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    A Quartet of Case Studies
    A Quartet of Case Studies
    A Quartet of Case Studies
    Ebook120 pages1 hour

    A Quartet of Case Studies

    By Matt Kratz

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    About this ebook

    This is a collection of stories about a group of friends searching to ride a legendary horse;a singer's descent;an ex-football player;and an alien's revenge, the sequel another one of my stories!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMatt Kratz
    Release dateNov 7, 2015
    ISBN9781310486234
    A Quartet of Case Studies
    Author

    Matt Kratz

    I was born in Cambridge, Massachussetts. After living in Columbus, Ohio, for a few years, I moved to Richardson, TX, in 1978, when my father got a job teaching at UT-Dallas. I switched schools a couple times before settling back into the Plano schools and graduated from Plano Senior HS in 1990, Midwestern State (BA in History) in 1995, and UT Dallas (MA) in 2008. I am an aspiring writer, and my interests include movies (especially those from New Zealand), photography, Australian & New Zealand Wildlife, birds, spectator sports (I love baseball and attend Dallas area ball games), and I love to travel. 3 Worlds Journey is my first novel, and I am currently working on more. I love letting my imagination go wild. Most of my stories and characters are based on what I read and what I thought of when I was younger.

    Read more from Matt Kratz

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      Book preview

      A Quartet of Case Studies - Matt Kratz

      Prologue

      It swiftly turned its head. Black as night, and with this being night, nothing around it noticed the action. It looked around, once again unnoticed. It could get away with this.

      It galloped silently across the grass. All these years had taught it to be discreet. It knew how to do it. Not just that, but also what to do. It was good at it too.

      As it reached the cliff, it heard something, Even though it knew it didn’t have to, it hid behind the cliff’s west wall. Better safe than sorry. Survival instinct.

      Once it was certain that the danger had passed, it emerged again, racing at top speed. 30-40 miles per hour or so. It didn’t survive this long by not playing it smart. And not by convincing everyone-and everything-that it was little more than a myth.

      Chapter I

      Ross Ferguson was working on a story and listening to a Dallas Mavericks game on the radio. The Mavericks were playing the Chicago Bulls. It was perfect-these were his two favorite teams, as he was originally from Chicago before moving to Dallas.

      Dirk Nowitzki shoots and scores! The announcer exclaimed. Ross was happy. Dirk Nowitzki was his favorite player on the Mavericks. Scottie Pippen had been his favorite player on the Bulls-a lot of people were surprised to learn that it wasn’t Michael Jordan!

      As he listened to the game, he was working on a story about the legendary Night Mare, a horse famous for roaming the local countryside. Everyone knew about it, and he was working on a story about it for a creative writing class for a local community college.

      The teacher’s name was Stephanie Harris. She was quite possibly the favorite teacher he had there in his college career. He was also taking a business class and a communications class, but this was his favorite because it enabled him to express his creativity and the way Stephanie (she insisted that her students call her that) taught the class.

      With this assignment, she had told the class to write about some sort of local legend, and of course Ross chose the Night Mare. He wondered how many other students chose the same topic. He followed Stephanie’s instructions and wrote a page and a half about the history of the legend and how it is pertinent today;how the Native Indians always talked about it, how people always seem to catch a fleeting glimpse of it but can never substantiate it (kind of like the famous Bigfoot!), and how he hoped to spot it one day and maybe even solve the mystery.

      He frequently talked about the horse in the classes he taught himself. He was a local high school social studies teacher and loved bringing up the local legends. He was taking the community college classes to further himself and be able to share more with his students.

      He also wanted to be a writer and share more with his two best friends. His friend Teri Sara Jones was a recovering alcoholic and worked as a counselor with people with similar problems. He figured her real-life story would make a great fictional one. His other friend, Lindsey King, worked at a woman’s accessory store at a local mall. They met every Friday at a local diner and discussed things. One of their favorites was the Night Mare.

      I hope I can ride it one day, Lindsey had said. That horse sounds so lovely!

      Just remember to mount it from the left side, Ross reminded her. That’s how you always mount a horse!

      Chapter II

      Stephanie and Ross were meeting in Stephanie’s office. They were going over his story.

      This is impressive, Ross, Stephanie said. You have certainly come a long way in my class as a writer, and I like this piece. However, let me hold on to it for a while and make comments to it. There is always room for improvement.

      Thanks! Ross said. This meeting was a big help.

      As he got up and left, he realized he was going to be a few minutes late to his usual meeting with Lindsey and Teri Sara. He texted their cell phones about and hurried out to his car.

      He knew they probably wouldn’t mind-he was sometimes late to their meetings. Punctuality had never been his strong suit. It wasn’t too long a drive anyway-just about half a mile to the coffee house from the community college. That was fortunate.

      Lindsey was waiting for him when he arrived. He wasn’t too late. He liked the sign to the entrance-Sam’s Coffee House it read. It was decorated with stars and butterflies. There were three in the area, but Ross considered this one to be the best.

      Linds! he called out. Sorry I’m late. I had a session with my professor that went late.

      It’s okay, she said. Teri Sara’s not here yet. We can get down on her for being the last one here!

      Will do! Ross said with a laugh. He ordered a latte, which Lindsey had already done, and sat down.

      A few minutes later, Teri Sara arrived. She ordered a croissant and sat down.

      So you’ll never guess? said Ross.

      We have no idea, said Teri Sara. Please tell us!

      I have been working on a story about the ‘Night Mare’ for my class, Ross explained. And I was wondering if you guys could help me on it.

      Sure thing, said Lindsey. We talk about it so much anyway.

      Stephanie likes what I’ve written so far, Ross said.

      Is that Stephanie Harris? Lindsey asked.

      How did you know? Ross asked.

      I had her before at that school, Lindsey said. She was a good teacher. I really had to work for it, but I came out with an A and a feeling as a better writer.

      Good to hear, said Ross. I feel better already!

      You certainly came to the right people, since we know so much about it, said Teri Sara. The question is, how do we help with the research?

      Internet and libraries, said Lindsey. That’s always a good start. I also have a friend who’s a local Native American and very familiar with the myth. He can help too.

      You’re terrific, said Ross. Thanks.

      I’ll contact him right away, said Lindsey.

      The three of them continued their meal and conversation, talking about recent events, movies, and, of course, the horse.

      Chapter III

      Stephanie looked around her office. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do with the rest of the day. It was 7:00 P.M. already!

      She had been teaching English, with a specialty in creative writing and composition, at the community college for the past seven years, right after she earned her Master’s degree in Arts and Humanities from the University of Texas at Dallas. While she enjoyed it, she didn’t look forward to the afterhours.

      She always led a solitary lifestyle and became upset whenever she saw people in relationships. At least she had her friends and coworkers at work to look forward to-they were always nice.

      She also enjoyed inspiring other people to become writers, especially this guy Ross. She liked the critique she had given him and knew it had been useful. Several other of her students had gone on to become writers, and a few of them had become best-selling novelists, so she knew she was doing something right as a teacher!

      She had her teachers in

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