Three Word Wednesday CLXXIV beacon grieve kindred
Cynthia had always been a beacon for losers. She should have been carrying a sign that read “give me your foolish, your cheaters, your unemployed”. She was going to grieve for this one though. He seemed like a kindred spirit. Don liked her cooking. She liked his lovin. He really shouldn’t have lied to her. She found out. She always did. She turned on the portable cement mixer and sighed. At least she could finish the back patio now.
Three Word Wednesday CLXXIII prompts : ideal, measure, and teeter Sunday Scribblings #199 Prompt: Yes
He turned back to look at her, smiling, his silhouette dark against the evening sky. Even though she couldn’t see it, she could hear the smile in his voice. “Come on. You can do it. I promise!”
She took a step onto the parapet, teetering a little. She held her hands out for balance. She trusted him. It was herself she doubted.
“Come on! This is the ideal place. No one can see us up here. They can’t hear us either!” He yelled the last as if to prove it to her.
Kystel took a step, measuring her stride by the bricks that made up the wall.
“Hold out your hand now.” Ryall said.
She stretched out her hand and met his fingers. He guided her a few more steps until she was standing next to him. He held her fingers and they looked out over the city skyline.
“Are you ready?”
Kystel grinned. “As ready as I am ever going to be. How do we do this?”
“You just let go and trust what you feel.”
“Ryall?”
“It will be okay. I’ll be with you.”
He leaned out and left the edge as though he were diving into a pool. Kystel hesitated a moment longer and then followed him. There was no weight, no feeling of sinking. The air currents took her and held her as though she was part of the sky. There was no noise except the wind rushing by her ears. She was close to Ryall now and could see his dark wings unfolded. He glanced back and hovered as she caught up.
For the first time in her life, she felt at home.
Three Word Wednesday: Jolt, ribbon, and Zeal and One Word: Powder
“Like sands through the hour glass…so are the days of our livesâ€Â The mellow voice on the television promised glamour and drama while Mama did the ironing. The powder never seemed to fill the bottom of that glass.   Mama was a stickler. Even hair ribbons and sheets had to be ironed with a zeal Katie just couldn’t understand.
“Boy that Julie is a pistol! She’s gonna break her poor mother’s heart if she keeps chasing after that man. I don’t care if he does wear a suit. That Doug is no gentleman!â€
Katie slipped into the kitchen and eased the lid off the cookie jar, silent, or so she thought.
“Katie? You stay out of those cookies! You will spoil your supper.â€
How did she do that? “Yes Ma’am!†Katie called as she wrapped two of the fresh baked chocolate chip cookies in a napkin. She ran out the back door and walked up the street to the corner, slowly savored the warm cookie and the gooey chocolate being careful not to get it on her shirt. Mama would have torn her up if she got chocolate all over her clothes. She turned the corner and walked to Robinson’s Drug store. It was still a couple hours until supper time. She liked to look at the make-up and the magazines. Mama wouldn’t let her wear make-up yet and she sure wasn’t going to let her buy one of those glamour magazines though Katie couldn’t figure out how a magazine was worse than Mama’s stories.
She wandered the aisles picking up packages of eye shadow. She loved the names of the colors. Bronze Shimmer and Desert Sunset. The fancy names sounded a lot better than tan and pink. She thumbed through a magazine, looking at the hairstyles. Katie felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped, dropping the magazine. Mr. Robinson was standing there. He bent to pick up the magazine. “Are you planning to buy this, young lady?â€
Katie shook her head and frowned. “No sir.” She went to school with his son. Katie always thought Jack was kind of a jerk but she tried to be pleasant. She knew his mom was sick a lot. She felt funny about the way Mr. Robinson was standing kind of close. She wished he would back up a little. There was no way for her to move without seeming rude and she knew her Mama would not be happy if Mr. Robinson told her Katie was looking at magazines in his store and not buying them.
“I guess we can just forget this little magazine incident. I better never catch you stealing from my store again, though.â€
“I wasn’t stealing!â€Â Just then he bent and kissed Katie right on the mouth! She backed up with a jolt, almost knocking the magazine rack over. She turned and ran to the door, swiping her hand across her mouth. She heard him laughing as she stumbled outside. She started running and didn’t slow down until she was nearly home. She was half afraid he was following. She was out of breath and glanced behind her but there was no one there. She kept walking toward her home.
Now what should she do? Should she tell her Mama? What if he said Katie was lying because he caught her stealing? Would her Mama believe her? He was a grown-up and grown-ups never believed kids. He was on the P.T.A. for crying out loud! She rubbed her mouth with her shirt-tail. Gross! How was she going to face Jack at school? If she told then everyone would know. Now she really felt sorry for Jack. His mom was sick and his dad was a perv. Jeez how lucky can you get? She kicked a stone on the sidewalk.
What could she say if Mama wanted her to go to the drugstore to buy something. She never wanted to go back to that place! She closed the screen door without slamming it for once. Her Mama turned from the stove and smiled. “You’re just in time. Go get washed up and set the table.â€Â Katie went to the sink and scrubbed her hands. She set the table. Mama brought the food to the table and they both sat down and Mama said the blessing.
Mama put a chunk of meat loaf on her plate and passed her the mashed potatoes. Katie took some and didn’t even fuss when Mama placed a big spoonful of green beans next to the meatloaf. Katie ate a little piece of the meatloaf and then made patterns in her mashed potatoes with her fork. Her mother watched her as she ate her own dinner. Finally, she put her fork down and crossed her arms in front of her. “What’s wrong? You love my meatloaf and you haven’t even asked for the catsup. You haven’t said three words since you got home.â€Â Katie knew she wasn’t going to let this go.
“I went to the drugstore today. I was looking at make-up and I picked up a magazine to look at and anyway, you know Mr. Robinson?â€
Her Mama nodded, frowning.
“Well, he kinda kissed me.â€Â Katie started crying. Her Mama was sitting there with her mouth hanging open. Katie just knew she was in for it now. Any minute her Mama was going to yell at her and she would probably be grounded for a thousand years!
“Katie Rose! Did he touch you?â€Â She had never seen her Mama look like that. She looked mad sick at the same time.
“No, ma’am. He just kissed me. On the mouth. It was totally gross. I’m sorry Mama.†Katie started to cry again. Mama was out of her chair hugging her. “Katie, you are not in trouble. Men like Mr. Robinson always think girls will be too scared to tell anyone.  I ought to take my iron to his head. Why Olivia has stayed with him all these years is beyond me!â€
The next day Mama was going to the drug store. Mrs. Robinson had asked her for her Chocolate Cake recipe and she had written it down and folded it and placed it in an envelope.
“You’re not going to tell her what happened are you?â€Â Katie was mortified at the very thought of it.
“No.  But I will make sure Mr. Robinson sees me hand his wife this envelope. He can draw his own conclusions.â€
Maybe Mama had learned a thing or two from watching TV. Katie had a whole new respect for Mama and her soap operas that day.
A very late Three Word Wednesday: Drain, Nibble, Epic
I’ll apologize ahead of time 🙂
The last thing he remembered was circling the drain and then the world went crazy, everything went black and now? Now he was in this dark place and there were fish everywhere. He vaguely remembered nibbling way too much and then thinking he would just take a little nap.
“Are you okay?” She was kinda cute – gold with a little white on her fins.
“yeah, I think so. I feel like I’ve been though a hurricane!” I was shaking and my fins were sticking out at weird angles. I shook my tail a bit and tried to straighten myself up.
“Everyone feels like that at first. You’ll be okay as soon as your gills get used to it.”
I looked around. It was cloudy and dark, not at all like my nice clean bowl with the pretty rocks and the little treasure chest that opened and closed. There were a couple of old guys above me looking down with disdain.
“Who are they?” I asked the cute little guppy.
“Oh that’s Huntley and Brinkley. They had a bit part on a TV show years ago. The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. Maybe you’ve heard of it? They consider themselves actors, better than the rest of us riff raff.”
“Guess it was before my time. I never watched much television anyway. Where are you from?”
“Carnival prize. You?”
“Same thing. What’s your name?”
“Kitty. My child was too little to understand the meaning of irony.”
“Now what?”
“There’s been trouble brewing for awhile here. Someone showed up telling a crazy story about salmon swimming upstream and now everyone is talking about a rebellion.”
“They want to go back through that? Whatever it was? I didn’t think I was going to live the first time!”
“I know, right? But just think what it would be like. Fish jumping out of commodes all over the neighborhood!”
“That would be epic!”
Three Word Wednesday: ambush, hideous, meddle
The serpent rolls lazily
winding through the synapses
poking in corners
wherever it likes
as though
as if
shouldn’t there be
things to keep to myself
hideous secrets unknown
kept hidden
the serpent waits in ambush
the moment, the second
I feel safe
normal
settled
that tongue flicks out
eye slits open
staring into the truth
meddling with the plans
the schemes
the final sigh
the lie
the dyed in the wool
the trying to be cool
just trying to
not hear the hiss
the whisper
the kiss
reptilian nonchalance
slithers hither and yon
shedding it’s skin
the hollow fragile left behind
for new and tender
crawls under the rock
charmed for once
Three Word Wednesday: hinder, rigid, journey
nothin hinders
past is cinders
ties cut, chains broken
goodbyes spoken
door unlocked
clock unclocked
loose the rigid
warm the frigid
burnt the bridges
we’re so gone
moving on
not even a shadow
not even the down low
cowboy left the rodeo
bodies on the gurney
we’re off on the journey
up that hill
catch the bus
peace out
from all of us
Three Word Wednesday lithe, grave, offend
She had been called to dance
and dance She did
lithe, swaying to the rhythm of wind
and season
stretching to receive sun’s gift
clothed to shelter
song and fruit
She rested and shed her colors
naked and weeping
silent and barren as the grave
as though She had offended
still standing proud and resolved
though heavy laden and dark
taking her bow, the dance o’er
the chilled sleep
no more applause
donning finery
a layer at a time, perfect designer
slowly awaken
curtains open, warmth drawn
once again She raises eyes and
a little taller, a little wider
growing in grace
She begins the dance again
Sunday Scribbling: Weird
Three Word Wednesday Fondle, Sumptuous, kick
something new
String of ten December 3: RUT CITY-BECKON-MARIONETTE-THIN WALLED-IRIDESCENT-CRYPTIC-CRACKLE-DARLING-HINDU-WARREN
Rand mashed buttons furiously on the thin-walled iridescent communicator. Somebody needed to extricate him and send in a clean up crew NOW, dammit! If they didn’t get here in the next few minutes they were gonna need the clean up crew for him! He felt the familiar uncomfortable limb-jerking marionette feeling that told him someone had found the right code and frequency and finally pushed the correct sequence to get him out of this God forsaken rut of a city. If he never came back here again he would be fine, thanks. His limbs started to jerk and he watched his own fingers disappear and then fade back in as he was plopped down in the middle of who knew what planet. He heard a crackle coming from the chip embedded in his ear lobe.
He looked around, hoping the crackle wouldn’t turn into a full blown diatribe before he got his bearings. Emergency extrication was not an exact science. Last time Rand found himself in a warren of alleys that led nowhere and everywhere you don’t want to go. Mutants huddled in corners beckon with their thoughts, wraiths with their pale skin and green eyes glowing in the dark. The only thing that kept him from succumbing to their siren song stretching tendrils into his brain was Darling on the other end of the communicator singing ballads to him. Rand had no idea how Darling got her name, but he’d been more than a little in love with her ever since that day. As long as he worked for The Asylum, he wanted her on the other end of this tenuous connection.
“Rand? Where the hell are you?â€Â Rand looked around. He had come maybe two blocks and there seemed to be no one around. Come to think of it, that was strange in itself. It was some sort of city. The hindu-temple like buildings towered hundreds of feet over him and looking up, he could see they had sky rails. Now what. After the mess on Thelos, he needed to get the artifact back to the office. “I have no idea Darling.â€
“Well visuals on and I’ll see what I can dig up.â€
Rand described the buildings to her. “No life forms yet. Oops, wait!†Rand squeezed into the shadows as two very large, very blue, somethings passed by. There was communication but mostly a series of grunts and squeaks. Nothing he could process or that his translator recognized. He flipped his eye piece down and tracked them and a little of the skyline and clicked to send vid to Darling. “Okay, I have you. You’re in the capital city on Lumor and they do not take kindly to unregistered visitors from off planet. Give me a few secs and I’ll have data and bring you in.”
Rand was more than ready to be back. Thelos was supposed to be drop in, meet up, and bring a package out. Unfortunately someone must have been eavesdropping on trans because when he arrived, not only was that slimy Arthen there with his nasty dreads and sulphurous body odor, but in burst members of a rival faction and he had to leave the extraction area on foot. Arthen was shooting his way out and screaming at Rand for payment as Rand ducked out the back and yelled at Darling to get him out of there.
Now he was on a planet with nothing but unfriendly giant smurfs and an artifact that was wanted throughout this part of the galaxy. The universe was getting entirely too small for Rand. His face was known on at least a dozen planets and he was banned from a few. He didn’t want to add another one to the list. He fondled the chip in his pocket. This would bring a pretty price and he was more than ready for a sumptuous dinner and time to kick back with all that the credits from this sale would bring him. First he had to get home alive. “Darling, my love! Come get me!”
“Oh man, now I’m in for it!” The two blue giants must have heard something because they were rounding the corner with a device in their hands that did NOT look friendly. One of them fired just as Rand felt himself fading. Seconds later he was staring up into Darling’s green eyes.
“Rand, you look like hell.”
“Love you too, Darling.”
Three Word Wednesday Accident, Loyal, Obscene
They were at the next table. Two couples out for a little Italiano. The guys? Forgettable. Looking like ex-high school football players, already showing the blurry future lines of a middle-aged paunch . Glory days over, reality setting in, cocky smiles gone. The girls used to line up waiting to cheer for them as they got off the bus. Cheerleaders and small town princess wanna-be’s hanging on every word they said.
The tables have turned now and the rules have changed. They defer to the ladies. Tight jeans and Nikes have given way to spike heels and a taste for the expensive.  Khaki Dockers, starched and pressed western shirt, is with the taller brunette. She has it all together. Dressed all in black, she flips her hair back and smiles up at the waitress, talking just a little too loud. Khaki squenches up his eyes just the tiniest bit at the volume. He is trying to be loyal to her but this obnoxious act is wearing thin.
Sunday jeans and cowboy boots is with the tiny one. She had light brown hair pulled back into a clip, gold dangly earrings, innocent eyes. He has the big goofy grin like he just can’t believe his good fortune. She is going out with HIM! Neither of them are having to say much. Loud brunette girl is taking care of the conversation which is a relief to him. Someone should throw a flag on the field for that play.
A lady with frosted big hair finished slurping her spaghetti and stood up to move around to a little keyboard. She seated herself and thumbed through her music book and started playing Christmas songs, the half time show.
The waitress has seated them and for a moment I was busy with my own meal. When I looked up again, they were in the midst of ordering and little quiet girl is sitting with her back to me. Her dress has a scoop neck back and the skin showing above the neckline is tattooed with angel wings. I noticed this as I clearly heard her ask the waitress why they do not sell alcohol here. Cowboy boots is still grinning his obscene grin. The waitress tells her they can bring their own and cowboy boots and khaki pants almost knock one another over trying to get out the door to bring her what she desires. Crowd roars and horn blows, they’re going in for a touchdown. Hoping to make the ladies happy. Khaki hoping to shut the brunette up. Cowboy boots hoping he will get a peek at more than angel wings tonight.
Homecoming queens and kings in a northeast Texas town. The new Friday night lights.
Saturday Scribes: Theme – Complicated
Three Word Wednesday errant hanker murky
Sunday Scribbling : interview
It was almost too easy. Sean had typed up his notes on the interview and now he had a hankering for one of Joe’s pulled pork sandwiches. He went to the coffee pot and stared at the murky dregs. This pot had been made hours ago and looked like it. He dumped it in the sink and got a fresh filter and filled it. He wiped up some grounds that had spilled onto the counter. He thought about the conversation he had last night with her. She would certainly be hired once his report was turned in. The moment he pushed send on the email with that report attached, he would be committed. They had been dating for a few months and he looked back in wonder. Meeting her was an accident. Pursuing a relationship was done with purpose, in fact, with a vengeance. Now he had to think about the future. Could the relationship survive working together? Danielle had promised that her support would move him up and that she would be right there helping him. He was already working on a plan for her “departure” if she didn’t follow through.
Danielle stopped in the ladies room before her next appointment. She knew that Sean was in the office below making his little plans, but she had a few of her own. She touched up her make-up and pushed an errant strand of hair back. She smoothed out her skirt and took one last backwards glance in the mirror. Smiling in satisfaction, she followed the hall to the corner office where the head of purchasing worked. She smiled at his secretary and gave her name. As she stepped through the door and quietly closed it behind her, Sean’s boss stepped from around the desk and took her hands. She kissed him and smiled. “You should be getting the report on my interview any time now.” George was in his seventies and the last stroke had caused him to limp a little. He smiled back at her. She was covering all her bases. It would be tricky balancing the two of them but George never left his floor and Sean could be handled.
George knew that any reason a woman like Danielle would be interested in him would not be his good looks and charm. He had passed that stage long ago. Whatever the reason was, she had a few talents and he intended to take advantage of those. He read the message behind those carefully made up eyes. She had her own agenda and thought she held all the cards. He knew she was stringing along that idiot downstairs. He figured she was planning to play them against each other. What he lacked in stamina, he made up for in experience. He knew directions to take this game that were not even on her map.
Three Word Wednesday : karma, obey, wither and two days of one word: amber and shield with a little fiction in 58 thrown in with just a pinch of Carry On Tuesday.
He carried her for two miles. She weighed next to nothing. She was his Amber and now she was gone. He tried it the worlds’ way. He obeyed every rule he knew. He did nothing to have karma spit on him but here he was, with nothing to shield his heart that would wither and die without notice.
One Word: Scissors, Three Word Wednesday: incubate nightmare vanity and a little bit of Carry On Tuesday. Mixing all the flavors tonight. A little Halloween something…
there was just enough light to see the glint, the shine, the oh my God they are sharp. I tried to shrink back into the corner but I think she heard me breathing. Nowhere left to go.
It started with a stupid idea. Just a drunken conversation one night and it had been sitting there, in the back of his mind incubating. Now here he was in the middle of a nightmare. It was nothing but vanity to think that she really liked him. She was way out of his league and he knew it all along.
He knew he should have left before it got dark. The stories always say they come out at night. Always. Just like the silly girl that hears the noise in the basement and goes to check. You just know it’s a bad idea. So why was he here?
It doesn’t matter why. He thought it was the scissors that would get him but that wasn’t all that was gleaming in the dark. Cold hands reached from behind to cover his eyes. That silky voice, crooning now “Guess who.”
He stiffened. He could try to run but where would he go?
Three Word Wednesday: jangle, restless, and heartache
I had only been at my sisters house for three hours and I was restless. As we sat out by her pool, my eyes half shut, shrinking her head down to nothing but moving lips, she continued in that high pitched nerve jangling voice of hers. I pictured my hands forcing her head under water for thirty seconds longer than she could hold her breath. The heartache is that I’ve been told I sound just like her.
Three Word Wednesday: fallow, limit, vocal
Blue jean clad legs, coated with mud at the bottom. Clods clung to shoes that were never meant to plod across fallow farmland. His hair was plastered to his skull and his soggy coat clung to him, making movement difficult. His chest hurt as he panted, stumbling occasionally, wanting to rest, needing to rest, but knowing he couldn’t stop.
The welcoming cover of the trees just ahead, relief in sight. He would have to keep going but he would feel better when he wasn’t out in the open. He wished he hadn’t been so vocal, wouldn’t have been if he could have seen where it would lead. It lead here, to this stupid farm, in this Godforsaken backwater hole. He knew no one and no one knew he was here. No one that could help.
If he could just make it through the night he could head for the city limits in the morning. It would be a long walk but if he didn’t die from pneumonia from sleeping in the rain tonight, he would chance it. He had no choice. They knew what he had done and they couldn’t let him get away with it. He had the key hidden in Shari’s apartment. If the stupid cow didn’t find it and throw it away he might actually survive this debacle.
He never heard the bullet. One minute he was slogging through the mud. The next he was wondering if he had tripped. Maybe Shari could get them plane tickets to Florida. He wanted to go somewhere warm.
Three Word Wednesday a bit late: Eclipse, Velocity, Languish
Sweat ran down her neck and pooled in the small of her back. Her shirt stuck to the skin between her shoulder blades, the red gingham cotton faded nearly to pink. Frayed denim cutoffs worn thin and blonde hair pulled up on her head in a tortoise shell clip.
She had listened to every word he said and now she was languishing in this “room with a view” . It was a view alright. Any light from the sun, along with any breeze that might have brought a little relief was eclipsed by the sooty brick building next door that loomed over her like a giant gargoyle, hunched over ready to gobble down everything in sight.
She sat in a ratty chair she had pulled up close to the window, leg thrown over the rickety arm. The fan was making more noise than air movement, hoping for any fresh air that might wind it’s way down between the buildings. All she got was the smell of rotting garbage and cabbage cooking which when you think about it, was pretty much the same thing. In the distance a train screamed it’s velocity as it passed right on through, no reason to stop in this dump of a town.
She could hear a radio playing on another floor and the couple next door had been screaming at each other for hours. She was jealous. She would be glad to have someone to scream at, cook for, give her a reason to stay here. He had promised more and she had gulped it all in, stolen money out of her daddy’s wallet and tossed what she could into a backpack. They were on their way . He had an old car and that was all but it didn’t matter, their escape blurred all thoughts of anything but how good it would be. They could live on love.
She sighed, turned off the fan and slipped on her tennis shoes. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and looked around at the peeling, stained wallpaper, the crooked yellow lamp shade, and the sink full of dirty plastic bowls. One tear ran down her face as she closed the door behind her. She took the stairs two at a time, walked down the block to the highway and stuck out her thumb. She was going home.
Sunday Scribbling #180, Carry On Tuesday #17, Three Word Wednesday, One Word: Corner
Piled them up and this is what I sifted out, with a little inspiration from posts by Quin and Paschal.
Disarmed by
the sudden guilt
anger dissolved
this time
just now, this minute
don’t speak
but later
no grace, no forgive, give
me mayhem mr. sandman
ain’t no sleeping tonight
voices engage
the shots fire over heads and
sometimes
hit the mark
hit the heart
play a tattoo
beating on, beating up
beaten down
the poets rhymed it
the storytellers made it
their own
we all live it
danger, falling bricks, rocks
stones and sticks
and names can hurt, can paint
themselves on our skin
til only a faded shadow scar
barely seen
but heard round the corner
round the life
Three Word Wednesday, One Word and Sunday Scribbling all rolled up.
The Minus is loveless
He talks to the land
And the leaves fall
And the pond over-ices
She don’t know the system, Plus
She don’t understand
She’s got all the wrong fuses and splices
She’s not going to fix it up
Too easy
Joni Mitchell
Go to the back of the book
Finger lickin down the index
the revelation is the key
Faces, faceless words
shot through wires
slip in the door, in the chair
sit down stand up
push the buttons, the red, the green
the big one twice
minus the answers plus troubles plenty
you want answers
she ain’t got them, they’re in the mist
the twist, under the bradford pear trees
watercolor washed sky behind
he got answers?
all those words and not one question
shooting at me, glare past me
I got your questions right here
open the box
anything there?
box to box ain’t heart to heart
if it’s just boxes
we’re going down in a blaze baby
disappearing
the apple has lost it’s luster
there’s a worm
two miles later
I’m laying it down
Go back to the book
the back of the book
finger lickin down the index
the revelation is the key
No idea where the image is from so if you happen by and it belongs to you, drop me a comment and I will remove it.
Three Word Wednesday: Fracture, Noise, and Vanish plus Fiction in 58 for good measure
In that one second, that one moment on which everything turns, the view fractured all at once, pieces of glass on the floor. Careful not to cut your feet. No noise, not a peep, no – not one sound. There is a body. There is always a body. Slip out the back door and vanish before the sweepers come.