Empiricism of Age

Prism Tales

Volume 2

A Compendium of Short Stories

about the Human Condition

____________________________

Renier Artens

Copyright © 2020 Renier Artens

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Fiction (of a kind)

Prism Tales Vol. 2

First Edition: 2020

RNWA Publishing, Canada

Acknowledgement

My thanks, as always, to my wife for her patience and guidance. Her support over recent years has been invaluable while I continue to caress the keyboard in the hopes of some day writing something intelligent and meaningful. And, of course, my deepest appreciation to those who are reading. We share the love of the written word.

About The Author

Born in The Netherlands, Renier Artens grew up in the 1960s and 1970s in what is now Zimbabwe, taking time out to earn his Bachelors Degree in Journalism from Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. He returned to work for the Rhodesia Ministry of Information and left as a newlywed, living initially in Western Europe before immigrating to Canada.

Over the past 40 years he's worked in Public Relations, Marketing Communications and Strategic Risk Management as well as retail as a small business owner. He has been employed by, or consulted for, corporations and governments throughout North America and elsewhere.

In late 2018 he retired to a rural community in Canada with his wife and avails himself of every opportunity to immerse himself ever more completely into the creative world of scribbling stories and writing songs for acoustic guitar. His three children forgive him.

Empiricism of Age

(Dedicated to those whose memories await)

'Come. This way. Follow me. Mind out for the cobwebs, gnarly roots that stub the toes and, of course, the myriad of naturally abundant foliage that decorates the corners my mind.

'That scurrying of small critters on beds of dried pine needles you hear? The screech of a Mexican spotted owl, the far away chirp and cough of a soaring bald eagle? These are just as real but in a different world. Pay attention. Keep walking. Not much further now and there's something I'd like to share. If you have the time. Why else would you be here right?

'What's that you say? Of course. Quite right too. We all have such reclusive recesses where we gather bits about ourselves - where we came from and who we've become. Or are becoming. But for each of us te landscape is different isn't it?

There's a myriad shapes and colours and intangible sensations...sensory perceptions like sounds and tastes that are unique to each of us. Part of our memory bank. We only have to reach out and grasp them, open our hands to set them free and then marvel at what they tell us about our journeys. It's not hard to do if you have a mind to explore, so to speak. I remember one time, when I was just a youngster like yourself ... oh, never mind. We're here. Beautiful isn't it?