HNMNBM Book One

Wonk said, may I ask your gorgeousness a question, what is with the HNMNBM sticker on your Polaris?   What does HNMNBM mean?  Where do they come from, who is behind it, earnestness bouncing off the walls of the lodge, courtesy of the frenetic young man. So far, all I know is you and Gloria are associated with it and you are both very interesting people. He rolled the "r" in very to accent the word. Yolanda smiled between half closed eyes, shrugged. I was at a party, invitation only, they were sitting on a table; I grabbed one. Nobody there really needed an indoctrination, we were there because we could see our country spiraling down into a strongman government at full tilt; just didn’t have a label for us. The political power in our country was concentrated on a shrinking ruling class that was fully aware dinner was almost over and someone was going to get stuck with the check. The were caught up in the #ME movement, grabbing money fast as possible, bu...

The Red Salt Rain Spa in Poipu was doing a booming business. Rich clients came from dry lands all over the world to Euro rain bath. Fresh water, one of the most valuable commodities on earth falling from the sky, running down your body, gently cooling your radiant heat light warm skin. Inspiration for the enterprise came to Jessica while working as a lomi lomi technician at the Lihue debtor prison. Clients would often remark how nice the rain felt on the walk from the steam tent to the salt scrub tables. After she worked enough to pay the bank what she owed, she started her business just a tent on the grounds of one of the remaining beachfront hotels. Business grew until she could afford Red Salt. One of her clients, John Derrigan, from Kansas, loved to talk, loved to talk about water. And today's massage was no exception. For whatever reason, John said, God selected Kauai to be the wettest spot on earth, there was no question of percipitation on a given day, just how much. B...

50 years later. TEXT: I hate these slow moving cyclones, they dump a pile of rain, but I guess you guys love it. 2 days before we can bring the boats in. Ciao. ENDTEXT. Traveler adjusted his hat to shield his orange glasses from the falling, blowing, spray. Rain was so good, freshwater was one of the most precious commodities in the universe and there's no business like repeat business. In just five years Green Motu Hawaii had constructed billions of liters of catchment and storage space, after all, it was the rainiest spot on earth. Smuglarines would come in after the storms, fill up their tanks and head for the dry lands, break a buck trading, $1 = 1L. Good business, just so long as your not on a part of the island that washes away; no ifs, only when, though it's better now that most of the soil is gone. Resource extraction has been dangerous since the beginning of time; his job as caretaker at Pono Water, was to minimize risk, maximize profits, any questions? S...

Traveler, this is Josh. I need to ask a favor.  K, Josh, what's up?  A friend warned me the Grim Reaper is afoot. Eh? Reaper, Angel of Death, you get the idea. This friend thinks he is coming for me, or someone close to me. Josh .... Can I send someone to help you? No, Traveler, I need you to visit my friend. Let me get it all out at one time. They call him Loco, he is a resident of the Everett Nerves Institute. He hears spirits, which is not that unusual for his domicile, but he sees them as well. Well Josh, Traveler said gently, I'm guessing that a number of people at the institute also see spirits. True enough, but he can display what he is seeing on a projector. He's the subject of quite a bit of study into the paranormal, so they take excellent care of him; I worry about his fate, but it is unlikely to be death by bedsores. I made a small donation to the institute a few years back with the stipulation they call me if he has a message for me.  He...

/* This is as close as we come to superheroes in book 1 */ They planned for weeks, drilled. Then the curtain comes up, and you are thinking first milestone, if you reach that, could well be plan B time, but know, it all worked. The Robusts surrounded the library data center and overpowered everyone. Military precision, rapid decision cycle, overwhelming force, shock and awe carried the day. Guy and his team realized there was no escape, the PSEs fought to the last man and woman, many lives were lost that day, but Guy was taken. MiniWonk tried to summon Wonk on his phone, but he had left it in the cottage. Traveler had advised leaving your phone, your ear phones, and choose a place free of distractions when you go off to pray; as a new Christian he was trying to avoid being distracted by the things of this world. TEXTBOX Goal seekers are not Christians, but we are also inundated by distractions. It's systemic. When a routine needs attention, usually for some resource, it issu...

Yolanda licked her lips and lithe like a cat stood up slowly, felt like over a minute to anyone watching, but easy on the eyes, she make sure to show some leg. Started singing a verse from a song almost 100 years old, The  Harper Valley PTA, + + + Well there's Bobby Taylor sittin' there and seven times he asked me for a date And Mrs Taylor sure seems to use a lotta ice whenever he's away And Mr Baker can you tell us why your secretary had to leave this town And shouldn't widow Jones be told to keep Her window shades all pulled completely down Well Mr Harper couldn't be here cause he stayed too long at Kelly's Bar again + + + Some women have that witchlike stick you in the spine look; Yolanda for sure. You can easily imagine colored sparks, or lightning bolts coming out of her eyes; top of the persuasive otter class, a bit of a shoulder shrug. Even though Yolanda didn't share any DNA with her Jewish mother, those cultural body movements were part o...

The Everett Parks and Recs coach was an ex football player, from the now defunct American kind. Wendell Brown, thrown in prison for a drunken brawl in Chongqing, China. A fight broke out and local men threw bottles at Wendell, feel free to believe what you want to believe about what happened next, but what matters is that Mr. Brown was sentenced to prison for 4 years. His cell was 5x5m, but held as many as "30 prisoners, all sleeping on the concrete floor. There were no blankets or pillows and the room was so crowded that most prisoners slept on their sides with arms draped over each other like embracing couples . Near the back was an older prisoner indicating he was making room for me to lie down. Dazed and confused, I crossed the cell like a cat, careful not to step on the heads, arms or bodies of other prisoners." As he got to know him he learned he was from the Philippines and among other things, an escrima master. Every day we trained, all day in a corner of the cel...