Dr. Bakersfield on BarnesandNoble.com

Greetings

I recently traveled back to the great city of Knoxville, where the weather is oddly spring-like (IT WAS 74 DEGREES TODAY). With all the weather and free time, I have begun a quest to get back into shape. So far, so good. But I must confess some activities like running have never been so hard.

I'll blame it on the hills.

Anyway, my story The Secret Life of Dr. Bakersfield has finally made it onto BarnesandNoble.com along with my other short story The Haunted Corn Maze. Hopefully this works out well and people are interested in the coming of age tale. Anyway, to celebrate I have included a segment of the novel I am still working on: Last Dance for Me.

By the way, the link to the book is http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-secret-life-of-dr-bakersfield-eric-carlson/1108817961?ean=2940033018758&itm=1&usri=the+secret+life+of+dr.+bakersfield

So without further ado.

The tunnel leads deeper and deeper into the ground. So deep it doesn't make sense that anyone would build a garage so far underground. Also unerring is the incessant darkness, fought only by a weak light bulb every 20 feet. Fisher thinks about going back, but doesn't want to risk being hit by an oncoming cab in the narrow tunnel. Why didn't he just ask the office lady if Dennis was in at the moment? Why did he always have to be so sneaky? Fisher shakes his head and continues into the near-darkness.

Behind him, Fisher hears a low rumble and feels a vibration in his feet; hopefully just a big truck crossing the street above. This consoling thought it is proven false when the rumbling comes closer, echoed louder in the narghile driveway. Fisher begins to walk a little bit faster as he looks back with wide eyes. Just then, his worst fears come true as he spots a slight flicker from headlights on the wall. He breaks into an all-out sprint as the car begins to illuminate the stone corner directly behind him.

"Where is the end of this thing!?" Fisher yells out loud through desperate gasps of air. It had been a long time since he'd ran.

Meanwhile, everything around him illuminates as the car roars around the corner. It doesn't slow down a bit as it barrels through the curve, moving closer and closer to the running Fisher. His face lights up in two different ways as he looks back at the oncoming enemy. The driver of the cab must have seen him by now, but it doesn't seem to be slowing down in the least. In fact, if the cab was doing anything it was speeding up.

Fisher tries to move his feet faster, stumbling slightly as his left foot catches a big crack in the concrete. Somehow he manages to regain his footing and move back into full stride. The full stride comes with consequences, though. Fisher clutches at his side, feeling a bad stitch developing from the exhausting effort. He would usually quit at this time in a normal situation, but at the current moment that would mean turning into a pancake. Fisher wonders if he would taste good with maple syrup as he runs on.

Closer. Louder. Faster. The cab is almost on Fisher's heels. He feels like he can almost feel the heat from the headlights, and he knows that the vehicle isn't going to stop for anyone; especially him. Exposed by the light from the car, Fisher sees a ladder just above and to the side in the oncoming tunnel that seems to lead up to another level. Fisher knows this is his only shot at escape. Instead of preparing for impact he takes two powerful strides and leaps towards the ladder. His hands grasp the lowest rung, the momentum swinging his lower body forward and up, hopefully out of the way of the speeding cab. Luckily, the cab sign on top misses him by inches as it whizzes by. Panting, Fisher speedily works his way up the ladder and out of the tunnel.

***

It's almost halfway done.

Song of the day is Raining Buttons by Dovekins.

Have a lovely day.

The Secret Life of Dr. Bakersfield

Hey Guys.

I'm back.

First of all, glad you're actually reading this.

And second, I promise to be more consistent with updating this blog. This is mostly a promise to myself, so here's to not letting myself down.

Anyway, I recently published an ebook on Smashwords.com. It's called The Secret Life of Dr. Bakersfield. I'm proud of it and you should definitely check it out at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/127026. And if you buy a copy I will be super happy and you'll feel happy because you made someone else happy. Then we can PAY IT FORWARD.

If you're still skeptical, here's a little sample of the story:

After our handshake, he started moving around me, inspecting me up and down, side to side, all without a word. After he tussled my hair around a bit and peered in my left ear for an unusually long time, he stood back in front me.

“You’ll do.”

“Um, what?” I responded, confused at the most recent events.

“You know, don’t worry about it. You’ll be happier that way. What kind of stuff are you into?” He said as he lay back down on his bed.

I sat back on my bed in response. “Well, pretty normal stuff. Football, basketball, fishing, and I used to be into pranks but I guess that’s got to stop here.”

“Pranks! Stop? No way, you just arrived at prank city.” He screamed as a he launched himself into the air. He then moved closer to me. “You know, I’ve been looking for a partner for a long time….”

I tried to steer clear of his wild body movements. “No way I can do pranks here,” I responded. “That’s WHY I’m here. No way I’m getting into that kind of trouble again.”

“James, James, James. I’m not going to force you into it. But sooner or later, in THIS place, you’ll be forced to do them. They will be conscientious acts of nonviolence that you will be obligated to partake in. TRUST ME.”

And at that word Jon raced out the door. I could hear crowing growing fainter in the hallway as I stood there flabbergasted and alone.

The first day of class ended up being a memorable experience without even trying to misbehave. Although I had been trying to learn the rules since my arrival, I had apparently forgotten some of the finer details, such as remembering to always address the teachers as sir or madam. I seemed to forget this many, many times, which resulted in me writing sir and madam one hundred times each on the blackboard after Ms. Jenkins English class. I mean Madam Jenkins, of course. When I told Jon about this later before Geography, he just scoffed at me.

“That’s nothing, James. If I could do that in every class, I’d consider it a good day. No, there is much worse out there.”

“Like what?” I responded.

“Like the time they made poor Jeffrey Adams clean every toilet in the school…with his tongue!”

“Bull. Shit.”

“Yeah? Well, have you heard about Dr. Bakersfield yet?”

“Sounds familiar.”

“He’s the dean, and he’s the worst of them all. I hear that all the other teachers use mean punishments just because they’re scared of him. Here’s my advice: Steer clear of him at ALL costs.”

“Oh, he can’t be that bad.” I said, but I didn’t mean it. I had just remembered where I’d heard the name. It was from all the horror stories I had heard about Coopersmith, and I was starting to tremble at the thought of ever meeting the man.

Suddenly, the class started and the teacher’s eyes beckoned us to pay attention, lest we desired retribution.

“Steer clear,” Jon whispered out of the side of his mouth as he turned towards the front.

Well there it is. Hope you enjoyed it.

Now here's a song.