I realize this is two letters home from children in a week, but they’re very different and apparently this is how my mind is thinking at the moment.
copyright Joe Owens
Dear Mum and Dad,
Greetings from the land of inter-dimensional hospitality! Well, my first week at the Nexus Hotel is over. It didn’t drive me insane but there were several points where I wished I’d never been born. Sorry Mum, you did your best and all.
It’s pretty brutal out here. I had a party of Neanderthals stumble in from some primitive dimension and demand the first floor suites. No credit card, of course, but I got half a gazelle as payment. They trashed the rooms and set fire to two of the beds. They also massacred half a Venusian furry convention that was meeting on the third floor. I comped the survivors their rooms. Hope that’s okay.
On Wednesday, we had a couple dark specters arrive. Didn’t pay, of course, just loitered around haunting the place. I got them exorcised finally. It’s fine now.
Some sort of space princess came two days ago. That’s when things started looking up. She’s pretty. I let her have the top two floors indefinitely. I’m redecorating for her, turning it into a castle.
Don’t worry about the hotel, I’m handling everything.
Your son,
Winky.
Winky’s father put down the letter. “Maybe I should go help him out. Just for a few days.”
“You’re retired,” his wife said. “You promised.”
Her husband noticed the way she was fingering her knife. “Right, right. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
The Green-Walled Tower 
March 9th, 2015 at 1:28 am
Amazed every time by the bizarre turns of your imagination David! 🙂 Doubt there is a better interpretation of that strange structure.
March 9th, 2015 at 8:56 pm
Thanks, Madhu. I appreciate your comment. That’s just what came to me when I looked at it.
March 9th, 2015 at 3:06 am
Great story. Absolutely loved it. More of these please.
March 9th, 2015 at 8:57 pm
Thanks, Chris. More on the way. 🙂
March 9th, 2015 at 10:36 am
Hilarious! Loved it.
March 9th, 2015 at 8:58 pm
🙂 Thanks.
March 10th, 2015 at 11:26 pm
What a week at this hotel. You have such a wonderful imagination. I like how he states everything so matter-of-factly. Ho hum, massacres and all. He’s so thoughtful to comp survivors!
March 11th, 2015 at 7:55 pm
Thanks for the compliments, Amy. I’ve been reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, so I think some of his dry wit seeped into my writing.
March 12th, 2015 at 9:12 am
Haha! This is so cool and interesting. I imagine would be really tough running an interdimensional nexus. Seems like he knows how to handle it. Love all the ideas and characters. This is great fun.
March 12th, 2015 at 10:52 pm
I guess if nothing else, he rolls with the punches. I worked at a hotel many years ago, but luckily nothing like this happened.
March 22nd, 2015 at 12:05 am
bad mom
March 22nd, 2015 at 2:33 pm
Well, I think there is a whole backstory there, where she had to live in that hotel for many years and doesn’t want to go back.