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All Guests Must Be Announced – Ch. 8
Every building on the island of Manhattan had rodents and insects and needed some level of pest control. No matter how expensive or luxurious the apartment vermin dwelled within their walls. Bugs navigated through the plumbing and ventilation. It was likely pigeons used their water tank as a toilet. Every job, whether it’s on a construction site or […]
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All Guests Must Be Announced – Ch. 7
There are people like myself who were raised in fucked up environments but try growing up RC in Belfast. Gerry Nevins fought his way home from school everyday, dodging bottles and rocks from Unionist hands. That strife ended for him when his family moved to Queens, New York. Gerry immediately became obsessed with baseball. He played stickball in […]
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All Guests Must Be Announced – Ch. 6
Murphy Mchale was born and raised in the Morris Park section of the Bronx to a blue collar Irish-Italian family. He was nurtured by the sunday meat sauce of his mother and disciplined by the belt of his no nonsense father. Murphy loved sports but took to two things early, weight lifting and boxing. Under the tutelage of […]
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All Guests Must Be Announced – Ch. 5
The velvet blackout curtains were caspian blue, and drawn over the windows and the glass door that led you into the courtyard. Those curtains were almost never drawn, but today was an exception. Murphy and the responding EMS, a pair of paramedics, a man and a woman, thought it best to cover up the windows. Give the man […]
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All Guests Must Be Announced – Ch. 4
The felt letter board in the lobby stood three feet tall, bordered by stainless steel. A thin pole and a round base, heavy but not fixed to the marble. It read, all guests must be announced. An important rule for some, a nuisance for others. I dreaded talking to anyone, in person or on the phone, and […]
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All Guests Must Be Announced – Ch. 3
534 East 57th street, was a cooperative building, you didn’t own the apartment, but instead you were a shareholder in a corporation. A lovely prewar building designed by famed architect Emery Roth. 21 stories, 60 units, 2 elevators and a full-time doorman. Dogs and cats are allowed. Some ghosts. One stowaway. A modest amount of scandal. Blind eyes […]
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All Guests Must Be Announced – Ch. 2
There are very few things about this world that have the ability to make me happy. The bad will find its way into anything and crush the good. I have always had difficulties with processing my emotions. Frustration and disappointment have run rampant within me most of my life. I could be happy momentarily but […]
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All Guests Must Be Announced – Ch. 1
“For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of our tasks; the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.” – R. M. Rilke “Wealth is like sea water; the more we drink, the thirstier we become; and the same is true […]
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Wash Away Us All – Ch. 32
Glory found sleep without difficulty beside me. As did Pangur Ban. The three of us on the floor, in the confined quarters of a tiny room, in my apartment in Queens. A place just like any other I’m sure. A place where people talked more than they should. What did it matter what anyone thought? […]
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Wash Away Us All – Ch. 31
Wide awake on the floor the night light kept the imaginary fire going but it didn’t keep us warm. Pangur Ban snored loudly at my feet. Every little snore reassured me that she was alive. Those audible indications of actual life. Her lungs were barely functioning but managed to find a way to let air […]
SEAN GABLER
Middle Aged Curmudgeon. Gritty Minimalist Fiction. Self-Deprecating Non-Fiction.
SEAN GABLER 