WOTD

Open Mic Night

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D9391701-8F66-4F04-8157-08EFC51B3622“He’s definitely in his element, isn’t he?” JoAnne said of her boyfriend, Bob, who was on stage for open mic night at the comedy club.

“Well, he’s always been kind of a smart alec, hasn’t he?” Ed said. “So yeah, he’s right where he belongs, cracking jokes and in the spotlight.”

“If I didn’t know better, Ed, I’d say that you sound a bit jealous,” JoAnne observed.

“I am, actually,” Ed admitted. “After all, I used to be Bob’s mentor back in the day. I had accumulated a large mass of great jokes and one-liners. And I had an ample following of loyal fans, too.”

“I didn’t know you used to do stand up,” JoAnne said. “How long ago was that?”

“Oh, it’s been years since I last got up on stage, JoAnne,” Ed said. “I’m in my sixties now, my twilight years, as they say. So I’m living vicariously these days by watching my star pupil strut his stuff. And the boy is damn good, too.”

“You were a great teacher, Ed,” JoAnne said.

“It’s more that he has the right stuff, JoAnne,” Ed said.

Written for these one-word prompts: Your Daily Word Prompt (element), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (smart), Word of the Day Challenge (mentor), Scotts Daily Prompt (mass), Daily Addictions (ample), and Ragtag Daily Prompt (crepuscule). Please note: I had never heard of the word “crepuscule,” so I Googled it and learned that it is a rarely used synonym for “twilight.” So rather than awkwardly trying to fit in “crepuscule,” so I substituted the more common synonym.

 

Draw Me

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Arlene sat in her eleventh grade Art Appreciation class. She was taking copious notes, as she usually did for that class. Unlike many of her fellow students, she didn’t enroll in the elective course simply in order to get an easy A.

Deep down inside, Arlene felt that she was a great, albeit misunderstood, artist. Most people didn’t “get” her work. They didn’t seem to comprehend her overriding theme, which was the human condition. She couldn’t figure out why people didn’t appreciate what she was trying to say.

Arlene knew herself well enough to know that she had a fragile ego. But she also knew that in order for her to move forward, she couldn’t afford to gloss over the feedback she had received from her friends, family, and teachers. So Arlene decided that she needed to make her sketches a little more relatable. She needed to hone her God-given skills and prove herself to her doubters.

When she got home after class that day, Arlene took out a piece of her finest linen paper, opened up her palette of colored pencils. She picked out a neutral charcoal color, and began meticulously copying the image she saw on the page of her favorite fashion magazine.A98FBD2E-156D-4BA9-AB5C-2433192B6120

Written for the following one-word prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (copious), Daily Addictions (theme), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (fragile), Word of the Day Challenge (gloss), Your Daily Word Prompt (palette), and Scotts Daily Prompt (neutral).

Vetting the Nominee

Fandango7 Comments

174A6206-3BB2-454A-B7A3-13F71C9E0944“You call what you did a thorough background check?” The senator asked. “It’s clear that you did a slapdash job in your vetting process. You weren’t even able to ferret out that shameful sexual misconduct scandal that plagues the nominee.”

“Well, senator, we actual did ferret it out, but we decided that it wasn’t relevant to the hearings,” the researcher said. “And, not to make excuses, but the member of my staff who looked into that was verdant.”

“Verdant?” the senator said. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean he was a rookie,” the researcher responded. “You know, green, inexperienced, wet behind the ears.”

“But it was your decision to withhold the facts from this committee,” the senator said.

“Yes, it was my decision.”

“So, because of your deceit,” the senator said, “you are essentially aiding and abetting the nominee in his effort to abscond from the responsibility of his onerous behavior, a behavior you knew about but tried to hide from the committee,” the senator said. “That’s deplorable.”

Written for the following one-word prompts: Daily Addictions (ferret), Word of the Day Challenge (verdant), Ragtag Daily Prompt (slapdash), Your Daily Word Prompt (abscond), and Scotts Daily Prompt (background).

First Line Friday — The Estate Sale

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spider webSpider silk clung at the doors, over the windows, across everything she had left behind. The change in her auntie’s usually pristine home was not only swift, but dramatic. Looking around inside the old house, Susan couldn’t believe how grubby looking the place had become in just the three months since she last paid a visit to her auntie.

She always knew her auntie was a bit eccentric and she would sometimes tease her about her eccentricities. But now her auntie was gone and had left her the old Victorian house and all of its furnishings. And while some might consider the house and its content to be quite valuable, Susan wasn’t so sure. Her eccentric auntie’s eclectic tastes led her to purchase and fill her home with what Susan assumed to be a lot of cheap junk.

Susan decided that she would hold an estate sales and see what she could get for her auntie’s possessions. She hired a cleaning service to come out and make the old place spic and spa and then arranged for an appraiser to come out and assess the value of the house’s contents.

“Holy shit, are you serious?” she said to the appraiser when he presented his report.

Written for the First Line Friday prompt from Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie. And for the following one-word prompts: Daily Addictions (swift), Your Daily Word Prompt (dramatic), Ragtag Daily Prompt (grubby), Word of the Day Challenge (eccentric), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (tease), and Scotts Daily Prompt (value).

#writephoto — The Peddler

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08BA0259-6C3F-4A10-8B82-EEDDD9EAEF0FSince his retirement a year ago, Henry was in the habit of taking a brisk walk early each morning along the moor. The thick mist was another average autumn morning for the area.

Continuing along the path on his daily hike, Henry caught some movement around the ruins of the old church from the corner of his eye. That old stone building had been condemned and no one was supposed to be on the property.

Henry decided to walk toward the building to investigate. When he got to the building, he looked inside and saw a man sitting on a log smoking a pipe. “Excuse me, sir,” Henry said to the man. “By whose permission are you here?”

The man looked up at Henry. He took a deep puff on his pipe before answering. “Good sir,” the man said. “I am a simple peddler just trying to make a meager living from selling of my wares. I found this oasis from the elements in which you have found me. I thought this empty building to be a convenient place to provide me with shelter for a few days.”

“From what is it that you are seeking shelter?” Henry asked.

“That is a fair question, good sir,” the peddler said. “To be honest with you, I ran into some, shall we say, issues at a town I just visited,” the peddler admitted. “I needed to leave quickly and I stumbled upon this place.”

“Were your actions illegal?” Henry asked. “Are you hiding from the law?”

“Not technicality illegal, but perhaps questionable,” he responded. “But if you allow me to stay here just until the morning, I will give you this beautifully crafted pewter mug to repay you for your kindness.” The peddler reached into his sack and pulled out a large pewter stein, stood up, and handed it to Henry.

Henry examined the stein and realized it had significant value. “Fine,” he said to the peddler. “But oasis or not, if you are still here when I go for my walk tomorrow morning, I shall report you to the authorities.”

“Bless you, good sir,” the peddler said, bowing down to Henry. “I appreciate your kindness.”

And with that, Henry left the old abandoned church and the peddler behind. He headed directly to town constable to report what he had seen.

Written for Sue Vincent’s Thursday Photo Prompt. And for the following one-word prompts: Daily Addictions (average), Scotts Daily Prompt (permission), Word of the Day Challenge (peddler), Ragtag Daily Prompt (oasis), and Your Daily Word Prompt (convenient).