The Strange and Sudden Passing of Harrison Gleck-

Behind the Story

In September of 2001, my dad and I (yep, one engineer and one math teacher, check, check) had this idea that we would create a “writing game,” which my brother later joined in.  We would take turns assigning ourselves writing prompts for short stories, complete with deadlines.  We’d each draft a story, send it to each other, trade edits on the other persons’ story, then revise and send back a final copy.

Some of the assignments were deceptively difficult in their simplicity, like the time I asked them to “Describe a door.”  I know, too easy, right?  But what if you want the door to be interesting to read about?  Intriguing?  What about if it was set in an usual place?  I think about Tolkien’s description of the entrance to the Mines of Moria, or Khazad-dum in The Fellowship of the Ring.  Now that was a door!

In January 2002 we were on Assignment no. 7, and the prompt was:

Finish the story begun below:

Beneath the calm and quiet exterior presented to the world, most men live a precarious existence between sanity and madness.  While leading normal everyday lives they are nevertheless one nudge from becoming completely unhinged.  Take for example the strange case of …

And that’s how Harrison Gleck was born.  Or … died.  Anyway, the story has morphed over the years (hopefully with some improvement) until it became the piece you just read.  I hope you enjoyed it!

One final note.  The Easter Egg planted in this story briefly pays tributes to one of my dad’s favorite shows, The Dick Van Dyke Show.  In Season 5 Episode 3 (Sep. 29, 1965), an exhausted Rob Petrie (played by Van Dyke) is working late at the office and is plagued by a water cooler and the sound “Uhny uftz.”  At the end of the episode he discovers that the sound comes from a remote control flying saucer that was being tested.  In fact, it was supposed to say “Merry Christmas.”

As the holiday seasons continue, give some hugs, show a larger measure of patience, and be kind to your fellow blue-marble travelers.

Thanks for reading,

--phillip

PS…that bit in the story about how Harrison sees phantasmal images while driving in the dark?  Yeah, that’s me.  All the way.  Gotta write what you know, even if it makes you look a bit weird, right?