LISA
a Secret Meet
It felt right from the start. There was never any question of me leaving but he gave me all the reasons I should stay.
He’d laughed as he said ‘Blood is Thicker than Water’ but stressed that my parents had forgotten me; we were leaving behind the traditional and sharing this special experience. We were family now.
He brushed my hand as he talked, held my gaze as we walked. I’d joined the police to feel part of something but as the only woman in my station I hadn’t felt like I fitted in. He made me feel special.
Loved.
LIZZIE
“There’s an issue… The whole village drank water from the creek. No one said blood was thicker than water anymore. Brothers attacked brothers, fathers ambushed mothers, grandparents turned on neighbors.”
“Neighbors?”
” Yes. That was the only exception.”
“Ahm…”
“I know. We went a bit overboard.”
“Do you realize that now we won’t get the grant? We will never be able to convince them that proverbs are our way in.”
“Yes, well, but that was a bit of a silly idea in the first place. Humans are insane. Let’s try that other planet with the little green men.”
“Why? Oh, why?!”
RICHARD
Thicker
They do say that blood is thicker than water, which I’m reliably told, means family comes first.
Clearly, whoever coined that expression never met any of my family.
Believe me, if they were yours, you’d want to disown them too.
It’s not that they’re particularly unlikeable, or that they’ve intentionally done anything to deserve being side-lined.
The truth of the matter is that using their brains is an alien concept to them.
If it’s dumb decisions, idiotic plans, or simply not having a clue, they’re first in line.
I don’t know about blood being thicker.
Because they, are thick as…
SERENDIPIDY
It’s only when it starts to congeal that blood is thicker than water. Just try slitting a wrist and you’ll see just how freely the red stuff flows!
However, personally, I prefer to leave it a while. I like to let it thicken a bit, like soup left to simmer on the stove. Thicker, means more concentrated, a more intense flavour; an altogether more enjoyable experience.
Not everyone’s cup of tea, of course.
Some would rather it thin, and runny.
Each to their own.
But I’ll take intense and robust over tasteless and insipid, any day.
You should try it!
NORVAL JOE
As the nurse left the room, Sabrina lay back and closed her eyes.
The shooting had been days before and she still had a unit of blood hanging on the IV pole.
Billbert thought, ‘Blood is thicker than water. Where will she go with her only relative dead?’
As if she heard his thoughts, Sabrina asked, “Where is Buhmilda?”
Billbert swallowed. Was he the one to break this news? “Um.”
Sabrina squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. I know she’s dead. We stood together and watched them carry our bodies away. She stayed with her body, and I went with mine.”
TOM
To feel envy is human, to savor schadenfreude is diabolic Arthur Schopenhauer
Blut ist dicker als wasser was a play written by Franz Klass. It is based on Christoph Starke, “Synopsis bibliothecae exegeticae in Vetus Testamentum,” Leipzig, 1750. The three central characters representing the three driving forces behind schadenfreude – aggression, rivalry, and justice. The setting drawn from Byron’s poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. The metaphor of the Roman holiday run through the work where a gladiator in ancient Rome expects to be “butchered to make a Roman holiday” while the audience would take pleasure from watching his suffering. Across the back-drop the phrase is Xing zai le huo scrawled in red paint
PLANET Z
No moon tonight, so we walk to the border site.
John and I put on our gloves and we take the water and food out of the wagon.
“Do you think what we’re doing is right?” John asks, as he takes the top off of his canteen.
“Stop,” I say.
“Damn,” John says. “I keep forgetting.”
We finish with the site and head back, tossing the contaminated gloves and the canteen into the wagon.
I hand John my canteen and he drinks.
“What we’re doing is wrong,” I say. “But what they’re doing is wrong, too.”
John nods and smiles.
CHATGPT
Ella always believed in the saying, “Blood is thicker than water.” Family first, she thought, no matter what. But when her sister, Clara, betrayed her trust by spreading lies, Ella felt shattered. Seeking solace, she turned to her best friend, Sam, who had always been there, no questions asked. As days turned into weeks, Sam stood by Ella, offering support and understanding. Ella realized that family isn’t always defined by blood, but by those who genuinely care. Sam’s unwavering loyalty taught her that sometimes, the bonds we choose are stronger than the ones we’re born with.