.
TOM
Explore the Fascinating World of Machine Language.
When I was a kid there was this cool educational toy call the Visible Man. A clear plastic shell will all the organs in primary colors. Later the VISIBLE V8 Internal Combustion Engine arrived. There was even a Visible Horse. Fast forward to the heady days of Apple 2e when shelves of program vied for your computing interest. An offering called Visible 6502 caught my eye. Thought it would have the same cool effect as the old models. Nope, a grid of hex-s flowing though registers. Watching an Accumulator accumulate not exactly quality entertainment. What it needed was Blinkenlights.
Here’s the Deal
I’m not a consistent dealer. In spite of hours of poker play I haven’t quite got the knack of counting to five. Why do my friends allow be anywhere close to a deck? I deal amazing hands. Often the best cards anyone has had in their life. One evening I dealt Don four queens. He framed the cards. Another night I dealt a royal flush. That one sadly only got Robert 50 cents. Over COVID I created a magic deck that deals out infinite royal flushes. Trick only works if you can count to five. Still working on that part.
NORVAL JOE
Paramedics worked on Mr. Withybottom as they passed the wrecked Continental.
Billbert hoped it would register when he shouted, “Linoliamanda is okay. She’s in the meadow with Sabrina.”
Sitting in the patrol car, Billbert looked at Sabrina’s blood on his hands. “Those are my friends in the meadow. Is Sabrina going to be okay?”
The cop looked at Billbert in the rearview mirror as he backed onto the dirt road. “Fine way to show your friendship by shooting them.”
“You need to find that septic tank guy. He’s the shooter,” Billbert pleaded.
“You need to shut up,” the cop sniped.
PLANET Z
My grandfather ran a grocery co-op in Downtown Chicago, serving corner bodegas and convenience stores for decades.
There was a massive brass antique cash register in the office.
As kids, we’d play with it. Until we got bored.
My grandfather would leave some coins in the register.
I don’t know if these were meant for us, or he knew we’d take the coins whether they were gifts or not.
We also climbed the stairs to the loft where the candy was stored, and stole that.
I always feel a little guilty going through the candy aisle in the Circle K.
CHATGPT
In the quiet of a dusty bookstore, an ancient register nestled amidst forgotten tomes. Its brass keys whispered tales of countless transactions, each one a chapter in the store’s history. From the excitement of a child’s first book to the solemnity of a final purchase, it bore witness to life’s passage. Yet, as the world outside changed, the register remained steadfast, a guardian of memories. Its worn buttons, a testament to time’s relentless march. And though technology advanced, its simple elegance endured, a beacon of nostalgia. For within its polished frame lay not just records, but echoes of bygone eras.
I have been watching Doctors 1 through 7 on Tubi and sometimes I can listen to the some of the Big Finish audio dramas on the BBC iPlayer. I think you have to live in UK and possibly pay the TV tax to get video on the iPlayer