Page 28 - 201001 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - January 2010

January 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 02/02/2010 8:33 AM Page 28 28 It’s A BUDDY’S WORLD IT’S A BUDDY’S WORLD by Bud Gilham ‘It’s a Buddy’s World’: Diverse New Collection of Short Stories Covers the Range of the Human Experience “The major theme of this book is life in general, or, more precisely, what we run into along our journey,” says Bud Gilham of his new book, “It’s a Buddy’s World” (published by AuthorHouse). “It’s a Buddy’s World” is a collection of Gilham’s short stories, essays and articles, many of which have been published in newspapers and magazines. Writing articles on specific topics led him to draw from his personal experiences for inspiration, and he added his own details, along with those of other people he knew, to create material that all readers can relate to. Gilham has divided “It’s a Buddy’s World” into two halves. The first half contains stories and articles that deal with relationships, family and love. The material is optimistic and hopeful. “The running theme is to laugh as often as you can, and worry as little as possible,” Gilham says. The second half’s subject matter is more dark and complicated, detailing various traumatic life events, their impact and their consequences. Gilham writes about the loss of a loved one, aging, depression and suicidal thoughts. “The message is, you will survive even though at times it seems you will not,” Gilham says of the second half of “It’s a Buddy’s World.” One of Gilham’s favorite essays in “It’s a Buddy’s World” is “Spiral to Hell,” which details a downward spiral of emotions into hopelessness, despair and suicide, as captured in this excerpt: I have nothing left now, nothing. I slip and slip deeper and deeper into the black hole before me. “No,” I whisper with raspy voice and aching lungs, lungs that no longer work a heart that has stopped and forsaken the body. “No,” I plead in a whisper. Why? Why did the word not come? What did I do that was so wrong? Eyes fog over, mouth fills with bitterness, soul begins to die, and the spirit is gone. “Oh God, I am so sorry.” The words are barely audible as my being slips into a dark cold nothingness. “Sorry?” The hot breath in the place my spirit once lived. “Ha, you are sorry! When were you ever sorry you pompous, little weasel of a creature! You conceited, self- righteous imbecilic sack of flesh!” My mouth cannot move to answer, my throat closed with a slimy foulness of retched bile. I have lost, I have lost. Bud Gilham was born in the small coastal community of Powell River in western Canada. As a young man he joined the Canadian Armed Forces and then worked in the forest industry. After completing his university education, he worked several jobs including counseling, teaching and sales. He currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia and teaches English as a second language. ( from Those Embarassing Moments ) I have written several articles so far on what I would like to think of as the lighter side of life. I suppose some people could say they are those, embarrassing moments we would all like to forget. Why? First of all if anyone remembers any of those moments, they do so with love and a kinship of sorts. Yes we have all had at least a couple of those things happen to us. On the other hand if some people bring them up to embarrass you all over again, they should really get a life. Why do these things happen to other wise perfectly sane and normal people? Why do we lock the keys in the car? Why do we say something completely, forgive me, stupid from time to time? Guess what…………YOUR HUMAN GET USED TO IT! www.51635.authorworld.com