I don’t like to use the word “regret”, but I feel like it is appropriate for this story. In the mall there is a Japanese restaurant in the food court that has the best orange chicken and noodles I’ve ever had. This place has ruined me from having the same dish anywhere else because I know it won’t be as good.

I’ve been going there for about 4 years now. I had a job at a JC Penney in the same mall and used to eat there on my breaks every Sunday. Then my next job was at an Ashely Furniture right across the street from the mall, so my breaks consisted of the same meal.

I became such a regular that whenever I walked by, the Chinese workers at the counter would start preparing my dish. He would even give me more chicken and not charge me for it. If it was quiet, we would exchange some small talk and pleasantries.

Then one day it all ended. I took my girlfriend to the mall SPECIFICALLY to try out that special combination that pleasured my taste buds to no end. As we approached the food court I felt a great disturbance. There he was, that Philippian was being hauled away by a pair of men dressed in black overcoats. As he struggled to get free, our eyes locked. He screamed out “Joe Reyes!” and I reached out my hand and screamed “That Asian guy!” and that was the last I saw of him.

Actually, the story really was this; I took my girlfriend to the mall and the Japanese place was bought out by another company and under new management. But the Vietnamese man wasn’t there anymore. I assumed he owned the place and when he sold it he didn’t work there anymore.

That was the end of it. Simple, yet it was sad to me. 4 years of knowing someone, exchanging light conversation, yet I never knew his name. I don’t know why, but I really regret it. Maybe because the food there now is so horrific. Seriously, how do you screw up noodles? They were just plain noodles. And the chicken, don’t get me started on that. Okay I’ll tell you. It used to be big chunks full of life and Asian pride, now they are crispy and small. Almost like they were shrunken by being so overcooked.

So that’s my story. Doesn’t really sound like too big a deal, but I felt selfish after the place closed. The guy saw me as a regular, gave me extra food, asked me about my day, yet I didn’t even think to ask his name.

Joe Reyes

Fake News Stories

Recycling Plant Of Terror

January 1, 2016 Joe Reyes Leave a comment

Public Worker hurls javelin into a crowd after boxes pile up

After hours of tireless work, Township worker Eric Johnson finally snapped and hurled a piece of scrap metal, like an Olympic Athlete, into unsuspecting townsfolks. The mental breakdown happened after the baler (machine designed to crush cardboard) was filled to the top.

Many people did not use the Recycling Center the previous day because of heavy snowfall. The day after, the workers had a bombardment of customers, most of them bringing mass loads of cardboard to be recycled.

On a typical day, the process of emptying out the baler takes as long as it takes the maintenance worker to come up to the Recycling Plant with the truck to take it.

“It is usually a quick process. The guy shows up within an hour or two and empties it,” said an unnamed Township Worker who witnessed the incident.

This particular day, the maintenance worker tasked with emptying out the baler wasn’t contacted due to downsizing caused by lowered taxes.

The boxes began to pile up and the Township Workers were forced to put all the boxes in a row. Within 3 short hours the row of boxes was 35 feet long and 6 feet high.

Johnson finally screamed out in frustration “(Expletive) this!” Johnson then reached into a pile of metal scraps, pulled out a javelin shaped one and hurled it at townsfolks.

Thankfully nobody was severely hurt by the thrown javelin, but the fallout was massive. One woman, Olivia Smith, was pregnant at the time and was in the car as her husband was unloading materials. Smith was so startled by the event that her water broke 7 weeks prematurely and she went into massive labor right there in the car.

Another man, Roger Evans, jumped when he heard Johnson yell out. Evans was holding an industrial sized microwave at the time and slipped on a piece of black ice. The microwave landed on Evans’ groin area causing his testicles to obliterate almost instantaneously.

In an even more shocking twist, actor Christian Bale was there at the Recycling Plant dropping off a Christmas Tree. The onscreen tough guy broke down in a panic and pushed Selma Schmid, a 99-year old Holocaust survivor to the ground. Schmid immediately started having chest pains, went into cardiac arrest, and died on the spot.

Charges against Johnson are piling up and the entire Recycling Plant has been shut down pending an investigation. Also charges against Bale were brought up. Bale made slanderous comments about Jewish people in an interview with CNN recently and many speculate that this might’ve been a hate crime that can come off as coincidental.

Joe Reyes

Funny

One Of My Biggest Regrets

December 31, 2015 Joe Reyes Leave a comment

Joe Reyes

Fairy Tales

The Beast

December 25, 2015 Joe Reyes Leave a comment

No one knew where the beast came from or what its name was, but when it came through everything died. Within a week, the massive island was barren of all life. The humans thought they could stay and fight, but they were the first to go.

The beast stood a gargantuan three hundred feet. Its belly became fat with all the life it’s eaten. Nothing was spared, not even the animals. It drank the rivers dry just to see the fish flail around and go still.

The birds were the lucky ones. They flew away early on. The beast never tried to cross the ocean. There was no telling if it could swim or not, it just roamed the land searching for life to extinguish.

After seemingly months of wandering around, the beast heard nothing but the wind. In sheer frustration, the beast let out a great roar that was so powerful it uprooted the trees. For a few moments, there was nothing but silence. Suddenly, there was a low roar in the distance. The beast turned in shock and stomped its way towards the distant sound.

After miles and miles of travel, the beast let out another roar and waited a few moments for a reply. High above, in the frozen mountains, a reply echoed. The beast mindlessly climbed up the mountainside. Thousands of feet the beast climbed with its gaze transfixed on the summit.

The cold didn’t bother it at all. The beast’s thick skin made it immune to the elements. Many doubted if the beast was able to feel pain at all. A few times it started to slip and fall, but its giant claws locked him in place.

The beast looked tiny at the top of the mountain. It turned around again and again and didn’t see a single thing. The beast let out one last roar. In the distance, yet another roar called back. The beast snarled at the noise coming from another mountain.

The beast started to walk and slid on the ice. It stabbed its claws into the mountain to stop its fall. The claws started to break and the beast fell helplessly down the mountain. Jagged rocks didn’t slow the descent.

The ground erupted as the beast finally hit the ground. Its body was broken, yet it still tried to rise up. Finally, the beast laid flat on the ground, fading away fast. It moved its eyes while searching for the source of the roar. Little did the beast know, it was chasing its own echo.

Joe Reyes

BLOG

Hey Everyone!

April 15, 2015 Joe Reyes Leave a comment

Thanks for clicking on my site. My name is Joe Reyes, I am trying to be an author and this site is to help promote my novels. I will have descriptions of the stories and release dates. I have a lot of my social media linked into this website so there will be multiple updates on many different avenues.

The novel series I’m working on now is Aftermath. It’s a post-apocalyptic story that centers around 7 characters in different parts of the United States. I will be giving you a full synopsis about the story as soon as I can and also send out some teasers as well. I have a street team member working on my Twitter and other social media accounts. I will let you all know when and which ones are active so you can follow me.

I will be posting short stories that you guys can read anywhere anytime. Also I will be making some videos about my stories and me talking about the process of creating each story. You can also follow my blog and sign up for our mailing list. Signup to be the first to know whenever I release a new book, host contests, online parties and events.

Follow this link to signup now and you’ll receive a free gift:

http://eepurl.com/bjCh5r

I want to thank all of you for stopping by and supporting my site and hope I write things that will peak your interest. So stop on by every day to see the new posts I’ll be putting up.

Joe Reyes