Twenty-Three Twists: A Collection of Twenty-Three Unique Short Stories - Softcover

Zellman, Sela

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1450293433 ISBN 13: 9781450293433

Publisher: iUniverse, 2011

Synopsis

Over the past few decades, the plot twist technique has been made popular on the page and screen. In the twisted plotline, it's hard to know who's telling the truth-the protagonist, the antagonist, or even the narrator-until the very last second before the credits roll against the black background. It's impossible to know what to expect, but it's easy to bet that no character is safe-even the hero and his leading lady. Twenty-Three Twists takes a closer look at the plot twist, introducing twenty-three short stories intended to confound your imagination and keep you guessing until the end. Each story has a unique quality and distinct flavor of its own, but they all end with an unexpected twist. Think you're a plot mastermind? Step on up and meet the long list of characters surprised to find themselves in utterly strange circumstances. Take, for instance, married couple Bill and Sophie, who embark on a short vacation at a Caribbean resort and discover a scuba diving adventure that changes their lives forever. There is intuitive Clara, whose class trip to a county courthouse teaches her a lot more than judicial law. There are many other characters in Twenty-Three Twists, waiting for you to unravel their twisted lives. Prepare to be astounded!

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Twenty-Three TWISTS

A Collection of Twenty-Three Unique Short Stories By Sela Zellman

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Sela Zellman
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4502-9343-3

Contents

1 – CLUB DEAD..................................................12 – A PLAY ON WORDS............................................93 – HILL/BILL/EEES.............................................134 – MASTER BUILDERS............................................175 – INBREEDING.................................................236 – THE OPERA SINGER...........................................297 – SHE'S BANKING ON BATHROOM TIME.............................418 – DIRTY DIAPERS..............................................459 – THE WAR MONGER.............................................4710 – NO NOOSE IS GOOD NOOSE....................................5111 – CLARA DECLARING...........................................5312 – A BUNCH OF ASSES..........................................5713 – CLASS ACT.................................................6114 – THE EXPENSIVE LIMOUSINE RIDE..............................6515 – BRAVE IN WAR – COWARDLY IN LOVE.....................7116 – ASHES TO ASHES............................................7717 – TROUBLE IN PARADISE.......................................8118 – THE MOB, A JOB, AND CORN ON THE COB.......................8919 – THE BRAZILIAN BOMBSHELL...................................9920 – THE RING..................................................10921 – ONE WITH AND ONE WITHOUT..................................12122 – BAKED GOODS...............................................12723 – THE DYNAMIC DIAMOND DUO...................................137

Chapter One

CLUB DEAD

Sophie and Bill were married for thirty-five years and were college professors for more than three decades. They had planned for years the many different ways they would trip around the world when they both retired. Bill would stay on an extra three years until Sophie became sixty-two. Then they would retire at the same time. They would have very nice pensions coming in upon their retirements and both would collect their own Social Security. They felt great and would almost be on a high just discussing which countries they would visit first or where they should start from. Bill would say, "Let's start with the Pacific side first, because Australia and New Zealand are long trips and can be exhausting and we are younger now." Sophie wanted to start out from the East Coast. Then Bill would say, "Let's put it on a back burner until we get closer to it." Closer meant they would have their trip planned and almost paid up by a year before their retirements.

Their children, Gloria and Jonathan were married with children and the grandchildren were Sophie and Bill's pride and joy. Bill's parents had passed early on in their marriage. Sophie's mom, living in sunny Florida, just turned eighty-seven and was holding her own. Sophie and her sister Terri would alternate their vacations, so one would always be available for their mother. Sophie was given the go-ahead by her sister Terri when she mentioned to her what she and Bill would like to do about a trip upon retiring, and Sophie vowed to make it up to her sister.

* * *

In the meantime, Bill and Sophie would take a few short trips. In January, a year before the big trip they hoped to take, they booked a week's vacation in an exclusive Caribbean club resort hotel. Here they could eat at the club's fine restaurants, catch up on reading, swim, fish, snorkel, or just lie around and leisurely soak in some rays.

* * *

One beautiful morning, while on their vacation in the Caribbean, Bill mentioned to Sophie that instead of snorkeling, he would like to go scuba diving. They'll give us lessons and I understand it's fabulous. He kind of hinted that he would like Sophie to do it with him. Reluctantly, Sophie agreed. This made Bill very happy. So, through the hotel, they signed up for an afternoon of scuba diving. The two of them had a two hour lesson in the morning. The boat departed early that afternoon. The boat they booked, had a reputation of finding just the perfect spot for this activity. It took forty–five minutes to get there. This gave the mate, who would be giving the instructions again on the boat, a chance to talk to the people and size up who would become each other's partner.

There were to be twenty people diving. There were two scuba diving mates. Each mate had ten people in his group. They were then going to be paired into five sets of two people. Before they were allowed to get into the water, the instructor on board gave them another intense lesson on how to use their gear and what he expected of them once they were down in the deep. Then he gave them partners. Bill and Sophie were not each other's partner.

The people entered the water and the mates swam around their teams to make sure each person was okay and doing the correct thing. After twenty-five minutes of being in the water, it was time to board the boat. Sophie and her partner were the first to board. Then in succession, all the sets of two from both teams, came up one after the other. Sophie sat and waited for Bill to come up. Suddenly, she saw his partner, but Bill was not with him. She asked him, "Where is Bill?"

He said, "I turned around and he wasn't there. I thought maybe he went up to go to the men's room."

Sophie started to panic. She grabbed the arm of one of the ship's mates and asked him to look in the bathroom. "Please, please, see if my husband is in there!"

A few seconds later the mate came back and said, "No Ma'am. He isn't in there."

"HE ISN'T?" exclaimed Sophie. Sophie ran over to the Captain and while tugging on his arm, she nervously yelled, "My husband, my husband, he didn't come up. Please, please help me find him!"

The Captain told Sophie he is aware of this and that he sent the two scuba mates back down to search for him. Sophie was sitting on a bench, bent over, her elbows on her knees and her head cupped in her palms, sobbing uncontrollably. She was so crazed that she started to hyperventilate and then started to retch. The two mates came up with the bad news. They simply couldn't find Bill.

The Captain said, "There's a storm heading this way and we're going to have to head back to shore."

Sophie screamed, "NOT WITHOUT MY HUSBAND! Even if I have to find him myself!" She started to grab for the scuba gear and the Captain signaled to one of the ship's mates to take hold of her. The mate who was holding Sophie did so in an endearing and comforting way. The Captain let Sophie know that he immediately got in touch with the coastguard, and when the storm blows over, they will put an all out search for him. The storm clouds were now starting to roll in, so they took off.

* * *

Back at shore, Sophie was a complete basket case. She spoke to the hotel personnel. They kept reassuring her that as soon as the storm passes, an extensive search will begin. Her mind was not at peace and her nerves were on edge. A doctor had to be called in to administer a sedative. A very nice young woman, who was a hotel employee, stayed with her. Sophie would wake up every hour, gasp, and then fall asleep again. Her breakfasts, lunches and suppers went uneaten for two days. She was afraid to shower in fear that she might miss a word on Bill. She was watched closely. The hotel staff was very concerned about her.

* * *

It was on the fourth morning that the search team released the news that Bill could not be found and they were going to abort any further searching. Sophie pulled herself together and called her children, Gloria and Jonathan and then Bill's brother, Roger. Roger wanted to know why she didn't call sooner. She told him that she didn't want to panic anyone because she had hopes that Bill would be found alive and then it would be a good story to tell when they got back. Sophie knew that it was wishful thinking right from the start, when they left the diving area and headed for shore, but she needed some hope to cling on to. Bill's brother Roger told her children that he will take the next flight out to be with Sophie at the club resort hotel.

* * *

The next day, while waiting somewhat patiently for Bill's brother, Roger to arrive, Sophie overheard people in the lobby saying that maybe it was a sea monster that took him and ate him.

* * *

When Roger arrived, he had a barrage of questions to ask and have answered. But the main question of Bill's whereabouts just couldn't be answered. The club resort hotel squashed the bill for everything: food, rooms, drinks, the doctor, the excursion, phone calls, and reimbursed them for all their airfares. They even asked them if they wanted to stay on another day or two, but Sophie wanted to leave as soon as possible. So, Sophie thanked them apprehensively and bid them farewell, and left with Roger for the airport, early the very next morning.

* * *

As soon as Sophie returned home, she met with her lawyers. Sophie sued the club resort hotel, the boat company and the scuba gear manufacturer because of the possibility that the scuba gear might have been defective. Her lawyers examined every possible angle in her interest. Nothing was passed up or taken lightly. The club resort hotel wanted to keep this incident quiet and offered Sophie five million dollars to do so. They didn't want her to damage the club's name. But what price for her husband's lost life? There was none, but her lawyers bumped it up to seven million and thus it was agreed upon.

Sophie always kept her talking about the incident to a minimum, usually giving and telling very few details, making sure not to malign the resort hotel. Most people felt Sophie's pain and didn't ask too much, they mostly comforted her, and kept with whatever little information they had.

Sophie had a Jewish memorial service for Bill. Her Rabbi told Sophie and her children, Gloria and Jonathan, what had to be done for this kind of service when there was no actual deceased present.

* * *

Three years later, Sophie booked a trip to South Africa, a place she and Bill had often talked about going to. She had one of Bill's friends, a Mr. Clark, formerly from South Africa, make all the travel and hotel resort arrangements for her. He arranged it so that Sophie would be taking a deluxe safari tour set up by the South African club resort hotel she was staying at. Everything was included: tents, guides, cookouts, cabins, photographer, medic, riding on elephants, the whole nine yards.

* * *

On a bright and beautiful South African day, Sophie's safari tour was now well on its way. Everything was exciting to Sophie, the country, the people, the animals and how she wished Bill could be alongside of her now enjoying themselves and having fun together.

* * *

An hour and a half into the safari, Sophie's elephant suddenly stopped and started to sway and make noises. It was moving its head from side to side, and then started to move backwards. The other elephants started swaying too. A guide leaned over and prodded Sophie's elephant to move on. It seemed the elephant, in its own way, was trying to alert them that there was danger lurking. Sure enough, there was a panther hiding stealthily in a tree. The panther sprang from the limb of the tree right onto Sophie's neck. Its fangs were biting into Sophie's jugular. Blood gushed out of her and with her last bit of strength, Sophie tried to push the panther off. One of the guides shot the panther and it slid off the elephant. Sophie was dead. Sophie's elephant and the other elephants finally calmed down. Sophie's body was removed from the elephant and brought back by jeep to the club resort hotel.

* * *

Sophie's two children, Gloria and Jonathan, sued the South African club resort hotel for ten million dollars for negligence resulting in the death of their dear mother. The children's lawyers felt that the elephant gave warning, but the guide was negligent by not taking heed. By this time, the guides leading these safaris should be familiar with their animals and their behavior patterns.

The children won their case.

* * *

Ten years after Sophie's death, Bill suddenly surfaced, alive and well. Bill, hoping that his daughter Gloria's telephone number hadn't changed in all these years, telephoned Gloria, wanting to know how she, Sophie and Jonathan were. There was a pause. Gloria did not answer him. Bill went on to tell Gloria that he was sorry for what he had done. He told Gloria that he had actually prepared for the Caribbean vacation two years before he and Sophie left for it. He said that he had stashed a lot of money away a few years before in a bank in the Cayman Islands where he now resides. Bill also said that he researched where the boat from the hotel he and Sophie would be staying at went for their scuba diving excursions. "So, as your mother and I got ready to scuba dive, I arranged for a boat to be in the area to pick me up. All I had to do was to tell them when I'd be there. I left my partner and I swam to the boat, and that's how I got away."

"GOT AWAY! Got away, from what?" asked Gloria. "Your wife and children??" Gloria said in a very stern voice, "Don't ever call Jonathan or me again. Our father is dead. I don't know who you are. Good bye." Gloria never mentioned this call to her brother Jonathan.

Bill never called again.

Chapter Two

A PLAY ON WORDS

Anna had been a city social worker in Pittsburgh for twenty-six years. She was a sweetheart of a person who had a certain passion for her job. She had seniority in her department and she diligently executed her work in a timely manor. At times she was assigned to areas that were considered to be "extremely dangerous." But Anna felt this was part of her job and there were a lot of sick and needy people in these rundown areas that could certainly use her help. It was very important to Anna that she quickly do intakes on them, and immediately process their paperwork so they could speedily get the assistance they so needed.

* * *

Anna once asked a policeman, who was standing on the corner, to please escort her into a nearby building in one of these dangerous areas. She explained that there were some men hanging around in the lobby and it made her feel somewhat uneasy. The policeman actually refused her. He claimed, that by walking her in, it might look too confrontational, so to speak, so he wouldn't do it. Anna took a deep breath and went in by herself. The only obstacle she actually had to get over was the men spewing nasty and obscene remarks at her.

* * *

Anna was really an efficient hard worker, in and out of the office. Her co-workers knew this about her. One day, her supervisor informed the staff that there were going to be special raises given out to workers who performed well throughout the year. It would be a two percent raise over the one that was just recently given to them. The catch was that they had to be rated by their supervisor. Being out of the office, Anna had missed the meeting on this, so a co-worker "sort" of briefed her in. Anna immediately let her supervisor know that she wanted an "excellent" rating from him, which she felt she was very deserving of. He actually had no difficulty with this request. The five other workers, who by choice, spent a lot of time around the office, rather than out in the field as they should have been, had a chance to see the official paper on "Raises." When the workers overheard the conversation that Anna was having with her supervisor about her raise, they chuckled.

* * *

Three months had passed. There was no raise for Anna. The other workers had all received theirs. Anna then approached her supervisor and asked him why he thinks she didn't get her raise. He simply answered her, "You asked me to give you an excellent rating, and so I did just that."

She said, "Yes, - so?" He informed her that the word needed was "SUPERIOR!" not excellent, and this is what would have gotten Anna the raise she so deserved.

* * *

Anna was perplexed and now very upset, realizing why her co-workers were chuckling awhile back. The supervisor would now have to revise the evaluation and resend it in for her with the corrected rating. Anna would now have to wait another month for her raise. She felt her co-workers had a good laugh at her expense.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Twenty-Three TWISTSby Sela Zellman Copyright © 2011 by Sela Zellman. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: iUniverse
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1450293433
• ISBN 13: 9781450293433
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160