This is an anthology of humorous short stories. All Camped Out provided the main plotline in the story of the same name in Traveler’s HOT L – The Time Traveler’s Resort. A Clubhouse and a Kiss (Traveler’s HOT L – Volume 2) is the expanded version of The Clubhouse found in this book.
There are no old versions of any story to which you can compare the version in this book.
Elevator Speech
Henry Langdon and Aaron Fremont are best friends. They've been best friends for a long as they can remember. Aaron narrates all nine of the stories in this volume. Follow Henry and Aaron through a series of grand plans and schemes... and disasters!
Background
I can’t point to a date or event that led me to write Fair Game. I was teaching at Monte Vista High School at the time. I took a correspondence course on newspaper and fiction writing.
Hmmm. That last sentence didn’t come out right.
Upon further review, maybe it did.
After completing the course, I began to write mostly science fiction stories of various length and quality. Fair Game was my first attempt at a humorous book.
The stories are written in first-person. Aaron Freemont is the scribe and Henry Langdon is the ringleader and primary protagonist in each story. “Henry Langdon is my best friend,” appears somewhere in every story. Despite that proclamation, as you read the tales of daring and disaster, you might be tempted to nominate Aaron for sainthood based on his patience and agreeability.
Each story is an episode in the lives of two best friends of middle school age. They live in a small town somewhere in America’s Midwest. The time period is “before cell phones.”
Henry Langdon is a merging of The Fonz and Eddie Haskell. Parents flinch when he comes to visit. Bad guys rethink their ways. He never met a plan he didn’t devise.
ASIDE.
If you are below a certain age, you don’t know who Eddie Haskell is. If you’re younger still, The Fonz means nothing. Click each name for information on that television character.
Aaron Fremont is the quintessential sidekick. Willing to go anywhere and do anything, Aaron is often the first one into situations spawned by Henry’s fertile imagination.
Both Moms are the only other recurring characters in the stories.
The Stories
- In Fair Game, the boys "help" Aaron's mom in pie-baking contest. Incomplete knowledge of seasonings and science are the recipe for comedic disaster.
- A Quilted Bee Gathers No Honey finds the duo collecting what's needed to help Henry's mom win a quilting bee. The lack of thinking before doing is one theme in this story.
- In Meatloaf of the Heart, the boys are unsatisfied by the explanation of what happens at an adult dinner-dance. They creatively—and literally—crash the "All-American Meatloaf Cook-Off Dinner and Dance for Romantic Couples Only."
- Aaron and Henry are All Camped Out over a weekend with a security system James Bond might admire. The admiration would be short-lived. Bird droppings and wet clothing are featured.
- Both boys work to rig the local bingo session in Ballistic Bingo. That’s simple, right? I mean all you have to do is get the right Ping-Pong ball out of the air-powered mixer…
- Who wouldn't predict disaster if two boys visited a glass blower? See what really happens in Crystal Clear. Believe it or not, there aren't many shards of glass generated by the duo in this adventure.
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- Henry launches an all-boys club and builds a place to meet in The Clubhouse. Not all the girls think that's a good idea. The ending is the situation most often avoided by middle school boys.
- Quid is a story of how one can use a reputation to help another. This story is an Arthur Fonzarelli moment that teaches the value of empathy. Something we all need more of.
- Sir Isaac’s Car. A misunderstanding (AKA not paying attention to directions) causes Henry to miss a key part of the instructions for a science project. This leads the pair into the production of a coaster that's not quite what was assigned. The coaster part is a fanciful version of a “true-life adventure” I had as a 10 or 11-year-old. The photos below are of the inspiration for Sir Isaac’s Car.
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| That's my dad demonstrating how to use the steering mechanism before my first run in the top photo. I'm primed and ready for takeoff in the bottom picture. Out of the frame on the left is the "hill" we sped down. It might be 12 degrees of slope. We ended up putting a seat back with 7 on the back soon after this. The back really helped stabilize the driver. |
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