Trinidad Newsday Steals a Photo?

Trinidad Newsday, in the Business section today, used a photo from mayarobeach.com without the permission of the owner – me. The unauthorized use of photos is now a  common method of law breaking used by thieves, bloggers, and unscrupulous newspaper editors in the modern world. This unlawful use of the photo might not have been a problem if it wasn’t used in an article discussing the Intellectual Property Rights of local farmers. I am not going to use this blog post to ridicule and embarrass a local daily newspaper that already has been ridiculed and humiliated for firing one of the country’s top columnist for being ethical. I am simply going to state in this blog post how flattered I am that one of my photos was used again with the mayarobeach.com watermark cropped out almost as if it was done by a common thief who is accustomed to hiding the evidence.

I am not complaining as much as I am having fun with the cropping people at Newsday. Maybe it’s not Newsday’s fault as they may have contracted out the Business Newsday service to the lowest bidder rather than the most moral one. Maybe the people at Newsday need to remember that you always get less than what you pay for.

The Uff Report and Jail

Prof. John Uff

On the day the Uff Report was submitted to a happy looking President, the Prime Minister suddenly realized the people needed more hospitals and Summits. The Prime Minister did not say how the country was going to fund these hospitals or any project in the future since the country is nearly out of money, low on natural gas and expect the price of LNG to drop to around 1/8^th of its current low price in a couple years. It was also on the same day of the Uff Report WASA announced again the country will run out of water before the rain starts, so citizens will have to bathe less.

Calder Hart and possibly aka Carlos Corazón or even aka Manuel Digoutui

Luckily, the press did not fall for any of these Government-planned distractions and the first few pages of every newspaper featured the Uff Report and talked about the recommendation that some people involved in many big construction projects might have to go to jail if found guilty or if found. Sometime around the handing in of the Uff Report there was a newspaper article saying the corruption police, or is it the anti-corruption, ass-dragging police, couldn’t contact Calder Hart. I don’t know if they contacted the AG because the AG told the population not to worry, he knows how to contact Mr. Hart – The number you have reached is not in Service. Please get on a plane and get cracking. This is a recording. The police have to consider Mr. Hart may have changed his name to something like Carlos Corazón or Manuel Digoutui (Man-Well-Dig-Out-U-Eye).

in butt-saving-mode

The only thing the people are talking about  in Trinidad is corruption and a church in the Heights of Guanapo. Strangely, the Prime Minister is not addressing any of these issues in his pre-campaign trail excursions and instead continues to kiss those too young to read about him in the press and projects a body language which says “if you don’t support me I will destroy you.”  Our Prime Minister may not be well respected by the majority of the population because of his open expressions of hate for his countrymen but he is feared by all, especially  professional grass cutters and the Gang Land finance people.

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Oh Fook, dat is you?

People are jumping to conclusions and assuming that Harty did something wrong by awarding a contract to a company where it is alleged that at least one “director” is his relative. But what people must remember is that relatives are a relative thing. I don’t see why people are assuming Harty gone to jail already since ignorance of a relative is not a crime and sometimes a blessing. Here are some questions that will have to be answered to get Harty off the hook of the newspaper kangaroo court.

a)      Is it reasonable to expect Harty to know all his family?

b)      Is it reasonable to expect Harty to know all his wife’s family.

c)       What proof does anybody have to suggest Harty awarded a contract to a certain company because there was a family link?

d)      I don’t know all my relatives and that is probably a good thing. Harty will claim, like aka_lol, he also doesn’t know all his family as he was so busy building things over the years.  When confronted with the evidence Harty will simply shout in excitement “Oh Fook, dat is you. Ah diden make yuh out when ah see the list of directors on the bid nah?”Or something like that. Case dismissed.

e)      PM PM will simply say “if Harty don’t know he own family, you expect me to know?”

As for PM PM and the Shanghai church, that too will blow over and here is why.

(a)    Shanghai may have decided to give a little something back to society in the form of a church not a cash kick-back that is customary in our country. So all yuh doe like church now? Persecution!

(b)   A contractor decided to pave a little road to heaven with asphalt, so what? People have given away billions to various churches so what if a good contractor decided to give the master a little asphalt in a remote part of the country.

(c)    I don’t know about T&TEC, WASA, and Town and Country but if you dig deep enough you might find several cases where these Government people decided to help God with his flock by bending over backwards in the back of nowhere. So you want them to break down a church in the advanced state of construction because of why? So allyuh doe like God or what?

(d)   The method or woman  PM PM use to lift up his Spirit is his business.

I am not overjoyed by the latest development as nobody as yet found any hidden bank accounts with unaccounted for money belonging to PM PM. Until such time, it is only entertainment as usual.

Helping Haiti

ft.com

I am following the lead set by Wordtryst on the Haiti earthquake crisis.

Digicel is donating five million US dollars to Haiti and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago is forking out one million US. Guyana is also donating one million US. I understand that Digicel is the largest single foreign investor in Haiti so their ties run deeper than the any country in the Caricom or even all the countries in the Caricom combined. Many countries are pledging aid to Haiti especially the US who are always ready assist in times of disaster because of their wealth and nature. I am not sure if any terrorists have pledged aid, explosives or even an imaginary cause to help the Haitians at this time.

Digicel, through full-page newspaper ads this morning, has informed the public of a number they have setup, or soon to setup, so residents of Trinidad and Tobago can use to send TT$ 3.00 per text to help Haiti – text 5151 with the word HELP. I think Bmobile, a company some strangely like to perceive as being a true local company, is still putting out full page Beyonce and Green Carnival ads while Digicel is on the right ball.

Donations can also be made using Amazon Payments to MercyCorp and also by using this Google Haiti Earthquake Page

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Invading The Prime Minister’s Mansion’s Privacy

Disclaimer by Hotel Normandy, Trinidad and Tobago

I assume the Hotel was advised by competent attorneys about the sequence of words and format of this disclaimer.It sounds and looks desperate to me. I suppose even buildings and flag poles paid for with taxpayers’ dollars have feelings too.

If I stay in my yard and effortlessly take a few dozen photos of my neighbor climbing her plum tree in her favorite hole-ridden shorts then that should not be considered illegal though her shorts may be considered immoral by the religious and the afraid. If I jump over the fence to get a better shot of her, that would be illegal, I assume, but fun, I am sure. If a friend comes to my home and takes the same photos with his  image-stabilized, 12x zoom without asking my permission then I may have to place a disclaimer notice in the newspaper after he publishes the photo in the Sunday Punch or any similarly scandalous tabloid just to save face.

Note: She (neighbor) was not wearing a shorts that was bought with taxpayers’ dollars and she is living in her own home which she pays the mortgage using her own funds and not taxpayers’ dollars. She does consider herself special but she is almost never arrogant or swells up like a bullfrog in public. She also has no flag poles in her yard but has one or two Chinese friends.

I have no idea what is legal or not in photography. It’s so confusing and fun.

Photos to End With

Ever notice when somebody dies tragically the photo that makes the newspapers is from the victim’s driver’s permit, ID card, or passport; all photographic nightmares. To me, it’s tragic enough someone died terribly but why does the press see the need to humiliate the victim and the victim’s loved ones further with such a photograph. It’s like throwing salt in Diet Coke.

Since the reporters and editors are part human, part stone, part insensitive I want to suggest everybody carry in their wallets a good photo displaying their most flattering photographic side and label the photo “Just in case.” If you are not an attractive person, have the photo altered with Photoshop. If Photoshop fails, see a plastic surgeon, or cheaper yet, carry a photo of a better looking person instead but not so good looking as to arouse suspicion.  The aim is to make the public feel sorry you passed, not glad you left the world to make it a prettier place.

Hot Hops Bread and The Private Jet from God

Maybe it’s public mischief again but a big man from Boeing probably visited TnT to negotiate the new fleet for Caribbean Airlines, and hardly likely also one private jet on the side. With the public support for the government flagging, this may appear to be the wrong time to buy a luxury such as a private jet or a big flag. Is it, really?

This Government has been smarter and more righteous than most give them credit for. If the country buys that much needed pro-green, private jet at recession prices then the right economic signal will be sent. It will signal the start of a new round of much-needed high wage demands and the buying of big screen TVs with surround sound speakers in Miami. It will also signal the start of another economic boom, massive employment opportunities, foreign exchange availability, aluminum and no more layoffs. It will, however, mainly signal the start of spending on luxury food items like powdered-milk, sardines and crusty hops bread from St. Mary’s Bakery in Curepe.  PM PM promised the country manna from heaven (aka hot hops bread) during the last elections and if, God Willing,  he has to get a Private Jet to fly it in, then so be it. I want my manna now!

Jumbie’s Watch and Trinidad and Tobago Bloggers

Click For Larger Image

Comments from Jumbie’s Watch have made the printed Trinidad Guardian, probably not for the first time but it is the first time I noticed. Keep it up, Jumbie!

This wasn’t supposed to be a promo for Jumbie’s blog, which I regularly visit, but when a blogger‘s comments are featured so prominently in the printed daily newspaper then there is  cause for celebration.   Jumbie is on the outside looking in and he sees local happenings in sometimes a different light to those on the inside stuck in traffic. What may also surprise and excite Jumbie is that his comments were posted very close to a photo of The Minister of Finance.

I think blogs are the new media and it is not concentrated single source media but scattered and diverse. Not all blogs will find favor with everybody but blogs build communities and collectively, they can be a force to recon with. Global Voices has that concept and I think it is the right one. I am not suggesting blogs will replace traditional media but it brings a different life to issues that may never have been represented before.

I regularly visit many blogs by local bloggers but don’t always comment because sometimes I just don’t know what to say that would add to the blog. Sometimes I am just too tired. There are probably millions of blogs out there but I prefer local bloggers since  they are easier to relate to even on foreign topics. I list some of the blogs I regularly visit  in no particular random, alphebetial order below. I know when there are list the ones not listed are sometimes offended but the list is not complete and will be updated as I remember and/or shouted at by friendly, disgruntled bloggers.  Getting a point across is what bloggers should always try to do.

ban-d-wagonist

BCRAW

Four Fingers and a Thumb 2.0

Francomenz

The Freedom Chambers

Girlblue

Jumbie’s Watch

Lifespan of a Chennette – chennette.net

Lyndersay Digital

The Manicou Report

Mauvais Langue

Wordtryst

Words Unspoken

Wuzdescene – a take on life in T and T!

Click for larger image

Michael Jackson – What His Life Really Meant

Michael Jackson - 1958 to 2009

So, what happens to us after we die? Well, if we were any good we would have ten albums in the Top Ten at the same time. We would be on the cover of nearly every  newspaper in the world and we would be the subject of countless blogs. The news of our death would cause the big TV networks and small ones to dump their regular programming to carry the event. People would gather in large numbers at our home and the hospital where we died.  We would have the most popular, currently watched videos on YouTube and our music played all day on the radio. Our death would cause shock, sadness but a flood of happy memories. We would be idolized and our questionable side put into perspective. We would cause the World to stop dead in its tracks and celebrate our life rather than mourn. If we were any good, people would be singing our songs to fill an emptiness they can’t hide.

I suppose it is only after he died Michael Jackson knew what his life really meant.

Send in The Clown – Crime in Trinidad and Tobago

e

So Kevin Baldeosingh is still not now writing for any local newspaper because of religious reasons and Pro Max is still at large because of his politics and contempt. But life goes on even if criminals have cranked it up two notches and Martin Joseph has graced our TV screens with an image of confident cluelessness. Still, I find it hard to dislike Martin Joseph since my ridiculously happy childhood prevents me from hating a clown. I can laugh at a clown, I can run from a clown, and I can even kick a clown in its balls if necessary but I cannot hate a clown.  But Martin is not responsible for crime in the country and he is only responsible for admitting in public what the murder toll is. Outside of that public reporting function, Mr. Joseph has very little to do except to make sure criminal deportees are welcomed, the latest crime plan goes to waste in cabinet, and that there is enough helium for the blimp to float in the sky.

To make matters ridiculous, there are reports appearing in the Guardian today that says a Jamaican hit man was hired to assassinate a senior police officer. Putting a hit on anyone is disgusting but with the Chinese already getting jobs ahead of locals at Alutrint and there is now a threat that the hit man industry may go Jamaican, I see another protest brewing. What is wrong with our local snipers? Haven’t they been doing a good job for years? Why take out a hit on a police officer since police officers have very little involvement in solving any crime? Is that our 2020 vision? Is the importation of Jamaican criminal talent any way to develop our local crime industry? This is wrong for the country and even someone like Pro Max could see this.

Another Thought:

A senior police officer says the multimillion dollar CCTV cameras installed to protect Summit leaders are still working and as soon as any camera stops working there is an alarm at the Command Center causing a technician to be immediately dispatched to fix the delinquent camera. We await the images from these working cameras showing when the driver of the truck  near the Maloney intersection was hijacked and murdered in daylight, close to a CCTV camera. I wonder if the criminals know more about the CCTV system than the senior police officers? Just wondering.

This Blog Supports Kevin Baldeosingh

This blog supports Kevin Baldeosingh because this blog…

• …believes in integrity
• …is against hypocrisy
• …supports people of intelligence and honesty
• …is against cover ups, regardless of imaginary heavenly or social affiliation
• …is against any newspaper that tried to hide vital truths from the public since that newspaper’s opinions are now tarnished beyond shine
• …understands people who hide vital truths from the public is part of the real problem
• …understands that hiding the truth doesn’t create integrity
• …is disappointed that a newspaper has stooped so low

As a result, this blog has decided to not buy any newspaper that has supported people without integrity, especially newspapers that fire those with.

‘Whistle-blower’ fired

The Firing of a Journalist or The Cover up

I have been toying with ideas for a short story but haven’t been able to come up with many plots. I am new to short stories and only know about blog post, which is a type of writing that is inherently bad, in my case.

However, sometimes ideas hit you when you least expect it, like when looking for something to read in a newspaper that was once interesting and credible. At least that newspaper gave me an idea for a short story which might be called The Firing of a Journalist, or The Cover Up. I might even call it The Plagiarist:

Idea and for a short story – take 1:

An exceptionally talented and brilliant journalist of a popular daily newspaper discovers that a person who is about to be appointed a member of a commission to oversee integrity in a corrupt, banana republic is a serial plagiarist. The journalist confronts the prospective chairman with the accusation and the accused admits to plagiarizing – mainly because the evidence was very strong.  The accuser still goes ahead and accepts the post of chairman claiming he told his appointer about the plagiarizing and his appointer said “no big thing.”

The journalist realizes something is amiss and decides to go public with the information. For rather strange reasons, the owners of the newspaper the journalist works for warn the journalist about going public and threaten the journalist with dismissal or something similar. The journalist, a man of genuine integrity, refuses to keep silent because he understands the consequences of this silence, and a rival newspaper breaks the plagiarizing news. The public is horrified that such a person of high public standing can be appointed to a commission of integrity despite his appointer knowing about the plagiarism. The newly appointed chairman resigns a few days after his appointment citing some vague law and conveniently not the plagiarism. The journalist is dismissed by his employers because of his integrity. The public likens the newspaper to being pro-corruption, pro-bullying, pro-clique, pro-hypocrite.

Disclaimer:

Any resemblance of the above plot to actual events in any country is purely, and even sadly, coincidental.

The New Integrity Commission Fiasco in Trinidad and Tobago

Plagiarism – is the “use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work.” Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary,

Integrity – One needs to be honest to have integrity – aka_lol

—

Somehow I don’t feel a self-confessed, under-pressure, serial plagiarist should be allowed to even come within 1000-feet of a member of the Integrity Commission much less chair it. What makes the matter most horrible for The Father, and the country is that he is a Father which requires him to be more honest than even a PM.

Now Pro Max was under pressure from both the Drunken, Proven-Corrupt Opposition and the Assumed-Corrupt Ruling Party to appoint honest members to The Commission and choosing a famous Father might have been an easy choice. But maybe Pro Max has not lived in this world long enough to realize that there is nothing about being a Father which makes someone more honest than, say, a Central PH taxi driver. Also, maybe Pro Max never expected an appointed member to tell the public the truth about what position he was promised on the board. Pro Max should have realized the consequences of plagiarism since he is from the academic field where plagiarism is well known. So when a prospective appointee to the Integrity Commission admits his bouts of dishonesty to the Prez then the Prez should have taken the appropriate action – I don’t think that wining and dancing as appropriate for this case.

Maybe, unlike the ex-Judge, the Father met Pro Max’s strict political requirement. Maybe The Father has more Integrity than the Prez himself, which doesn’t say much. If Kevin Baldeosingh didn’t point out the plagiarism to The Father would he have confessed? That is the big question but the answer seems horribly obvious. And as Kevin Baldeosingh said “I found the apology unconvincing and I would have let the matter  rest there, except I am now wondering what will happen when, as chairman of The Integrity Commission, Mr. Charles, finds himself under pressures rather more intense that writing a weekly newspaper column.”  Please note the inverted commas and thus no plagiarism.

The Father seems to be our local Stephen Glass – a disgraced columnist.

The only difference between a fishmonger and a man of the cloth is that nobody expects the fishmonger to be honest.

So the new Integrity Commission is even worse than the last and somehow I don’t think people are surprised given the recent track record of the Justice and the Integrity systems in Trinidad and Tobago. We are going from bad to off the cliff and we don’t even know we just hit a big Julie mango tree and are about to burst into flames.

The Soloist – A True Story

The Soloist, starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. is based on a remarkable and true story about Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a musician who was considered one of the most talented students to  attend the Julliard School of Music and who became schizophrenic.  At age twenty-one Ayres was attending Julliard School of Music when he suffered what appeared to be a nervous breakdown and ended up institutionalized and then homeless.

In the movie Robert Downey Jr. plays the role of Steve Lopez, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times who discovers and writes about Nathaniel Ayers for the LA Times. The Soloist moved from true story, to newspaper column, to book, to hopefully, a great movie. It’s a movie about mental illness, friendship and compassion. I predict The Soloist will be a touching and inspirational movie to all who need a less explosive life around April 24^th, 2009, the new scheduled opening date.

Click here to see a video of the real Nathaniel Anthony Ayers and the real Steve Lopez

Yes, Prime Minister

Dear Mr. Editor,

I recently read in one of your editorials that you, a simple lowly editor, want me, The Prime Minister of a much too tolerant Nation, to fire the Minister of National Security because the crime wave is worse than I planned. You obviously thought, by putting your Editorial on the front page of your well-circulated newspaper, I would be horrified into action. Obviously, you have no idea who you are dealing with.

Let me be honest for a change. I hope nobody in this country truly believes there is a serious crime problem and though the murder rate is already one of the highest per capita in the world, I think we should build another hotel to accommodate tourist who may want to see us break the record. Yes, yes, people write letters to all the newspapers and call in to various radio and TV programs complaining about police incompetence and indifference. But it is because the economy is doing well these people have all the free time to listen to talk shows and pay high telephone rates, especially for mobile to landlines. Sometimes I can’t believe the bills I get. Anyway, people have been going on and on about how they can’t sleep well at night worrying about bandits kicking in their doors, kidnapping a family member, stealing their cars or even being shot by stray bullets from the untold guns that are coming in with drug shipments and police stations. What am I to do if these people can’t control their fears and anxieties? Maybe it’s time they seek psychiatric treatment from one of our mental institutions. How would firing the Minister of National Security help them with their mental disorders? Maybe I should fire the Minister of Health….eh?

Let’s move on. By now I am sure you have figured out that I am an arrogant and vindictive man with dictatorial tendencies and I love tall buildings even more than my wife. Anybody would love a tall building more than my wife but that’s another story. No pun intended. And these are my good qualities but your editorial made it sound like this is Gotham City and I am an Idiot. I do suppose you are basing this on actual crime statistics and my IQ scores. For obvious reasons, I think intelligence is highly overrated and you are simply making a mountain from another mountain. The tone of your editorial was one of blaming me for crime but I want to assure you I have a good alibi for most of the crimes reported over the last few years. Your editorial tried to embarrass me both locally and internationally but I am not easily embarrassed. As proof, just listen to how many times I say “Ladies and Gentlemen” in my speeches and even while whispering sweet nothings in my wife’s ear.

Maybe your editorial is part of a wider plan to unseat my Government in order to save the country but I can assure you and other caring citizens that members of this government have used Krazy Glue II to stick our collective butts to the seats of power and besides, why is saving the country so darn important to begin with. Is the country some type of environment or polar bear? It would take more than an out of control crime wave, starving citizens, useless hospitals, corrupt policemen, rampant corruption, the wastage of billions, and an unfinished tsunami shelter to get me on the next private jet outta here.

As you are well aware, I have not only purged my government of all its intelligence but I have surrounded myself by the biggest bunch of arrogant fools the country has ever seen. I have fun seeing them squirm when they see a reporter. Do you enjoy that too? The idiots are trying so hard to sound bright and gratify their lord and master, moi. What you keep forgetting is that without intelligence my Government could ramble on forever and that is what we intend to do. With the current opposition, we may ramble beyond that.

In conclusion, I have to say I would not be firing the Minister because a better scapegoat there never was. I would agree if you said The Minister sounds like a stuck CD or that he is from a different planet. Do you know how many times the Minister threw his hands up in frustration and said “Lord, help me!” and I had to schedule an appointment to see him. The bloke is trying but I won’t allow him to stop the government from funding your criminals, aka my supporters. What I am trying to say is that crime is a government thing and we love what we are doing.

Hugs and Kisses,

Your PM

The Writer

The writer twiddled the pen over the blank sheet of paper for over an hour as his thoughts flowed right out the window, completely bypassing the pen. Maybe he should close the window.

He was in the twilight of his life and all he had to show for it were three-dozen successful books and a goatee. It was true the books were highly regarded and not the goatee but that’s how it was with goatees. It was also true he won the most prestigious awards for his works, but despite his successes he had this empty feeling deep down inside, and a little to the left. He thought it might be those damn mixed feelings again.

The local University was honoring him for his lifetime achievements and he wondered if they were going to serve phoulorie. It was not a Pakistani dish. He liked the speeches and tried not to fall asleep. Some of the best minds in the land were invited to ask him questions about his work so he pretended the sound system was acting up. But the public wasn’t fooled; it was a DJ Lallo system. The next day they forced him to wear a suit and sit in a hot room with three hundred exam-ready teenagers with zits. The teens asked him questions about the easy way to success and he told them go blog themselves. The press smelled blood but all he smelt was gas. That was when the effigy burning began. He even bought two to take back home.

For all his life there were only a few moments he ever wanted to give the young ones stock tips like do your homework, obey your parents, floss daily, find out who your father really is, but those moments had long since disappeared together with his once-prized Theroux’s inscribed first editions. In his opinion, if there was one thing the young ones needed, apart from a good pimple cream, was an early introduction to recognizing good books by their covers. If you want to fake intelligence you might as well go all the way, he chuckled.

–

Maybe it was his age or maybe it was the Johnny Walker, but she looked too good that day. He remembered his friends telling him she didn’t deserve him and he was better off with the scotch. He should have listened. Like all wives of celebrities, she became the object of insults and not just from him but the public. She created quite a stir and it felt odd reviewers now reviewed his wife as much as his books. They even speculated on the current state of his sex life and he didn’t like the intrusion one bit. His wife didn’t like his either. The writer felt his bed life was his private life, or as someone once said, the life of his privates.

She became the shadow he didn’t want and he became the bank account she never had. He wrote, analyzed, lectured, and signed only new books. She sniffed them for age, the books, that is. He was honored for his work. She acted like it was hers. He remembered thinking how a writer’s life was so difficult and how a writer’s wife could be so easy. But he was old, and needed someone to help him be obnoxious when he was tired. That is what they liked about him and that is what they hated about her. She was just what the PR people might have ordered to keep his audience curious between books.

The writer longed to return to his homeland since it was where it all began, and where the honorarium was good. With his enormous success in the literary world he didn’t need any more honors, but at his age, he needed to let people know he was still alive. And this he did, so they wrote about him in the newspapers everyday. He could tell they had mixed feeling about him so he ordered mixed drinks and wore shorts by the pool. It wasn’t a pleasant sight.

—

He sat in his first-class seat and pretended not to notice the flight attendant bending over just enough to make him happy to be alive. Then he looked across at his wife and wondered if they loaded all his baggage. Losing baggage is not always a bad thing, he thought. In a strange way it was sad to leave but he was taking back with him memories of a place he should never forget and a few little bottles of shampoo. It kept his goatee soft and manageable. The plane was delayed for only half an hour, but at least it gave him more time to figure out how to insert the metal flap into the buckle. He was tired. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and passionately squeezed her hand. She squeezed back as lovingly as any flight attendant could, considering how close his wife was. But she didn’t notice; she never does.

The plane took off and he rocked his seat back. The writer was happy for the first time since he was last happy. He was about to start a new chapter in his life.

THE END