The Mayan 3Q Prophet
a short story by Chris Vaughan

Our first day under the new scheme was an ominous reflection of the last days. We first conceived the calendar policy under the influence of a severe financial crisis; we ended our days under the weight of a large self-spun apocalypse.

I read my last lines first.

I reread these notes nightly, anticipating each word to be the last I read, the last thing I see will be the dried Heron, statuesque and revolting next to the defunct television. My last light will be that of an energy saving bulb illuminating my lonely rituals.

The financial year is out of step with the current climate. A sensible thing will be to adopt a new system, a more faithful rendering of our commercial crisis. These are my thoughts. But I have no resolution only a diagnosis.

Hurley came today with a filofax packed with astroligical charts, and one big a2 pad which he attached smugly to the flip chart, page 1 marked 'Day 1 of the Long Count Injection Scheme and further comments on the Mayan Consumer Ettiquette'. Board members looked on, faces blanched and hidden in thier private assesments. Only when "estimated return on this extension over the third quarter I calculate a 15% increase, taking into account..."

they heard no more but
the hydraulic crunch of skepticism making way for a
dominating skyscraper of faith.

It took a vote to get things going. A week prior to the vote held in the cafeteria we handed out short explanations of the Mayan long count calendar attached to a chart explaining the immediate benefits to each employee on an individual basis.

The rest of this profitic story can be read at shortstory.us.com where it was nominated as a "Short story of the week". Look for "Notes on a New Financial Year – By Chris Vaughan"

To view all the images on this page and more visit the Electric Youniverse

Calendars with less and more days in the past? How?

In our past calendars had different amount of days for the solar year. How can this be? The Indan Veda had 360 days per year, the Tzolkin (Tzolk'in) calendar had 260 and there are more differences on record. The Occams Razor answer is that the amount of days in our year has changed.

It is interesting to note that in AD 75 Plutarch wrote: "In the reign of Romulus the year was 360 days long and in AD 80 wrote: in an interaction with Hermes the year gained 5 1/4 days and 12 lunar months lost 6 days."The Historical Record - Laurence Dixon (SIS Review 2008)

DIScussion about the number of days in a calendar year and the Electric Universe

The Marketeer
a short story by Chris Vaughan

Time and people, when priced up together, never fully add up.

The wasted paperclip, priced in its embryonic catalogue form at 23p per clip — is now priced in its delivered, matured, dulled silver form at ten minutes worth of looking dreamily at it attached to the network cable with three others like dead ravens on a telephone wire. Brian attaches them randomly to things they fit. He averagely has two hours per working day that is not priced up.

Read this funny but "Oh so sad it's true" short story - The Drill Press - Successful P's

Short stories web sites

Ronin Press.Org - short stories & will publish authentic, emerging literary voices
short-stories.co.uk - short stories web site
short-fiction.co.uk - short fiction story online portal
theshortstory.org.uk - shorts reviews, advice on how to write them etc.
theplasmaverse.com - "The Mayan 3Q Prophet" or "Notes on a New Financial Year"
classicshorts.com - Classic short stories portal and forum
more links - free short stories, ebooks, story portals

Duotrope's Digest - get yourself published

truly FREE ebooks to download

truly free .org - truly free to download ebooks - truly 100's available -
truly amazing free site. What the Net is about. From the classics to the modern authors/writers. How many years free ebook reading is there on this book site?

Maya Calendar, Deities and Culture

Mayan Calendar - Mathematics and numerals - a detailed study of the 3 Mayan calendars (Long Count, Tzolkin and Haab), the Mayan position numbering system etc
Mayan Calender Research - A good starting point. A level-headed study of the Mayan Calender and theories pertained to it
emergent-culture.com - Mayan calendrics - The Tzolkin Code and much more...
mayancalendar.info - "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death, your right to say it" - Voltaire

crystalinks.com/maya - the site for all things Mayan and so much more - includes Popol Vuh - Sacred Book of the Maya - Creation, Mayan Codices, Mathematics - Base 20
crystalinks.com/mayangods - Maya Gods and Goddesses - images and information
Wikipedia - Maya deities - list of Maya deities (Gods and Goddesses)
yucatanadventure.com Maya Gods - Mayan Gods and Deities - also includes Mayan Gods & The Universe, Mayan Civilization, Mayan Cosmo-vision, Maya Mythology and Bacabs