Important announcement!

We have two bits of information to share with you.  The first is that we will be attempting to finish our conversion process once and for all, turning all of our galleries into individual post groups.  They’ll look like how the featured shout-out comic pages looked from the last few newsletter, or at least they will until I make archive pages for them to look like galleries but function like page links.  The only thing you need to be concerned with is knowing why, from Tuesday to Friday, I’ll be posting an avalanche of material.  It’s just me converting everything.  But, I will make sure to do this process on those days only so you don’t miss the Monday newsletter.

The other thing I wanted to share with you is a story idea I came up with years ago.  At the end of this newsletter will be a short story entitled “The Dream Job”.  I’ll leave it at the end so you can enjoy the rest of the letter’s goods first, but I decided to just tag it on here rather than make a separate post or page for sake of e-mail space (and WordPress technicality lol).

Away we go!

When You Really Think About It (click the pic):

And yes (don’t click the pic):

If you have need of prayer, just put it in the comments on this post.

Lightspeed Lab (Clickity pic!):

All Cheerful & Rosie (yes, click):

All Cheerful & Rosie  is a roller coaster of laughs.

And the boom!

System Guards Asteroid Boy (click this, too):

To the sun!

And don’t forget to try out our games.

And now, for my little story.

Richard Nelson is a thirty-nine-year-old father of three with a beautiful wife, all living in Bedlam, Wisconsin, when Rick’s position at the town’s bread company is unexpectedly terminated.  As Rick looks for new work over the next few weeks, all seems lost, with him lingering at the local coffee shop one evening, scouring the internet, when his wife comes to join him in his despair.  He stands up to hug her in greeting and accidentally bumps into one of two well-dressed men that have been sitting behind him for about an hour and a half.  As this collision results in the man’s coffee spilling, Richard desperately apologizes and goes to get the man a new drink without a word of discussion.  He knows what to get because it’s written on the cup.  With all of the drama quickly dealt with, our unemployed and his beloved sit down and begin discussing his progress while trying not to add the last few minutes to the list of misfortunes.

As you have foreseen, the gentleman behind them interrupts their lamentations and explains that he is a manager at Bedlam Meat Factory and that he would like to repay Rick’s generosity with a position at the plant.  The details are hashed out and the appointment is made for the following Monday at five in the morning.  With things working out in such a rapid fashion, the rest of the weekend is but a blur for the happy couple.

Monday morning arrives and Rick enters the facility to meet his new supervisor.  The tour is given, the instructions are laid out, and within an hour, Rick is eagerly putting into practice everything he has learned thus far on his first day.  What a simple and enjoyable task our friend has!  What’s more, it is no time at all before the signal goes off, indicating it is time to go home, as the company is strict about not keeping their employees longer than they wish to stay.  As Richard shuts his machine down, he notices something familiar accompanying this alarm; his wife’s voice.  “Rick, Rick, you need to wake up!  You’re late for your appointment!”

The distressed man realizes the horrible reality and rushes to get dressed, leaving for the factory in hopes that his previous kindness will result in mercy for this first day’s mishap.  However, his fears turn to even deeper terror as he learns the mind-numbing truth.  His lack of punctuality has no bearings on his future in this factory, because it does not exist.  The information he was given has led him to an empty building.  How could someone do such an evil thing, kicking a man when he is down?  Now, he must return home and relay the cruelty to his already discouraged wife.

Several hours of weeping and praying roll into the night where Richard Nelson finds himself hiding his tears as they lull him back into the land of dreams.  What dreams await him?  It is the very one he left the night before, at the factory that was but a lie.  It is his second day of work, or so it is in the dream.  He had intended to scold his employer for lying to him, but you know how intimidating it can be to chew out the boss with a planned complaint only to have his presence change your mind on the subject.  The day comes and goes, with the alarm once again reminding him what is real and what is not.

For the next three days, the unemployed father and husband is tormented with the same dream as he continually awakes to a reality each day which yields no success to the attaining of a tangible, genuine job offer.  His young ones ask him concerning questions and offer their positive encouragement in hopes of easing his stress.  His wife prays for him, and for his troubling dreams.  The week constantly beats him into the ground, but then Friday evening presents a change that no one saw coming.  When the Nelsons’ nine-year-old son hands the father the day’s collection of bills and miscellaneous letters received in the mail, Mr. Nelson sorts through the pile to see something that makes him drop everything else.  It is an envelope containing a check from Bedlam Meat Factory for seven hundred dollars with the check recording Rick having worked forty hours this past week at his new dream job.