Entropy Short part 2

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Entropy Short

Markus Two Coats fumbled with the double wafer lock, a simple enough design, but it was not turning out to be his best day and the thing was giving him more trouble than its complexity warranted.  

Losing my touch, hand is unsteady.

He took a sip from his hip flask to calm his nerves, but by then it’s half empty, and nothing seems to be cutting the edge off.  His hands felt clumsy and inefficient, the steel of the picks cold against his even colder hands refusing to give him the familiar feedback that guides such delicate operations. Could also be the smell of puke and piss that pervades the stoop that is throwing his game, this particular street being behind several clubs and art houses it came with a certain ambiance.   In the end it’s just persistence and a poor lock that gets him through the door and he pulls it open to reveal a small vestibule leading to stairs going up.   

The Woman in Green was here, of that he was sure of.  The black Lincoln was parked directly in front, tinted windows and vanity B-MAJIK plates, it screamed for attention.  Whoever these guys were, their game was intimidation and not subterfuge.   When she had gotten in the car they both got out to escort her, and both screamed high end thug with smart silk suits too tight over muscled figures.  Markus knew the best outcome of running into them square would be his ass thrown back into the pools of piss outside, and far worse outcomes were highly probable.  

Come on Markus, the client wasn’t even paying you for this.  What the hell are you doing?  

But there was something about that first look he had of her, face in the window, that told a story he could not let go of.  Pain there, and the kind of loss that triggered a part of himself that he sometimes thought gone forever.  For a moment, he actually gave a shit, and if he let that go then he might as well just keep drinking until he never woke up.  

Speaking of, he took another pull, just in case they do throw me down the stairs, being a little drunk will sure help.

Any excuse really would do, but in this case, he figured he might be on the mark.  To add to the picture he slipped a little of the whisky onto this shirt, and smeared it with his hand down the perpetual stubble of his chin.  

The stairs were an open affair, with intricately designed metal balusters supporting a smooth oak handrail that curved elegantly up into a darkness only cut by a single sconce near a red door on the level above.  Markus could hear soft music from the door as he ascended, a violin, or perhaps a viola as it did not cut, but rather gave the impression of flowers.

Yes, a viola, but I don’t recognize the song, Markus thought as he pulled the door lightly open to reveal a smokey private club; the kind he used to be welcomed to in nights gone by.  The set up here was typical, but well done:  center stage, long curved bar, tables near the dance floor for those who want to be seen, booths in the back for those who don’t.  It was too early for the place to be hopping, only a couple tables occupied, and none by who he was looking for.  These types don’t really get moving until after midnight and the sun had hit the sea less than an hour past.   

Explains the viola, it’s just a sound check.   

Markus gave the musician a nod like he knew him, he did not, and walked to the bar as naturally drawn as any fish to water.  Tender was still polishing but willing to serve.  

Maybe my luck is turning, it’s a whisky bar!  At least I know what to order. 

“Yamazaki, neat and a glass of ice water”, Markus leaned slightly on the bar.  Even if he was going a bit out of bounds, the client was paying him to keep an eye on her, and expenses were part of the game.  

“Tab?”

“Yes, please.”  It was the kind of place that did not take credit cards, nor ask how or if you could pay.   The way they operated, everyone would eventually pay, so why worry on the front end? “Hey, I am looking for a friend of mine: real looker said she’d be wearing green dress, answers to the name Cindy.”  

“Green dress? Black hair?”

“Yeah naturally, but she’s dyed it almost white.. Can’t miss her.” 

The tender places the whisky, neat, with a clean and precise movement with one hand, while pocketing the hundred dollar bill with his other.  

“Haven’t seen her.  It’s early, just wait around and enjoy.  The band starts the practice set in about twenty.” 

The tender rapped his hands three times on the bar and gave a nod toward the back.  Markus sipped his whisky, the single glass worth more than several bottles of his usual go-to, then used the cold water to clear his throat and mind.  Could be that she was just having a night out with some very intimidating friends, and him walking into that, was gonna get his cover blown for no gain whatsoever.  The job was to watch her, and gather evidence.  What evidence had not been discussed, as it’s always the same thing:  Who is she sleeping with?   But Markus was beginning to suspect this was something quite different.  

The first clue was how she had returned to her apartment earlier in the night, by seemingly stepping through a hole in the air.  He would not have believed even himself, if he had not caught it on camera and reviewed it now a dozen times.  

Which means I already have the evidence.  So what am I doing here?   Save the girl, become the Hero?  Hell, I have not been in shape for that sort of thing for years.  Just drink the damn whisky and get out of here.

Markus found himself walking toward the back of the joint, taking the whisky and leaving the water as he wove between the tables, swaying a bit to the groove of the music.  

Into the lion’s den with a whisky and a smile.  Not a bad epitaph.

Third booth, and was occupied, from the back he could just make out a black leather shoe, expensive and probably italian, extending into the isle.  Just enough for Markus to stumble over, catch himself clumsily, and then come down hard, grinding his boot into the other man’s toes. It should have worked so beautifully.  Another good epitaph, damn it!

Magic you see, was not a thing that Markus had taken into consideration, despite the evidence already gathered to that effect of its existence. Even then,  the application of it here seemed unnecessary to him, as both were young strong men, probably with weapons, and should not have had to resort to any extraordinary means to rid themselves of a whisky drinker pushing 50.  His miscalculation was in thinking that Magic was something to be held back in reserve.  But these two were driven by it, even obsessed with it, and would take any excuse to use it.

What happened went a bit like this:  Markus tripped over the foot, then came down with his healonly to see the thug’s foot fold away like a retracting origami snake.  

Impossible, his brain screamed.  

Behind him he heard the scraping of chairs as the club patrons rose from their tables.  Before him the two suited hard men rose in unison with the sound, sliding out of the booth with practiced ease. There was no Woman in Green. 

Set up, the whole place is a fly trap set with honey.  

Markus Two Coats was faced with the inevitable, like a plane falling to the sea, any and all action on his part would lead to the same conclusion. He could only hope it was just a beating, but his instincts were screaming that this was not a crash one survives.   So pray for a miracle?  Laugh and dance one last time?  Scream your defiance into the coming night?  

Markus raised his glass and drained the last of the Yamazaki.  It was the best last drink he could have asked for.  

……….

The Woman in Green dropped to her knees quick as a dancer and scooped up the very confused looking bird.  She loved it at first sight, with its gleaming feathers that caught the morning light, shimmering green to purple depending upon the angle of incidence.  

“Poor thing!  You can’t even fly yet… but you will.”  

She set the bird down softly on her lap as it cried in little gasps, holding it to calm its racing heart and murmuring, “It’s ok, it’s ok, rest now… it’s going to be just fine.”

I really do love how his plumage changes with the light, almost like he has two completely different coats.  

Entropy Short

This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series Entropy Short


This is an evolving fantasy piece set in a contemporary setting.

Markus Two Coats took a pause from peering through his telephoto lens, to contemplate the life choices that brought him to this dubious point. It was not something he preferred to be doing: If truth were to be faced, it was not the image of himself that he wanted to believe in. But it was a job, and one that he desperately needed to keep himself off the sun baked streets and capable of enjoying some of the few perks of being alive, one of which was kept lovingly in a small flask at his hip pocket.

She wasn’t home, had not been for days, which was just fine by Markus for the sake of his conscience, but not exactly promising in terms of the job. But so far, the client had not offered a single complaint or critique of his progress.

Watch her apartment, if anything happens get me evidence.

Vague, more than slightly ominous, and one hundred percent stalker.

I really need to examine my life choices, Markus nursed a little from the bottle, trying to keep himself back from what he really wanted to do. At least the night is looking to be beautiful.

And it was. A casual observer might forgive him his camera, and suspect in him the romance of the photographer, seeking to capture the soul of a singular moment of darkness stung with light. Below him ran a long canal into a distant sea, over which slowly dipped a waxing red moon, pureness cut by the haze of water vapor and ambient city smog from the hot day now thankfully cooling into night.

The apartment attached to the balcony where he now both worked and lived was more extravagant than his want, but paid for by the client, and afforded the most excellent view into the 3rd floor suite of his target. Behind and surrounding the apartment was a dark stucco building with obvious Spanish influence in its lofty windows and open plazas overfull with tropical plants and cooling pools. He had seen almost none of it in the week since he moved in, having ordered in for nearly every meal, only pausing in his surveillance to run to the corner store for snacks and overpriced whisky.

Markus scratched at his neck, needing a shave and a shower to cleanse himself of the day.

And this job. If only hot water and soap could do that. No way she will be back tonight anyway, a beautiful woman in such a stunning evening has better things to do than sit around her apartment drinking alone. Still, better set the camera to record.

It was by this means that he did not miss her arrival, though he failed to witness it in person. On his return to the balcony, refreshed and once more clean shaven, he was surprised and chagrined to see the lights on and the apartment occupied and quickly works the camera back to make sure that after all of this, he managed to not botch the job. He cannot tell if his luck has changed for the better or worse, as the the 5 minutes footage reveals a strange shift as if the camera shutter faulted, before a darkly handsome woman in a green dress steps into the apartment, as if from the thinnest of air.

Camera’s broken? Never seen anything like that happen before.

The curtains, left open while she was away, were now drawn so he continued to review the footage more carefully, checking the time code against his watch. There were no discrepancies or errors, the evidence of the camera clear and indisputable, accept for the tiny issue with it being against all common sense and the accepted nature of reality. There must be something I am missing. I have had reality hand me my own ass often enough that I know: when things don’t make sense, it’s usually me that is in error.

Markus Two Coats sighed and let some tension go. The job was still a job, and he had gotten the footage, that was what would pay the bills and keep the client happy. Taking another nip, he settled into the old lawn chair he had brought with him as one of three furnishings in the apartment, matched with a blow up mattress and a small folding table.

Shadows danced on the faded red curtains, but Markus was experienced enough to identify that it was multiple sources of light and one person moving in them, and not multiple people. She was alone and actively moving about the space. Packing?

Back on the camera he zooms in on her face as she comes to the windows to draw the curtain. Yes, she is concerned and maybe frightened. Drawing the curtains was for privacy yes, but specifically because she thinks someone might be watching, and not just a natural propensity for it. The probability that she had made me approaches zero, so something else has got her spooked.

There is something about her eyes as she looks out and down that he cannot ignore. Not only does it tell him she is expecting an arrival, but it tears a little into his heart and makes him want to protect her. Dammit, I drank too much and am getting emotional. Despite this, he takes another nip at the whisky, to calm myself, he convinces no one.

It was, ostensibly, none of his business but perhaps because of his recent moral failures, he wanted to do something to prove himself. Last week, a little drunk, he had donated $50 to a duck preserve and that made him feel better for at least a day. Now, a little drunk, he considered giving his client the finger and helping this woman. It was not a sexual thing: though she was beautiful, his appreciation and concern were almost purely as one human in pain toward another in trouble. The slight impurity was more about who he was actually doing this for, and even he had doubts it was her.

There is only so goddam much I can do in this world

She was an amateur, closing the curtains just meant she could not mark the black Lincoln illegally parking at the entrance to her apartment.

Shady Cat goes to a Party

This entry is part 6 of 10 in the series Shady Cat

Shady Cat goes to a Party

Shady Cat was out on the prowl,

looking for some fun and maybe to find Sun Dog and steal his bone,

which would be very funny.

She jumped over a fence, ran across a shed roof, then down to the ground

where she smelled something very interesting

Yes, there was a cat yowling party planned tonight on the roof of a neighbor’s house!

(Cats leave notes by smell…. by which I mean, they piss on things)

The address was <insert your address here> and she was excited.

So very fun to yowl and screech all night on a neighbors house!

Shay cat ran to the address and sat on the roof and waited.

But no other cats came. Soon the moon came up and darkness fell.

Still no other cats. So Shady cat just howled and cried on her own

“yawwwwwwllll, yyyaaaaaaawwllll!”

Inside the house she heard people yelling something about a cat

This jsut made her yowl even louder.

“YAAAAAWWWWWLLLL! YYYYYYYAAAAAAAWWWWLLL!!! NYA NY NYA!”

This made the humans inside even louder.. they also started screaming things.

Great thought Shady cat, we got a party happening now!

So she yowled and yowled and the humans yelled and yelled.

When she got tired of that she went home.

On the way home she saw a bunch of cats on another house roof yowling and screaming.

Hmmm… must have got the address wrong.

Oh well, Shady cat still had fun. Maybe she will go back tomorrow.

THE END

Shady Cat and Spiky Mouse

This entry is part 5 of 10 in the series Shady Cat

Shady Cat and the Mouse

Shady cat woke up from her afternoon nap

She almost went right back to sleep as the sun was high

and the shade was cool and so very comfortable.

But she heard something rustling and bustling near the old oak tree

What could it be? Shady Cat was curious, and also excited

Could be a bird, a squirrel, or a mouse or rat, or maybe even a rabbit!

She liked to play with all of these squeaky things,

and after playing, she would get so hungry she would gobble them right up!

So Shady Cat jumped to the shade of the tree, as Shady Cats can.

But the sound was not in the tree, it was in the bushes below.

So she jumped to the shade of the bushes, and laid down flat so as not to be seen

There, under the bush, as a big fat and very happy looking Mouse, eating bugs!

Shady Cat was excited! But she kept still her swishing tail

and moved slowly forward.. careful to make no noise!

And she POUNCED! Nyahhhh~! Got you!

In her head she was already throwing the mouse up in the air,

catching and playing, and hearing its cries.

But the mouse suddenly curled up into a ball,

And Shady Cat’s paw hit spikes! Nyah Nyah Nyah!

That hurts! This mouse is covered in spiky spines!

Shady Cat did not like this mouse at all.

So she went inside the house and yelled Nyah Nyah Nyah!

Until someone gave her some love for her hurt and some kibbles for her hungry stomach

But Shady Cat forgot the next day and Spiky Mouse was ready.

THE END

Shady Cat and the Lost Fish

This entry is part 4 of 10 in the series Shady Cat

Shady Cat and the Lost Fish

Shady Cat, you may know, often loses things.

Today when she woke up, her Fish was gone!

She really loved that fish.

She had been saving that Fish to eat, fattening him up every day!

Feeding him Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

But now the bowl was empty,

no matter how she looked, he was not there.

Shady Cat looked all over the house, out in the yard, up and down the street!

But no Fish.

So she went back to the bowl and asked the Frog

Have you seen my Fish?

And the Frog said: “No, I have not seen any Fish.”

“But if you could please feed me now

it’s time for my Breakfast.”

THE END

Shady Cat and Sun Dog

This entry is part 3 of 10 in the series Shady Cat

Shady Cat and Sun Dog

Illustration by Marta Taylor, Instagram @marta.taylor.draws https://martataylordraws.wixsite.com/martataylor

Shady Cat and the Sun Dog

As you certainly know, Shady Cats love the shade on a hot day

But today was very different.

The Sun was high and bright, but there was no shade!

Oh this made Shady Cat very mad.

How could the sun be up, but there be no shade under the tree-

Or under the chair, the bench, the flowers, or table?

She searched low and high, and everything between –

Until she found the problem: Sun Dog was on the roof!

“Sun Dog!” she cried, “Mraww Mraww!”

“If you are here on the roof, that makes two suns!”

“How will I ever get any shade?”

Sun Dog jumped up and down and happy happy happy!

He wagged his tail and said,”Come play with come play with me”

So Shady Cat said,” Sun Dog! Come back at night!”

“Two suns is too much! It’s too hot for me to play.”

“Come back at night and I can play with you!”

So Sun Dog jumped for joy and ran off and Shady Cat got her shade.

She slept all day in the cool shade until night fell.

And then quick as she could, she ran inside the house and hid from Sun Dog.

Because Shady Cats do not like to play with Sun Dogs.

THE END

The Tail of Shady Cat

This entry is part 2 of 10 in the series Shady Cat

shady cat chasing tail

Illustration by Marta Taylor, Instagram @marta.taylor.draws https://martataylordraws.wixsite.com/martataylor

The Tail of Shady Cat

Shady cat woke up one morning and she was missing her tail.

So very said she cried and cried, looking for her precious tail!

How could it be missing she wondered, where could it have gone!

“Nyyahhh nyyahha nyyahhh,” crying was not helping at all

So she stopped crying and thought back to the last place she had seen it

“Right before bed!” she thought to herself.

She surely had it as she remembered curling up with the tail wrapped around her!

Only one place to look: “Someone must have taken it in my dream!”

So Shady Cat curled up, a bit sad sad without her tail, and went back to sleep.

Shady Cats are very good at sleeping and at dreaming

Soon she was snoring and fidgeting her little paws because she was chasing the thief!

It had HER tail on IT’S butt!

So she raced and raced, chasing her tail but no matter how fast she ran, it was always ahead!

If she went faster, it went faster, if she went slower, it went slower.

But Shady Cat did not care, she was not mad or sad anymore! She was having fun!

Just then she heard someone call: “Shady Cat! Food time!”

Shady Cat jumped and ran to get food, her tail swishing happily behind her.

THE END

Shady Cat Series

This entry is part 1 of 10 in the series Shady Cat

Shady CatI started to write out some of the short ‘mitsi’ stories I tell my daughter before bed, which often feature Shady Cat, who has a striking similarity to her cat Hinata. If you don’t know about mitsi, they are basically a type of parable but without the connection to any particular morality. The beauty of a mitsi is they can be as short or long as you want, and you can change them to fit your audience as you go, or even just make the whole thing up on the spot, which is often what I do. You can read a small portion of her adventures in the link on the top the page, but understand these are just an outline- I often change the story midstream and also take cues and ideas from her as she jumps into the story. For instance, Sun Dog; Shady Cat’s nemesis, is entirely her creation- and he will be back for more soon!

Super Violette

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Super Violette

super violette cover

I just finished the first installment of my first ever book: Self published through Amazon mostly to see how the process works and get the work out there in a cheap and accessible way. I plan to continue this book as a web serial on this site, and then bundle it all up into the next book as time and editing allows. I will also post this first book but I think I have to wait 90 days or Amazon might come after me.. It was free to publish but I signed up for some promo deals which gives them an exclusive for a few months.

I don’t think they have to worry too much about losing money! Feel free to contact me directly and I can send you a google doc copy: Its basically a fun romp I wrote over the summer of COVID because I had time and is aimed at 14y+, so YA but has some adjacent issues such as suicide and geopolitics thrown into what is basically a Power adventure fantasy.

art IRL

Welcome!  This is a personal site to gather my portfolio and blog posts about creative arts that I do outside work.  Recently I wrote a book that is now published for kindle, and I will be using this space to blog about the book itself, and upcoming books in the series.