Trailboss Blooks

Timeline for Small Pebble

I'm going to try and set a deadline for myself of putting Chapter 2 of Small Pebble on the web by February 15. But I gots to have mo feedback before I'll do it. What did you like/dislike about the first chapter?

Comments, please...

Ok, either the Small Pebble thing is significantly horrible, or (and I hope it's this) those of you who have read it so far fail to understand what to do at this point...

COMMENT.
EMAIL.
RESPOND.

Blook projects on thet depend upon your thoughts and input. I'm open to plot suggestions, creative twists, etc. So... unless it just doesn't scratch you where you're itching, I'd like to hear from you.

You gotta give me some feedback here. I'm hanging.. Oh, the indignity...

Chapter 1: Small Pebble

OK, while I don't know the best way to go about putting a chapter of a blook online for all to see, here goes.

First of all, I don't know where this will wind up, but I'm trusting you all to help me protect it - you know, all the copyright issues. After reading it, some of you may think - "Uh, dude, there's absolutely no worries about anyone stealing this stuff."

But part of this evolving blook will also be your responsibility. I'd love to hear your suggestions and thoughts about plot development, characters, etc. I only have some vague ideas of where I want the story to go, and the beauty of this collaborative effort is that this blook becomes yours as well.

For those of you who contribute significant ideas or plot thoughts, rest assured, if it ever gets published, I'll spread the pennies it generates generously.

With no further ado...

Small Pebble
Jeff Noble
September 24, 1990
November 15, 1990

The antics of any one kid should never be enough to send a person to jail, break up a marriage and throw an election. But it happened. I saw it all. Needless to say, 1975 was an interesting year in Small Pebble, Arkansas.
I was 13 years old that summer, and it was hot enough to put watermelon-size squiggies in a skinny man's Sunday suit coat. But there was one good thing about the heat. Darlene McAdams wore tank tops and gym shorts all summer. Darlene was just a sixth grader, but something in her diet caused her to hit puberty way before any of our girl friends. I was lucky enough to be her friend before she took shape, and because of that, my popularity with the guys soared also.
To tell the truth, I had always had a crush on Darlene. One time when we couple-skated together at the roller rink, my hand had gotten drip-sweaty when she held it. Everyone who was anyone showed up at rink in those days. Then you just asked whoever you had your eyes on to couple-skate. It wasn't exactly rose-and-candlelight-dinner romantic, but it was close. On this particular night, however, I panicked at the thought of Darlene noticing my obvious social faux-pas. After all, you only got the drip-sweaties when you held hands with someone you liked. Fortunately, Darlene didn't notice, or graciously appeared not to notice, and our friendship was saved.
But it was during that summer that Dennis Killian befriended me -- on account of Darlene, of course. It was a dubious honor. Dennis was called Noggin. It was a title he had received from his favorite activity. Dennis' skull was immune to pain. Back in the fourth grade, when we were all still equal in each other's sight, he had begun bashing his head on classroom doors, the cubby holes in home room and his metal Scooby Doo lunch box. However, over the years, this talent had gone to his head -- so to speak -- and caused a number of us quite a bit of pain as Dennis evolved from the class clown to a bully, or in Dennis' case, from a masochist to a sadomasochist. He never got into a fist fight. He would just get close enough to butt your head with his. Invariably, it either knocked you out or left a round bruise on your forehead. Kenny Marshall made the mistake of calling Noggin a fat dunce at recess last year. He was out for ten minutes and woke up in the principal's office. Anyone seen with Noggin's trademark bruise was said to have been Noggined.
In the weeks following his Noggining, Kenny Marshall began planning revenge. Kenny and General George Patton were a lot alike. Neither would permit setbacks, despite an obvious physical superiority. Everyone liked Kenny though. He was built like a wooden clothespin and had brown tousled hair. His biggest advantage, however, was his brain. Kenny had a great brain and could figure out anything -- short of the stupidity of calling Noggin a fat dunce. In math class, however, he had gotten under Mr. Haynie's skin by taking short cuts in his work. Trouble was, Kenny was always right. Mr. Haynie would have given his hair piece to prove that Kenny cheated, and it caused him considerable indigestion to think that Kenny knew more than he did. Everyone knew that no love was lost between the two. After being Noggined, however, Kenny had turned his attention away from aggravating Mr. Haynie, much to the math teacher's relief, and set it on devising a plan to humiliate Noggin. Kenny quickly found he had a lot of allies. Most of them had been Noggined before.
But Noggin was determined to have Darlene as his girlfriend. I and the rest of single seventh grade humanity was detemined to die if he did. However, our loyalty and lust for Darlene did not rise to the extent of being Noggined for her.
Enter Laura Keeting. Laura was mentally deficient. She was also captain of the pep squad. She was one of those sweet girls who was smart, funny, friendly, etc. Unfortunately, when it came to describing her physical attributes, she was always described as having "a good personality." Those three words could doom anyone's social life. Although they meant that you were a nice person, it was a roundabout way of saying, "She/he is a fun person to be friends with, but anything more than that is taboo." Rudely, it simply meant that you had been beat pretty severly about the head and shoulders with an ugly-stick at a young age. But Laura had a crush on Noggin, for whatever reason, and that would fit perfectly into Kenny's Ultimate Revenge Plan.
It was better known among the guys as URP. All of us took great pleasure in mentioning Noggin's planned fate in front of him by emitting a low belch with him none the wiser for it. He would simply grin and rate our supposed gaseous expulsion on a scale of 1-10.
It was summer in Small Pebble, Arkansas.

© 1990, Jeff Noble