The Daily Spur

MLMM Photo Challenge — You Will Always Be You

Fandango13 Comments

I was your pawn and you used me for your own selfish purposes.

I didn’t nourish your haughty ways enough to satisfy you.

I didn’t lift up your ego sufficiently to make you feel good about yourself.

In your uncontrolled rage, you had no qualms about taking that knife and slashing my cheek.

In time, though my scar will heal.

But you are who you are and you will always be you.

Written for the Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Photo Challenge. Photo credit: Pixabay. Also for these daily prompts: Tuesday Use It In a Sentence (pawn), Word of the Day Challenge (nourish), Your Daily Word Prompt (haughty), The Daily Spur (lift), and Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (qualms).

Liberated

Fandango9 Comments

After his wife told Harold to pack his bags, he knew that he was going to be on his own, at least for a while. He actually didn’t mind being alone for a change. He felt that his wife was always watching him like a hawk, ready to swoop down and pounce on him if he did something or said something that she didn’t approve of.

But Harold, who believed in the sanctity of marriage, decided, despite her raffish treatment of him, to continue the pretense of the happy couple. Until, of course, she tossed him out, which served as yet another reminder of how truly unhappy he was living with her.

As it turned out, Harold was much happier living apart, and he quickly learned that being alone was more liberating than staying with her and being lonely together.

Written for these daily prompts: The Daily Spur (pack), Your Daily Word Prompt (raffish), Ragtag Daily Prompt (pretense), Word of the Day Challenge (reminder), and Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (lonely).

Poison Ivy

Fandango9 Comments

Her name was Ivy and she was a sight to behold
She was quite decorous and her manner was bold

Her social calendar was always very full
And the parties she threw were not at all dull

Yet no one had ever heard Ivy utter a sound
Rumors of her strange silence were going around

The point of her silence was soon found out
The sound of voice was so guttural and loud

Soon former admirers her parties did shun
Her spell over the community was finally done

Written for these daily prompts: Word of the Day Challenge (ivy), Your Daily Word Prompt (decorous), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (calendar), The Daily Spur (point), and Ragtag Daily Prompt (guttural). Photo credit: Lee Avison at FineArtAmerica.

Weekend Writing Prompt — Or So We Hope

Fandango7 Comments

His speeches were vacuous
Sprinkled with meaningless clichés
And vivid imagery of
A better America

He told us how great he was
How rich
How smart
But beneath the veneer
Of his impressive words
He spoke of foolish things

Empty promises he couldn’t keep
Myriad lies that few could gainsay
Yet he went on and on
Conning the gullible
The easily swayed
Selling them his snake oil
As a cure for all their ills

But enough of us
Saw through his con
And we were able to dump him

Written for Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt, where the word is “vivid.” Photo credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images.

(Exactly 89 words)

Also for these daily prompts: Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (vacuous), Word of the Day Challenge (impressive), Ragtag Daily Prompt (foolish things), Your Daily Word Prompt (gainsay), and The Daily Spur (dump).

When It Rains It Pours

Fandango3 Comments

Do you remember that old idiom, “When it rains, it pours”? It generally means that when something bad happens, other bad things usually happen at the same time. And yet, the marketing geniuses at Morton Salt tried to turn a negative into a positive by implying that Morton Salt was free flowing even in damp, rainy weather.

Speaking about rain, we could sure use some here in the San Francisco Bay Area. The last solid rain we had was in late January and there was a quick skittering of rain on April 25th. And that means that Sunday will mark exactly three months since even a drop of water has fallen from the skies around here.

The Bay Area’s drought condition has worsened following two consecutive dry winters with little chance of rain in the coming months. Most of the region went from the “severe drought” category, the third worst, to the “exceptional drought” category, the worst, in just two months.

At this point, our dreams are for a good drenching, but that is unlikely before late October or November, and by then, residents of the entire Bay Area may be dealing with severe water use restrictions.

Written for these daily prompts from yesterday: Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (idiom), Ragtag Daily Prompt (rain), Word of the Day Challenge (skitter), Your Daily Word Prompt (exact), and The Daily Spur (dreams).