Sunday Snippet: Yanking the Pipe

Wow… I can't believe May is almost over. The whole time speeding up thing has to be true. Or maybe I just try to pack too much stuff into life? Who knows.

Kind of a so-so week of television viewing. I had quite a few irons in the fire and needed some solid focus on a couple of projects. Still, not a bad slate of shows overall.

As usual, I caught two episodes of Peter Gunn. One I remember seeing before the other one I didn't. Also caught two episodes of Classic Who, starting The Ark storyline.

Watched the second episode of In the Dark and while it didn't charm me as much as the first episode did, I enjoyed it. Even though I love how flawed our heroine is, I can see her abrasiveness becoming a tired gimmick at some point. I'll definitely keep watching because I really want to know what happened to her friend.

Caught another episode of Blade and it's one I remembered featuring Chase's rehab after being burned almost to a crisp… literally. I'm about halfway through the season and if memory serves, things start getting really intense from here on out.

Started a rewatch of Banshee. Man… I'd forgotten how crazy the first episode ended up being. This show didn't flinch from violence in any way and it's one of the reasons I couldn't stop watching. Ugh… not because I love violence. More because the characters jumped right out and grabbed my attention. I also fell in love with Job's character at first sight.

Began a new Australian series called Blue Heelers and have almost two episodes watched. I found the show on the TubiTV app but I'm watching on the Freedive app so I can catch the series from the beginning.

Watched another episode of Chicago Fire and it ended up being pretty decent. I'm not sure about the whole Kelly and Stella vibe, but I like that they're still supportive of each other even if they're not together. Also liked Matt being something of a dick to Herrman. I know, I know… why would I like that? Because I want to see how he deals with his trauma of almost being shot.

Caught episode nine of Iron Fist and, holy crap, it didn't disappoint. Danny fighting without the fist and nailing Davos with the syringe blew me away. Colleen fighting the gang of goons kicked ass. Ward and Walker's interaction almost made me laugh out loud, but it also ended up being kind of touching in a bizarre way. The fact that Ward immediately knew Joy needed help speaks volumes, even if Joy doesn't want to hear about it. Watching her fall a full story down was… actually kind of mind-blowing. And, of course, Misty is always an added benefit to the show. The end… well, I'm excited to see where things go.

Watched the premiere episode of Frankie Drake Mysteries's second season. Great episode with lots of good stuff for the women to do. I like Frankie's interactions with her mom and I loved Trudy saving the day.

Picked back up with Riverdale's third season. I'm not all the way through the episode yet but I already want to smack Hiram. I'm really not sure about the whole G&G thing but part of loving this show is embracing the completely batshit crazy storylines. I'm happy to be back in the game so to speak.

And that's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Yanking the Pipe, a novella that started with a writing community prompt of writing about pranks gone wrong.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Sammie Shields and Firth Fairmountain have fun yanking the pipe—pulling anonymous pranks—until one of their fellow soldiers gets injured. Their commanding officer gives them a choice—transfer to a marine unit to learn discipline or get busted down a rank. Sammie opts for demotion, but Firth chooses the alternate and finds a new mission, which Sammie struggles to accept.

And a sneaky peek…

Firth braced for the impact of Sammie's reaction.

She didn't wait long. "Screw that. I didn't train to fly a multi-billion credit spacecrafts to wind up in a marine grunt unit." Her face twisted in a grimace.

His dad quirked an eyebrow. "Oh? That training included instruction in yanking the pipe, then?" He folded his arms over his chest.

Sammie had the grace to flush a little. "Well, no. I'm kind of a natural when it comes to that stuff." Her shoulder lifted in a shrug.

Firth shook his head. "Not helping, Sammie. You can shut up now." Before she really jumped into the fire.

She swung her gaze around to him. "No. Because this is bullshit, Firth." She paced back and forth again. "I get we need to face some kind of repercussion, but a demotion? When we've worked our asses off to be the best?" She flung an arm out. "Or worse, a transfer to the meathead marines, where there's never a fight they won't settle or an ass they won't kick." She stopped and braced her hands on her hips. "No. No way." She met the commanding officer's gaze head-on.

Fairmountain straightened. "I figured you'd say that." He reached behind him and retrieved a box.

Opening it, he handed it to her. Lieutenant pips. Son of a bitch. His dad definitely prepared for this confrontation.

Sammie's jaw dropped but she had little choice but to face her situation. She snapped the container shut along with her mouth. Then she tucked the box into her pocket. Lieutenant Shields. Damn, Firth's stomach roiled with the idea.

But it strengthened his resolve.

Fairmountain met his son's gaze. "Well?" He said nothing else, leaving the choice firmly in Firth's hands.

Firth lifted his chin. "I'll report immediately to the gunnery sergeant." Which would be interesting, considering Firth outranked him.

One side of his dad's mouth curved upward slightly and he turned, signing Firth's new orders.

Sammie's shocked gasp rang in Firth's ears. She'd expected him to follow her down the ladder. And he could take the easy way, but a fellow crewman got hurt and Firth didn't like how the knowledge he'd been responsible sat with him. Past time for him to step up and act like he'd had the training Sammie spewed on about. His path would be different from hers.

His dad held the papers out. "You're both dismissed."

Firth took the new orders from his dad and snapped off a salute. He turned and the hurt and betrayal in Sammie's eyes almost had him rethinking his decision. Almost. Maybe some time apart and away from each other's influence would be a good thing.

Sammie obviously didn't agree. "I can't believe you did that. Why are you leaving me?"

Poor Sammie is in for a tough ride. Without Firth backing her plays, she's not going to handle things well at all.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye