Day: March 12, 2021

MLMM First Line Friday — The Grade Book

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Tamsin’s heart drummed frantically as she tore through her pack, her books, and the messy desk — where was it? She was already running late for her meeting with the principal, but if she showed up without her grade book, she knew her job as a novice teacher would be on the line.

She thought back to her initial interview when she applied for the job. She had emphasized how organized and meticulous she was. And yet, one look at her classroom would belie that claim. She had joked with some of her fellow teachers who were amazed at the mess on her desk by saying, “a messy desk is the sign of an organized mind.”

But now her job was on the line. She was resolute in her determination to find the grade book. Tamsin made a promise to herself that, if she kept her job after this crisis, she would simplify her life by making a concerted effort to tidy up her desk and classroom and to reduce the size of the out-of-control mess.

One of Tamsin’s students stopped at the classroom door and saw his teacher in a frenzied panic. He asked her what was wrong and she explained that she couldn’t find her grade book. He smiled, approached her desk, got down on his knees, reached under her desk, and grabbed a black, spiral-bound book. He stood up and said, “Is this what you’re looking for?”

Written for the Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie First Line Friday prompt, where the first line is, “Tamsin’s heart drummed frantically as she tore through her pack, her books, and the messy desk — where was it?” Also for these daily prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (interview), Your Daily Word Prompt (resolute), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (simplify), and The Daily Spur (size).

Fibbing Friday — What is….

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Frank (aka PCGuy) and Di (aka Pensitivity101) alternate as host for Fibbing Friday, a silly little exercise where we are to write a post with our answers to the ten questions below. But as the title suggests, truth is not an option. The idea is to fib a little, a lot, tell whoppers, be inventive, silly, or even outrageous, in our responses. Today is Di’s turn to host and here are her questions.

1. Who, or what, is will o’ the wisp?

There’s actually a typo in the question. It should be “will o’ the wasp,” and the answer is it’s the killer wasp that attacks me every time I walk into my backyard.

2. What is a noggin?

It’s what you say when someone knocks on your door, as in “Who’s that a noggin at my door?”

3. What is a bobbin?

It’s what a boxer does during a fight, as in bobbin’ and weavin’ to avoid being punched.

4. What are otherwise known as crows feet?

It’s when a woman spreads her toes wide apart in order to put nail polish on her toenails.

5. What is jerky?

It’s the way you walk around when you get a cramp in the arch of your foot.

6. What is aplomp?

It’s a fruit in the plum family.

7. What is a caricature?

It is the instrument used to measure the size in carats of a cut diamond.

8. What is a misdemeanor?

It’s when a masochist misses his or her sadistic partner who is not mean enough.

9. What’s the difference between a blimp and a blip?

The letter “m” between the “i” and the “p” in the word “blip.”

10. What is an arctic roll?

It’s what happens when a glacier or an iceberg on a waterway in the Arctic calves, causing the waters around it to roll.

Three Line Tales — The Other Shoe

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Detective Morrisey saw an object in the distance that appeared to have washed up onto the shore just about a half mile south of the chemical plant. As he approached the object he saw that it was a single men’s sneaker, and beckoned a nearby uniformed officer who was at the scene and instructed him to put the sneaker into an evidence bag.

Morrisey was tired and hungry but managed a slight grin as he wondered when the proverbial other shoe would drop.

Written for this week’s Three Line Tales prompt from Sonya. Photo by Conor Luddy via Unsplash.

Friday Fictioneers — Me Time

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Between her demanding job, her overbearing husband, and her needy children, Veronica had lost herself. Maybe her husband was right when he said her midnight walks along the shoreline were self-indulgent. But she also knew that without her “me time,” her sanity would be at risk.

She was tired of being defined by her labels: employee, wife, mother. She was more than that, and she needed this solitary, peaceful, quiet, alone time each night in order to maintain her bearings, to hang on to her individuality. She needed to remind herself that she was still a vibrant, independent woman.

(100 words)

Written for the Friday Fictioneers prompt from Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Phot credit: CEAyr.

Fandango’s Flashback Friday — March 12

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Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Friday Flashback post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 12th) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on March 12, 2018 on this blog.

What Could Have Been

9FDBF731-C65B-4D71-B659-458DD8A49BF2It seemed like such a simple decision. Two job offers. One would enable me to stay local. The other would require relocating to the other coast. Both jobs offers were good ones. So it was a matter of do I stay or do I go.

I had spent my entire life — from birth through college — in the same town. So I made the decision to take the more adventuresome route and to relocate. I packed up all of my meager possessions, said farewell to family and friends, and headed across the country to start my next chapter.

My biggest regret, though, was leaving Wendy behind. She and I had been the best of friends since we were little and our relationship turned romantic during the summer after we graduated from high school. We were almost inseparable during our college years and everyone, including both of us, was sure that we’d eventually marry.

But when I had to make my job choice, Wendy’s father was suffering from stage 4 pancreatic cancer and she would not leave his side. She didn’t want to hold me back or stand in the way of my dreams, so we agreed that I would take the job, relocate, and she would join me as soon as she could.

As they say, “the best laid plans.” Within six months of when I left town, Wendy’s father passed. But by the time Wendy was ready to come be with me, I had met someone new. She was not the homespun, girl-next-door type that Wendy was. She was wild, exotic, erotic. I was smitten. And then she got pregnant.

Wendy’s heart was broken when I told her I was a baby daddy and that I felt I had to do the right thing and marry the girl. I told her that I hoped we could still be friends, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She said she never wanted to see or hear from me again.

My new wife and I ended up having two more kids before she decided to be wild, exotic, erotic with some other guy. I got full custody of our three kids after the divorce. Ther’ve all grown up now and are out on their own.

Last month I got a call from one of my old high school buddies. He told me that Wendy had succumbed to the flu. I was devastated.

Now I’m a lonely old man who spends most of my time living with my memories and in thoughts of what could have been had I decided to take the job close to home and make a life together with Wendy.

Written for Butterfly Effect on Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie. The prompt asks us to envision an alternate version of yourself whose life veers off course due to a single decision made at some point in your life.