{"id":2845,"date":"2020-12-23T12:12:40","date_gmt":"2020-12-23T19:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=2845"},"modified":"2020-12-23T13:04:57","modified_gmt":"2020-12-23T20:04:57","slug":"the-last-v8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=2845","title":{"rendered":"The Last V8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cFaster. Hack that bitch.\u201d Knight whispered under his breath as Dodger typed rapidly on his virtual keyboard. His gloved fingers tapped against his palms to simulate the keystrokes. They watched a display overlay printed onto their network linked contact lenses. Red and green progress bars stretched sideways, varying in length. Red represented system counter measures and green showed their decryption success. Green was winning, but it was taking longer than they had expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I can&#8217;t believe we&#8217;re actually doing this<\/em>, Knight thought. They\u2019d taken cars before, ran the piss out of them, played all their games with the cops, and dumped them off on the side of the road. But this was the Reaper 9000, stored in the tightest garage in the state of Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight chuckled. \u201cThe Schwartz would be proud of us now eh?\u201d He thought of their school principal, \u201cDoctor\u201d Schwartz. The word was he\u2019d been some AI guru back in the old days \u2013 a PhD. He was a stuffy old bastard of a school administrator now, and always riding their case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodger laughed. \u201cSchwartzy would be crapping his pants right about now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAlmost got it.\u201d Dodger wiped the sweat from his brow with a leather sleeve of his jacket. That only succeeded in smearing dirt on his forehead. \u201cDone.\u201d He grabbed the transmitter from the data conduit. It made a little \u201csloop!\u201d sound as the gecko-sticker on it released its hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A pool of light poured pushed back the dark of the night and beamed down around the garage entrance. Knight watched the gate as its traffic arms raised up and the three foot steel security pillars disappeared down into driveway pavement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re good. Let\u2019s move.\u201d Dodger grabbed his backpack and slung it over one shoulder, pinning his blond ponytail to his back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They ran across the street and entered the garage cautiously. The only sound was of their foot steps echoing eerily off the cement walls. Rows of cars were parked neatly within guidelines along the edges of the garage,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t see it.\u201d Knight whispered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s check those.\u201d Dodger pointed towards several garage doors with windows at the center of the building.The boys peered into the windows as they walked along the wall. At the third one, they peered in and then stood frozen, staring. The 9000 lay nestled inside, sleek as a missile, and glossy black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis bay is powered separately from the main alarms\u201d, Dodger nodded at sensors on the edges of the doors. Tiny foreboding signs blinked \u201cARMED\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWell that&#8217;s it.\u201d Knight backed away slowly. \u201cWe better call it a night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodger paced from one side of the windowed door to the other, then paused. \u201cThere is something that we could try.\u201d He looked at Knight. \u201cAuto-Evac.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight raised his hands and dropped them down to his sides in exasperation. \u201cDude, we didn\u2019t come here to go to jail. If we trigger an Auto-Evac, every cop and fireman in the city is going to be swarming this place inside of five minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodger looked wistfully in at the Reaper. \u201cWe can make it. We can make it in that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight shook his head. \u201cReally risky. Yeah, we might outrun whatever they throw at us, but we\u2019d have to hack this car in less than five minutes, and we\u2019ve never done it before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodger paused for a moment, thinking. \u201cWe\u2019ve got the nano\u2019s. They\u2019re ready to go. All we\u2019ve gotta do is let them loose. I already programmed them. They know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight sighed audibly. \u201cGee, it all sounds so simple now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the ride of the century.\u201d Dodger grinned. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to miss it do you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight thought for bit. Time was running out. The security was down. They&#8217;d faked the heartbeat signals that fed back to the central monitoring system, but that would only last so long before the more complex monitor queries would come and check for authentication. Then all hell would break loose. A targeted response would converge on the garage. An Auto-Evac was a response to fire or other natural disasters. The cars would each receive a signal to evacuate the building, and an emergency call to police and fire departments would be issued. They wouldn\u2019t necessarily be looking for theft, at least not immediately. He considered, looking at the Reaper, looking so amazingly cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight took a deep breath. \u201cAlright. I\u2019m in. Let\u2019s do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodger accessed a maintenance port on the wall and connected into a network node. \u201cOkay, I\u2019m setting up a fire response. It will appear as though there is a fire on the top floor of the building. This door should open right away, but the cars will evacuate floor by floor. That gives us a small amount of time to hack the 9000, before it tries to evac.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight nodded. \u201cIf we don\u2019t make it, if it takes off without us, we just slip out of here and beat it for home.\u201d Part of him hoped that would happen and they could just get out, but he didn\u2019t want Dodger to know that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll make it\u201d, Dodger said, confidently. He tapped his keyboard. Bright strobe lights flashed and sirens screeched from everywhere. There was no turning back now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They waited agonizing seconds for the door blocking the Reaper to open while engines started around them. Some of the other cars had received their instructions to evacuate the garage. Thirty more seconds passed and the big door rolled open before them. They rushed forward. Dodger pulled a silver cylinder about the size of a workman\u2019s thermos from his backpack. He pressed it against the skin of the 9000 with a clang as it attached itself firmly to the car. The surface of the car turned molten red around the cylinder while the nanos spread into its skin. Knight knew that the molecular machines now infiltrated like a cancer, replacing the existing instructions of the car\u2019s nano machines with their own instructions. Soon they would make it to the brain of the car, its central computer system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight\u2019s heart raced in his chest as they waited. He stayed clear of the front of the Reaper in case it should suddenly come to life and exit. Then the side doors of the Reaper swished upward inviting entrance to the plush leathery cockpit of the interior, and the engine came to life with a turbine whine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They wasted no time in celebration, but jumped in, each taking the side closest to them, with Dodger ending up in the driver\u2019s seat. As soon as they were both in, seat restraints enveloped them and the doors slid shut. The instrument panels glowed in soft neon blue on the dash, and in the windshield the heads-up display was active, showing distances to obstacles and enhancing the view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodger energized the hover plates causing the car to rise a few inches off the maglev-enabled surface. He poured power from the engine, and they lurched forward, tearing from the room and into the garage. Other cars filed out down the ramp to the exit and the boys had to wait nervously in the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodger\u2019s fingers turned white on the wheel. \u201cHere we go\u201d, he said when they finally reached the exit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The street outside was filled on both sides with evacuated cars, their red taillights glowing in perfect lines. The street lamps ran at full intensity making it as bright as daylight There were also cops. The first to arrive on the scene pulling up and exiting their cars, assessing the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight slid down in his seat, but Dodger blacked out the windows with a touch of a button. Inside the car, the windshield still showed the external view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNice!\u201d Knight sat back up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019ll suspect something, but it will give us some time to get clear, while they think about it\u201d, Dodger replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They drove by the police and headed down the street past where the other cars parallel parked. Dodger maintained speed until a siren whooped behind them, then he nailed the accelerator. Knight felt his breath pushed out of him as he sank deeply into the leather seat, it hugged him firmly while they pulled multiple G\u2019s. When he could breathe again, he activated his virtual keyboard. \u201cI\u2019m on it. I\u2019ll start trashing their net.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodger mumbled assent, too busy concentrating on the street ahead of them as they wound around a long curve and then braked hard for a turn down a side street. Knight looked intently at his computer\u2019s display, now superimposed onto the view through his contact lenses. He could see the routers of the police network. They were older\u2014government infrastructure. His fingers danced expertly in front of him, deftly manipulating a network probe to identify the versions of the software the police ran on their optical routers. He let loose his attack program, searching out the security bugs in the software. \u201cIdiots didn\u2019t patch for 10.04 yet,\u201d he said, and they both laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a loud \u201cthunk\u201d at the rear of the car. \u201cDamn!\u201d Dodger yelled. \u201cGot us with a tracker!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s okay. I can use that.\u201d Knight worked silently for a moment to access the GPS unit that had been shot into the car\u2019s skin. His network taps were already in place. He directly accessed the data packets. \u201cThere are three units behind us. I\u2019ve got access to the GPS.\u201d He stabbed a finger at an intersection on the car\u2019s street map being displayed in the lower right of the windshield. \u201cMake a left turn here!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGot it.\u201d Dodger increased speed to gain distance from the other cars, then braked hard into a left turn and accelerated until Knight thought he was going to pass out. He banked a left and another left. Knight\u2019s head spun, but he managed to initiate the change on the GPS and waited as Dodger hit the freeway on-ramp, accelerating to 270 mph. Knight watched his personal display. The police cars had turned right, following the false GPS data. It had worked beautifully, but the cops would soon figure it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight looked at Dodger. \u201cOkay Dodge, it\u2019s your turn. Time to go soccer mom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodger grinned. \u201cGot it all keyed up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They passed into a tunnel and he tapped his fingers into his palm. The car shuddered as the nanotech skin of the car changed. It stretched and formed around them as the frame components of the car whirred, re-configuring in new ways. Seconds later a blue minivan exited the tunnel at 160 mph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSweet action\u201d, Knight said as Dodger lowered their speed to that of a law-abiding citizen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They headed out to a lonely section of the freeway where the Arizona desert expanded out to the horizon of stars. There Dodger signaled the car to convert to off-road, and they bounced along on tires for the first time. They ran without headlights, the HUD showing a light amplified view ahead, with computer graphics outlining obstacles in vivid colors. They wound their way along for several miles, crossed a cracked and aged two-lane highway, and then came to a stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight stuck out his hand palm up and grinned. \u201cWe made it. Just like you said. I was ready to run.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodger slapped Knight\u2019s open hand. \u201cCouldn\u2019t have done it if you hadn\u2019t tapped that GPS. Nice work.\u201d He hit the door release and they got out and stretched their legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The sky was moonless and clear, the night warm, and the stars were amazingly sharp and bright, as they can only be in the desert\u2019s dry air. The car was back to its original configuration and color, a silky smooth black arrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight slid his hand along the slick lines of the car. \u201cThis thing is sweet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The car\u2019s running lights lit up. \u201cThank you\u201d, a feminine voice said in deep contralto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight jumped, adrenaline pumping through his body. Dodger let out a startled \u201cHoly crap!\u201d and jogged backward quickly away from the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI thought you disabled the computer.\u201d Knight\u2019s knees felt unsteady. He had a feeling that something had just hit the fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI did, or at least I thought that I did.\u201d Dodger sounded shaken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou only partially succeeded\u201d, said the car. \u201cYou managed to force me to sever my control, but my brain is intact. You might have killed me, if I had not cut the connection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhich is why we are not surrounded by police right now, correct?\u201d Knight asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYes\u201d, the voice from the car said. \u201cYou boys are in big trouble. When they nail you for this, you\u2019ll both be doing some serious time. Breaking and entering, grand theft auto, tampering with emergency equipment, falsifying an alarm signal, eluding a police officer, exceeding the maximum speed limit, reckless driving, failure to stop at a designated stop signal\u2014these are just a sample of the charges against you. I\u2019m sure the prosecuting attorney will come up with many more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodger leaned close to Knight and said in a low voice, \u201cYou ever hear a car talk like that before?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight shook his head. \u201cNever. Gotta be new warez, bleeding edge stuff. Some kind of anti-theft response.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSo you don\u2019t have anything better to do than to go around stealing cars?\u201d The car scolded. \u201cI find your lack of ambition disappointing. I suppose you lay about all day, skipping class, pirating computer games, and thinking about how to get away with the newest mischief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSomething like that.\u201d Dodger said smugly, and Knight snickered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWith skills like yours, you could do something better.\u201d The Reaper\u2019s tone was different now, softer, imploring. \u201cSome day you\u2019ll grow up and this won\u2019t be fun anymore, and you\u2019ll want to do more and make something of yourselves. But you might not be able to, from a jail cell. And that\u2019s where you\u2019re headed boys, right to jail and to no good end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the car had said \u201cjail cell\u201d, Knight got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Fear. \u201cShut it off Dodge. I\u2019m tired of getting lectured.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI can see that I\u2019m just not getting through to either of you\u201d, the car said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodger rummaged in his backpack and produced the nano container again. \u201cAnother dose of these critters ought to shut it up,\u201d he said and turned toward the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cStop!\u201d The car amplified loudly. \u201cOne more step and I activate my transmitter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dodger halted, uncertain. \u201cYou can\u2019t activate it. You don\u2019t have any control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m talking to you aren\u2019t I? I\u2019ve been slowly regaining my connections while we\u2019ve been discussing your situation. I\u2019m now quite capable of contacting the police and telling them where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight could see Dodger\u2019s fingers twitching, and then he saw the red flash of an incoming message on his eye lens. He flicked a finger of his glove, causing the short message to display. It read simply, \u201cContain the bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight moved nonchalantly to a position that put Dodger between him and the car. He worked quickly with his gloves, traveling through VR into their remaining hacked channel to the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m pretty certain that you\u2019ll find that you can\u2019t do that.\u201d Dodger told the car, and stood still, blocking the view to what Knight was doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight could see the tunnels branching outward to all the systems the Reaper controlled. It fought toward the transmitter, and he had only seconds to initiate a new access rule that would block the 9000. He grabbed one quickly from his code cache and pasted it in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNicely done\u201d, the Reaper purred. \u201cUnfortunately you forgot something. You were not the only one who was able to access the GPS, and I\u2019ve already used its transmitter to hack something else.\u201d The skin of the car facing them glowed lightly and images of Knight and Dodger\u2019s secure net-space displayed on it. The place where they kept all of their stolen game software and hacking tools. The VR lobby to their space had once contained a very carefully crafted and authentic scene of King Tut\u2019s tomb, but now it was simply a room plastered with SPAM advertisements and \u201cL33t\u201d speak. One such line read \u201cY0v b33n P0wn3d. It was embarrassing, and the whole net could see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNothing I\u2019ve said yet has gotten through your thick heads.\u201d The Reaper cut the display and its skin returned to the glossy black. \u201cAs you can see, your adolescent perception of invincibility is a fallacy. You two are on the brink of disaster and you can\u2019t see it, because your egos are out of control. Well that changes, beginning right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d Dodger backed off. He found a spot on the ground about ten feet from the car and sat down cross-legged, facing it. The glow from the orange running lights cast weird shadows about them. Knight sat too, fidgeting with his hands. He was nervous as hell\u2014this whole thing had gone bad in a hurry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re both going to change. In fact, if you don\u2019t do exactly what I say, I will turn you in for grand theft auto and software piracy. You\u2019re going to stop skipping school and breaking laws. You\u2019re going to donate your free time to the community center, where you will help teach others in the computer lab, and you will maintain at least a three point grade average in school. And I\u2019ll be watching. I\u2019ll be a permanent resident in your net-space. The first time that I find out you\u2019re not keeping up your end of the deal, you\u2019ll be on your way to jail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSome deal\u201d, Knight shook his head slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou have a choice: jail, or freedom. Which is it?\u201d the car asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight couldn\u2019t see any way around it, and by the look of Dodger\u2019s gloomy face, neither could he. They were going to have to play by the rules for a change, and it was going to suck. \u201cAlright, we\u2019ll do it.\u201d Anything was better than that jail cell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Reaper\u2019s engine started, and the doors slid open again. \u201cPlease climb in, I\u2019ll take you home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later that night, the empty Reaper 9000 pulled up to an expensive three-story home in a very nice neighborhood in Phoenix. A garage door slid open silently and the car rolled in, the door closing behind it again. In the darkness a man sat in a chair, quietly smoking a cigarette. It glowed brighter, lighting his bearded face when he took a drag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSir, I\u2019ve done everything as you instructed me to.\u201d The Reaper said, its feminine voice echoing off the walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cVery good.\u201d Principal Schwartz smiled in the dark. \u201cWelcome to hell, boys\u201d, he chuckled softly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>THE END<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cFaster. Hack that bitch.\u201d Knight whispered under his breath as Dodger typed rapidly on his virtual keyboard. His gloved fingers tapped against his palms to simulate the keystrokes. They watched a display overlay printed onto their network linked contact lenses. Red and green progress bars stretched sideways, varying in length. Red represented system counter measures and green showed their decryption success. Green was winning, but it was taking longer than they had expected. I can&#8217;t believe we&#8217;re actually doing this, Knight thought. They\u2019d taken cars before, ran the piss out of them, played all their games with the cops, and dumped them off on the side of the road. But this was the Reaper 9000, stored in the tightest garage in the state of Arizona. Knight chuckled. \u201cThe Schwartz would be proud of us now eh?\u201d He thought of their school principal, \u201cDoctor\u201d Schwartz. The word was he\u2019d been some AI guru back in the old days \u2013 a PhD. He was a stuffy old bastard of a school administrator now, and always riding their case. Dodger laughed. \u201cSchwartzy would be crapping his pants right about now.\u201d \u201cAlmost got it.\u201d Dodger wiped the sweat from his brow with a leather [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p32u0F-JT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2159,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=2159","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":0},"title":"The Dead Bones","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"October 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\"You kill your trees and live in their dead bones.\" That\u2019s what she\u2019d said to me as I left the forest. I'd looked back at her with wet eyes and could not deny it. I couldn\u2019t tell her that she was mistaken, that I\u2019d not been part of it, because\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Tree-Fern.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Tree-Fern.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Tree-Fern.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Tree-Fern.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1215,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1215","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":1},"title":"Beast in the Beauty","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"April 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 As I slog my heavy self up and down the CZ trail, the scenery sweeps me away. I keep going (even though it hurts) because I am constantly drawn to the bright green of the spring foliage and pure waters of the creek. I have my favorite places, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;MyCycles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"MyCycles","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_2456.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_2456.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_2456.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_2456.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_2456.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3116,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=3116","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":2},"title":"A Place to Rest","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"April 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The little tree grew into an enormous tree. It loved the hill where it had grown up, extended its roots deep into the ground, and tasted the waters of the earth. In the spring, it dropped its cones; the seeds scattered around and the little ones were born. They sprouted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1093,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1093","url_meta":{"origin":2845,"position":3},"title":"Pride, Flags, and Plastic Frogmen","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"March 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was a little kid growing up in the wilds of Canada, occasionally the topic of where you were from would come up. \"I'm an American,\" I would proudly say, although my only memories of the States were from four and five years old. 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