Short Stories and Writings by Peter Kruse

Remembering Uncle Rob Eggers

The Most Sophisticated Sport

Free Hugs

Electric Bike in a Tropical Storm - a China Experience

A Glimpse of Heaven - Short Story about 2011 Blizzard

Fake Churches

The Sunday Paper - Short Story

All Men are Superficial - Funny Short Story

I Need You Now - Funny Short Story

Error in Translation - Funny Short Story

A Bad Impression - Funny Short Story

Peeing on Trees - Funny Short Story

Unashamed Naked People - Funny Short Story

Awkward Dating Moment - Funny Short Story

"A Glimpse of Heaven" - Short Story about 2011 Chicago Blizzard

In 2011, Chicago experienced a massive blizzard. During the peak of of this record-breaking blizzard, two friends and I had the brilliant idea of going for a drive to pick up some supplies. My one friend owned a 4 wheel drive Jeep, and we arrogantly thought we would be fine. Needless to say, we were wrong. We got stuck pretty badly. But after an hour or so of pushing in the below zero temperature, the car budged from the snow bank, and miraculously shot out of the ditch. In a moment of bliss, we quickly jumped in and inched our way towards safety. On the way home, we passed many cars that were not so fortunate. Yet the conditions were so horrible that we could not stop. Stopping got us stuck in the first place, and would all but guarantee that we would get stuck again.

On our way home, as we passed dozens of cars in ditches, I wondered what uncomfortable situations awaited the people in those cars. I imagined that some cars were filled with families of crying children. I imagined that a married couple with a rocky relationship occupied the next car (maybe this extended alone time was a foreign concept to them?). I imagined the next car contained a 16 year old guy taking a girl on their first date (maybe he knew the weather conditions in advance)?

Upon arriving at my friend's house, I realized that we dodged a rather uncomfortable bullet. If we were not able to get his Jeep out of that ditch, our night of comfort would have been traded for bitter cold, empty stomachs and a likelihood of being trapped in the snow for at least 24 hours (as many people were). Even worse, there was only one small blanket for 3 grown men, which would have made for an uncomfortable sleeping arrangement...

Sitting in the comfort of my friend's house, I had never appreciated the warmth and comforts of home so much. We threw a couple of pizzas in the oven, cracked open a few cold drinks, and cycled between playing Madden football and watching Netflix movies for the rest of the night. Going from icy blizzard to these comforts gave me a small glimpse of what heaven must be like, especially knowing that my work was going to be cancelled the next day.

- Pete Kruse

Songwriting Philosophy

Here's my philosophy on songwriting. Never be jealous if somebody writes a better song than you. Stay positive, and that positivity will help you write better songs. And these better songs will help you crush the competition.

"Peeing On Trees" - Funny Short Story

Over the next few days my family is going camping. But camping this week will be a little different than camping as a kid, mainly because my mom and sisters will be there. As a kid, my brothers, dad, a few friends and I would usually meet up with other cousins or uncles to go camping once or twice a year, and for us it was a chance to get away and eat bacon, play music, play board games like Risk or Rail Baron, fish, drink coffee till midnight, hike, play Frisbee, and pee on trees – activities my mom would have no part in.

I remember about a week after one of my earlier camping trips one of our neighbors called my mom to tell her she saw my brothers and I peeing on a tree in our backyard, something which my mom put an end to immediately. I don’t know what we were thinking. But camping was always one of my favorite things to do as a kid, and dreaming of the next camping trip helped me make it through many boring days of school.

Have you ever/would you ever pee on a tree?

"Unashamed Naked People" - Short Story

One of my roommates and I recently joined a local gym and I’ve been trying to go at least two or three times a week. And I’ve noticed recently that going to the gym can have its pluses and minuses. For example, when I check in and am given a key to a locker, I can either be blessed with a locker that is not surrounded by people and therefore easily accessible, or I can be stuck with a locker surrounded by talkative, outgoing, unashamed naked guys. A friend of mine once got stuck in that unfortunate situation and decided to try and maneuver his way to his locker and get out of there as quickly as possible. But apparently one of the guys next to him started talking with him and he ended up not being able to avoid a face to face conversation. Apparently this guy was a “close talker” as well, which is awkward enough when people are…well…clothed. And to make matters worse the unashamed naked guy put one of his legs up on the bench as he was growing more and more animated in his story telling. Fortunately for my friend the conversation didn’t go beyond ten minutes or so and he was able to leave the locker room with his dignity. Yet for some reason, after their conversation my friend always remembered that guy as “Ballsy McBallserson”.

Is it possible to be too unashamed of your body?

Awkward Dating Site Moment - Short Story

A few nights ago at about midnight, a girl that I've recently been talking to called me out of the blue. I was with a friend at the time and decided not to answer. The next day I texted her to catch up, and she abruptly asked me if I was still dating "that girl from Wisconsin". At this point I was beginning to think she was crazy because I couldn't for the life of me remember dating someone from Wisconsin (not that that's a bad thing). So after much confusion I decided to tell her my name. Needless to say she had me confused with somebody else, and we both got a good laugh out of the situation.

Have you ever gotten dates confused? 

Comforting Habits

As a kid, I used to like tickling my arms with my favorite blanket. To this day, I still catch myself tickling my arms and then subsequently scratching them. I recently discovered that this is known as "Tickle Therapy," and is sometimes used to treat stress.

I also used to take baths as a kid and find myself enjoying them to this day. When visiting Japan several years ago with my band we visited something called “onsen”, or natural hot springs. Some included different therapeutic minerals or additives such as tea and lavender. The onsen were in the mountains so the hot water felt great against the cold snow. It was only like $20 for the day and it was definitely one of my favorite tourist attractions in Japan.

Interestingly, the Japanese Macaques (Japanese snow monkey) is the most northerly-living non-human primate, and are able to survive in the bitter cold partially because of onsen springs… (link)



^^^  I’m second from the left.

What are some habits that comfort you?