Day: January 14, 2021

Tale Weaver — So Tired

Fandango28 Comments

Yes, I’m tired. And yes, I’m run down. But it’s not because I’m old. It’s because I have lived through the madness of Donald Trump as president over the past four years. I have had to deal with the time leading up to the election in November, the election itself, the nearly two months of craziness after the election where Trump refused to accept his loss, and the absolute insanity of the past week.

And now I’m tired and I’m run down because of the threat of even more violence by the rabid Trump MAGA thugs who staged an insurrection of the U.S. Capitol building a week ago yesterday and who are threatening to lay siege once again when Joe Biden gets inaugurated this coming Wednesday.

And not only are these Trump-inspired MAGA-maniacs threatening our nation’s capital, they are threatening violence in the capitals and major cities across all fifty states. And I’m so tired of this shit.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all of this will come to an end once Donald Trump is out of office. But will it end? I truly believe that as long as Donald Trump continues to live and breathe, it will not end.

I’m just so damn tired.

Written for the Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Tale Weaver prompt.

FFfPP — The Flat

Fandango13 Comments

Russ was in his kitchen unpacking the boxes the movers had delivered the day before. A very organized guy, Russ was eager to get everything set up in the townhouse he’d just moved into, which is why he became irritated when he heard his doorbell ring. He thought about ignoring it and continuing to put the dishes into his kitchen cabinets, but then the doorbell rang a second time.

Reluctantly, Russ made this way through the boxes and got to his front door. He opened it up to see a young woman, fairly attractive, perhaps in her mid-twenties, standing there. With a big smile on her face, she thrust out her hand and said, “Hi, neighbor, my name’s Terri and I live right next door to you. Welcome to the neighborhood.”

“Nice to meet you, Terri,” Russ said as he shook her hand. “I’m Russ. Listen, I’d love to chat with you but my household goods were just delivered yesterday and I’m trying to get everything organized as in place, so if you’ll excuse me….”

Terri interrupted. “I was hoping you could give me a hand. My car has a flat tire and I’ve never changed a tire before. I have no idea how to go about it. Could you change it for me, please?”

Never one to resist the call of a damsel in distress, Russ agreed to change her tire. She led him to her car and when Russ saw the shredded tire he was shocked. “Holy shit!” Russ said. “This isn’t just a flat tire, it looks like it exploded.”

“Yeah, well I didn’t realize it was flat and I’ve been driving around on it for a few days,” Terri admitted. “I did hear a thumping sound, but I thought it was just road noise.”

Russ shook his head, mumbled “women” under his breath, and set about changing the tire on Terri’s car. To show her appreciation to Russ, Terri offered to cook him dinner that night. It was the first of many that she would prepare for him over the course of their forty-plus years together.

Written for Roger Shipp’s Flash Fiction For The Purposeful Practitioner. Also for Linda G. Hill’s Just Jot it January prompt, where the word in “neighbor.” Photo Credit: Morguefile. Apologies to Roger for exceeding his recommended 200 word limit by about 75%.

FOWC with Fandango — Instead

Fandango30 Comments

FOWCWelcome to January 14, 2021 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “instead.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.