Bud Grossmann’s Words of the Week for the Week of January 30, 2011 Previously unpublished fiction. © 2011 by Bud Grossmann. All Rights Reserved.   Stocking Cap, 2006 © 2006 by Bud Grossmann NAMED AND NUMBERED D avid C. Fischer, age sixty-one, a resident of the village of Fjord, Wisconsin, entered his warm house after an hour of clearing fresh snow from his sidewalks and driveway on a near-zero January afternoon. Standing on old bath towels in his mud room, Fischer removed his boots. Though thirsty for a beer, he first went down his cellar steps and tossed an ice-encrusted stocking cap—hunter’s orange in color—and a damp blue moth-nibbled woolen scarf into the clothes dryer, twisted a knob, pressed a button, and assembled in his mind a short list of high-priority tasks that would, David Fischer believed, pretty much put his life in order.   1. Write and send thank-you cards to those from whom he had received condolences following a loss several months past. 2. Calculate and send cash refunds to subscribers of a once-a-week literary service he had discontinued several years ago. 3. Complete the draft revisions of his Trust & Will and related documents; submit them to his attorney for final preparation and proper execution.       Fischer felt good. As he went back up the stairway from the basement, a flurry of smaller tasks swirled like wind-lofted snowflakes inside his skull. They begged almost audibly to be named and numbered among his good intentions. Fischer plucked at one of them and brushed the rest aside. Item Four, the man mentally marked it: Buy shotgun.       Fischer chuckled as he opened his refrigerator door. He brought out a can of Simpler Times, popped the top, and reached for a clean-enough glass already resting on the rather cluttered counter. One, two, three, four, Fischer tipped the can to pour. ♦         ARCHIVES         Click for a list of other Words of the Week I would welcome your thoughts on this page (or any of my others).  Write to me at the following address.  Please be sure to spell Grossmann with two n’s and mention what page you are writing about. Thanks!  BUD GROSSMANN Top of this page | HOME | Fine Photography | Picture of the Day | Writings | | Words of the Week | Mom & Pop Prop. Mgt. | FAQ |

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