Day: December 19, 2017

A Little Dab’ll Do Ya

Fandango16 Comments

Are you old enough to remember Brylcreem? It was a hair product for men designed to tame the wildest of hair.

All you had to do was rub a little dab of Brylcreem through your hair and all of a sudden you became irresistible to woman, who would apparently be afflicted by an uncontrollable desire to run their fingers through your hair.

Of course, after doing so, they would need to immediately wash their hands, which would be covered in the greasy hair product.

Despite the greasy, motor oil-like coating Brylcreem deposited on your hair, it was quite popular back in the day. But then one men’s hair product fought back against what they called “that greasy kid stuff.” It was Vitalis, which claimed to the “greaseless glooming discovery.”

The only problem with Vitalis was that it caused your hair to feel stiff and brittle. I guess it was like Viagra for your hair, in that it stayed hard for at least four hours.

I’m not sure why this whole rant about 50s and 60s men’s hair products came to mind, but it did and I thought I’d share it. It kinda makes me feel okay with the fact that I am bald.

Alone Together

Fandango3 Comments

“I’ve tried,” Anna said. “I’ve really, really tried.”

“Have you?” asked her best friend, Bess. “I’ve seen you two interacting and — now don’t take this the wrong way — you can be quite a shrew.”

“Yeah, I know,” admitted Anna. “But that’s because I’m so frustrated. Nick and I just don’t relate to one another anymore. We are more like roommates who share a house than we are husband and wife. I’ve tried talking to him about it, but he says I’m being too sensitive”

“Are you?” Bess asked.

“Bess,” Anna said, somewhat annoyed with her friend, “you only see us when we’re doing something social. You know how charming Nick can be. But once we’re alone at home, we seem to go our separate ways and do our own things.”

“Are you two still having sex?”

“Yes, but it feels almost perfunctory,” Anna said. “More like a chore than a beautiful and intimate sharing.”

“So why are you staying with him? Why don’t you leave? You can stay here with Bob and me until you get your act together.”

“I don’t know,” Anna admitted. “I think it might be better for me if Nick and I are alone and together rather than being alone and apart.”

“I suppose I can relate to that,” said Bess, reflecting on her own marital relationship.

Written for today’s one-word prompt, “relate.”

FFfAW — Old Bones

Fandango25 Comments

“Be sure you have him home by eight,” Nancy instructed her ex husband.

“No worries,” Ed assured her.

Nancy hugged Danny. “Have a wonderful time, sweetie,” she said.

“I will, Mom,” Danny said. “Dad’s taking me to the museum to see dinosaurs.”

They arrived at the museum about a half hour later. Once inside, Danny was in awe when he saw the large dinosaur skeleton. All he could say was “Wow.”

“That’s a Tyrannosaurus rex,” Ed said. “It was one of the largest and most fearsome meat-eating dinosaurs that ever existed. It lived around 66 million years ago.”

“That can’t be right, Dad,” Danny said. “My Sunday school teacher said that the earth is only 6,000 years old.”

“Your Sunday school teacher is wrong, Danny,” Ed said. “The earth is more than four billion years old and dinosaurs died out millions of years ago.”

“No!” insisted Danny. “The pastor and the teacher wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.”

“Let’s just enjoy the museum today, Danny,” Ed said. “Your mom and I will talk about this later.”

(175 words)

Written for this week’s Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers from Priceless Joy. Image credit: Yinglan Z.

Twittering Tales — The Hole

Fandango8 Comments

D236E3D4-DE33-4672-B967-C08F6C8F8EC1We called it “the hole” because the only opening to the outside world was the rectangular window high above us. A bright light was always shining, blinding us to whatever might be peering down upon us. Jason had gone mad after about a week and I was sure to follow suit shortly.

(279 characters)

Written for this week’s Twittering Tales prompt (and photo) from Kat Myrman.