Read the Zapfic serial #GHAWG on LeoThreads to follow the transformation of a courier into a Harley-riding tool of God.
🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️
Cover image is a screen capture of LeoThreads edited with MS Paint
🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️
TL;DR
What is GHAWG?
Zapfic Entries 57-63
5️⃣7️⃣ 2023-April-30 00:28:00
5️⃣8️⃣ 2023-May-1 01:17:06
5️⃣9️⃣ 2023-May-3 01:34:57
6️⃣0️⃣ 2023-May-4 00:15:54
6️⃣1️⃣ 2023-May-5 00:37:51
6️⃣2️⃣ 2023-May-7 02:15:03
6️⃣3️⃣ 2023-May-8 01:07:27
Story Arc So Far
Next Week
🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️
What Is GHAWG?
#GHAWG is short for "God's Hog: A Watchful Guardian." This fictional story tells how David Guardia, a courier and business owner from Bayonne, New Jersey, US moved into the next phase of his life after spending the final ten years of his ailing father's life helping him.
More details can be found in the first post of this weekly recap.
🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️
Zapfic Entries 57-63
5️⃣7️⃣ 2023-April-30 00:28:00
Civil unrest brewed in Illinois since before I left Bayonne. Chicago & environs were a short distance from Gary. We had no intention of staying in or near Chicago, so we were OK. Our priority was to get past O'Hare to the west.
🏍️ Usually Chicago is the scene of street crime, with dozens of shootings and a few killings each weekend. It's been that way for decades. However, in recent years protests have become more common throughout the country (especially since 2020). It was time to include this situation since it advances the zapfic serial.
5️⃣8️⃣ 2023-May-1 01:17:06
We took I80 from Chicago all the way to Barstow a short distance from the Illinois-Iowa state lines. We needed gas and grub. This part of the ride was tense, so we needed to get sleep. Next stop: the Mississippi River and Iowa.
🏍️ This may have been the longest stretch of motorcycle riding done by David Guardia since the start from Bayonne, New Jersey, US. This zapfic entry continued the sense of urgency established in Entry 57.
5️⃣9️⃣ 2023-May-3 01:34:57
While looking at a paper map of Illinois I noticed 3 places of interest: Barstow was where we were; NE 54 miles was Emanuel Cemetery near Dixon; halfway was Prophetstown. It never would have occurred to me to name a town that.
🏍️ I was just looking at online maps of the area to see what was in the vicinity. By blind luck I noticed Emanuel Cemetery and Prophetstown, and I felt the need to incorporate them into the story.
6️⃣0️⃣ 2023-May-4 00:15:54
Due to bad weather we began our ride out of Barstow after sunset. I thought we dodged a bullet riding through Illinois when peaceful protests turned into violent rioting. I80 into IA was our best option; we just had to reach it.
🏍️ This zapfic entry was made to resemble situations where people say "famous last words" before something to the contrary happens. It's not in the same category as saying the bull market in stocks would continue just before the 1929 Stock Market Crash, but it reflects David Guardia's state of mind.
6️⃣1️⃣ 2023-May-5 00:37:51
As Manny Rey and I crossed I80 at 70 mph into LeClaire, Iowa, he told me that I would be OK no matter what happened that night. He was right about everything else. That's when a fuel tanker exploded and knocked us 100 feet away.
🏍️ "Famous last words," indeed. David Guardia and Manny Rey find themselves passing through rioting. By this point, David had become a believer in Manny Rey's uncanny predictive powers. Although they escaped the rioting, other factors were in play that night.
6️⃣2️⃣ 2023-May-7 02:15:03
These memories flashed before me:
- Oaf who broke my black Big Wheel
- Celebrating in a bar 2nd Stanley Cup for New Jersey Devils
- Watching 2000 World Series with Pops
- Starting Guardia Courier Services
- Mom's funeral
- …
(Link added for this post)
🏍️ This is the beginning of a flashback sequence, life flashing before one's eyes before going unconscious. #GHAWG had mentioned the Big Wheel earlier. The other events are included to give readers a perspective of David Guardia's age and life experience.
6️⃣3️⃣ 2023-May-8 01:07:27
- …
- Seeing The Dark Knight Rises with Pops at IMAX Theater in Jersey City
- Scoring 5 Yahtzee!'s in 1 game against Pops
- Buying my Honda at a fire sale
- Learning self defense as a teenager from Pops
- Practicing MMA
- …
🏍️ The first 3 items in this edition of the flashback sequence are integral to #GHAWG: The zapfic serial itself is takes its title from the theme characteristic of The Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan; Yahtzee! and UNO were part of the routine between father and son during the previous decade; David's previous motorcycle was a Honda. The last 2 items explain how David Guardia acquired his fighting skills: David's father was a US Marine, so it makes sense he would learn some skills from him; MMA, mixed martial arts, would become the MMA we know today during the 1990s and 2000s.
🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️
Story Arc So Far
David Guardia and Manny Rey rush through Illinois as fast as they could. Just when they think they avoid turmoil wracking Illinois, the ride into it just miles from the state lines Illinois shares with Iowa.
Although they both escape the turmoil, "random" events such as a tanker explosion throw them off their motorcycles a good distance.
This was the point for a flashback sequence to occur and to shift the zapfic serial to the next stage.
🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️
Next Week
Zapfic Entries 64-70 continue the flashback sequence. Act 2 ends, but there is an interlude before Act 3 begins.
GHAWG itself continues at LeoThreads, where Act 3 rolls on. The very tall redhead returns, this time for a major role in the zapfic serial.
Catch the latest zapfic entries for GHAWG at LeoThreads. Get caught up with GHAWG with these weekly summaries at LeoFinance and at the Scholar and Scribe community.
🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️
GHAWG Navigation
To find other weekly summary posts such as this one-- or to read the serial without annotated commentary-- use the GHAWG Navigation threadstorm at LeoThreads. Within LeoThreads, hashtag #GHAWGnav brings up the navigation.