Walter Ate a Peanut and Passed On

Greta knew that Walter couldn't eat peanuts. He was deathly allergic to them. His parents had discovered this one day when he popped a peanut into his ever-exploring mouth at the age of two. He was rushed to the hospital and from that day forward was never again given a peanut or anything containing peanuts. As he grew older, he often wondered what they tasted like and what he was missing. In 1955, he met and married Greta Moussleman, the love of his life, with whom he sired and helped raise five children without peanuts, for fear that one of them might have Walter's deadly allergy. One by one, the children would secretly discover that they did not share their father's burden, and would go on to lead full and happy peanut-eating lives. So it was a shock to hear of their father's sudden death, and even more disturbing that it had been caused by ingestion of not one, but upwards of the equivalent of 35 peanuts. Equivalent is the word used, because the peanuts had been dry roasted and finely ground into a powder that had been sprinkled onto Walter's morning oatmeal. Greta insisted it wasn't she who had ground and sprinkled the peanuts, and her children could find no reason to suspect that their father's mate of some 56 years would have cause for murder. Shortly thereafter, Greta passed away like so many forlorn mates of deceased loved ones and the mystery of Walter's death continued to haunt the children until Eric, the oldest son, discovered a secret cash of peanuts in his father's workshop cabinet, along with a sealed envelop that read: upon my death. Eric was shocked to read the words of the letter within, and decided that none of his siblings should ever know their father's final thoughts about life, about the miserable years he spent in a loveless marriage, his hatred of his wife, and how the irresistible urge to try the forbidden legume was more appealing than continuing to put up with Greta. Eric shortly thereafter became depressed and went on medication. None of his bothers nor his sister could understand why.

Romeo and the Grappa Drinking Dog

A mirror reflects only what is. What is seen is a different thing. A mirror is glass, with a coating that causes photons to bounce back. And we look into the glass, and we see what we hope to see, or we see what is. Sometimes, the reflection is too painful to grasp. And then we look to the dream.