My first (barely) published short fiction

Last year, a friend of mine put on a great set of one-act plays called "Robot Uprising" that all shared a common theme - robots.

This year, her follow-on project was a set of one-act plays called "Monster Uprising" that also shared a common theme -- classic movie monsters.

When she asked me to consider submitting a short story to include in the playbill -- a story somehow related to the theme of classic movie monsters -- I was excited but hesitant, because I know first-hand how incredibly difficult it is to write good fiction.

Given that this story could be no more than 750 words, I figured that I'd give it a shot. I saw the new play last night and it was a treat to see my little story published in the playbill. And even more of a treat to see the play.


----------
"Your Father"
By Bart Epstein

The voice on the phone was urgent: "Frank, we can’t hold the passageway open more than 90 additional seconds. “

The voice did not hesitate.

“The police will be there in two minutes, Frank. If you aren’t down the cellar stairs before they arrive, we will seal off the tunnel that leads back to the bunker. Forever. You must go right now."

Frank pursed his lips in frustration and disbelief as he peered through the blinds and saw the flashing lights cresting the hills in the distance. Apparently, his handler wasn’t bluffing, and had actually taken the astonishing risk of calling in an anonymous tip to the police. This was an unexpected gamble intended to force Frank’s hand far sooner than he expected.

Frank thought he would have much more time to make his decision.

More time to convince himself.

More time to convince her?

As Frank disconnected the call, he turned to face her and was overcome with emotion as he saw the love in her eyes. A tear spilled down his check, leaving a light green trail on his dark green skin.

He ran his hand down the side of her face, and then slowly down the side of her endlessly smooth neck.

A wistful smile came to his lips as he marveled yet again at how astonishingly smooth her neck was, and how different it was from his own neck, with its prominent bolts that caused him to feel so much shame.

Frank still remembered their first meeting in person, at the Halloween party, after two years of letters and email.

He wore a scarf that night to hide his bolts. Not because it hid his identity in any way. (That was impossible.) Rather, because he was ashamed of being different, and because he knew that on any day other than Halloween, most normals would see him not as a costumed character but rather as a monster to be feared and hated -- all because of crimes apparently committed by his great-great-great-grandfather all those years ago.

She pulled him close and whispered into his ear, “I love you so much. What will you do?”

Frank looked at her and pondered what life would be like if he ran into the cellar and into the tunnel. Once he was back in the bunker, they would never let him above ground again, that much he was certain of.

For nearly two hundred years now, successive generations of his family had lived in hiding, underground.

No one had ever “escaped” or even tried to escape, as far as he knew.

Shortly before Frank was born, the sixty or so members of the extended Frankenstein family had relocated to a large abandoned military bunker that was broadly spacious and apparently much more pleasant than in “the olden times.”

But the place that had been his relatively happy home for nearly twenty five years no longer felt like a safe refuge.

Rather, it felt like a prison cell waiting to lock him back up.

The time for his decision would not wait.

Police cars screeched to a halt outside, surrounding her house. He could still run for the cellar and hope the tunnel would still be open. Or would they already have sealed it off to protect themselves?

No time left to think.

A voice boomed over the handheld megaphone: “This is the police! We have a warrant to question Frank Stein. We know you are in there! You have 30 seconds to open the door, Mr. Stein!”

Frank contemplated his options.

He thought about his family.

He thought about her.

And then he thought about you.

And he couldn’t bear the idea of you growing up like he grew up, hidden and shamed for something you didn’t do.

He realized that someone would have to take the risk sooner or later.

Resolute in his decision, he reached for her hand, and together, your parents walked out that front door.

Amazon should allow Kindle books to be resold

I’m a classic early adopter; no doubt about it. But I don’t have a Kindle yet and I’m not getting one anytime soon. Why? Because Amazon won’t let us resell e-Books the way it lets us resell physical books.

Right now the way I read most books is I buy them used, read them, and then resell them. I pay a bit for shipping and seller fees but not much: I usually recoup most of what I paid for each book.

I’m hopeful that Amazon will eventually encourage and support resale of its e-books because I believe that such a policy can sell more devices, provide more money for publishers and authors, and improve society (by encouraging more people to read) in an environmentally sustainable way.

From a technical perspective, the fact that e-Books are digital (and can be reproduced in large numbers “for free”) need not preclude Amazon.com from facilitating their resale. It is incredibly easy for Amazon’s computers to simultaneously delete a title from a seller’s Kindle and authorize it on a buyer’s Kindle.

Rather, it seems to be a business model, publisher relations, and customer education issue.

If Amazon.com were to sell “used” e-Books (an interesting philosophical concept) alongside “new” e-Books it would obviously cut into the sale of the “new” ones. But this not be a problem for publishers or authors because Amazon could collect a cut of each resale and share it with the publisher.

For example, Amazon sells an e-book “new” for $10. That person later sells it “used” for $5. Amazon takes $1 for itself and $1 for the publisher. The original buyer recoups $3 and effectively pays $7 to read the book.

The second person sells it “used” for $4. Amazon takes $1 for itself and $1 for the publisher. The original buyer recoups $2 and effectively paid $2 to read the book.

Over the following year the same book is bought and sold a dozen times. Amazon profits on every transaction, the publisher gets paid more than a dozen times, and each reader pays about $2 to read the book.

If the pricing is done properly, Amazon and the publisher collect more money, and more people get to read each book, because many people who would not pay $10 or $8 to read a particular book are willing to pay $6 or $4 or $2 or whatever the market dictates.

Additionally, more people like me would gladly buy "new" e-Books for $10 because we'd know that we could likely sell it for $8 or $7 a few weeks later. Price discrimination would happen more based on book quality because the quality of books would translate nicely into resale prices through a constant (hopefully liquid) market.

Lastly, every time a sale happens the book would be transferred digitally without the need for a seller to wrap it and have the post office drive it to a buyer’s house.

I suspect that if Amazon does not create a secondary market for e-Books, some other publisher is going to do so, and it attract a lot of new users like me who love to read but aren't keen on paying the relatively high prices Amazon is now asking for what is nothing more than a glorified book rental -- something we can get for free at our local libraries.

Angel Flight Completed Safely

This is the second part of a blog posting first posted at Tutor.com.

-----

This week’s Angel Flight was a wonderful experience.

After much pre-flight planning and preparation I departed early in the morning for the airport with the stuffed monkey I picked up for my 14-month-old VIP. My hope was that it would help comfort him during the flight and that he might even nap.

After a final pre-flight check and confirmation of the weather, 711DA jumped into the air with excitement. By the time I reached the NYC area, the undercast cloud deck had dissipated and made the ILS approach to Teterboro a formality.

ILS Chart for TEB

After landing at Teterboro and taxiing to the general aviation terminal I went inside to buy fuel and meet my littlest passenger and his parents. We talked at length about the flight and then I went out to do the final preparations in the near 90-degree heat.

Once I refueled and I had our IFR clearance to Latrobe (LBE) I called for the courtesy shuttle to bring the little guy and his mom to the plane.

Angel Flights are like flying the President of the United States (”POTUS”) in one way: As you probably know, any airplane that carries POTUS gets the callsign “Air Force One.” Similarly, airplanes that carry Angel Flight patients get the special callsign “Angel Flight” added to their tail numbers. That day I was flying N711DA, which became”Angel Flight One Delta Alpha” due to my VIPs.

Years ago, when I upgraded my pilot credentials from “private pilot” to “commercial pilot with instrument rating,” I spent countless hours learning how to fly more smoothly and precisely, to maximize passenger comfort. I can still hear my instructor’s voice, saying “that’s too steep of a bank — your (imaginary) passengers are all throwing up,” and “you have to level off more smoothly — your flight attendants want to walk on the floor, not stick to the ceiling.”

All that work paid off nicely as we accelerated smoothly and climbed slowly, to minimize any possible ear discomfort. If you weren’t looking out the window at the NYC skyline, you might not have even known we left the ground! Within ten minutes the little guy was fast asleep and he stayed that way for two hours as we flew smoothly through New Jersey and out to Western Pennsylvania towards Ohio.

One nice thing about flying on hot days is that the outside air temperature generally drops by five degrees or so for every thousand feet you climb. If you climb high enough you get free air conditioning. At 8,000 feet the outside air was in the 40’s and felt wonderfully refreshing as it wooshed through the air vents. Unlike jets, my plane does not fly high enough to need pressurization. In fact, if we fly slow enough, you can legally open the window–although I don’t allow it when I fly with passengers.

When we landed at Latrobe, I welcomed my passengers on behalf of their Washington-based flight crew and taxied us to the general aviation terminal. I was pleased to see that the next Angel Flight pilot was waiting to take our VIPs on to Cincinnati.

Welcome to Latrobe, PA!

After buying more fuel and downing an ice cold water and some cookies , I taxied back to the active runway and watched “Angel Flight Eight Nine Sierra Papa” climb slowly into the sky to complete the second half of the mission.

After a quick flight home with a strong tailwind, I soon found myself back in rush hour traffic on the ground. I was thankful to have had the opportunity to be part of what will hopefully be a story with a happy ending, and wishing that I had a runway in my back yard.

Planning an Angel Flight

Here is an cross-post from the Tutor.com Blog.


-----

One of the things I do when I’m not working at Tutor.com relates to my being an instrument-rated commercial pilot with more than 750 hours of pilot-in-command time: I serve as a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight, providing needy kids with air transport to specialized medical facilities for evaluation, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.

I check the Angel Flight website frequently and noticed last week that the stars were aligning for me to pick up an important mission. On a day that I have off from work next week, a one year old in New Jersey needs transport to the Cincinnati area for a bone marrow transplant.

Remembering well how stressful it was when my own baby boys spent more than two weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit when they were born, I wanted very much to help if I could.

Given that I don’t own my own airplane, however, before I could volunteer to do the flight, I had to first procure an airplane to use that day. Luckily, this was not hard. For more than 15 years I have been a member of the TSS Flying Club, a nonprofit corporation that operates a small fleet of small planes, and our online schedule showed that a plane I like to fly, N711DA, a 4-seat single-engine Cessna 172 with GPS was available.

The TSS Flying Club has been around for more than 50 years and is a wonderful way to keep flying costs way down while keeping proficiency and safety way up. We meet regularly, fly together often to practice procedures, share rides to destinations, and have endless discussions (and debates) on our online bulletin board about the best safety protocols, procedures, fun places to fly, and much more. Back in the day, when I had more free time, I had the privilege of serving on our Board of Directors (including a term as President).

After reserving the plane online I inform Angel Flight HQ that I will take the mission. They confirm back and we both begin planning the logistics.

On their end, the folks at Angel Flight notify the airports that we will be using Teterboro (TEB) and Latrobe (LBE) and Cincinnati (LUK) about the flight. Those airports and their facilities generously agree to waive all landing and handling charges and fees for Angel Flights. They also connect me to the second pilot who will handle the LBE to LUK leg of the flight. We email to coordinate the patient transfer in Latrobe.

If you are wondering why I don’t fly the patient all the way to Cincinnati, there are two reasons. First is that Angel Flight does not pay for or provide any financial support for these missions. It only helps with the logistics. All costs for Angel Flights are borne by the volunteer pilots. We cover 100% of the costs of each flight, including airplane rental, fuel, equipment, charts, etc. I estimate that it will take me about 2 hours to fly GAI to TEB, 2.5 hours TEB to LBE, and 1.5 hours LBE back to GAI. My total out of pocket costs for the mission will be approximately $600. If I had to fly another 500 miles round trip from LBE to LUK that would take the cost over $1,000 out of pocket, which is beyond my current means. In addition, flying GAI to TEB to LBE to LUK to GAI would be about ten hours of flight time in a single day. That’s an exhausting day for any pilot and exhaustion compromises safety, which I don’t do.

Back to work on the logistics, my next issue is researching noise protection. When I fly I always wear a headset, as do all of my passengers. The planes I fly are pretty loud inside the cabin. But how would a one year old baby wear a headset? I post that question to my flying club discussion board and a spirited discussion ensues. I soon learn that many of my friends flew frequently with their own infants and used a variety of setups such as tiny little foam earplugs, small headsets, and foam headbands, while others decided that none of these things was necessary. I decide to bring foam earplugs and also some small noise-cancelling headphones that a club member friend offers to lend. In addition, I plan to fly at a lower power (RPM) setting, to reduce engine noise. And, with any luck, my littlest passenger will mostly sleep through the 2.5 hour flight.

Next up is coordinating with the mom, who will be accompanying her son on the trip. I call her and introduce myself and we agree to meet at Teterboro Airport (TEB) just outside of NYC at 10:30 am next Tuesday. I follow up with an email that includes a copy of the liability release that is required for the flight, so that she can review it in advance. I print out a hard copy and prepare an envelope. When she signs it at the airport I will drop it in the mail to Angel Flight HQ. We will then fly to Latrobe where they will transfer to the second pilot’s plane.

The next step is planning my route and fuel stops and sketching out what my flight plans will look like. Even if the weather is crystal clear I will file an IFR flight plan, which gives me extra margins of safety, including guaranteed full-time attention from air traffic control (ATC). I’ve flown these routes before and there is nothing unexpected but I will still double-check the morning of the flight to make sure there are no last-minute notices to airment (NOTAMs) announcing temporary flight restrictions or reporting problems with any navigation systems.

As I research each of the airports I’m going to I am reminded of other nice things about Angel Flights. One is that all of the airports on my route of flight will waive their landing fees and handling charges. (At big airports these fees can really add up, so this is very much appreciated.) The other is that when I am flying an Angel Flight mission, I get to use a special call-sign that gets my flight priority handling from ATC. Instead of identifying myself as “711 Delta Alpha” as I usually do, I will be “Angel Flight 1 Delta Alpha,” and ATC will know from my flight plan that I’m carrying a one year old en route to a bone marrow transplant.

Given that I will be flying IFR, anyone who wants to can track my flight progress in real time at http://flightaware.com/. I’m planning to depart GAI around Tuesday, July 28th at 8:30 am ET and will be using tail number NGF1DA.

Bart Epstein is the Senior VP, Corporate Development and General Counsel at Tutor.com. He is based in Arlington, VA and is the dad of 2 year old twin boys. He promises to write an update after the flight!

A fun day at the ballpark

Today was the Washington Nationals home opener. I had the privilege of working on the grounds crew today -- something that I've been doing once or twice a month for several years and enjoying immensely.

Each time I work a game I get to the stadium two hours early, help with batting practice and field prep, and then sit in the front row and watch the game.

If it doesn't rain, I get a gorgeous fun day at the ballpark. If it does rain, I'm screwed, and I have to drag the tarp out to cover up the field and then wait for the rain to stop and drag that tarp off the field. And if the rain starts again . . . .

Today the Nationals hosted the World Champion Phillies and we did something unusual during pre-game prep. After clearing the batting practice equipment and watering the infield, and "painting" a curly W on the back of the pitcher's mound (using water), we actually put down red carpets.

The picture here is the carpet I rolled out and staked into the ground in front of the Phillies' clubhouse.

As they all ran out, all I could think was "please don't trip on my carpet." Thankfully, the stakes held and I didn't cause a freak injury to a franchise player.

Pre-game I also got to chat with David Gregory, who I used to know as "Beth's husband," but now must be described more accurately as the host of NBC's meet the press. He's a huge baseball fan and was very excited to serve as master of ceremonies for the game. He did a great job.

The stadium was packed. Grammy winner Patty Austin sang the National Anthem beautifully. Military helicopters flew over.

Unfortunately, we observed two separate moments of silence. One for Angels' pitcher Nick Adenhar who was killed this past weekend by a suspected drunk driver. The other for longtime Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas, who died after collapsing in the broadcast booth before the game.

Once the game got going it was a high scoring affair. Guzman went 5 for 5 and Adam Dunn hitting his first home run as a National. (Did you know that since 2004, only Alex Rodriguez has more total home runs than Dunn?) The Nationals scored 8 runs.

Unfortunately, the Nationals made somewhere between 3 and 5 errors and left the door open for Ryan Howard to hit a 3 run homer and the Phillies won the game 9-8.

After the game ended I was tasked with running out to pick up second and third base.

Also, because rain was in the forecast for tonight, after the game we actually got to roll out the tarp. That is pretty rare for me -- I have never had a rain delay on a day that I've worked.

Anyway, dragging out the tarp is a stinky messy fun job and after we stretched out the tarp we staked it down to keep it from flying away.

Lastly, in case you are wondering what the picture is top left, the crew is allowed to bring food in, and most of us do, since we're at the stadium for 6 hours or so. What you see depicted is something that I bought for my father in law during his recent visit. I should have thrown it away when he left without eating it but, well, let's just say it was a bad food choice for anyone, and leave it at that.

All in all, an excellent fun day made even more fun by it being a weekday. Best of all would have been if the Nats won. But that's the thing about baseball -- there's always more games to look forward to.

Red and Blue in Profile

These are my little guys, their names are Red and Blue. It was completely random that they were sitting like this, they are constantly lounging together and generally being adorable.

Fun with NASA

If you told me twenty years ago that some day NASA would pay me to test fly some of their cool stuff I would say you were crazy. But, here you have it. Last week and the week before I was an evaluation pilot in their "synthetic vision" program out of Roanoke, VA. It was all too cool