Happy New Year’s Eve to all who celebrate on this night. I recall Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson’s sidekick on The Tonight Show, calling this “amateur night.” I will be ringing in the new year watching the Twilight Zone Marathon on SyFy. If you want to know more about that, and why we watch, check out Paul’s post. Anyway, Linda G. Hill has given us our Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, and one last chance for bonus points.
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘new/knew.’ Use one, use both, use them any way you like. Bonus points if you use both. Enjoy!”
If we were having the last beer of the year, we would be confused – and we wouldn’t be the only ones. Note: there’s a critical link at the end of this post.
“Cheryl, what are you doing here? I thought you had the day off.”
“I was supposed to have the entire weekend off, Dan, but Skippy didn’t show up and they can’t find him.”
“Well, as long as you’re here, could I get a beer?”
“Sure. Is David coming in?”
“I’m not sure. He’s knew Skippy was scheduled, and he’s not a fan. He might just claim to be too busy shopping or something.”
“Here’s your beer, and here’s your buddy. I guess he didn’t go shopping.”
“He did go shopping, and the craziness of the day brought me here for a John Howell’s Special, Cheryl. It’s nuts out there, Dan.”
“It’s nuts in here, too, David. Skippy is M I A.”
“Well, no loss there.”
“No loss? No loss? The loss is to me, David. I’ve lost a day off because of that nitwit.”
“Are you working the party tonight?”
“I hope not. But Skippy hasn’t answered his phone all day.”
“I think I saw him, Cheryl. He just came out of the Men’s Room.”
“Skippy! Where the heck have you been?”
“I’m sorry I’m late Cheryl. I wanted to take a nap before coming here. I had the weirdest dream. I was…”
“Put it in your novel, Skippy. Put it in Dan’s novel. Put it where the sun don’t shine. I’m outta here. The bar is yours! I’ll be back to watch the ball drop, but I’m off the clock.”
“She seems mad.”
“That’s a keen observation, Skippy. Care to try for two?”
“Huh?”
“My beer. It seems to be empty.”
“Oh, right. I forgot why I’m here. Does that ever happen to you?”
“What, forget what I’m doing as I’m just starting to do it? No, that hasn’t happened to me. Maybe it’s happened to David.”
“Nope, sorry. Once I start doing something, I usually remember what it is. For example, if I were you, I’d be pouring Dan another Modelo.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot again. Here, here you go.”
“Skippy, are you trying to tell us this is all the result of a dream you had?”
“Dan. It was so real. Do you remember that party you threw for that woman writer?”
“Teagan Geneviene?”
“Yeah. That’s her.”
“I certainly remember that party. I couldn’t get a drink all day.”
“That’s right, David. We kept missing each other. Well, at the end of the party, I met this woman. I think her name was Lulu.”
“Skippy. Lulu was a character in Teagan’s book. You were hallucinating.”
“No, David. She was real. I bought her cheeseburgers from Skooter’s and we danced. I remember.”
“Are you guys staying for the party?”
“No, Skippy. You can close out our tab. We’ll be going. And, if you forget what you’re doing, we’ll assume the drinks are on the house.”
Nine hours later
“Skippy, are you ready with the champagne for the New Year’s toast?”
“I filled the flutes, Cheryl, but I’m so tired, I’m afraid to try to carry them into the lounge.”
“Put the tray on the bar. I’ll take them down. We’ll be exiting from the lounge. I’ll turn the bar lights out. You can take off.”
Does Skippy make it home? If you want to know, you’ll have to slip on over to Teagan’s place and slide down into the subway station…
All five of my current books are now available in audio book form thanks to Amazon KDP’s Virtual Voice process. The voice is AI generated, but I can honestly say, it’s pretty darn good. The audio books are reasonably priced (all below $7 US) and, if you already own the Kindle version and want to add an audio version, you can do that for $1.99. There is a five-minute sample on the book page for each book. If you’re interested, click on any of the Dreamer’s Alliance book links below the image or on the link below for my latest book.
No Facilities 
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