Alvin Rivera
Bio
Stories (33)
Filter by community
A SUSPICIOUS MIND
The weather was getting colder, entering into early October in our quiet neighborhood. The leaves had changed colors. The brisk cool breezes were blowing. It was refreshing autumn time, with winter on its way. As kids, we played touch football in the street until the streetlights came on, then hurried home to not get in trouble with our parents. My friend Denny lived four houses down on the opposite side of the street. We would go to his house to play because of all of the trees we could climb in his backyard.
By Alvin Rivera 4 years ago in Families
HALLOWEEN HOUSE EGGING
In October 1967, the Halloween tradition for the neighborhood kids was to do something to the neighbors' houses on the street, especially if they were not well-liked. We would knock on doors and run, toilet paper their house, or if they were not liked, we would egg their house preferably with rotten eggs.
By Alvin Rivera 4 years ago in Humans
GETTING CHASED
The city streets of Cleveland were covered with six inches of snow, and three of my friends, Bill, Pete, and George and I, decided to have fun in the snow one evening when it was dark. Due to the snowfall, there were not many cars on the streets. When we saw a car coming toward an intersection, we would hide behind a parked car close to the stop sign, and when the car stopped, we would scurry out, stay low, get behind the car, hold on to the bumper. When the car started moving, we would slide along with the car. As we called it, Car hopping was fun until we hit a dry spot on the road without snow due to a snowplow and would cause us to fall and roll. Thankfully, we didn't get hurt. We would do this over and over, seeing how far we could go without falling off or getting caught by the driver, sometimes going several blocks, and having to walk back.
By Alvin Rivera 4 years ago in Humans
THE ACCIDENT
As a young family in the Los Angeles area with two young children, paying rent and putting money in someone else's pockets was not what we wanted. Owning our own home was our goal. Did not earn much money at the time but managed to save up a small down payment to put towards a house. We could not afford a home in the Los Angeles area, so we looked at the high desert in the Victorville, Hesperia, and Apple Valley area. We found a small three-bedroom, two-bath home in Hesperia. The property was on 1.1 acres of land and was considered horse property. It was a house on 1.1 acres of sandy dirt, no plants, no grass, and no trees.
By Alvin Rivera 4 years ago in Confessions
THE LAWYER AND HIS DEMON
Charles R. Baily was born June 21, 1925, in the city of Cleveland, Ohio. Charles was an average student who always seemed to have trouble find him. In junior high and high school, he was in many fights, not by his choice, but in self-defense in all cases. Once while attending junior high school, he was picked on by five kids from the school that waited for him on the corner of West 46th and Clark Ave. Knowing he was outnumbered after the smallest kid in the group flicked a cigarette at him and pushed him from behind, Charles avoiding the fight, took off running to the school and escaped the attack. High school was better due to Charles keeping to himself and minding his business. He did have some fights but always seemed to get out of them before they got physical.
By Alvin Rivera 4 years ago in Humans
AN OLD LADY IN THE COLD
I was a senior in high school, in the month of freezing, snowy January, I was in English class daydreaming about playing baseball for the Mohawks Baseball Team in early April. I thought I would need to get a new baseball glove since the one I had was all worn out and in bad shape, it would not last another season. I would ask my good friend Bill if he wanted to go along with me to the Sears department store, sporting goods department to look for a new glove.
By Alvin Rivera 4 years ago in Humans
BLESSED KARMA
About two years after I helped the old lady in the cold, I drove to a friend's house on the east side of town. I never really drove much to that side of the city. I spent that Friday night at my friend's house, talking and watching TV. I left around 1:30 A.M. that cold, snowy night. I was tired and just wanted to get home and go to sleep in my warm bed.
By Alvin Rivera 4 years ago in Humans
THE ROOMMATE
Living on the west side of Cleveland, Ohio, I owned a tiny house in the 1960s. Jobs were hard to find in Cleveland, and even when you did have a job, the pay was low. Since I had two bedrooms, I decided to rent the extra room out. I placed ads in the Cleveland Press and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
By Alvin Rivera 4 years ago in Humans
THE DAY THE WORLD WAS UNITED
In the early spring of 2053, a year seemed to start as other previous years with warm weather, blue skies, and plenty of sunshine flowers blooming and warm breezes. Everyone enjoyed the outdoors, having BBQs, going for walks, kids playing, and riding bikes. Everyone seemed to be saying goodbye to the previous frigid winter.
By Alvin Rivera 4 years ago in Fiction
