WOTD

The Age of Fertility

Fandango11 Comments

She always seemed to be so fastidious, and I must admit, I had a huge crush on her back in the day. But the last time I saw her, she looked uncharacteristically fat and flabby. Taken aback by her appearance, I was not very nice to her at the time, shaming her for how she let her body swell up like it did. But I immediately felt bad because at that encounter she became quite melancholy and began to cry.

I later found out that she was pregnant, not fat and flabby, and what upset her that day was not so much what I had said, as much as it was that her boyfriend abandoned her shortly after she became pregnant.

I was ashamed for what I said to her, and I have since instituted a new personal policy to never comment on a woman’s appearance, especially if a woman is of the age of fertility.

Written for these daily prompts: E.M.’s Random Word Prompt (fastidious), Ragtag Daily Prompt (crush), Your Daily Word Prompt (flabby), Word of the Day Challenge (shaming), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (swell), My Vivid Blog (melancholy), and The Daily Spur (policy).

And for the record, this post is pure fiction. I would never mistake a pregnant woman for a fat woman, but I admit that I once congratulated a woman on her pregnancy. She became very indignant when she informed me that she was not pregnant.

It’s a Wrap!

Fandango4 Comments

“Cut!” the director shouted. “I deem that the scene where the gremlin jumps out from behind the furniture and scares that poor little freckle-faced girl is a wrap. Good job everyone. Let’s take 15 before we start shooting the next scene.”

The director looked around the soundstage and bellowed, “I need a cup of coffee now and that tenderfoot craft services apprentice is never hereabouts when I need him.”

“Sorry sir,” a meek voice behind the angry director said. Handing the director’s mug to him, the kid said, “I know you’re a director, but there’s no need to make a scene over this. I went to get your coffee as you were wrapping up that last scene and I asked them to brew a fresh pot because I know how you like your coffee freshly brewed.”

The director grabbed the mug from the apprentice’s hand and walked away without so much as a thank you. The kid just stood there and softly mumbled “you’re welcome” under his breath.

Written for these daily prompts: E.M.’s Random Word Prompt (deem), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (scene), Word of the Day Challenge (gremlin), My Vivid Blog (furniture), The Daily Spur (freckle), Ragtag Daily Prompt (tenderfoot), and Your Daily Word Prompt (hereabouts).

Detective Story

Fandango15 Comments

As the half-light began to fade, Detective Morrisey realized that his investigation, at least for the day, would have to end. Tomorrow will be another day, he thought, as his stomach began to rumble from hunger, having not eaten anything since breakfast.

He knew that there were nuances to this case yet to surface, but if he kept at it, he was sure he could lay bare the relevant facts by knitting together all of the evidence into a solid, prosecutable case to hand over to the DA. Morrisey didn’t want to put his hard-earned reputation at risk by leaving any stone unturned. The ultimate disposition of this investigation required diligence, and he was bound and determined to eschew even a hint of failure.

So he’d go home, have some dinner, a beer or two, get a good night’s sleep, and proceed tomorrow where he left off tonight. Just turning another page in his personal detective story.

Written for these daily prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (half-light/hunger), Word of the Day Challenge (fade/reputation), My Vivid Blog (investigation/nuances/knitting), The Daily Spur (stomach/bare), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (determination/eschew/proceed), and The Twiglets (turning page).

It Was Not His Destiny

Fandango6 Comments

The enterprising young man, his head in the clouds, set about to achieve great accomplishments.

But in the end, his primary antagonist, was intent on bursting the young man’s bubble, denigrating his achievements, and foreshadowing an embarrassing and dismal failure.

It was not in the young man’s destiny to succeed.

Written for these daily prompts: Your Daily Word Prompt (enterprise), My Vivid Blog (accomplishment), Word of the Day Challenge (antagonist), The Daily Spur (burst), Ragtag Daily Prompt (achievement), and Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (foreshadow).

The Heat is On

Fandango7 Comments

It a cruel twist of fate, I found myself in the position of having to vanish. I guess that’s what happens when you cross someone who has a lot of political influence. If only I’d have known that I was stepping into a big pile of chicken shit, I wouldn’t have made such a blunder.

In hindsight, I shouldn’t have conflated expediency with integrity. Now I’m paying sevenfold for my naïveté. At least I still have people I can count on to help me out of this mess. They’ve arranged for a small outboard motorboat at a dock at the mouth of the bay that I can use to get me to a cabin on an isolated island that I can hide out at until the heat is off and this whole thing blows over.

Written for Sadje’s What Do You See prompt. Photo credit: Saffu @ Unsplash. Also for these daily prompts: The Daily Spur (twist/influence), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (vanish), My Vivid Blog (only), Word of the Day Challenge (chicken/blunder), Ragtag Daily Prompt (conflate), and E.M.’s Random Word Prompt (sevenfold).