Day: October 18, 2022

Mellow Out

Fandango14 Comments

Calvin got a look of consternation on his face. “Why don’t you just do what I tell you to do? Why are you always so goddam negative about everything.”

“I’m not being negative,” Marcia said. “I’m just asking why you are so upset about the brand of rolling papers I got. What difference does it make?”

“What difference does it make?” Calvin said. “It makes a huge difference, Marcia. Zig-Zag papers are far superior to those generic papers you got. They’re stronger than that cheap shit and they burn more slowly and uniformly. Do you want to engulf your fingers in flames when using those POS rolling papers you bought?”

“Fine,” Marcia said, “I’ll head back to the head shop and get your freakin’ Zig-Zag papers.”

“Don’t bother,” Calvin said. “I will text your brother and arrange for him to pick up the Zig-Zag papers on his way here. Just next time don’t cut corners.”

“And to think that you’ve always said that smoking grass is suppose to make you mellow, Gramps,” Marcia said.

Written for these daily prompts: My Vivid Blog (consternation), The Daily Spur (negative), E.M.’s Random Word Prompt (zigzag), Your Daily Word Prompt (engulf), and Fandango’s One Word Challenge (arrange).

Truthful Tuesday — Booster Shots

Fandango21 Comments

Melanie, of Sparks from a Combustible Mind, our usual host of Truthful Tuesday is apparently still having computer issues, so Di, of Pensitivity101 has once again stepped in to fill in the gap. Di’s Truthful Tuesday question is…

Would you still have any [COVID] booster jabs offered to you or do you think they are now ineffective?

I’ve had five jabs so far, including the two initial ones and three boosters. I just read an article on the front page in this morning’s newspaper:

The article speaks about how concern is rapidly growing over emerging omicron coronavirus variants that experts say appear to be strong candidates for a winter surge in the U.S. So in spite of the naïve belief by some that COVID is no longer a threat, I think it, just like the flu, with its variants, is here to stay.

I get an annual flu shot, so why wouldn’t I get at least an annual COVID shot? Hence, to answer Di’s question, yes, I will still avail myself of any COVID booster shots that are available. Why wouldn’t I?

WDYS — Rebirth

Fandango20 Comments

The doctor told Sam that his cancer had metastasized, had spread to other parts of his body. “The prognosis is not good, Sam,” the doctor said. “You need to get your things in order.”

“How much time, doc?” Sam asked the doctor. “How much time have I got left?”

“Two months. Maybe three.”

“Chemo? Radiation?”

“No, I’m afraid not,” the doctor said. “We’re beyond that.”

“Are we?” Sam said, sarcastically, as he stood up and walked out of the doctor’s office.

******

Sam stood on the shoreline facing the sunrise. He held his arms out to the side, took in a deep breath, and watched as the watched as the sun broke the horizon. A moment later he let out his breath.

Six months. Six months had passed since Sam was told he’d be dead in three. But now his cancer was in remission. The doctors couldn’t explain it. It was almost like a miracle, one oncologist told Sam. He’d never seen anything like it.

When he first got the news that his cancer was terminal, Sam thought it was karma. He was not a good man. He was a self-centered, selfish, and mean-spirited man who had done some very bad things. But somehow he had beaten cancer and escaped certain death.

Sam didn’t have an answer. He couldn’t explain it. All he knew was that he was still alive and feeling better than he had in years. He vowed that he would be a better man, an empathetic, compassionate man, unlike the son of a bitch he’d been before. Sam saw this miracle as a rebirth.

A few minutes passed before Sam turned around and started slowly walking back to his car. He was still thinking about how fortunate he was he and didn’t see the speeding car as he was pulling his car out of the parking lot. Sam’s car was broadsided and Sam died instantly after the impact.

Written for Sadje’s What Do You See prompt. Photo credit: Mohamed Nohassi @ Unsplash.

Fandango’s Story Starter #68

Fandango9 Comments

It’s time for my weekly Story Starter prompt. Here’s how it works. Every Tuesday morning (my time), I’m going to give you a “teaser” sentence and your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to build a story (prose or poetry) around that sentence. It doesn’t have to be the first sentence in your story, and you don’t even have to use it in your post at all if you don’t want to. The purpose of the teaser is simply to spark your imagination and to get your storytelling juices flowing.

This week’s Story Starter teaser is:

She was standing next to her car in the empty parking lot rooting around in her purse for her keys when she thought she felt…

If you care to write and post a story built from this teaser, be sure to link back to this post and to tag your post with #FSS. I would also encourage you to read and enjoy what your fellow bloggers do with their stories.

And most of all, have fun.

FOWC with Fandango — Arrange

Fandango18 Comments
FOWC

It’s October 18, 2022. Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “arrange.”

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. Show them some love.