Fiction Friday - A Tokay's Tale

Teale looked behind her in surprise. How could this have happened? They'd been so careful! What was Ricky going to say? 

Not that it mattered much. This was her home. She curled her copper-flecked tail loosely around the two white ovoids and caressed them with the pale blue tail-tip. Her house. Her eggs. Her responsibility.

She called out a song in her vibrant voice, not sure if her singing was coming from joy, fear, or pure instinct. She always sang at night.

Of all the tokay geckos in the area, Teale had a distinctive voice and the acoustics of the concrete and tile room she'd made her home ensured she could be heard far and wide.

Her song over, she thought about Ricky. Naturally she hadn't seen him in days. She could wait and see if he came by or she could seek him out to tell him. If it mattered. Did it matter? Maybe not.

A week later, she ran into him while hunting, and he almost bit her tail off in the frenzy for a particularly feisty cockroach. He followed her home, saw the eggs, and started a fight because she'd kept it secret, finally forcing her out in a fit of temper. She kept an eye on him, though. He stayed, getting acquainted with the eggs in her cozy den behind the big white tank in the giants' water room.

After three days of quiet, she went back. By then, they were both calmer. He wanted to be involved, he said. He would help her, he said.

And he did!

Now she had time to go out hunting on her own or to visit her favorite haunts. They took it in turns to look after the eggs. Sometimes they both stayed together. That's when it started.

His singing.

Teale had a beautiful, clear voice. Ricky wanted to join in. When he started singing in a voice like a child who was coughing while shouting across a playground, she gave up. 

"Don't you want to sing for the eggs?"

"No, that's okay, you carry on."

He seemed to take her encouragement as a declaration of enjoyment and would belt it out louder and longer. 

If he asked her to sing first, she agreed, but then he'd break in above her, drowning out her tones. So she'd stop. It always took a while for him to notice. Because he couldn't hear while he was belting out his call at the top of his lungs.

She appreciated his help and his presence. She did. As much as she had told herself it was her responsibility, there was something calming about having an extra four legs doing the work. Besides, he wouldn't be in her space forever. The eggs should hatch in about two more months. She could make it.

Two short months until the hatching.

Two long months of listening to Ricky's tone-deaf song.

This story was inspired by the drama actually happening in our back bathroom! Although I haven't watched the tokays fight or chase each other, I know A) There was one lovely pale blue, copper flecked tokay gecko behind the toilet tank, then B) A clutch of eggs, then C) Suddenly a dark brown one with a shorter tail was watching the eggs, and now D) usually both geckos are there. Art imitates nature!

Poetry Corner: But it was sunny!

Sunny days arrive -
Heating up my happy cats.
Sudden storm erupts. 

(Haiku written by me, 10 Nov, 2026)

It's been hot. Not Summer hot, but hotter than I'm used to at this time of year. Then yesterday (Tuesday), a loud storm erupted, lasting most of the morning. Later a smaller shower added the punctuation to the day. Neither cat hid under furniture - bonus!

Coffee Klatch: In a Funk

I missed Fiction Friday. I'm in a funk. These days, coffee is just plain old black coffee made at home (using a phin, of course). 

But I got out of the house to visit the optometrist yesterday. As a special gift for a new customer, they sent me home with a 1/2 kilo of coffee!

"Unleash creativity - Pursue passion"😆

Only in Vietnam.

I'm still reading All the Light We Cannot See, but for lighter fare I've also been progressing through two children's book series (mid-grades) - The Dork Diaries, and The Last Kids on Earth - both of which I started with students.

Do you ever pick up a book aimed at a younger audience? Just for a break?

If so, which ones? If not, what is your "I need something lighter" go-to? 

Poetry Corner: Ennui

Too lazy to work,
Too tired to read a short book.
Stupid menopause. 

Not much, but literally my thoughts today. I could be coming down with something. That always makes me extra lethargic. Or maybe it's the onset of a depression, but today it suits me to blame it on hormones. 

Coffee Klatch: Learning Not to Judge

I was in my 40s before I realized I was judging others' coffee choices. To each their own, right? 

I'd always said that, but when someone claimed to be a coffee snob and then described coffee that didn't meet MY definition of good coffee, I definitely felt a little vindicated in my own superior taste. You know, better beans, better caffeine content, BETTER!

I'm better now. I love Vietnamese coffee. I love Turkish coffee! I've enjoyed all kinds of coffee and I've disliked some coffee that other coffee snobs swear is the best. To each their own!

If someone comes to visit me in this country with its deeply rooted coffee culture and brings their own favorite flavor of General Foods International Coffee because that's what they like, I will not try to force Vietnamese coffee on them. When people travel, it is important to do it in a way that makes them happy! 

Same goes for books. Maybe more so. 

I love old classics and rereading books I've read a dozen times, but I'm learning that I need help finding awesome new reads. I know better than to just randomly trust best-seller lists. 

Currently I'm reading All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and LOVING it! It came out in 2014, and I'd seen the title around for years. A quick look at the blurb told me it was set during World War II and had interesting main characters. So I downloaded it.

I'm not even 1/4 through, but it is gripping and intriguing and heartfelt. Of course we all know how the war ended up, but following two individuals living through it in very different ways makes for a compelling story.

I've read a few surprising books in the last year. I guess I don't really have a favorite genre anymore. Fiction. As long as it is well-written and an interesting or fun story, I'm in!

What makes an awesome book for you? 

Fiction Friday - The Big Night

Jakey tugged down the collar of the bloody and torn T-shirt he had on, while his mom added some gore to the fake wound on his neck. 

"But how do I do it, Mama?" he asked. Now that it was Halloween, he was nervous again. 

She sighed at the repeated question. Rather than look him in the eye, she smudged at the fake blood to make it look old. "Look, there will be hundreds of kids doing the same thing. It's easy! You'll see." 

"You said never to take candy from strangers." 

"I did. And you shouldn't. Except today. Today it's okay. And Uncle Joe will be with you." 

Jakey cringed. "He smells weird," he said in a soft voice. 

"Only because he's been dead for fifteen years." She touched up the tear in his t-shirt exposing a gash on his exposed ribs.

"People are going to tease me for talking to myself. They always think I'm talking to myself when Uncle Joe is with me." 

Finished, she leaned back on her stool and touched his nose with a dry brush. "Ah, that's the beauty of Halloween! Uncle Joe can wear a sheet to look like a fake ghost so it won't look like you're alone." 

Jakey's face lit up. "Okay!" He liked the idea of trick-or-treating, but he'd always been afraid to go. Now that he was in the third grade, some of his classmates were giving him an extra hard time about it: calling him a scaredy-cat. (He kind of was.) Saying he was a baby. (He definitely wasn't.) He had always helped hand out the candy at home, a little jealous of the kids in costumes, but mostly happy to be at home. 

His mom was a professional makeup artist at the theater downtown. She had been so excited when he announced he wanted to go trick-or-treating this year that for a minute his feelings had been hurt. Didn't she like his help at home? Did she think he was a chicken like Billy and Keaton did? But she had patiently addressed his concerns and he figured out that she was excited about helping him with a costume more than anything else. 

"What do you want to be?" 

"I don't know, something scary, NOT babyish! NOT a cartoon or a superhero!" He had something to prove this year. 

She threw out a few scary costume ideas and even looked them up with him online. (Dracula he knew. Frankenstein was a new one for him.) When he'd settled on zombie, her whole face lit up. "Aha! Now that's a good one." She'd pulled over her notepad and started a list. "We'll need a..." Thinking, writing, then suddenly, "Oh! And some..." Then more writing... "Jakey, go up to your room and find a T-shirt you don't mind destroying - one you never wear anymore. And some - hmm, are you going to be a pants zombie or a shorts zombie?" He shrugged. "Well, some bottoms you can wreck, too. We're gonna have fun with this." 

That was two weeks ago. Now he was in costume and ready to go. Where was Uncle Joe?

"Joe! Little brother!" his mom called out. "Are you in the attic or the basement?" The makeup palette slid across the table on its own, while a laugh echoed in the room. "Very funny, Joe. Your costume is sitting on the sofa in the living room."

"Okay. You look great, little dude. Scariest zombie I've ever seen!" Jakey raised his hand in a high-five, and felt a whisper of air as his uncle obliged on his way to get in costume. 

"Come on," said his mom. "Get your treat bag, and let's get a picture of you together before you go."

At the door, he hugged his mom tight. "Remember, Mom, one treat each, unless it's a specially good costume!" 

 "Go scare some people for me," she told him as he crossed the front stoop. "And mind your uncle!" She flipped on the porch light as her son and brother turned onto a sidewalk clotted with groups of kids.

Wednesday Poetry Corner: No More Rain

The season seems past.
Daily the sky dawns blue and clear.
Please don't prove me wrong! 

(haiku by me on October 28, 2026) 

It's truly hot, but at least it's not as humid as where I used to live. I actually find myself looking for a cloud or some drizzle. Soon the winds will pick up. That will help.

Have a great week!