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Putting things in storage
I'm just trying to sort some stuff out in my own mind. There are lots of more interesting things to read on AA. Don't waste your time.
I've recently purchased an N64 and an Odyssey2 and now I'm wondering how to fit them into my existing gaming spaces. The N64 is an easy one, since my wife likes several games on that system. It will be hooked to the TV in the loft. The Odyssey2 poses more of a challenge.
I have no more room for consoles. Both TVs in the game room/library have as many systems hooked to them as space will allow. So my plan is to see how much I like the Odyssey2 and then decide which system to box up and put in the basement. At this point, it seems most likely that it will be the 7800. That's the system I play the least frequently.
Still, I'd like to find some way to avoid boxing up any system. It seems a waste to do that.
On the other hand, I feel it's a waste to even own systems that I don't play more than once or twice a year. That would include the 7800, the Lynx, the NES, and the SNES. The Genesis and Turbografx don't get much play either. Nor does the Jaguar. When it comes down to it, I'm really a pre-crash gamer.
But I'm also a battle-scarred veteran of videogame collecting, and I know that chances are good that I'll regret getting rid of any system. In the 90s, I had most of the systems I have now. Then I ran out of space, found that I wasn't playing them, and got rid of most of my collection. Then about 8 or 9 years ago, I started buying it all up again (we'd moved to a new house and had settled in by then).
So most likely I'll put the 7800 in the basement, perhaps along with one or two other systems. Then I'll have to give them a few years, and see if I have the urge to bring them back upstairs. If not, then maybe it'll be time to sell them.
That's my current thinking on the subject, anyway.
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Knock Knock on the Door!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XgdpQooAWk
Remembered hearing this on 8 track in 1979 today and had to look it up
AX
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Snake (2600)
It's been a while since I posted anything here, so I thought I'd share a mini game I was working on recently. It's a simple clone of the popular game Snake. Every 30 points, a new round starts with an increased snake speed. I still need to add sound effects and change the color of the score, otherwise it's pretty much done.
I originally planed to release a multicart that included Adventure 1K, Assembly Line, Pong 256 bytes, RAM Combat, and RAM Helicopter but decided that Pong and the RAM games were not good enough to release. I already had a menu system all done with some cool title screen music, so I decided to remove those games and come up with a game to put in place of the others with the ~700 bytes I had freed up. I have about 100 bytes to play around with still, so if you have suggestions, let me know! I will probably do a small release in the future of the new multicart, which will include Adventure 1K, Assembly Line, and Snake.
Here is the ROM, let me know what you think! Merry Christmas and happy new year!
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My Early Playstation 3 Games
As I wrote in my last entry, I recently decided to get a Playstation 3...partly because a new gaming system interested me but mostly because it gave me a Blu-ray player. I've already bought a half-dozen Blu-ray titles with another 7 coming via the mail soon. But I have 3 PS3 games now...with anaother on the way as well. So here are my first 4 games for the Playstation 3...
Red Dead Redemption--I also mentioned in my last entry that this could be my first game for the PS3 and it was indeed. I have only played this for a few minutes (lots of stuff going on)...I arrived in town, took a horse ride to an abandoned fort where my bad brother had taken it over...and then my cat brushed against my system, pulling the cord out of the wall. Bad cat! But I enjoyed what I saw and I plan to get back to this game very soon.
The next two games were Christmas presents from my nephew Derek...
Bioshock
LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Bioshock becomes my first "Greatest Hits" title for the PS3...wow, that didn't take long! I haven't been reading gaming mags in a couple of years so I'm not sure what this game is all about. I have a couple other LEGO games...one of Star Wars (on the Xbox) and one of Batman (PS2) so I have an idea on what to expect.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is the game I recently put in an order that also included a couple Blu-ray titles. I have heard from several people that this is the best Batman game yet...of course, some would call that faint praise since most feel most of the Batman video games to date have pretty much sucked...though there are a couple I have enjoyed playing (mostly on the SNES). This game must have come out awhile ago since it only cost me about $22. And a sequel is already on the way.
So what will be PS3 Game #3? I'm not really sure but it's taken all my resistance to keep from buying MLB: The Show 2010. I love baseball and I want to play it on this system, but it doesn't seem to make sense to get this game since the 2011 edition will probably be out in just 3 more months or so. But I will have at least 4 other games to keep me busy until that time.
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Latest Entry
BERNIK VOICE SYNT. FROM 1986
I HAD THIS ITEM TOGETHER WITH MY LAST LOT OF ATARI ITEMS BUT I`M NOT ABLE TO FIND ANY NEWS ON THE NET ,NOTHING AT ALL...NO PICTURES ,NO NEWS FROM THE COMPANY WHO`S MADE THE ITEM...WELL I`M WONDERING TO KNOWN IF SOMEONE KNOWN MORE THAN GOOGLE!!!!!!
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2600 Homebrew Author Impromptu Gathering
Wow, just through sheer good fortune I got to meet in person with cd_w. Since vdub_bobby is close by, the three of of us got together last night to talk shop and have a beer. :-)
cd_w on the left and vdub_bobby on the right. Chris was visiting Seattle and just happened to be doing work at my company. Through some small talk about homebrew he found out that I was there. It's a games company and he was a little surprised to find me there.
I have now met in person almost every person who I've collaborated with on various 2600 projects. I almost met Tommy in Portland but in that case bad fortune somehow kept us in different areas of the show over the course of two days. Seems impossible but it happened. :-)
Hey guys, that was a lot of fun! It may have been the beer but I agreed to help vdub_bobby with RPS and I think also vowed to help cd_w with his projects as well. :-)
Cheers!
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Reworked FOD title screen -- courtesy of tokumaru
tokumaru was kind enough to inject my title screen concept with steroids
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Bifröst is finished
I'm calling Bifröst complete (see Homebrew forum). I know it's a simple little game, but I'm quite pleased with it. Doing something completely in asm has been my long term goal since I joined AA back in '05. And of course I'm proud of everything I've done along the way.
Time to take a sabbatical I think.
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Latest Entry
Geo-wars atari 2600 XD
I'm a big fan of the game on the wii, i thought, hey a port of this downgraded on the atari 2600 would be pretty Awesome,so today i began drawing the sprites, game label and started on the programming for the game XD
heres the Label art for the title. hope you Geo fans out their enjoy this when i finish it and cart it XD
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Well geeze... it's been awhile.
I'd like to apologize for neglecting this blog, which I thought would become more of an ongoing thing. I see that my last post was around November '08, which is around the time I started a new job. I'm still employed with the same company, though now I'm up in the strange (not so), exotic (still not so) land of Alaska.
I've been active on a few other sites as of late, so I thought I'd pop back on AtariAge in order to see if I can pick this up again. Maybe an entry here and there, possibly a forum post or two if I find time. Ugh, so many games to play these days and there's never enough time.
As for my general game collection, it's currently soaring. I haven't been able to find as many Atari games as I'd like, but in total I have about 500-600 games from different systems. Not the most impressive amount in the world, but I like to think it's pretty significant. Hopefully I can get reacquainted with some of you folks in the next few weeks, I remember everyone being so nice when I first came around - including a neat lil' logo from Random Terrain
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Mirror's Edge finished
It's rare but it happens. Sometimes I actually complete games. This actually happens much less than it should, so the list of games completed is probably something I can list off the top of my head. (Though with my memory, maybe not.)
Granted, Mirror's Edge is a short game. Only nine chapters, so really all that's needed is some determination and intent. Plus I played on easy. So really it's not the completing of the game that's the amazing part, it's the fact that I actually played a game like this at all that is the miracle.
I hate action games and FPS. Just can't do them without getting nervous, and I don't really know why. A lot of the time I'm sure that someone is going to sneak up behind me or pop out from around the corner. Part of the reason I started playing Mirror's Edge is because it seemed like other games out now with beautiful graphics and good action, but not FPS.
But there are parts where it did become a FPS. Sure, the first time I over came my fear of the SWAT guys and took out a whole team, I was flying high that morning. "Look at me go!" I thought. But then as the levels progressed, I got over that. By the time I was on the last chapter and taking things out with the sniper rifle, I was a nervous wreck and I was done. Towards the end, I'd only play in quick bursts because I'd end up getting too nervous and need to hide under blankets. Or curse profusely. (Poor cats and their innocent ears.)
But now that I've completed the game, some part of me thinks it's ready to go back. It seems to think that shooting things was kinda fun and that with a little practice, it could get better and be more awesome.
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We bought the new cable to hook it up to the newer tvs.. it works and all 7 games do too
-Smurfs : The rescue of gargmels castle
-E.T
-Asteroids
-Space invaders
-Star raiders
-Combat
-Pac Man
Each game is probably worth 20-50 dollars
I am starting my price at 900. Or best offer. Please Email me if you are interested otowndreamer06@aol.com I also have pictures of it so if you need to see them ask me in the email and ill send them. thanks
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Latest Entry
Atari 2600 game list. (not in alphabetical order.)
1.Swordquest Earthworld
2.Dragster
3.Combat(x2)
4.Video pinball
5.Video chess
6.Kangaroo
7.RealSports volleyball
8.Kaboom
9.Tank-plus
10.Super breakout
11.Pac-man
12.Midnight magic
13.Super challenge football
14.Keystone kapers
15.Pong sports
16.Fishing derby
17.Maze craze
18.Street racer
19.Berzerk
20.Chopper command
21.Asteroids
22.Bowling
23.Mega force
24.Astroblast
25.Sky jinks
26.MegaMania
27.Football
28.Breakaway IV
29.Pitfall
30.Galaxian
31.Defender
32.Crystal castle
33.Circus atari
34.Surround
35.Demons to diamonds
36.Dark cavern
37.Pigs in space
38.Donkey Kong(x2)
39.Roc'n rope
40.Frogger
41.Amidar
42.Casino
43.Freeway
44.River raid
45.Space attack
46.Cosmic ark
47.Ms.pac-man
48.Yars' revenge
49.Mouse trap
50.Advenure
51.Haunted house
52.E.T
53.Phoenix
54.Mario bros
55.Space invaders
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Hidden "treasures"
EB Games was famous for taking trade-ins (at usually sucky prices for mad markups later) and a big trade-in item was the Playstation 2. As many know, there was a space inside to put a hard drive. After one particular experience where the customer asked for the system back for a moment, opened the door on the back and grabbed something out of it, I made the crew start opening the door to check for anything we probably would not want other customers to have before resale. Here is the top ten list in no particular order.
1. new condoms
2. used condom (we all skeezed on that one and refused to take the system. The person called the corporate office and they said he was sick. We laughed.)
3. 2oz bag of pot (and they came running back next day)
4. small bag of cocaine (never came back. We sent that crap down the toilet)
5. $1000 in cash (Them I called and they came in and gave me $100 of it for my honesty, which then I distributed amongst the crew...they made sucky wages so why not)
6. pictures of a naked woman (who apparently ended up being his mom and he was selling the pics at school)
7. cheat sheet for a calculus exam
8. half a PB&J sandwich (We didn't ask)
9. report card (while the system was checked, the mother was standing right there. Fail (in more ways than one))
10. pair of women's panties (Older woman in her 60's said for my employee to "keep those as a bonus"...he ran in the back room screaming and then dry heaving).
And now, the 3 best and worst companies for free swag at EB manager conventions!
BEST!
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1. Microsoft - Free Xbox one show, free multiple games every year and bonus swag, sent us Xmas presents. God bless their hearts
2. Sega - Free Dreamcast one year, multiple games, cool doo-dads every show
3. Nintendo - Free GBA with multiple games one year and free N64 and Gamecube games
WORST
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1. Sony - Nothing except some 989 sports the final show I was there. They said we didn't deserve free PS2's so they were pariahs at the vendor show until EB forced managers to go to the Sony booth
2. Acclaim - The gave lots of games (in store as well) but it was all crap. Lots of Mary Kate & Ashley GBC games, BMX XXX and just a whole lotta suck
3. EA - Copies of Sims which by that point everyone who wanted it had it. Never anything else any other show.
I can't ever complain about the shows themselves. Free rooms and food at the MGM Grand and Bellaggio in Vegas is nothing to sneeze at. Florida was cool as well staying at both Disney hotels, the Swan and the Dolphins. We had one show in Philly to see the corporate office and we were all pissed because we missed a Vegas turn. Worse was the 1st Vegas show I would go to was a month or so after 9/11 so people were scared. Some managers didn't even show for the flight. The DM asked if I was scared and I said "Yes...scared I won't have enough time at the blackjack tables!". All anyone ever looked forward to was the vendor show and classes for the free swag. I remember when Sony said "no free PS2's" but Sega gave us Dreamcasts and games, every class would chant "SEGA SEGA SEGA" and the Sony reps would look sooooo pissed. No company more than Sony treated us like were less than crap and honestly, the sales reflected that. A little respect from them and things would probably have been better and they learned than next show around (my last and worst show ever). Nowadays, Gamestop brings people to either Texas or Florida and from what I understand, people can't even leave the hotels they stay in. Pretty ridiculous.
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Latest Entry
Intro!
Hello to everyone who reads blogs on AtariAge. I have never written a blog anywhere before so please, go easy on me.
My name's Adam but my screen name is Hitachi.
I chose Hitachi because it is the brand name of the TV that my NES is currently hooked up to. It's an older TV with the built in rabbit ears, and tuning knobs for each channel button.
Anyway, I've had a lot of fun and frustration so far with my gaming experience.
The first system i played on was a Super Nintendo. I don't remember the exact game but it was probably donkey kong country. I actually remember renting games for it at the Hollywood video. Super Mario All-Stars is still my favorite game for it.
After that, my family got an N64. Yoshi's story was one of the first games i played for it. Diddy Kong Racing is a terrible game.
I got a Gameboy Color next and enjoyed it to death. Untill the gameboy advance. I played that for several years.
The next system we got was of course the Gamecube. That was really fun.
Then i got my electric blue DS. It is one of my favorite consoles.
We got a Wii next. I really enjoy the virtual console, i have been able to play some rarer games without having to shell out the rare cash for them. Especially with games like Gradius II, it makes the shop channel very appealing.
This is probably where my first actual frustration occurs. Last winter, it quit working. It wouldn't read disks and it quit working during a crazy long Need for Speed run. I was really upset about it and tried everything I could do to make it work. I finally sent it to Nintendo, and now it works again.
I still have most of these consoles. The Gameboy color and advance are the only ones i don't.
So, you know i was raised on Nintendo. My gaming 'collecting' began about a year ago around the time of my High School graduation.
I acquired a Gameboy Micro, and man do i love that thing. I know it's obsolete compared to my DS, but it's so fun to have Final Fantasy IV in my pocket. It also caused me frustration while i was playing Drill dozer. The R button quit working. Luckily i have the internet to help me. It was quickly fixed.
I have now 2 gameboy pockets, an original gameboy, and 7 game & watches( Club nintendo Ball, Octopus, Donkey Kong 3, Donkey Kong, Oil Panic, Mario's Cement Factory, and Spitball Sparky).
The original gameboy was found at a local goodwill for eight dollars. The battery compartment was corroded which is probably why it got donated, and a nice old toothbrush helped that one out. It works perfect now.
I also have a Sega Genesis model 2, a Sega Dreamcast, an Original Nintendo, and most recently a ColecoVision. The CV is the reason I joined these boards.
I got it for a really awesome price, it has the atari expansion, the driving controller, several atari joysticks, and about a hundred games, both CV and 2600. BUT! the CV games won't play...
All of the systems minus the handhelds and NES and CV are hooked up to the same TV, I used a Radioshack switchbox to allow the multiple systems. But, to enhance my gaming experience, I routed the sound out from the box to my DVD surround sound thing. And Sound into the box from the TV. DVD video goes out to the box and the box's Video goes into the TV... It took me forever to get my brain around the wiring... But when i push DVD, it plays the TV through the surround sound or the DVD when the TV is on AUX 1. Then i have a VCR hooked up to the TV's second AUX. Into the VCR, i have an RF modulator that takes one set of RCA and one Coax and turns it into one simplified Coax. This is where the Sega's play through.
Well, I hope you enjoyed reading my boring blog. It sounds really dry after reading it over...
Thanks for reading and ask me anything you want.
Adam
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Latest Entry
An apology
I just wanted to take a minute to apologize to the peeps on the modern gaming board. I've come off like a real asshole lately and I apologize. I brought an element of anger to the board that really doesn't have a place here and I'm sorry.
Dave
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Latest Entry
.38 Special @ Joplin Boomtwown Days June 2010
Boomtown days here in Joplin. Its a local festival to celebrate the founding of this region via the lead and zinc mining.
The festival is 3 days. We went on Fri and Sat.
Friday we saw Darryl Worley
Saturday we saw The Wille Stradlin Band and .38 Special
Here are the videos we took
http://www.youtube.com/user/edweird33
Had a great time!!
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Third Party ST Ram Upgrades
Here is a set of ST Ram upgrades I found in a couple of systems I recently acquired. The first is a Marpet MP210A ram board with a full 4meg of ram, found in a 1040STf. The second is a Aerco easieST solderless ram board in a 520ST. It has 1mb. Would like to find documents for this to fill the other bank.
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Introduction
Recently there was some discussion if the VBXE's RGB output for the standard Atari 8-bit graphics modes, was really an improvement over the standard chroma/luma output of an Atari XE. Some said RGB was really better than Chroma/Luma while others claimed the Atari resolution of 320*240 or so pixels was too small to benefit from RGB.
So I decided to take some pictures of the output so you can decide for yourself. Note that the pictures look of course a little different from real life. It is not easy to take a picture of the screen because of the 50Hz refresh frequency. If the exposure time is too short, you won't see the full screen and if the exposure time is too long, then a little movement add motion blur to the picture. But I think these pictures give a good feeling of each of three possible video outputs.
For these pictures, an Atari 130XE is used with the VBXE 2 board. The 130XE was for all three video output modes connected to the same Commodore 1084S monitor. All video output modes use the same monitor settings for brightness, contrast and color.
The video system is PAL.
Bomb Jake - Title Screen
Composite video:
Chroma/Luma:
RGB:
Bomb Jake - Title Screen - Close Up
Composite video:
Chroma/Luma:
RGB:
Bomb Jake - In Game
Composite video:
Chroma/Luma:
RGB:
Bomb Jake - In Game - Close Up
Composite video:
Chroma/Luma:
RGB:
Note that with composite video, there seems a little shadowing in the picture. The transition from brown to blue is not immediate.
DROL- Close Up
Composite video:
Chroma/Luma:
RGB:
Note that the contrast in the colors is much better in RGB. With RGB you clearly see the red background in the author's name while the red is very faint with composite & chroma/luma.
Amaurote
Composite video:
Chroma/Luma:
RGB:
Amaurote - Close Up
Composite video:
Chroma/Luma:
RGB:
Note that with composite video, you have artifacting that is causing the colors in the picture. With chroma/luma the artifacting is almost gone. With RGB there is no artifacting at all and the picture is pure black/white.
MyDOS - Close Up
Composite video:
Chroma/Luma:
RGB:
Note that with RGB, the character pixels are a little bigger than with chroma/luma.
SysInfo - Small characters
Composite video:
Chroma/Luma:
RGB:
SysInfo - Small characters - Close Up
Composite video:
Chroma/Luma:
RGB:
Note that due to artifacting, the composite video output is hard to read. Chroma-Luma is much more readable but in my opinion the RGB output was the most readable.
Conclusion
It is clear the the difference between composite video and chroma/luma is great. Chroma/luma has a much better quality compared to composite video.
The difference between chroma/luma and RGB is smaller. But in my opinion RGB output has more vivid colors, the contrast is higher and the picture is a bit sharper than with chroma/luma. So for me RGB output is the winner. Except for the case of Amaurote. In my opinion the artifacting has a positive effect on the graphics. The chroma/luma & RGB output are too sharp here.
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Latest Entry
Atari 2600 Dealer Display "POP" Demo Kiosk on ebay
I have one of these unit up for grabs on ebay, not an expert on these, they are rare from what I see, any input on this let me know, just listed it today!!
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DOS Game Recommendations?
I have a 4th grade student who is absolutely obsessed with the Doom series of games, Shadow Warrior, and Abuse. He uses DOSBOX to play them on his PC at home.
Unfortunately, I cannot use these games to motivate him at school... nor should I be engaging with him in conversation about the games since they are ultra-violent. I'm wondering if anyone has some DOS game recommendations that might also be elementary school appropriate? Thanks in advance!
(Admittedly, I hadn't played
oruntil tonight. I rather enjoy Abuse, but Shadow Warrior didn't really do it for me; I've never been a big fan of gory Doom-like games.)...
While I'm posting... does anyone have a GBA SP that they'd like to sell me for cheap? Currently, I let my students earn time with my Gameboy Advance, but the screen is dark and it is getting pretty battered (I've replaced the protective screen twice).
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Where was i almost 3 years ago?
My god don't know really... Working i think... The family's been growing, 2 c64, drives and printer, nothing Atari related. See you soon enough.
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Someone suggested that Night Driver and Star Raiders is rare - I have the originals.
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Just a bit of my writing... check it out!
Just a small portion of some of my writing....
FireFly's Flight
"So you don't know anythen' about the rose?" The old man searches his companion's face for recognition, just a slight twinge of remembrance. His knotted wrinkles loosen as he smiles. His teeth spotted with black flakes of chew wink at me as he spat to his side. Tobacco juice flies towards a spit bucket that once served as a coffee can for Maxwell House. Good to the last drop it gleefully promised. However in this context, Richard doesn't believe the rusted old can sitting on the warped floor board. He'd rather take his chances with the sweating can of Pabst that he was moving from one hand to the other. Just as before, the majority of the spit found its way into the coffee can. And just as before, Mr. Leathers never took his eyes off of him when he spat. The one thing about his eyes, was that they seemed to loosen up. Richard could see a barrier being chipped away, and this was a start. It was taking a long while, but it was a start. You had to give him that.
"Well, no sir. I don't suppos-"
"I ain't no SIR! But Gawdamn-it boy. I can't believe you haven't heard about the story of Henry and the rose." He pauses. The old man in front of Richard reaches up with a crooked hook of a finger and dives into his lip. He fishes out a moist wad of chewing tobacco and tosses it into the coffee can next to his chair. Richard exchanges the can of Pabst from his left hand in favor to his right. A light breeze is in the air. It ruffles a bit of the torn screen in front of Richard and gives him a moment to break his gaze from Old Man Leathers' stare. More or less, it gave him a reason to break away from that stare, however, he could feel Leathers' eyes looking him up and down in disbelief. And then Old Man Leathers bellowed out a hearty laugh. The laugh shook Richard, and Richard was in belief that it shook the very porch they were sitting on. He kept his eyes turned toward the gravel driveway that climbed and descended for at least a quarter of a mile before it ran into the main dirt road that people in this part of the country called Big Creek Road. Richard never saw a Big Creek anywhere, and he could barely call the trail he traveled on an actual road. In fact, he left his rental car about halfway up the driveway from here. One part of the road gave way to a mud hole that promised to eat small sedans. He figured he'd take his chances by leaving it there. Even if the shoebox was in the front seat.
"Shit, boy. I really can't believe that ya' don't have a thang written down in that book of yours' right there." Leathers points at a scrapbook Richard brought during his first visit to his home. During that first visit, he was starving for information. He wrote down everything the old man was willing to share. Everything. And yet it really did not help much after all and Leathers was sharp to point that out earlier. "You ain't writin' much down these days, " he had said. And it was the truth. This story Richard was after... this adventure had turned into something more than he could imagine. It was something much biger than him, and yet he had to keep going. This visit to Leathers wasn't about putting the last piece of the puzzle together to complete the picture, it was more about finding a safety net or a padded wall.
"Well. I've got to take a piss son. I'll be back and I'll tell you the story about the rose. It is nothing ol' spectacular or anything. Nothing of much to the sorts, but I think you'd find it interesting." With that Leathers rose to his feet. He used his hands to push at his legs and to push himself further up. His knees fired off like M16 shots, and his back crackled like rice paper. The boards under him moaned and creaked. They held for now, but for how many more seasons Richard would not dare venture to guess. He took the last drink of his Pabst, let out an approving belch and thudded the empty on the porch railing. Beads of the can's perspiration flew and instantly soaked into the worn wood. The screen door yelled as he opened it and it slammed to its doorframe with a thundering clap as he walked back into the house.
Richard mulled over the can of Pabst and took a sip of it. He cringed at the taste, yet followed with another. The sky was starting to bruise, and the wind was picking up from the east. With it, Richard could smell the remnants of an old campfire, or perhaps someone just burning their weekly trash. Melissa and Doug were weighing heavy on his mind. He felt he needed to be somewhere else, yet he felt as though the best place for him at this moment of time was right there on Old Man Leathers' porch sipping a nasty Pabst beer and hearing some story about a rose. He felt The Tunnels calling him as well. But more so, he felt the shoe box sitting halfway down this driveway in his locked rental Kia. Just when he had the urge to just leave Old Man Leathers to his stories within stories, the screen door yelled in agony and the old man appeared again backing his way out of his house. In his arms he had a fresh pack of chewing tobacco, and a full six-pack of iced Pabst beer. Dangling from one meaty arthritic hand he held a bucket full of ice. And lastly, from his pinky, hung the carcass of what was left of the first six-pack that we started that evening. Richard smiled warmly at this man he grew fond of over the past few years, and knew he wasn't going anywhere.
"You goin' to sit there like a fool and smile like a retard? Or are you going to give an old man a hand"
Mr. Leathers sure knew how to make a man smile. Richard tore off the pull tab of beer can and popped it in his mouth. He placed the can on the porch railing and laughed as Mr. Leathers gave him a look of disgust. His eyes gave him away though, as this old man was just happy to have someone here to listen to his stories.
Chapter Break:
The Rose.
Chapter 1
Sometimes in this strange world of ours, you don't realize what you have until it is already gone. Even if it is that one thing you have to have, you don't realize its importance until it has already disappeared or is snatched from you by some inconceivable fate of someone's god or idol. What you tend to realize is the fact that its no longer yours to call your own. That is when you tend to miss it even more. Never mind the fact that it could be the best thing to ever happen to Henry in his ripened years. Never mind the fact that Ada no longer being a part of his life
...but I am Henry, dear, forever a thorn
is actually a mercy upon his heart; the pain is still there. At times the pain is nothing more than missing a certain meal she once cooked. The equivalent of a splinter in your thumb so-to-speak. At other times... well... Henry likes to think of it as an earthquake. Perhaps early in the mornings you'll fell the momentary slips of the earth's plates and maybe the china in the buffet will tinkle a little bit. However, usually when those days start of with the china singing a redemption of Jingle Bells, by the afternoon that pain would build up to a point where its an explosive force that would not just topple a few china plates from their decorative perches but actually knock over the entire fucking buffet.
Henry had a feeling today would be an earthquake day. His neck, stiff as starched linen, hurt as he tried to raise his hand over the heap of pillows to crunch a few of them down in order to see what time it was. He made a second attempt and then simply gave up. He knew it was no later than 7 am, so it didn't really matter what time it was. Besides, he had the same routine regardless if it was only 4 am or if it truly was 7 am. Hell it could be 2:53 am, he'd still go to the kitchen to push the start button on his coffee maker. Once Henry wakes up from his dreams, he knew he would never get back to sleep.
When stretching and untangling himself from the sheets on the lonely queen sized bed (sheets she had picked out to match the shams and the curtains he reminded himself with a cringe) he noticed that his bones ached a little more and his muscles felt every bit of their sixty-four years. He pulled himself up to a sitting position with a few laborious grunts. His feet left foreign against the cold wooden floor. Wiping the sleep from his eyes he looked across the room towards the mirror on the old wash basin.
The wash basin had been hers prior to the marriage. Something her mother's mother had handed down through the generations. The mirror was spotted with age in numerous places. The bottom left portion of the mirror was entirely black and unusable. Its reflection lost in time.
"That dark spot there grows each time its passed down from the heartless women in your family," he had once jokingly told Ada. Now, while sitting across the room in his piss-stained boxers and staring at the useless portion of the mirror he wished to God and everything he stood for that he hadn't said that. It was a though that area of the mirror was watching him.
forever a thorn...
His body went through a wave of goosebumps. To his left, on his nightstand, the red numerals of his alarm clock showed 6:24 am. Turning back towards the mirror, purposely avoiding the black void, he watched as an old man focused in on him. That man looked thinly at the end of his line.
Boy, he thought, the trembles are starting early this morning. I better go pack the china.
Before all of this happened with Ada, he had considered himself a fairly young looking sixty-something year old man. But looking at the man staring back at him in the mirror brought a fear to him like no other. He knew that death was more or less on the coat tails of this haggard man and was quickly closing in for the final strike. The folds of skin beneath his eyes were slack and dark. Like meaty pendulums. The folds were plum purple and yet looked as rotten as the flesh of the plums in the dumpster thrown out behind the supermarket when a new batch would come in on the truck. He raised his hand to touch the bags under his eyes but stopped short from doing so. He feared to touch them, afraid as though his fingers would go right through the skin and he'd touch nothing but the bone (or worse yet, the bottom of his eye). Another bout of shivers went through him. Refocusing on the sick looking man staring at him, he began to notice other things as well. His hair was a messy mop the color of gray speckled with strands of his youthful brown. His eyes (his attention kept going back to them) were distant and glossy. They were
purple
gray with a dash of blue for taste. Ada had always told him that the color of his eyes would change with the different moods. Grayish for the times he was sad or stressed and brilliant blue for when he was happy.
But the problem Henry, dear, is that I've forgotten what color of blue that was since it's been so long since you've shown it.
And at that she was right. It had been a long time since he had shown that hue of blue. Furthermore, it had also been a long time since he was able to look into her own eyes and see a trusting love he once knew. He broke his gaze from that harsh reflection and rested his head on his hands. His elbows were firmly planted onto his thighs and when he removed them, there's surely be a momentary white spot from the pressure.
Yep. This is routine. Same shit just happening on a different day. Except it wasn't routine. The white rose petal lying in front of the wash baisn on the floor proved it to be anything but. Henry rubbed his temples and tried to wipe the sleep from his eyes again. The rose petal remained where it was, and he would be damned if he didn't hear the china tinkering in the dining room.
Chapter 2
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