THE
KINGFISH WAY
ONE MAN'S ESCAPE FROM MEDIOCRITY
ROB WOOD
Sharkstone International, LLC
Published by Sharkstone International (USA)
P.O. Box 6
Freeport, FL
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA Library of Congress Control Number: 2010911455
Wood, Rob.
The Kingfish Way – Rob Wood.
Cover Design by
Nemanja Vlaškovic´
All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of the book.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
Copyright © 2011 Rob Wood
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9829-0651-4
Published in eBook format by Sharkstone International
Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com
For Dr. Tonia Shatzel, the one person who said
“Other than your inability to hold a constant
thought for more than thirty seconds, and your
inability to sit still for more than five minutes,
and the fact that you don’t know the difference
between a noun and a verb, I think you might be
able to write a book.”
Thank you for kind of believing in me.
I love you too.
From the Author
I’ve always enjoyed working with college-aged kids, mostly under the age of twenty-five. Bright-eyed and eager to take on the world, they were easy to coach. “Set goals, get a plan, love what you do…” was my standard message. Some of it took, some of it didn’t.
The idea behind The Kingfish Way came to me as I saw middle-aged people struggling each day with their careers, their families, and their lives. Life had become difficult, tiresome, and not much fun. These people had good jobs, nice families, and plenty of money, but they were miserable. I watched jovial, interesting friends turn into angry, venomous shells of their former selves. Why do we put ourselves through such pain, I wondered?
So I read just about everything I could get my hands on regarding this behavior and what we could do as individuals to turn things around. Book after book, I found the solution. It went by many names, but the message was the same: Be in harmony with your desires. As we age, our desires change, and if we don't tend to those changes, we will soon find ourselves drowning in monotony.
This story is about a man who lost his harmony (and his way) and what he did to get it back. It’s a simple read with a serious message. Maybe, just maybe, some of it will take.
Let the journey begin…
Rob Wood
1
Why can’t I ever catch a break?
“Some people are so fond of bad
luck they run half way to meet it.”
~ Douglas William Jerrold
The blaring of the alarm clock startled Phil out of his slumber, sending his heart racing. He groaned, never bothering to open his eyes as he rolled over and slapped his hand fruitlessly in the direction of the noisy alarm. Knocking over the lamp, he eventually managed to silence the offending appliance. “It can’t be Monday already!” he lamented to the empty house. He lay in the dark for a few minutes staring at the ceiling, delaying the inevitable. Sighing, he rolled out of bed and immediately tripped over his shoes, colliding with the nightstand and sending the lamp the rest of the way to the floor. “Damn it!” he shouted, gingerly picking his way out of the broken glass. “Why does this always happen to me?”
Phil sighed as he stepped into the shower. He was barely aware of the warm water on his skin as pending projects ran through his mind. He was behind with the accounts payable project, even though he had worked on it for four days last week. Every time he thought he was finished, his boss wanted to make another change, or discovered some data he had forgotten to share with Phil. “Every day a pain in the ass,” Phil sighed to himself, shaking his head as he dried off. “When I get that job in the front office, things will be better.”
An hour later, finishing his morning routine, he was ready to leave for work. Phil looked on the night-stand for his keys but didn’t find them. Scratching his head, he picked through the broken pieces of the lamp, expecting to find the keys hidden in the wreckage on the floor. He glanced at the clock and groaned. “Friggin’ keys!” he screamed. “I’ve got to find a spot to keep my keys!” Searching frantically, he realized he was going to be late if he didn’t find them soon. Phil picked up everything on his desk, looked under books and in empty coffee cups, even checking the trash can. In a rage, he glanced down at the desk, his eyes lighting on a book. “Organize Your Life: Never lose anything again!” The title taunted Phil. “Organize this!” Phil screamed, picking up the book and heaving it at the wall. The book bounced off the wall and knocked over an old coffee cup on the desk before it hit the floor. Coffee dripped down the side of the desk and onto the carpet. Phil groaned again, turning his back on the mess, and reached into his pocket for his cell phone. He decided to call a friend for a ride. Flipping through the numbers on the phone, he glanced up and noticed his pants from yesterday crumpled in a heap next to the bed. He hastily reached into the pants pocket, closing his hand around the keys and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and smiling. Moments later he was in the car.
Glancing at the clock, Phil thought he would make it to work just in time. As he turned out of his driveway, he realized he had forgotten his briefcase. “Damn it!” he screamed through the open car window, “Every day a pain in the ass!” He swung the car around in the middle of the road, cutting the corner of his driveway and running over the flowerbed his ex-wife had planted years ago. “Damn flowers just keep coming up every year,” he grumbled to himself.
Rushing out of his driveway for the second time, Phil narrowly missed his neighbor,