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    Billiards Emporium
    Billiards Emporium
    Billiards Emporium
    Ebook90 pages1 hour

    Billiards Emporium

    By D. E. Harrison

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    About this ebook

    In Frisco there is a Billiard Emporium with three floors. Most anyone can use the first-floor tables. The second floor is still for general use. But the third floor is by invitation only. It is almost guarded by an old Japanese man. There is floor director at the front door. He knows where you will be welcome.
    A large cowgirl in boots and hat visited once and played a little pool. After several visits the old man had here bring her own stick and play on the second floor.
    She is tested by the old man and given a silver key to the locked third floor. She passes many other tests and the old man gives her his private cue stick. The training become intense and day long with her new stick.
    The girl starts to dream of snakes holding her down and crawling all over her. All this in all in a green mist. A strange tale is told her of twin brothers, Samurai swords, and metal from the gods. The dreams become worse the closer the training comes to its completion.
    Strange events begin to happen; doors unlock by themselves, clothing to shoot in appears in the cabinets, the dreams become worse, she now sleeps in the Emporium. She goes to China town and buys robes to shoot in.

    The mist and the snakes in her dreams are now for real and on the third floor with her. Her cue stick burns in her hands as the game begins, which will last hours. Her opponent is now fully visible at the table.

    Will the contest turn physical, one on one?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherD. E. Harrison
    Release dateOct 20, 2018
    ISBN9780463070437
    Billiards Emporium
    Author

    D. E. Harrison

    I am trained as a theoretical mathematician. I am an emeritus member of the American Mathematical Society for fifty odd years. I have lived in Seattle since 1967. I starting writing fiction after writing a family history.

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      Book preview

      Billiards Emporium - D. E. Harrison

      Billiard Emporium

      By D. E. Harrison

      Copyright 2003 by D. E. Harrison

      Smashwords Edition

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      Prolog

      Chapter 1 First Floor

      Chapter 2 Second Floor Layout

      Chapter 3 Second Floor Tournament

      Chapter 4 The Emporium’s Boss

      Chapter 5 Emporium’s Rules

      Chapter 6 The Cowgirl’s History at the Emporium

      Chapter 7 Testing the Cowgirl

      Chapter 8 The Cowgirl and the Boss

      Chapter 9 The Test for Floor Three Players

      Chapter 10 The Green Mist and the Snakes

      Chapter 11 The Blue Silk Shooting Gowns

      Chapter 12 Ling Appears in Person

      About D. E. Harrison

      Discover other titles by D. E. Harrison

      Prolog

      There is a Billiards Emporium in Frisco on Front Street and D, but it is more than just a poolroom. The entrance is at street level with the neon sign, which is never off, in the only six foot by six-foot window by the door. You open the two-inch thick wooden door and proceed straight down half a flight of wooden stairs. They are reported to have survived the great fire because of the barrels of beer on the floor above them. When the floor gave way, the stairs were soaked in beer, just like in the movies.

      Stan is standing at the landing at the bottom of the half flight of stairs next to a doorway filled with multi-colored strings of beads ending about six inches above the floor. Going through the beaded doorway leads to a half flight of stairs going down to the 1st floor. The door was removed so long ago; no one can remember where it is or what happened to it.

      Stan is a typical third generation Italian. Six foot, 250 pounds, hair down to his eyebrows, all jet black in color. His arms are so large in his extra-large black tee shirt that the sleeves are stretching to the breaking point. If that were not enough, women would kill to have his wasp waist. Somehow, his Roman nose looks like it belongs on his face. His ears are half covered with black curly hair.

      He may spread the beads somewhat for you to pass through them; at times, you may even hear him say, Welcome to the Billiards Emporium.

      He somehow remembers every face that has ever entered the doorway.

      Stan is like a traffic director. If he parts the beads with his left hand, you are going down to the 1st floor, no questions asked. If he slides his right hand into the other doorway with silk ribbons almost to the floor, you are invited to the second floor.

      The Emporium’s 1st floor room is not much different in looks from any other such pool room. Billiard tables numbering about thirty are all over the floor with normal ceiling lights for most of the tables. Several tables near the back of the room have their own lights over the tables. The floor is wood with not a single chair with a back on it. The stools are around the walls and between the many Que. racks on the walls.

      The rates are $30 per hour for one person, two people for $50 and $60 for more than two. The price of a table includes one bottle of beer per person.

      Any off-side betting provides 5% to the kitty and 5% to the house. Every month the kitty is a prize in a two-day shoot out. More important than the money is the free pass to the second level floor of the Emporium. The loser gets the money.

      The lights in the ceiling or over the individual tables are cleaned every twenty-four hours and any bulb that goes out is replaced in less than two minutes. The floors are cleaned ever six hours or as needed. Smoking is still allowed though few still do, the air is filtered, plus there are four complete air replacements every hour.

      Chapter 1 First Floor

      The patrons of the Emporium’s 1st floor vary by the time of day. The early am hours are filled by those coming off the night shift. Plus a few people going in early to work.

      Around 6 am the patrons again change character. These people are on the way to work or finishing a graveyard shift somewhere. They usually do not stay more than an hour. During this time, a general cleaning is done and the schedule for the light replacement is worked on.

      Around lunch and early afternoon, the patrons become office workers, mostly younger. After the office buildings empty, the younger generation holds sway. The early evening crowd is an even mixture of sport coats and tee shirts. After 11 pm, the Emporium is crowed with young men, many who ride cycles or are going to work.

      The beer served is a flat $3.50 a bottle with no selection other than ‘lite’ or regular. The girls working the floor use a small, soft yellow light over the shelves on the walls to fill beer orders. If you want a beer you turn on the light, the beer will be delivered, and you pay the girl. The girl is paid the 50 cents and the house gets the $3.00. The empties maybe picked up by the girls as they work the floor. A common practice is that if the girl picks up the empty there

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