Keith Menendez

“As He Thinks In His Heart” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #289

Where am I?This is not my bed.  This is not my home.  I have arching windows on the second floor, not the first.  It’s a wonderful view of water oak, pine, and birch trees covering the mountains.  This is the Smoky Mountains in Virginia or North Carolina.  How do I know that?  How did I get into this unfamiliar room?  Why do I have an IV? I spot two women whispering near the closed door.  Maybe those two young ladies know what is going on.  Wait, the dark-haired one is leaving.  She smil...

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“"Code Green! Code Gray!"” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #288

“Code Green! Code Grey! All staff and security. Code Green! Code Grey!”This announcement blared and repeated throughout the interior and exterior speakers of the Palatial Estates Psychiatric Hospital. The nurses, security, doctors, and staff secured their areas and outside doors. They paired with their designated partners to make a room by room search for the missing and hostile patient.“Did they say who it was?” A short rotund CNA, with thick glasses, asked while walking the halls with a colleague.  She wore her hair in a curly bun and...

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“A Walk on the Beach” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #285

Jak Chico stirred an umbrella cocktail at a quiet bar on South Beach.The high octane clubs, jumping and thumping down the street, could not be heard from his serene refuge. Two hours ago, the backup quarterback, Slim, invited him to meet fun girls at the clubs.The drinks, his teammate, and the females were shallow and uninteresting. Slim’s girls only wanted to ‘hook up’ and do obnoxious dancing. Not one of the girls cared about a quiet walk on the beach. Seravina and Josie’s sophistication, beauty, and intelligence had ruined his usu...

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“Late for the Meeting” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #284

Ginny Mack spoke to the angry men in the kitchen, “Don’t blame the gun for a wayward bullet.  A measured mark always hits the bullseye.  Y'all are family.  Work it out.  Only together will we succeed during this difficult time.”The two determined men brushed past Emmy Castillo as she darted into the kitchen holding a wrapped square box.“I thought those two were about to strangle each other.” Emmy said to Ginny,  "Men; you can’t live with them…”“And can’t shoot them with a 45.” Ginny pulled her pistol, swirled it arou...

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“Operation: Snowball 2” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #283

“Agent Bass, come in. Bass, can you hear me?” Special Agent Hinkle barked at me.“Loud and clear, boss. I can also smell your tuna sub.” I reply with bitterness. This is the third wild goose chase in three weeks. Stakeouts, no sleep, smelly hotels, fast food, and being stuck in a 2008 Caprice Classic with Agent Tuna, is pushing me to the limit. This operation is a joke.“Keep the comments for the comedy club, Bass. Eyes on the prize.” Hinkle said“Yes, ma’am.” I attempt a respectful answer as I walk through Cleveland’s industrial district in th...

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“The Malevolence” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #274

“The horses are ready. We can leave anytime.” Todd Rebus said to his bride as he entered a rustic cabin. The hinges creaked as he closed the door.  He dusted off his hands and walked toward the kitchen sink and washed them. “The lake is serene.  It was amazing: A lone red hawk dove upon the surface.  It snatched a bass and flew off.”  He dried his hands on a towel and turned around. “That fish was having a bad day.  The rippling waves moved throughout the entire body of…” A smiling Seravina Rebus stood before he...

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“Operation: Snowball” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #269

“Agent Bass, come in. Bass, can you hear me?” Special Agent Hinkle barked at me.“Loud and clear, boss. I can also smell your tuna sub.” I reply with bitterness. This is the third wild goose chase in three weeks. Stakeouts, no sleep, smelly hotels, fast food, and stuck in a 2008 Caprice Classic with Agent Tuna, is pushing me to the limit. This operation is a joke.“Keep the comments for the comedy club, Bass. Eyes on the prize.” Hinkle said“Yes, ma’am.” I attempt a respectful answer as I walk through Clevelan...

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“Splish, Splash, Crash” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #268

Splish, splash. Splish, splash, crash. Splish, splash. Splish, splash, crash….The continuous rhythm and roar of the ocean waves, the tropical light burning through the morning clouds, and the seagulls’ lonely cry, awakened Sandy Harris lying on a desolate beach. Her fingers grasped the wet sand, her feet and legs soaked up the waves, and her eyes opened to the burning sun. She shielded them with her left hand and sat up with her right. The dry sand cascaded from her arms and fingers.“Where am I? Is this the Caribbean?”Sandy scanned...

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“Dagger Brothers” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #267

Smack!  I slapped a nasty horsefly against my leg just before I stepped into the quagmire of horrific odor.  I stumbled forward and caught myself before I fell head first into the smelly bog.  I paused and breathed through my nose.  I reached down and picked up a piece of alligator hide. Woof had spotted it and asked me to retrieve it. I turned around and sloshed back to the massive Siberian husky. I tossed it in front of Woof.“We have been stomping around in circles for two hours.  Can we take a brea...

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“Something Blue” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #264

Seravina Rebus posed before an ornate long mirror in the master bedroom on the villa’s first floor. The ivory Bohemian dress flowed perfectly around her athletic build. The Tasanaris had graciously allowed her to use the room to get ready. A distant church bell chimed twelve times. The ceremony would finally begin in thirty minutes. Seravina smiled as the reflection revealed two members of her new family.  Mrs. Hemingway, the groom’s adopted mother, fiddled with the final touches of Vina’s dress, while Emmy, Too...

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“No Moon over Miami” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #260

Dean Troutman, native New Yorker, struggled to walk down a palatial residential sidewalk as the inviting Miami sunshine burned through the tall palm trees. Under the blue sky and fluffy clouds, he wiped his brow and viewed the address on his phone.The immaculate lawns, towering homes, and friendly waves from unknown neighbors, made him feel uncomfortable. He preferred Manhattan: no one made eye contact and he could hide in the shadows of the skyscrapers. He was on a mission. He had to speak to the Master about the issues in New York, and ...

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“Up to Scratch ” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #257

Before you enter the drama department at Daniel Webster Middle, just above the door, there is a beautifully engraved wooden sign from England.  Ms. Hargreaves’ (drama teacher) prize possession reads: “All the World’s a stage, and All the men and women merely players.”  I opted out of the drama elective this year, but that quote from Willy Shakes, I read every Tuesday and Thursday morning for two years.  When I asked Ms. Hargreaves about the meaning, she smiled, and then forced us wee-fifth graders to memorize the entire speech...

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“Scratch Your Back” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #256

I have heard people say that crying is therapeutic.  Good for your soul.  It releases endorphins or hormones to help your body cope with stress and emotions.  Part of the grieving process. Those people are morons.  For a seventh grade young man, like me, to cry in an eighth grade class even for an instant was not therapeutic.  It was not good for my soul.  The only thing it released was loud snickering by the eighth grade boys and, worse, sympathetic eyes from the eighth grade girls.  Part of the humiliatio...

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“Bumps in the Mornin'” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #249

The cool dew saturated the entire forest as the morning fog evaporated and crept away.Ginny Mack patrolled the north woods of the Tasanari’s villa right before the spring sunrise streamed over the horizon. Her trusty rifle rested on her left shoulder and her favorite Stetson secured light brown hair. It had been two nights and three days since the newlyweds departed. Seravina and Todd , her uncle, decided to enjoy time alone on the estate, with no interference from the outside world. Vuthbert had traveled, as security, with Mario and Emmy, ...

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“Not a Scratch” by Keith Menendez

A polar chill ran down my seventh grade spine as Mr. Cliff, the principal of Daniel Webster Middle School, marched past me. His rank mummified breath saturated my face and infiltrated my defenseless schnoz.I once imagined evil embodied the smell of raw onions.I was dead wrong.You see my science teacher, Mr. Rattlehammer, has wicked onion breath. He eats onions like apples, especially red onions, (which are purple) and actual onion sandwiches. This year on the first day of school, he assigned not one, but two projects, due by the end of the w...

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