Happy Wednesday! We’re off for vacation tomorrow, and right after we come back, I will officially have a teenager. I would say it feels like 5 minutes ago that I was holding him for the first time, but that’s not really true. I’ve had almost 13 wonderful years of watching him grow and mature. I feel pretty lucky to be his mom.
On to the WIPpet. This week’s snippet is about Izzy, the other main character. He’s an EMT who moonlights as a drag queen at Switch Hitter, an LGBT+ bar. This scene is based on a real-life situation. My father-in-law was an EMT for many years, and he once had to transport a mummy to the hospital so they could do scans on it. I changed the details, but it’s not as far-fetched as it sounds.
WIPmath: No math. It’s the first of the month, and these are the first lines of chapter 2.
Israel “Izzy” Kaplan turned away from the radio and hollered over his shoulder, “Morales! Morales, get in here!”
A petite, dark-haired woman poked her head around the corner. “Yeah?”
“You’re not going to believe this.” Izzy shook his head, chuckling. He couldn’t hold back, and deep belly laughs rolled out of him.
“Kaplan, get it together.” Valeria poked him in the side.
He composed himself, trying to keep a straight face despite the snicker filtering through. “We have a patient to pick up.”
“And you’re still sitting here because…?” She waved her hand at him.
“It’s not an emergency.”
“It’s not like you to mock the homeless guy who keeps calling.” Val’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.
Izzy clammed up then cleared his throat. “Sorry. Not the homeless guy, either. You know I wouldn’t make fun if it were. When haven’t we gone to take care of him? It’s something else.”
Val huffed. “Yeah, okay. Get to the point already.”
“We’re supposed to go”—he laughed again—“pick up”—another snort—“a skeleton.”
Val’s face registered confusion. “Someone’s been dead a long time.”
“A real long time,” Izzy agreed. “On the order of millions of years.”
“Uh…”
He guffawed again. “We have to transport a dinosaur. That’s not a metaphor.”
Like what you read? Be sure to check out the other entries and add your own. Just post a bit of your WIP, connect it to the date, and link up with us. Many thanks to Emily Witt for giving us this space. Happy reading and writing!
I know quite a few firefighters/EMTs(married to one of them), and they can have a rather morbid sense of humor. Great snippet. I can’t wait to read more of Izzy.
My sister works in hospice care and says the same thing about the employees there. My FIL used to tell stories at the table. Since my husband grew up with that, almost nothing fazes him now.
I’m glad you like Izzy! 🙂
Ooh! That’s so cool! A dinosaur! I like Izzy already. Far too much.
The real story was so bizarre. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts had acquired a mummy, and it needed some kind of scans. At the time, my FIL worked for an ambulance company which was I think able to contract privately? I’m not entirely sure. Anyway, they were contracted instead of UPS or whatever because the museum thought the EMTs would be more gentle than people in shipping. This all happened either right before or right after my husband & I got married, so my very first trip to the MFA was to see Queen Whatever-Her-Name-Was on display. Talk about great family stories! 🙂
Anyway, Izzy is pretty fun to write. Wait til you meet his moms. 😉
That’s such a great story.
And his moms rock! 😀
I like the dialogue and believe me it is believable. Don’t know whether I would like picking up one though.
Shalom aleichem,
Patricia
Ha! Agreed. I think I might find it a bit creepy.
I’ve heard of similar scenarios (or maybe it was this one), but since my parents were both in the local fire dept/rescue squads too, I can just SEE this discussion. What a hoot!
May your vacation be wonderful… and may the happy prior 13 become the even more happy future 87+ 😀
😀 I have no idea for sure if this sort of thing has happened in other places, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Vacation was good, and now on to the teenage years tomorrow. It’s pretty exciting!
I love this! I would be snickering too if I got that call. And as someone who works in the library/museum sector herself, it toally doesn’t surprise me that this sort of thing happens.
LOL, I have been *dying* to find a way to work this scenario into a story. When my FIL told us about it, I thought it was one of the best things I’d ever heard. I suspect the museum curators were right that EMTs were a better choice to safely transport their precious “patient.” 😀
I’ve also heard of this (I watch a lot of PBS documentaries!)
I remember when I had a newly minted teen. He’ll be 15 in about three weeks, and he’s half a head taller than his 5’9″ mom already! It’s been a delight nearly every moment, seeing the man he’s becoming.
All I can say is what you already know. Savor every possible second. <3
I'm also with the Izzy-fanciers club. I want more of him – and, I suspect, the moms who raised him!
LOL! I love documentaries, so I understand.
I’m enjoying having a teen so far. But I’ve enjoyed pretty much every stage of watching both my kids grow. 🙂
I’m glad people like Izzy! His moms are fun. I should excerpt them for the next one. They’re kind of a pair of yentes, but they mean well, and they love him. They’re both loosely based on women I know. (Very loosely…I doubt they’d even recognize themselves.)