Little White Lie

By Ronald Brunsky

“Hey pop, wake up,” said Alice. “The president is holding a news conference.”

“Don’t bother me with that political slop — just tell me when the ball-game is on.”

“You should have some interest in what our president has to say.”

“When our presidents put our interests ahead of their own I will.”

“Oh, never mind then … the ballgame will be on afterwards.”

Fleckie Barnes had been retired from the love of his life for over thirty years, but his passion for baseball continued, even as he approached his eighty-fifth birthday.

The former voice of the Spirits — famous for his unforgettable quotes: “They should have made you buy a ticket” — when an opposing batter got caught looking at a third strike, or “He couldn’t find the plate if it had a t-bone on it”, after the rival pitcher walked a couple.

Just the thought of baseball and Fleckie’s mind quickly returned to the old days. He dozed off again, and soon was revisiting a dream that was all too familiar — the season of 1938, although it had been fifty years, his memories were just as vivid, as when it originally happened. The Spirits pennant run and Charley Steivers, it was also the year Fleckie became an amateur sleuth.

Charley was probably the greatest player Fleckie ever saw, and he saw the best — from the Babe to Mick to the current crop of stars. Charley threw harder than any other pitcher — past or present. He knew his fastball hit 100 mph or better — how he wished they would have had radar guns back then.

Winville used to be a nice place…

By Chuck Semenuk

Police Chief Rick Kale pulled into the parking lot of Winville General Hospital. Winville was a quiet little town. Nothing much ever happened there. A motorist passing through town and spitting his chewing gum out the window was a major event. With a small operating budget, Chief Kale’s police force consisted of one patrolman, Bob Rollins and a “Girl Friday”, Lisa Barnes who filled in as a sometimes patrolman, dispatcher, secretary, and most anything else that came up. The Chief often wondered what he would do if Lisa ever decided to leave. She had come to Winville from Cleveland where she had worked as a detective on the police force of one of the Cleveland suburbs. She had experience in forensics and crime scene investigations; with her qualifications, why would she want to come to Winville?

Chief Kale entered the office of Doctor Frank Benson, head physician at Winville General.

“Hey, Doc. What’s going on?”

“Chief, I’m sure glad to see you. There’s something happening here and I think I’m going to need your help.”

“I’m intrigued. Nothing ever happens in Winville.”

“I’ve got four young girls here. Their symptoms are similar but not exactly the same.”

“Doc, I don’t think I’m the guy who can help you with a young girl’s symptoms,” laughed Chief Kale.

Doctor Benson furrowed his brow and looked back at Chief Kale. “I’m afraid that there may be some sort of epidemic starting. One girl has some sort of rash or burn on her face. Two others have developed lesions on their lips. The fourth appears to have some contamination of her eyes.”

Brenda, the ER nurse rushed into the room. “Excuse me, Doctor Benson. We’ve got another young girl that I think you need to look at.”