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This is one of my auto-biographic stories (the type where Lisa becomes Liza and Nathaniel becomes Ethan). These are fairly cathartic to write even if they aren't of any interest to anyone else. In this story young Ethan is bored at his father's commune as he waits for his father to fix a car to drive him to school. If it sounds boring, well, it was. This story explores the idea and uneasiness and guilt we all feel when we know the world is supposed to work a certain way and we aren't supposed to know that it doesn't.

The Story of Lina, the Beautiful Mermaid

|fiction||children||fantasy|

Last summer I spent the better part of a week with my sister and my favorite niece at my uncle's house in Guerneville. We lulled about and avoided the stress in our lives. My niece Lina would swim in the swimming pool with her waist-long brown tresses flowed like fronds around her. We played tag and pretended she was a mermaid. I wrote this story based on that play. It's odd that the story ended up being a little sad and disheartening. I always vowed I'd never write a story in which women are treated as otherworldly inscrutable beings and somehow without trying I finished this without realizing that's what I was doing. Go figure.

Thomas, the Tone-deaf Mockingbird

|fiction||children||animals|

This is one of my better children stories. The title says it all. There are a lot of facts about mocking birds. Drop me a note at bunkle@yahoo.com if you have illustrations, birds songs, or mocking-bird tidbits you want to share.

The Awful Offal Alfalfalfa Falafel

|fiction||children||fantasy||humor|

This one is just silly. The sort of story you make up on the spot when you can't resist making puns about Offal and Awful. The title came to me when I was driving.

Kayem Kayako

|fiction||children||fantasy|

This is perhaps the quickest story I ever wrote. Summer of 2003 I was in Cape Breton (hence the reference to Seal Island and the Seal Island Bridge) with my uncle and cousins. One day my cousin, Jesse, was giving a neighbor kayak lessons and I thought how funny people looked sitting with a kayak sleeve around their waist. I imagined a mythical creature with torso, arms, and head of a human but a giant floating pontoon body-- not unlike the Dufflepudds of C.S. Lewis' "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" . If the ancients traveled by kayak rather than horse-back we'd probably have myths about Kayakem rather than about centaurs.

A few days later my cousin Neesha, as an excercise, gave us a challenge to draw children story illustrations in 30 minutes. I draw a story about my Kayako creature and a pet seal. The next day I wrote the story to go with the pictures. This story shows some of my strengths and weaknesses of a story teller. I have a desire to make stories and imaginative concepts but I have a hard time giving the concepts a framework to play around in. Also, I have trouble resolving the story but I find giving the characters free range I come up with humorous details and nuances.

Airports and Ramblings (on My Way to Tonga)

|non-fiction||travel||tonga|

In the Summer of 2004, I went on a two-week sailing trip in The Kingdom of Tonga. These stories are e-mail letters with photos that I sent about the trip. This first one simply describes the flight (very long) and the taxi ride to the hotel.

A Day in Tongatapu (Tonga 2)

|non-fiction||travel||tonga|

In the Summer of 2004, I went on a two-week sailing trip in The Kingdom of Tonga. These stories are e-mail letters with photos that I sent about the trip. This second one describes my first few days on the main island on Tongatapu where I spent two days before flying to the Vava'u Islands group where I'd do the actual sailing. These in-between stints of traveling are always surreal. In this I learn sometimes "tourist" is an unavoidable verb and sometimes it doesn't matter what you tour as long as your attitude is right.

The Unfinished Story of the Vampire Clothes

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This is an unfinished story about vampire clothing. It was an amusing concept but what kind of plot can you actually have about vampire clothings? I like the killing of the vampire though. If you have any ideas of what one can do with vampire clothing (other than to look in a mirror and see oneself naked in the reflection) let me know. I kind of like the idea of snagging the clothing on a wooden twig and having the clothing crumble into dust. That'll be the conclussion. Just what happens in between is unclear.

How to Fart In A Fort

|fiction||children||humor|

This is the quickest story I ever wrote. Oddly enough I had never played fort as a child so playing with my cousin Anja was the first time. I actually don't like fart jokes so I'm not sure why I the title just came to me.