Loves First Kiss.

Rusty Pliers returned to Stardust Video and Coffee (1842 E Winter Park Rd, Orlando, Fl) to read a short story entitled “Love’s First Kiss” at an open mic night.  I worked with Rusty Pliers back when Disney Feature Animation created films the old school way with millions of drawings done by hand. A small army of artists were required to make the films. I’m fascinated at how the many talented artists re-invented themselves after animated films turned to computers rather than drawings. Rusty Pliers took up the pen an started writing. At the first reading he explained the his alias Rusty Pliers came from a sideline career as a porn star. There were some rusty pliers on the set and they were used in ways that are probably better left unsaid.

This second reading on Memorial Day was much softer and innocent, recalling his first love in high school. She loved horses and although he considered horses to be monstrous beasts, he told her that he adored horses to get close to her in the barn. Their first kiss was tender and sweet and it stirred feelings below the belt that he didn’t expect. It was abruptly cut short by the girl’s father however. The young pair drifted apart and never rekindled that moment.

Another author told a story that resonated for Memorial Day. She had a career in the military and was good at he job. She got married and was starting he new life. Her husband was in the military as well, and they were not always stationed together. Life was good, but then she got news that changed everything. She had Multiple Sclerosis and this would take away her mobility. She eventually got medical disability. She moved and open boxes lay everywhere. She didn’t know what to do with the rest of her life.

What made he story so compelling is that she would occasionally stop reading and just relate her story from memory. The point of her story was that although her life was upended she needed to find a way to restore order. She started with a task that many overlook. She began organizing her spice rack in her apartment filled with unopened boxes. She cried as she worked, but with that one task done she could move on to the next. She was a brave veteran who had found a way to reinvent her life after all the structure and discipline of the military and she wouldn’t let MS define her life. Clearly as a writer she had rediscovered a way to let her spirit sour.