De-Icing Fate

by Tom Fillion

fate is a business trip

in the dead of winter

with delays and layovers at LaGuardia or Newark or Philly

where they entertain you with an AM radio sports show

and the host is a Mafia hit man

who recognizes you

despite the disguise from the witness protection program

and he pulls out a garrote

like when they killed Luca Brasi in The Godfather

and he chases you down the concourse

and you jump on a courtesy vehicle

and drive it like Steve McQueen did in Bullitt

so now you’re safe in San Francisco

until the third game of the 1989 World Series,

and you fall into the San Andreas Fault

and slide all the way to the Los Angeles aquifer

and meet Jack Nicholson in Chinatown

and hang out with him and Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper

until Jack goes crazy and “Here’s Johnny!” in The Shining

and destiny is when the weather clears

and they de-ice the plane

and you head back to Penelope and Telemachus

in Ithaca

Tom Fillion has taught mathematics and English and coached golf and tennis at Tampa public high schools. His short stories and poems have appeared in online magazines. Novels and poems are available on Amazon. He lives in Tampa, Florida and is a graduate of the University of South Florida.

Bernice Holtzman’s paintings and collages have appeared in shows at various venues in Manhattan, including the Back Fence in Greenwich Village, the Producer’s Club, the Black Door Gallery on W. 26^th St., and one other place she can’t remember, but it was in a basement, and she was well received.