///Indie Journal Daily///

Sunday, December 21, 2008

COMING SOON:

The continuation of this fantastic new book. Stay tuned!

Cotolo Chronicles 12:06 PM

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

More chapters coming soon!

Cotolo Chronicles 10:34 PM

Saturday, September 06, 2008

The Halls of Knowledge, part seventy-three

Macksennett told young Vantarvian, who had sat on a seat in a makeshift pew, that he had a daughter. That daughter was sold to slavery because Macksennett had no money. The girl's mother had run off with a band of blind bandits who had taught themselves to ride horses through thick woods without bumping into anything.
The men who had purchased Macksennett's daughter were Arabs who grew fond of the girl and did not sell her off to wicked or perverted men who would buy such girls from Arabs. The girl grew to be fifteen, followed by sixteen and seventeen and she was sent off to school in Spain, where Macksennett was living because he was wanted in America for impersonating a veterinarian and selling animal organs to a man impersonating a surgeon.

In Spain, Macksennett ran into a girl who looked like him, only she was beautiful. He approached her in front of the school she attended and said, "You have beautiful eyes."
"Thank you kind sir," she said.
"Your hair is so fine," he said.
"Thank you kind sir," she said.
"Your skin is fair."
"Thank you kind sir," she said.
"Your hands are dainty."
"Thank you kind sir," she said.
"Both of your eyebrows are balanced perfectly above your eyes."
"Thank you kind sir," she said.
"Your shoulders are even on either side."
"Thank you kind sir," she said.
"Your lips move to speak like a dove's wings in a sudden breeze."
"Thank you kind sir," she said.
"Your nose does not run."
"Thank you kind sir," she said.
"You could be the daughter I sold to slavery. Only grown up."
"Thank you kind sir," she said.
"You shouldn't thank me for that. I mourn the day I sold my daughter to slavery because, well, for one thing, I could have gotten more for her. She was beautiful, kind of like you, only younger. I threw up blood the day they took her from me and here I am, still poor, still lonely and without a plan for the future. And still without my Justine."

The girl fainted.

~To be continued

Cotolo Chronicles 8:53 PM

Saturday, August 16, 2008

The Halls of Knowledge, part seventy-two

Vantarvian's story continued ...

Bindu Baa Baa, Wana Tu Tu and Habba Meassa made hand motions for the Spaniards to follow them into the building where the members of the governing body of the City of Umgowah did their business.

Young Vantarvian looked at Father Macksennett with eyes watering and said, "I am sorry. I have to leave now and throw up blood."

Young Vantarvian followed the fake priest into the makeshift church where Macksennett had served mass and done many Catholic things for the people of the City of Umgowah, except, of course, teach them the correct way to speak Spanish. Macksennett walked into the small room in the back of the makeshift church's alter and closed the door. Young Vantarvian stood by the alter as he heard violent heaves come from behind the door.
In a moment the door opened and Macksennett strolled out, wiping his mouth with his forearm.

Young Vantarvian swung the door to the little room open quickly and looked into it. There was a makeshift sink. He looked into it. There was no blood. Young Vantarvian turned to Macksennett and said, "So you lied about throwing up blood, too?"
"Oh," said Macksennett, "funny how no blood came out this time, huh?"
Young Vantarvian said, "You have lied about everything. You don't know Spanish, you aren't a priest and you don't throw up blood."
"I did not lie about everything," Macksennett said.
"Not about everything?"
"No. My name is Macksennett. I didn't lie about that."
"What else did you say that is true?"
"Go sit down in a makeshift pew," Macksennett said, "and I will tell you more than anyone knows about me."
"Then what?"
"Then I will leave the City of Umgowah and never lie again. Not here, anyway."

Kantarpatine interupted older Vantarvian's story and said, "You know, I just thought of something."
"What?" I said.
"Since I have been holding this gun and threatening Vantarvian with it, I have not had one suicidal feeling."
"That's good. Now listen," I said to Vantarvian, "you have to get to the point with this story."
"I was getting to the point," he said.
"Then get on with it."
"Yeah," said Kantarpatine, shaking the bag with the gun inside at Vantarvian.

~To be continued

Cotolo Chronicles 8:34 PM

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The Halls of Knowledge, part seventy-one

Vantarvian's story continued ...

Bindu Baa Baa, Wana Tu Tu and Habba Meassa gave Father Macksennett a shove. The Spaniards became silent.

"You have lied," said Heepa Deepa of the governing body of the City of Umgowah. "You do not know how to speak their language."

Vantarvian realized what he had done.

Father Macksennett said, "I am sorry. I have to leave now and throw up blood."
One of the Spaniards then said, "Que pasa?"
As the fake priest walked away, Heepa Deepa said, "I wonder now if he is even a priest?"
Another one of the two Spaniards then said, "Que pasa?"
"Yes," said Bindu Baa Baa, "it may be that this Macksennett is not a man of God, as well as he is not a man who knows the Spanish language."
Vantarvian followed the fake priest as Macksennett walked away. Young Vantarvian shouted, "Cisnero! Cisnero!"
One of the Spaniards, hearing Vantarvian shout, then said, "Que es Cisnero?"
Macksennett stopped and turned around. He looked at young Vantarvian and said, "What is that you say?"
Vantarvian said, "I am shouting for you to stop in Spanish."
"Oh," said Macksennett, "is that how you say 'stop' in Spanish?"
The young Vantarvian caught up with the fake priest and said, "Then it is true you don't know Spanish and you aren't a priest?"
"Not a priest?"
"Are you?"
"I don't know Spanish. I lied."
"But is it true are you not a priest?"
"Who said I was not a priest?"
"Heepa and Bindu."
"Why did they say that? Just because a priest doesn't know Spanish he isn't a priest?"
"But you said you were a priest from Spain. That would make you a Spanish priest. That means you would know Spanish."
Macksennett put his hand on Vantarvian's shoulder and said, "Vantarvian, you are still young, though you are a good cook, so there is much for you to learn about who can be a Spanish priest and who cannot."
"Then you are?"
"Are what?"
"A Spanish priest?"

~To be continued

Cotolo Chronicles 7:47 PM

Saturday, July 26, 2008

The Halls of Knowledge, part seventy

Vantarvian's story continued ...

Bindu Baa Baa, Wana Tu Tu and Habba Meassa, three of the members of the governing body of the City of Umgowah stood in silence as Father Macksennett paused, wiped his brow, pulled his wavy hair back, bit on a few fingernails, looked up at the sky, coughed, cracked his knuckles and finally looked at the two Spaniards and said, "Hola."
The Spaniards smiled and shook hands with all of the members of the governing body of the City of Umgowah and then with Father Macksennett, who then said, "Enough talk, let's go to the dining room and eat. Well, you guys go because I have to serve mass."
"No," said Heepa Deepa, another of the members of the governing body of the City of Umgowah. "We have much to talk about before dining."

Vantarvian told us that he watched all of this happen, even though he was supposed to be in the kitchen preparing dinner for the dignitaries. Vantarvian said that he watched Father Macksennett act strangely, having no idea why the so-called priest was as nervous as he appeared.

Vantarvian said he felt badly for the priest, so he strolled over, stood beside Father Macksennett and said to the Spaniards, "Vanna pito pito manna des ignato mi solo."

Everyone was silent except Father Macksennett, who began to sweat in streams that dripped off of his nose, lips and chin.

One of the Spaniards then said, "Que?"
Vantarvian repeated, "Vanna pito pito manna des ignato mi solo."

More silence. The Spaniards looked at one another, shrugged and made faces that looked as if they had just eaten pork too salty for anyone's taste.

Vantarvian looked at Father Macksennett and said, "Did I pronounce the words wrong?"
"No, no," the fake priest said quickly. "They are probably from another part of Spain, one that doesn't know that dialect."
"But Spanish is Spanish," said Heepa Deepa. "All Spaniards should know Spanish."
"Yes," said Bindu Baa Baa, "because it is their language."
"No, no," said Father Macksennett. "I teach the other Spanish, the kind that is, well, it's the kind that is not from where these guys are from, you see?"
"You did not tell us anything like that," said Heepa Deepa, "when you were doing teaching of the language."

Vantarvian said he stood up for the fake priest but things became worse when the Spanish dignitaries began to talk in fluent Spanish and quickly, while they gesticulated. In a panic, Father Macksennett began to translate with the first things that came to his head. He said, "They want beef and vegetables for dinner and they want to trade cotton, lots of cotton that will be delivered to us by a ship, a big ship with white sails and a flag that has a half moon on it. And they say their names are Juan and Too and that they learned to speak Spanish from a crippled man who was deaf in both ears and he spit when he talked so they were learning the language while getting spat in their eyes and it made them want to swim so they like to swim and bought their suits with money they made from the king of Spain, whose name escapes them now but they just call him kingy anyway because they are such good friends and he gives them money to gamble on bullfights. Mostly the men in the bullring are mauled and cannot have children ever again but the bulls are not castrated because no one wants a bull without a penis ..."

~To be continued

Cotolo Chronicles 10:36 PM

Saturday, July 19, 2008

The Halls of Knowledge, part sixty-nine

Vantarvian's story continued in great detail.

He told us more about cooking tribesmen and about Father Macksennett, who was eventually revealed to be ignorant about anything to do with the Spanish language. It turned out that one summer season, Father Macksennett was chosen by the governing body of the City of Umgowah to assist in communicating with Spanish dignitaries visiting the area. At first, Father Macksennett said he could not help them because he had a rare disease of the gums. But the governing body of the City of Umgowah insisted that Macksennett be the conduit, since he taught Spanish and no one in the area knew it better than him.

Vantarvian said the Spanish dignitaries arrived quietly and the governing body of the City of Umgowah met the two Spaniards as they were driven to the city by a car owned by the governing body of the City of Umgowah.

"Why do you sweat so?" asked Bindu Baa Baa, one of the governing body of the City of Umgowah asked Father Macksennett.
"Fever," he said. "I should be in bed and not talking."
"Nonsense," said Bindu Ba Ba, "you must speak Spanish to these men. They bring the hope of much trade for the area and that could make all of the villages in this area be able to have money like those who live in superior civilizations."
"That isn't so good," said Father Macksennett, "as you think it might be."
"How could that not be good?" asked Wana Tu Tu, another member of the governing body of the City of Umgowah.
"Because," said the fake priest who they did not know was fake at that time, "with money comes corruption and with corruption comes crime and with crime comes passion and with passion comes fire and with fire comes burning and with burning comes flames and, well, you get the picture."
"The car with the Spanish dignitaries is approaching," said Habba Meassa, another member of the governing body of the City of Umgowah.

The cream-colored sedan --a mechanics blend of five different autos of the era that was constructed with the working parts of five different autos of the era that had been in fatal accidents along the African coastline just west of the City of Umgowah-- stopped in front of the members of the governing body of the City of Umgowah and Father Macksennett and two men dressed in long blue suits came out of the back seat. These were the Spanish dignitaries and their hair was slicked back with coconut oil and their skin was bronze and their shoes reflected the blue skies of Africa and they each smiled like magpies.

"Hola," said the first Spanish dignitaries.

All of the members of the governing body of the City of Umgowah turned their heads and looked at Father Macksennett.

~To be continued

Cotolo Chronicles 8:23 PM