Meet Jonathan “Merry” Meriwether, and some new youth and young adult fiction

Craig Hartranft

{ This attempt at Youth and/or Young Adult fiction began when my son, Ethan, who was beginning to read the same, some ten years ago. It may be set in the late Sixties or early Seventies as I draw much from my childhood for some of the set up. I like the characters, and their humorous names, and the first/third person narration and description from my lead protagonist,  Jonathan “Merry” Meriwether.  My penchant for dialogue driven writing swells in this story as well. Overall, I find the story fun. Now where will it go? }

From the film, Stand By Me, and a story by Stephen King

From the film, Stand By Me, and a story by Stephen King

[ Copyright © 1999 to present, Craig S Hartranft. All rights reserved, and everything it implies. You steal my stuff, I will hunt you down and kill you. You and your family, your dog, and your favorite teacher. Just kidding. ]

Two days after my twelfth birthday, somebody moved into the old Kendrick house down on the corner. My friend Booger was the first one to find out about it.

“Hey, Jon! Hey, Jon!” he yelled as he ran to my house.

Booger wasn’t running very fast. He really couldn’t because was too overweight from all the macaroni and cheese with a side of peanut butter he ate everyday. He sputtered to a stop at my porch, panting heavily. The unusual Spring weather didn’t help him either. It was an unusually warm Saturday in late April, nearly 75 degrees, for central Pennsylvania.

“Geez, Booger, you’re going to have a heart attack if you keep that up.” Booger just glared at me trying to catch his breath. “What’s wrong anyway?”

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Horace and The One-Eyed Bunny

Craig Hartranft

This story start came from seeing one of Lily the Little Black Dog’s many chew toys. Like many of her toys, past and present, they seem to lose eyes, limbs, stuffing, and other parts. It’s also one of my few attempts of writing in the first person. The usual disclaimer: no editing was done to this article, so expect typos and such.

One-Eyed BunnyThe brown stuffed bunny with one eye looked at me and said, “You have to find my lost eye, Horace. You need to find it. Now.”

The bunny, one of Roxy’s chew toys, was on my desk to my left, near the edge. I hadn’t noticed, nor did I think I heard something. But it did seem odd, not the talking, the bunny being on my desk. Well, the talking was weird too.

“I need my eye, Horace, my other eye.”

I stared at the bunny. Then at my coffee. It was early. It was only on my first cup, so it wasn’t the caffeine. What did I eat last night? Had some Sugar Pops and Cheetos while watching reruns of Lost, but that never caused any problems before.

I looked at the bunny. It was in a sitting position, hunched back. It’s disproportionately long ears standing straight up. A talking rabbit. Why not? Weirder things have happened in my life.

“Are you talking to me?”

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