Day: September 11, 2019

FFfPP — Stay Away From Spicy Foods

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E9C58511-94C4-40ED-8DA9-57ECD141D1ECIt was pure happenstance that Tina had just left a class in emergency first aid when she encountered a man on the sidewalk outside of a restaurant who appeared to be having a heart attack. A crowd of people had gathered around him. Normally an aloof and indifferent person who hated to have an audience, Tina sprung into action. There was no time to evaluate, just to act.

She told one bystander to call 9-1-1. As she started the chest depressions, she saw a young woman who was in tears and was a basket case. Tina looked up at her. “What’s your name, honey? Can you tell me what happened to him?”

“I’m Dana and he’s my father,” the young woman said. “He knows he’s supposed to stay away from spicy foods, but he’s such a stubborn old coot and never listens.”

“Dana, I think I’ve got him stabilized. The EMTs are on their way and will transport your dad to the hospital,” Jenny said. “You should notify his primary care physician.”

“Thank you so much,” Dana said. “You saved his life. How can I ever repay you?”

“Just keep your dad away from spicy foods.”

(196 words)

Written for this week’s Flash Fiction for the Purposeful Practitioner from Roger Shipp. Photo credit: Gaborfromhungary at Morguefile.com.

Also for these daily prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (happenstance), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aloof), The Daily Spur (audience), Weekly Prompts (evaluate), Daily Addictions (basket), Word of the Day Challenge (spicy), and Your Daily Word Prompt (notify).

In Other Words — The Lizard

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C6376C7C-F4AC-42A0-B0A7-DE507B4873E0“I spy with my little eye something green,” Jenny said.

Lizzy looked around the backyard and said, “Jenny, everything in the yard is green — the grass, the bushes, the plants, the trees — all green.”

“I’ll give you another hint,” Jenny said, “it’s alive.”

“Everything is alive, Jenny — the grass, the bushes, the plants, the trees — all alive.”

“Sheesh, Lizzy, you must be blind or something; it’s that green lizard on top of the wood privacy fence.”

In other wordsWritten for the In Other Words prompt from Patricia’s Place. The challenge this week is to write a story or poem of five lines or fewer using the picture above and/or the word “spy.” Photo credit: alexis parra from Pixabay.

100WW — Boy On a Turtle

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0682AED6-C92A-4673-8F8C-B5688347F94AThe legend of the boy on the turtle was well known throughout the village. It was a rainy Monday and the boy didn’t want to get his feet wet. So he summoned his pet tortoise, climbed upon its back, and directed it to carry him across the street to his school. The turtle readily obliged, and the boy managed, despite the downpour, to keep both of his feet dry.

Word of this miracle spread quickly. The town elders commissioned an artist to commemorate the event in bronze and placed the statue in the town’s pond for all villagers to admire.

(100 words)

Written for today’s 100 Word Wednesday prompt from Bikurgurl. Photo credit: Cyranny.

Rory’s Daily Four More

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4 leaf cloverI’m three days late on this one, but despite my tardiness, I’m going to go ahead and post my responses to Rory’s daily four questions from September 8th.

What truly motivates you to write?

I’ve always enjoyed putting my thoughts and stories down in writing, but my busy life raising a family and holding down a demanding job limited my opportunities to sit down and write for fun. (I did have about have a dozen papers I wrote published in several trade journals back in the day.)

Then, in 2005, a friend of mine suggested that if I wanted to exercise my writing chops, I should start a blog, so I did. I have to admit I got a bit of a rush when I read my words published on the internet and to have total strangers read and respond to my words. From that point on, I had found my motivation to write.

What’s cluttering up your life today and what are you doing about it?

As a retiree, I wouldn’t say that my life is particularly cluttered these days, so there’s not much I need to do about uncluttering it.

Did you enjoy a creative childhood?

I used to draw a lot, write stories a little, and invent games to play, both by myself and with friends. I had a pretty vivid imagination, but I don’t know that I’d specifically say that I was creative. Perhaps imaginative would be a more apt word.

Have you ever wanted to write a book? Or if you have written a book, do you feel accomplished for doing so?

Yes, I not only wanted to, but I started at least three or four. But I never finished any of them. I loved inventing characters and writing scenes, but I could never develop a strong enough plot or story arc sufficient to sustain a novel-sized book. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy writing flash fiction. I can  invent characters, construct individual scenes, and create dialogue while telling a short story with a beginning, a middle, and an end in fewer than 500 words, in most cases.

But maybe someday I’ll wake up and write the great American novel. Or not.

One-Liner Wednesday — Take Heed Republicans

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1A3065FC-A048-4C25-B3CC-AAD02F7AAF08

“Not to punish evil is equivalent to authorizing it.”

Leonardo da Vinci

I actually saw this quote in a post by Paula B, at The Temenos Journey, titled “The Evil of Standing By And Doing Nothing.” It’s an excellent post and well worth the read.

Leonardo da Vinci was the epitome of a renaissance man: an inventor, artist, painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, mathematician, engineer, botanist, geologist, astronomer, and paleontologist.

His centuries-old sentiment was remarkably prescient for today’s day and age. And as for those Republicans in Congress and in Donald Trump’s administration who do and say nothing as they watch Trump fiddle (tweet) while the country and the world burns, they are not only enabling his evil, they are authorizing it.

It is necessary and appropriate to impeach Donald Trump now.

Written for today’s One-Liner Wednesday prompt from Linda G. Hill.