Day: March 9, 2019

The Track Meet

Fandango24 Comments

0F9029CA-0416-46BE-81B5-49FB451E1230When I was in high school I was on the track team. Each year, the local school district would sponsor a track and field tournament and invite each school in the district to send representatives from their individual track teams to compete. My specialties were the 100 and 400 meter hurdles, and I was good enough to be selected year after year to represent my school in those meets.

009E09D1-5D5D-4BD8-AD1D-E54842377A2FAnyone who runs track knows the that one of the elemental factors for success is achieving a high energy level going into your race. What I used to do back then, before today’s dedicated energy bars or drinks were on the market, was to consume a Mars Bar. I felt that eating my Mars Bar right before competing gave me an edge. And it always worked for me. Until the tournament in my senior year.

As usual, I had my Mars Bar and headed to the track. I was limbering up and feeling good when we were told to take our marks for the 400 meter hurdles. The starter’s gun fired and I got off to a good start. But then the wheels came off the bus at the fourth hurdle. I don’t know if it was the Mars Bar or something else, but just before I reached that fourth hurdle, my stomach started to cramp. I tried to power through the pain, but it slowed me down enough that when I tried to jump the hurdle, I came up a little short. And with my leading leg over the hurdle and my trailing leg behind, I didn’t quite have enough height. As a result, my balls smacked into the top of the hurdle and I fell to the ground writhing in pain.

I was on the ground, doubled over in agony, and I’ll never forget the inspiring words my coach said when he ran out onto the track.

He said, “Get up kid and walk it off.”

Written for these daily prompts: Your Daily Word Prompt (tournament), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (meter), Word of the Day Challenge (elemental), Swimmers (Mars), and Ragtag Daily Prompt (walk).

Weekend Writing Prompt — Market Love

Fandango3 Comments

E7273C02-D1EB-4ED1-BD9A-661C626E391CPeter Piper picked a peck of peppers. He pickled his peppers, put them in jars, and took his pickled peppers to the seashore to sell them at market.

Sally was at the seashore searching for seashells. When she collected enough, Sally took her seashells to sell them at market.

Peter and Sally fell in love at the seashore market.

(59 words)

9C096BFB-84EE-4CF7-BB8D-1D9661BB8BEB Written for Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt, where we are challenged to write a poem or piece of prose using the word “seashore” in exactly 59 words.

The World According To Trump

Fandango20 Comments

A4B4FE89-D507-47AC-A88D-82055CBA792EDonald Trump on human trafficking:

“Nobody knew too much about it until recently. It’s been going on for a million years, actually.”

First, he claims that “nobody knew too much about human trafficking until recently.” Seriously? What about slavery in the United States? That was human trafficking, was it not? The American Civil War was fought over slavery 160 years ago.

Human trafficking today is, in effect, modern-day slavery. It involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor, including for the commercial sex trade. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked in countries around the world, including the United States.

Then he claims that “it’s been going on for a million years.” That’s remarkable, given that the earliest fossils of Homo sapiens (modern humans beings) only date back to about 200,000 years ago. So, according to Trump, human trafficking has been going on for 800,000 years before modern humans even existed.

It is truly amazing what comes out of this imbecile’s mouth.

Time To Write — Word Choice Matters

Fandango2 Comments

ED97A8A9-A5D4-4158-9229-23F1C9229171“I’m sick of always having to repeat myself,” Alan said. “I am continuously explaining to you the proper way to complete the weekly reports and yet you always seem to make the same mistakes.”

“Excuse me, boss,” William said, “you are not continuously explaining anything to me. You are continually explaining the proper way to complete the reports.”

“What the hell are you talking about, William?”

“Well, boss,” William said, “continual means start and stop, while continuous means never-ending. If something occurs frequently or recurs intermittently, like making mistakes while preparing the weekly reports, it’s continual. It doesn’t happen ceaselessly, but it does happen regularly. But if something occurs unceasingly or exist without interruption, like the flow of a river or the way you demean and belittle everyone who works for you, it is continuous because it never pauses.”

“Oh for crissake, William,” Alan said. “Continuously or continually, you know full well what I meant.”

“Word choice matters, boss,” William said. “As a manager, you don’t want to create any uncertainty about what you mean because you’re using the wrong words, do you?”

“Create uncertainty? Are you kidding me?” Alan bellowed. Then he paused, took a deep breath, and said, “William, in order to dispel any uncertainty you may be experiencing, I’m going to choose my words very carefully so that they won’t be open to misinterpretation. You are continuously annoying and you are continually screwing up the weekly reports. So, I want to make myself perfectly clear. You’re fired!”

E2AADBFC-6AEF-46F0-BF71-3CC6CB996DDAWritten for Rachel Poli’s Time To Write: Random Words prompt, where the three words are “continuous,” “repeat,” and “uncertainty.”

SoCS — The Company Bash

Fandango17 Comments

FB76A2DC-AD00-419F-86B3-84019A98BAEBDavid was a shy, bashful guy. He almost always felt abashed whenever he was in the company of women, which is why he almost always turned down invitations to any social gatherings where members of the opposite sex might be present.

Andrea was a self-assured, confident woman, an extrovert who always wanted, unabashedly, to be the center of attention and the life of the party wherever she went.

David and Andrea worked for the same company but rarely ran into one another. They worked in different departments and hung out with different crowds.

Then, one fateful day, they happened to share an elevator together from the ground floor to the executive offices on the 32nd floor. They were the only two people on the elevator at that time. David positioned himself in the back corner of the elevator, intently watching the lights next to the doors showing the floors as the elevator car ascended. He was almost holding his breath waiting for the car to reach the top floor.

Andrea was in the dead center of the elevator car and, not one to enjoy silence, she turned around to David and said, “So, are you going to be going to the company holiday party this weekend? I hear it’s going to be quite a bash.”

David looked at Andrea. He could feel the beads of perspiration forming on his forehead and he began to feel dizzy. He was afraid he was going to pass out. In a soft, almost inaudible voice, he said, “No, I don’t think so.” He looked at the floor lights and saw that they were only on the 18th floor.

“That’s too bad, David,” Andrea said. “I hear they’re going all out this year. You should go. Perhaps we can have a drink together.”

David was shocked. “How do you know my name?” he asked.

Andrea smiled and pointed to his company badge, which was clipped to his belt. “Your name is printed on it right next to your picture.”

David looked down at his badge, blushed, and said, “Oh yeah, so it is.” And he let out a nervous laugh.

“You’re kinda cute,” Andrea said. She reached out, grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I’m Andrea,” she said, “and I really hope you will change your mind and make it to the big bash.”

The elevator finally reached the 32nd floor, and just before the door opened, Andrea leaned in and kissed David on his cheek. Then she stepped out of the elevator, but before the doors closed, she turned to David and said in a sultry voice, “Please come.”

That’s when David realized he already had.

Written for the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt from Linda G. Hill. Our assignment today: use “abash/a bash/bash” in a post.