Harry

"Ouch ! Why did you do that?" Harry was shaving. His wife Gloria, had just given him a mean pinch on his developing love handles. He looked past his lathered face in the mirror and saw her innocent smile. "Didn't you ever have the urge to hurt someone for no reason?" she asked, sweetly? "No, I never had the urge to hurt somebody for no reason, " he mimicked, "that hurt !" "Ah, well !" She smiled again as she disappeared through the bathroom door.

"Ouch" Harry said again, rubbing his shoulder that his dear little wife had just socked. "Got that urge again" Gloria said smiling sweetly.

His best buddy, Grover, and a friend, Elizabeth, came over on Friday to drink beer and play bridge. Gloria and Grover were the better players and usually paired off together. Harry was dummy and what should have been an easy three no trump was already down two. "Say this may sound stupid, but have either of you ever had the urge to hurt someone for no reason?" "YESSSSSSS !" was their simultaneous sibilant reply. Harry thought he caught a reptilian glimmer in the six dark green eyes staring at him, for a moment he wished he were a mongoose.

He went to the library. The closest thing to what he was looking for seemed to be irresistible impulse but that didn't seem quite right. There wasn't much written on the subject anyway. He approached a young lady librarian who was wheeling a cart load of books in his direction. "Pardon me miss, do you know what I might possible look under to learn about the urge to hurt someone for no reason?" "Why no sir, I don't" she said innocently. He felt a BIG pain in his little toe. He looked down and the cartload of books was parked on his toe. He more or less ignored the painful little reminders that his wife gave him on occasion and crawled back into his safe but boring rut. It seemed like he was in the groove of a record with grooves six feet deep that kept repeating and repeating and . . . . . . well you've got the picture.

That summer he Gloria and Grover went to the Indiana Sand Dunes near Michigan City. They climbed Mt Baldy, a sixty-foot high sand dune that overlooks the Indiana State Prison. Harry turned to view the lake, which was cobalt blue against an azure sky. Gloria gave him a little push backwards. His knees buckled against Grover who was kneeling behind him. Down the dune he went. Sky - prison - sand - sky -prison - sand - sky - prison - sand - sky - sand - sky - sand . . . .

When he finally stopped somersaulting he was almost at the base of the dune. Gloria and Grover looked like two stick figures silhouetted against the sun. Out of sync like they were pumping a railroad hand car but they were laughing, whooping, roaring. Couldn't stop.! Yeah a real knee slapper Harry thought as he picked himself up and attempted to remove the fine pale yellow sand that coated him. He felt like a sugar donut but not anywhere near that sweet. Summer passed and fall arrived on schedule. Grover was a frequent visitor. Gloria once asked Harry how he felt about polyandry but he hadn't looked that up yet. One evening Gloria and Grover were on the sofa watching tv. Harry was in the kitchen getting an ice cold beer. "Hey Harry, can you bring a couple for us too?" Grover called. Harry got the cans out of the refrigerator and the first two cans opened just fine, however the third can left him with a pull top tab on his finger and a sealed can. "RATS !"

He pulled open the kitchen counter drawer in search of an opener and . . . . . . . . there it was ! A beautiful long gleaming razor sharp guaranteed for a lifetime Ginsu butcher knife. Harry felt stunned. Slowly he reached for it. He picked it up. Suddenly a look of comprehension lit up his face. "I've got it ! I've got it ! I've finally got it ! I've finally got the urge ! ! ! He turned and went back into the living room.

He was out of his rut but still spinning. The changes in his life were kaleidoscopic he thought. No that isn't quite the right word he thought. "Ah the hell with it ! At least I'm out of my rut."

At the Indiana State Prison they often wondered why when Harry was in the exercise yard that he laughed every time he looked North towards Mt Baldy.

The     End