What's So Funny?
Russell Gayer, author speaker
BIG Time
On my way home yesterday, I received a blessing (and I’m not even Catholic). A man driving a flat-bed truck had lost a rear wheel in the middle of Don Tyson Parkway. I stopped to see if I could be of any assistance, but two young black men had already arrived to save the day.
These guys were wearing baggy pants, hoodies, and sunglasses—not your typical angel attire—but I’m sure to the guy needing help they appeared to swoop down from heaven on folded wings bearing lug wrenches of gold. The miracle was seeing this happen in a city that was a “Sundown Town*” during my childhood. Maybe there’s hope for the human race after all.
If this is your first visit to Friday Flash Fiction, our resident angel (who never worked for Charlie) is Sabrina Duncan Wisoff-Fields. To learn how to participate in this weekly exercise in madness, head over to her blog for instructions. To rent a box in the writers in FFF Hollywood Squares Authors Block, click here.
PHOTO PROMPT © Jennifer Pendergast
A Tale of Two Dawns
“Well, hello,” said the brunette. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
The redhead grinned. “You don’t think we’ve been set up, do you?”
“It looks that way.” The brunette smiled and repositioned her sunglasses atop of her head.
“What did he promise you?”
“He said he’d been having lingering visions. Appearing here would introduce a new audience to my writing. I’d hit the BIG Time.”
“Pretty much the same line he fed me. Kept repeating tales from the motherland and insisted I click the clown’s nose.”
“I can’t believe he used us like this.”
“Oh, he’ll pay—BIG Time.”
* Sundown Town refers to signs that were posted stating that colored people had to leave the town by sundown.
35 Comments on “BIG Time”
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What's So Funny? 
Clever way of expanding your wordcount. The story is bigger on the inside than the outside
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What a nice thing to say. Thank you, Neil.
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Dear Charlie,
Angels come in many sizes, shapes and colors, don’t they? As for your story, the light is Dawning on the horizon. I’ll click the clown’s nose but I’m not returning his joy buzzer.
Shalom,
Sabrina Duncan
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Dear Sabrina Duncan,
One morning it Dawned on me that I hadn’t paid proper tribute to a couple of long-time Fictioneers and frequent visitors to this blog. I suspect I’ll be receiving calls from both their agents soon.
You may have the joy buzzer, but I still have the whoopee cushion. See you at the next OWL meeting.
Charlie
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I was on my early 20s the first time I saw the phrase “Sundown Town” stuck to a gas station door. I was driving from the School of Infantry, in North Carolina, to West Virginia, to teach a small mortars workshop. I didn’t know what the sign meant, but those with me did… and were ashamed. That was almost two decades ago, and the memory of it still leaves me nauseated. After reading your starting note, I wondered if the sign is still there. I’m hoping not. But with the way things are at the moment in our country, I can’t help fearing that the prejudice might’ve just been transferred to a different group.
And about the story, I suspect he’ll pay HUGELY.
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Even as a small boy, I remember being embarrassed by the signs. My father told me a story about watching black men pave the first street in Springdale. In his words, “The city was fine with letting them come in and do the hot, hard work (hand tamping the asphalt), but they weren’t about to let them spend the night.” LIke you, I worry that we may lose some of the ground it took so long to gain with the Party of Fear & Hate in charge.
It will be interesting to see how the two Dawns respond to my story. I may become a villain or victim in a future blog post somewhere. 🙂
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“…hand tamping the asphalt” in the heat. I had to repeat that. What an image.
I, too, am curious to see the response of the Dawns. HUGE payment, I tell you. 😀
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I think the Dawns will get a hoot out of this one… Not like you accused them of writing typos and such…
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That’s one of the things we love about you, Dale. You’re genuine, you’re real. Sure, you leave an occasional typo for us to catch, but we all know you do it just to make us feel better about our own errors. And you have such a great sense of humor.
Besides, now that Perry’s on hiatus who am I going to pick on?
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Interesting about ‘Sundown Town’. I hadn’t known about that.
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Yes, a sad and shameful time in our country.
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Full of puns and funs!
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I tried to mix the big clock in there. Glad you enjoyed it.
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Yep, saw that. You made so full of life!
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Great reading, thanks. It made me think about my own past,
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Thanks. I assume you’re referring to the Sundown Town phrase. A sad chapter in our history.
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i think they’d be amazed to be part of this story. 🙂
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I don’t know about amazed, but at least they got linked.
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Ha! I imagine the Dawns’ revenge will be epic, yet all in good fun.
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Yes, I do hope they’ll stop by and read the post.
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I guess he’ll get his just desserts. I wondered if you were heading down the Jack Nicholson route with his three witches 🙂
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I loved that movie. Great humor.
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interesting
http://obliqview.blogspot.in/2017/03/tyranny-of-watch-wake-up-said-watch.html
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I’ll take interesting any day.
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It just dawned upon me that this is like painting a big X on your forehead and asking to be hunted. A case of a who-dawn-it.
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Ha! A who dawned it mystery, no doubt.
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I think your Dawn story will be the dusk of you 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Who knows. They may tie me up and tickle me with a feather duster.
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Beware the dawns of March is a saying isn’t it? Well it is now. Thanks for informing me about sundown, I’m always amazed at the things that went on, too cocooned I suppose. I hope we’re not heading back that way.
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The Dawns of March, sort of like the March of Dawns only without the annual fundraiser drive.
According to our new president, it’s a great time to be a rich, white male in America again.
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I’d like to welcome all your followers to my blog. I’m nowhere near as funny but I hope that I am as compassionate and generous as you. That would be a blessing!
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The number at the top says I have 577 followers, but a large percentage of those are websites offering male enhancement nutritional supplements. I don’t know who blabbed and told them I needed help, but evidently, it’s common knowledge now.
I do hope that someone who reads this blog will hop over to your site and read your work. I’ve been reading you weekly for at least three years now and have watched you grow in the craft. Your writing continues to get better, stronger, and more concise as attested and confirmed by your recent publication. YOU are a blessing to the reader.
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Awww,,, Russell, thank you 🙂
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What fun to see the Dawns be part of your story. And I loved the intro.
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Thanks, Gabi. It was inspiring watching people help others without regard to race, religion, or other discriminatory factors. In fact, it made my day.
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