{"id":990,"date":"2016-09-08T03:50:03","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T10:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/?p=990"},"modified":"2016-09-08T03:50:03","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T10:50:03","slug":"the-macedonia-hotel-chapter-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/08\/the-macedonia-hotel-chapter-8\/","title":{"rendered":"The Macedonia Hotel, Chapter 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Macedonia<\/a>The Macedonia Hotel<\/strong><\/p>\n

A NANOWRIMO<\/strong><\/p>\n

Relay writing project<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By the Wayne writers Guild<\/strong><\/p>\n

Completed July 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Macedonia Hotel<\/p>\n

(This fictional piece is the product of a relay writing project by the Wayne Writer\u2019s Guild In honor of NANOWRIMO-2015.\u00a0 Any resemblance to real events, people, places, or things is a coincidence and neither intended nor implied to be real and accurate.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I extend my thanks and gratitude to the contributors who shared their time and talents to make this NANOWRIMO Relay Writing Project possible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The individual chapters are the intellectual property of the author.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Special thanks are extended to John Cieslinski for his generous use of the book store\u2019s back room.<\/p>\n

–Kate Chamberlin, Coordinating Editor<\/p>\n

July 20, 2016<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wayne Writers Guild<\/p>\n

Meets at 7:30pm \u2013 9:00pm, on the 2nd and 4th. Tuesday of each month<\/p>\n

Books, Etc. of Macedon, NY<\/p>\n

John Cieslinski, Owner<\/p>\n

78 W. Main ST. Macedon NY 14502<\/p>\n

Phone 585-474-4116<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a>Chapter 8<\/h1>\n

<\/a>Frank\u2019s Plan<\/h1>\n

<\/a>By Alex S. Reid<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

They sat drinking coffee and enjoying a cheeseburger with extra fries at the Hungry House Cafe.<\/p>\n

Frank was tall, slim, and serious looking. He wore glasses and had a wild mop of graying hair. His blue dungaree jacket matched his jeans. He was the more adventurous of the two. Ryan was quieter, more thoughtful, and slow to make decisions. He was twenty pounds overweight with a chubby, red face, and a shaved head. He fiddled nervously with a plastic spoon.<\/p>\n

These two guys, old friends from High School, were broke, unemployed and divorced. One had two daughters in Nursing School; the other had a son in the Military. They had a few things in common, such as, they were both in their early fifties and real losers. For a number of reasons, good fortune had somehow passed them by.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver wonder where we went wrong?\u201d Frank asked, while still chewing and watching a pretty waitress wiping off nearby tables. \u201cWe had big plans, remember? Neither of us were the sharpest knife in the drawer, but not the dumbest either.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah right,\u201d Ryan agreed. \u201cI was a pretty good mechanic. Remember that old \u201959 Chevy Impala? I bought it for next to nothing, rebuilt the engine and transmission, sold it and made a bundle. So where are we going Frank? How come we are such failures?\u201d Ryan asked, as ketchup ran down his chin.<\/p>\n

Frank passed him a napkin, and then continued. \u201cWhere are we going? Well I have a plan. It\u2019s pretty obvious we need to make changes in our lives. Hell we\u2019ve used up most of it already and here we sit, feeling sorry for ourselves. I live in a rented Mobile home. When it rains I catch water in a bucket from my leaking roof. Then there\u2019s you, living in the rat-infested, ramshackle Macedonia Hotel with a bunch of weirdo\u2019s. Hell, you\u2019re probably the most normal tenant. So, we need to make dramatic changes. Ones that will make us rich\u2026and fast. How are we gonna do that? Very simple. We rob a bank,\u201d Frank said leaning back and waiting.<\/p>\n

Ryan gave a look of sheer disbelief. \u201cYeah sure. Why the hell not. We need a little excitement, right? Let\u2019s get the cops to chase us down the street like Butch<\/p>\n

Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean it,\u201d Frank continued. \u201cListen, I\u2019ve figured it all out. Spent weeks working out the details. I\u2019ve cased the bank and even studied other bank jobs. The successful ones, and those which were not. The secret is all in the planning. Our bank job will work. It\u2019s the perfect location: quiet, low traffic, no cops, ideal for a quick getaway,\u201d said Frank.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh God, he\u2019s really serious. Listen to him. He invites me to The Hungry Caf\u00e9 for a burger and now he\u2019s talking me into knocking over a bank?\u201d Ryan said, holding his head with both hands in a gesture of exasperation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s my plan,\u201d Frank continued. \u201cWe buy a wheelchair from Goodwill for say $30. Clean it so we don\u2019t leave any fingerprints. I\u2019m dressed as an old lady wearing a dress and a white wig. I\u2019m pushing your wheelchair. You\u2019re disguised in a hat, obviously to cover that bald head. Plus a beard, sunglasses and a huge white foot bandage. That\u2019s a clever distraction so everyone feels sorry for you. We wait patiently in line. Then we hand the teller a note telling her to fill our black plastic bag with twenties, tens and fives. We show the teller our gun. Once our bag is filled I drop it on your lap then wheel you out the door. We then dump the wheelchair and your foot bandage and ride skate boards around the block. We then dump the skate boards, old lady\u2019s dress and plastic bag with the money in a garbage can. We then stop in the nearby McDonald\u2019s for coffee and a cheeseburger then sit and watch as cops drive around like crazy stopping cars and throwing up road blocks. We sit and wait until everything has quieted down, stroll outside, collect our money from the trash can, stuff it into my back pack, and head home. Is that brilliant or what?\u201d Frank stopped, smiled, took a deep breath and waited for his friend\u2019s response.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you done?\u201d Ryan asked. \u201cAre you out of your small mind? Have you any idea how many things could go wrong? We\u2019d get twenty years if we got caught. Armed robbery? Listen, I\u2019m too good looking to go to prison. Those cons would pass me around like a peace pipe. You think our lives are miserable now? Try prison life?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew you\u2019d find fault with my idea for getting rich,\u201d Frank said. \u201cYou\u2019re too negative. You have to learn to trust my judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan grinned nervously. \u201cTrust you? Are you crazy? He wants me to trust a guy who\u2019s planning on robbing a bank. Listen. Maybe you<\/u> are ugly enough to survive twenty years in jail, but not me. Sorry buddy, count me out. No sir, no thanks. I\u2019ll take my chances flipping hamburgers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s exactly the reason you were never successful. You\u2019re too negative. You never learned to think outside the box. You have to be creative, use your imagination.\u201d Frank said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yeah. Well, imagine this. Fifteen hundred violent hairy cons in Attica. Tattoos, pumping iron, muscles like Schwarzenegger, haven\u2019t seen a woman in years, and suddenly you are thrown in amongst them like raw meet in a lion\u2019s cage. What are your chances? God I hate to think about it. No imagination you say? Oh boy, yes I do and it\u2019s a damned nightmare. I\u2019m sorry friend but I\u2019m staying back at the Macedonia Hotel collecting my unemployment. I may have a few really strange neighbors, weird noises at night and even a ghost or two but its home. And what\u2019s even stranger, I like the place,\u201d Ryan said, standing suddenly before grabbing his jacket and heading out the door.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/p>\n

Alex Reid has written stories since a small boy. His submissions to magazines met with ridicule, scorn and rejection. Finally, he self-published two books which he gives away to friends. Who’d buy them?<\/p>\n

Mary, his wife of 53 years, is still his best friend. They have two sons, seven grandchildren, and a great-grandson. Retired, they live nearby in their old farmhouse on three acres of woods, fruit trees, wild flowers, and overgrown weeds.<\/p>\n

areid3@rochester.rr.com<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wayne Writers Guild<\/p>\n

Meets at 7:30pm \u2013 9:00pm, on the 2nd and 4th. Tuesday of each month<\/p>\n

Books, Etc. of Macedon, NY<\/p>\n

John Cieslinski, Owner<\/p>\n

78 W. Main ST. Macedon NY 14502<\/p>\n

Phone 585-474-4116<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Macedonia Hotel A NANOWRIMO Relay writing project     By the Wayne writers Guild Completed July 2016 The Macedonia Hotel (This fictional piece is the product of a relay writing project by the Wayne Writer\u2019s Guild In honor of NANOWRIMO-2015.\u00a0 Any resemblance to real events, people, places, or things is a coincidence and neither […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=990"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":993,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990\/revisions\/993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}