Norman and the Blood Tester

Years ago, Grandpa wobbled to his recliner, slurred his speech, and motioned incoherently while attempting to tell us something. We freaked out and rushed him to the hospital; only to find out his blood sugar was just a bit low. As soon as he took medicine, he was fine. Now we have these nifty little blood sugar testers at the house. If Grandpa starts acting loopy, we simply test the blood and give him some medicine. Awesome.



I want to create and market a hormone level tester. I would like a simple finger-prick blood tester machine that would notify me if I am crazy. For example, if I look into my closet and burst into tears because my shirt is the wrong shade of blue, I could take out the hormone tester and realize that everything I think and feel is entirely fictional because hormone levels are through the roof. I could then rest assured that in a few days my shirt would again return to an acceptable shade of blue.

I have also been working on creating a character in my dreams that notifies me of non-reality. His name is Norman. He is a thin, nerdy guy with brown plastic-framed glasses. Norman will hopefully enter the scene next time all my teeth fall out. He will wave red flags and shout, "This is not real! You are dreaming!" He will occasionally reassure me that I am neither pregnant, nor floating on my ceiling, nor marrying a faceless person I have never met. Everyone needs a Norman. I am also convinced due to recent events, that everyone also needs a hormone level finger-prick blood tester.



"Knowing is half the battle." -GI Joe.

My Car Has Gas

…then terrorists entered our school, took hundreds of people hostage, and threatened to blow up the entire city…while under lockdown, my group of friends created an escape route through the school air vents…securing freedom for the entire student body…

I daydream while driving. This was a particularly good story, like Red Dawn meets The Breakfast Club. I stopped daydreaming and started calculating how much sooner I would arrive home if I drove 5 mph faster. As I was throwing numbers around in my head, I heard.…bbrrrrrrrrbp! It was from my car engine, and it was unmistakably a fart. My car farted. I instantly looked around, strangely embarrassed and paranoid. I wondered if anyone else heard my car fart. I remembered fifth grade. I was extremely quiet and reserved in fifth grade. I sat by the wall in the back of the classroom. One day my shoe made an inappropriate noise. It really was my shoe, but knowing no one would believe the shoe story, I instantly put my arm to my mouth as though I had intentionally made a fart noise. The teacher looked my direction upon hearing the noise and saw my arm in my mouth. She must have been extremely confused as to why the girl who had never spoken in class was suddenly making fart noises on her arm. I figured being reprimanded for fake farting was certainly better than the social suicide of people thinking I had actually farted in class. Anyway, 5 months have passed and the car flatulence has become a daily occurrence. I considered taking my car to the shop, but have resisted for fear of how the scene would play out…

The service technician would ask if he could help me. I would say that my car makes a farting noise. The man would try not to laugh. He would ask what kind of fart. I would say the….brrrrrrbp kind. He would say the …….bbrrhhmhorrrmph kind? I would say no, more of a brrrrrbp…a little higher pitched than a bbrrhhhhorrrrrph. Frank and James, two men with blue shirts and embroidered name badges, would walk in and want to join the fart noise game. James would stick his hand into his shirt and begin armpit noises. Frank would roar with laughter and claim he could make the real ones on command. Fearing the possibilities of Frank’s claim, I would leave the shop.

I won’t take my car to the shop. I’ll keep it a few more years then sell it to some unsuspecting buyer. She will probably spend the next several years driving around trying to convince everyone that it was just her shoe.