Dare

Paul hoisted himself onto a ladder so tall, he could probably climb it all the way to heaven. He set his foot on another rung, wondering if this was worth being allowed to hang out with the cool boys.

Jim Drake said he had to do something he was afraid of. Climbing the tallest ladder Paul had ever seen, that leaned against what he hoped was a strong branch of an apple tree in the Drake family’s orchard, was scary.

He reached the top and grinned. Paul looked down to where the cool boys were waiting, but they were gone.

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source

Linking up with Flash! Friday #21.

Prompt: Write a 100-word story based on the photo.

Versatile Sisterhood

Thank you so much to KZ of The Eclectic Eccentric Shopaholic, a wonderful spinner of tales, for awarding me both of the following awards. I'll be passing the torch on to three other bloggers for each award, who I hope will accept! The best thing about these awards, as far as I know, is that you only have to nominate people and write a post! Easy peasy!

My guess is that this award is for the blogger's versatility. The following three people are bloggers who definitely show versatility in their blogs, whether they're writing fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, about grammar, or providing cocktail instructions, their blogs are a joy to read!

1. Suzanne at Apoplectic Apostrophes
2. modmomelleroy at Mod Mom Beyond IndieDom
3. Natalie at The Cat Lady Sings

The other award is for the Sisterhood of International Bloggers, which, I'm guessing, celebrates women bloggers around the world. Sounds good, right? Here are my three nominations:

1. Sandra at castelsarrasin
2. Kymm at Better Lies
3. Jody at humanTriumphant

Have fun everyone!!!

The Wedding

Thomas woke up on the morning of his wedding and looked out the bedroom window. He and Elaine hoped this day would be sunny and bright, not cloudy and drizzling as the meteorologists predicted. But no matter. Thomas was going to marry the woman he loved, and despite the gray sky, it was the sunniest day of his life.

He and Elaine planned to have the ceremony in Rochester Park, in the white gazebo with the green roof and trim — the one everyone in town recognized. The park itself was surrounded by maple trees, and was the perfect setting because that was where they were introduced by friends on the previous Fourth of July. The reception would be held at the country club to which Elaine’s parents belonged. There would be ice sculptures of swans, and a five-tier cake, each tier of which would feature a different design: scrollwork, lacing, drapery, sugar pearls, and sugar roses in a soft pink to match Elaine’s nails, lipstick, and bouquet.

The bride’s Chanel dress was of white satin with a strap over the left shoulder and attached to the bodice by a bow of the same material. The bodice itself was cinched at the waist, and backless. Thomas had seen a picture of the dress, but couldn’t wait to see Elaine wearing it. It was time.

The bride stepped out of the limo, escorted by her father who held a large black golf umbrella over her. The train of Elaine’s dress dragged across the wet grass and picked up dirt like a mop as she marched up the aisle. Thomas smiled at the vision of beauty coming toward him, despite the day’s weather. As she and her father neared the altar, Elaine dropped her father’s arm, threw her bouquet onto the ground and stepped on it. She ran past the gazebo and towards the trees, screaming because it wasn’t supposed to rain on her wedding day.

Thomas stood at the altar, and watched as his bride threw herself on the ground and had a tantrum, not unlike a toddler.

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Sandra's Writing Workshop	Prompt: use cloudy
source	Linking up with Flash! Friday #19. Click on the link to submit your entry in the comments. Prompt:  Write a 300 - 500-word story about the photo.

Divorce

While we were eating breakfast, the letter was delivered via registered mail. All that was left was for me to sign the papers inside, and the divorce would be final. I looked at our young son, Matthew, who was nibbling on a Pop-Tart.

“What’s that, Mom?” he asked.

“It’s the divorce papers, sweetie.”

“What’s that?”

“Once I sign them, the divorce will be official.”

“What’s that?”

Justin and I already had this talk with him, together. Maybe Matthew was the one in denial. He refused to go to school when Justin moved out. He refused to comply with bed time when he learned that he would stay with his father three days out of the week and every other weekend.

I sighed, and refilled my coffee cup. Ignoring his questions, I reminded him, “Your game starts soon, hon. You better finish breakfast, and get dressed.”

He left his Pop-Tarts on their plate and went upstairs. Ten minutes later, he returned dressed in his Little League uniform. He grabbed what remained of his breakfast, and brought it into the family room where he watched cartoons.

I brought the envelope into the study where I slit it open with a letter opener, the handle of which was shaped into a dolphin — a souvenir from a family trip to Sea World. There were numerous, plastic sticky notes in the shape of tiny arrows on which “Sign Here” was pre-printed. I signed where indicated, and made copies on the printer. I unlocked the safe, placed the copies inside, and then stuffed the originals in the return envelope.

After eight years of a marriage that began with a Cinderella wedding and ended when I caught my husband in our bed with a neighbor, I thought I’d feel relief. Instead, I worried about what Matthew and I would have for lunch and the errands I needed to run. The post office. The grocery store. The dry cleaners. Matthew would not be happy being dragged to all of those places, but what could I do? I was a single parent now. Justin was no longer around to spend time with him while I did what needed doing.

I went upstairs to throw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and put my hair in a ponytail. When I checked on Matthew, I saw that he still hadn’t finished his first Pop-Tart. I took the plate from him.

“Why don’t I put these in a sandwich bag, and you can eat them in the car on our way to the game?” I tried to keep my tone perky.

He shrugged.

We left through the front door, and there, on our driveway, were my sisters and girlfriends who greeted me with cheers. Behind them was my minivan, on which they had written “Just Divorced” in white shoe polish, on the windows. Cans were tied to the rear bumper, contrails of a new beginning.

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Linking up with the speakeasy #104. Click on the link or badge to submit your entry and read great fiction and poetry. Return on Thursday to vote for your favorite 3!

Prompt:  Use "While we were eating breakfast, the letter was delivered" anywhere in the story, make a reference to the photo, and the theme is the past.

Liebster Award & Awesome Blog Content (ABC) Award

Two of my favorite creative writing bloggers have awarded me with blog bling! Suzanne at Apoplectic Apostrophes nominated me for the Liebster Award, and both she and Jody at humanTriumphant nominated me for the Awesome Blog Content (ABC) Award.

According to Google Translate, "Liebster" means "dearest." I'm not sure how that's used in the context of a blog, so I imagine it's more appropriate to the blogger. Hey, I'm guessing!

Liebster Award: The Rules

1. The Liebster is given to blogs with fewer than 200 followers (though I may bend that rule, especially since it's difficult to tell how many followers those of you who use WordPress have!).
2. I answer 11 questions from the nominator.
3. Leave a comment on 11 blogs that I'm nominating, letting them know that I've done so.
4. My nominees have to answer the 11 questions that I come up with.

My Questions

1. What is your favorite book, and why?
2. Who is your favorite author/poet, and why? You can name up to 3.
3. How did you start writing creatively?
4. Have you ever taken a creative writing class? When? Did you like it?
5. Are you part of a writing group in which you workshop each other's work? If so,is it online or in person?
6. What is your favorite genre in which to write: flash fiction, short stories, novels, poems, creative non-fiction? And why?
7. Do you like working with writing prompts? Why or why not?
8. In which online writing challenges do you participate?
9. How do you find/make time to write?
10. Do you currently have any works in progress? Describe it/them briefly.
11. Do you read any literary journals/magazines and/or writing magazines? Which do you recommend, and why?

Liebster Award Answers

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The ABC Award is a lot more self-explanatory.

ABC Award: The Rules

1. Add the ABC logo to your new blog post.
2. Write a one-word or a phrase about yourself that begins with A, B, C, etc.
3. Nominate some blogs.
4. Leave a comment on those blogs to let them know!

Because this blog post would be extremely long if I post all of my answers here, I've created pages for them instead.

ABC Award Answers

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My Nominees for Both Awards

The Eclectic Eccentric Shopaholic
Elsetime & Otherwhen
The Fiction Vixen
I write stories and things
JannaTWrites
Jester Queen
My Constant Thoughts
Not Just Another Mother Blogger!
People Do Things With Their Lives
TedBook
Writing in the Margins, Bursting at the Seams

Hot Air

It was an anniversary present from their son. Marge had been looking forward to it; Adam was afraid of heights, but wanted to be a good sport.

Now, here they were, standing in a heavy-duty basket with nine strangers, above the trees, acres of farmland, the occasional late-season golfer on the nearby course, and the chase vehicle on which Adam kept a close eye.

Adam saw the van suddenly blow a tire, but kept his mouth shut because he was being a good sport. The pilot assured them that the van had a spare, and landed the balloon near the broken-down vehicle. Despite the calamity, the van’s driver and other crew members had set up portable, nylon lawn chairs and a champagne and chocolate reception for the passengers.

Adam was unhappy about having to wait for the spare to be installed, but because he was being a good sport, he led Marge to a chair.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, and then returned with a plastic champagne flute in each hand. He gave one to Marge and sat next to her, held out his flute for a private toast, and whispered, “Happy anniversary, dear.”

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Linking up with Flash! Friday #18. Click on the link to submit your entry in the comments.

Prompt:  Write a 200-word story about the photo.

Ladies' Night Before

She reached for the alarm clock’s snooze button five times before crawling out of bed, donning a clean suit and hoping it would disguise the fact that she didn’t shower, tying her hair back in a messy chignon, and staggering into the kitchen where she praised herself for buying a Keurig that made one cup of coffee at a time, but quickly. She drank three cups, black, and was running late but didn’t care. When she arrived at her lackluster receptionist job she acquired through a temp agency, she vomited, and was fired on the spot for her tardiness habit.

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Prompt: Write 100 words on the word lackluster.