Tag: short-story

(2023) Do You Remember…

Wiwohka9 Comments

***Part 1 ***

What was wrong with this picture? 

One morning, while standing in my kitchen and talking on the phone with my girlfriend, I just knew something wasn’t right! I kept glancing out the window suspiciously towards the sound of singing. 

There was my five-year-old, happily playing on her swing set in the back yard. 

Something wasn’t right with the scene I observed, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. 

          You see, it’s usually the absence of noise that signals childhood mischief, but I could see her clearly and she was simply swinging. Wait a minute… that’s it! 

I could see her but not clearly because of the distance between us.  I asked my girlfriend to hold on a second, momentarily placing the phone on the counter.  Leaning out the back door, I called for my daughter to come into the house.  Hopping off of the swing, she happily made her way toward the back door, where I stood waiting.

 As she drew near, my eyes became riveted to her forehead, where her bangs had once been.  My baby gave herself a reverse mohawk! I saw what looked like a small monk!  She had somehow sheared off all of the hair on her forehead! 

In mortified shock I grabbed the phone up and cried to my friend, “You have to come over and look at my baby girl’s hair”! 

Hanging up the phone, I attempted to calmly ask my child what happened… note that I said attempted.  She looked concerned at my anger and said, pointedly, “My hair was in my eyes, so I got out your sewing scissors and cut it off.“

  I was in tears by the time my girlfriend walked in and I turned to her for comfort in my hour of need.  All I got from her was a long round of hysterical laughter.  Point in fact, she laughed for a good bit, to my dismay.

“How can you laugh” I cried… “It’s not funny!”

As she tried to contain her laughter (not very well, I might add), my friend said, “I know this seems awful, but her hair will grow back.  Look, kids do things like this.  I’m sorry for laughing, but I can’t help it!  Its hilarious, really it is!  I’m sure you will look back on this and laugh, someday.  In fact, you can laugh at anything my kids do to me when it happens.  I will even call you first.”

After my girlfriend left, I had to hunt down all the evidence to be found.  Underneath my own bed, I retrieved my scissors… along with a massive pile of hair!  There was a lot more contributions of hair than I had anticipated, which was rather alarming!  My thoughts momentarily raced to my other children, but then quickly moved on to one or more of the family pets in the house. 

When I asked whose hair I’d found, she confidently took me to her toy pony, sittling in the corner of our family room.  The poor jumpy horse had received an army style crew cut, and was never the same after that, the poor thing.   

Of course, my girlfriend was right! I did look back and laugh. 

And if you are wondering, I did have the occasion to take her up on that offer.  Several years later, I did get my chance to laugh at her child’s silly antics. 

That, however, is another story…

(Archive 2023)Tales from a Parking Lot…

Wiwohka7 Comments
Photo by Yura Forrat on Pexels.com

Daily writing prompt
When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)?
View all responses

The woman behind the counter smiled gently at me, as she cleaned her ear piercing tools. My heart was in my throat, it seemed. Getting my ears pierced was the most grown up thing I had ever done by my own choice.

My Nana had bought me a pair of earrings in the shape of bright red apples, but this time the jewelry wasn’t clip on… they were the real thing in the eyes of a 6 year old. My mother told me that I could get my ears done if I chose on my own… no hand holding or cajoling would be forthcoming.

I lay in bed awake the entire night before we embarked on this grown up lady stuff I wanted to take part in. I was terrified, of what I am not sure… but if they could poke me with a vaccination needle whenever they felt like it, and trade me a stupid sucker for my time, then I must be grown up enough to take the needle for a pair of gloriously beautiful red apple earrings. My mind was made up on the matter, so I just lay there and waited for the sun to come up.

I was so terrified of backing down and not being able to wear my new gift… it was in truth, the only thing that kept me on that swinging stool, there in that Bon Marche Department Store. I tucked my feet behind the bar beneath the seat, grabbed the sides of the stool with both hands in a military vice grip and tried to find my happy place.

I apparently had nothing to worry about, because it was over before it had begun! That fast… bang bang… All Done! They were kind enough to do both ears at the same moment, probably in case I backed out half way through the deal. I was so happy and proud of myself that I burst into tears, making the grown ups think I was in pain or shock. Not so!

I WAS A LADY!

So now I will explain the hilarious fall out from my Grown Up Anxiety Filled Sleepless Night… the reality of how most adults handle stress.

As exhausted as I was from no sleep and worry, over my piercing adventure, I never had a moment to catch some zzzzzz’s until that night after we got home. I was so tired that I could barely touch my dinner, and vaguely remember my mom walking me down the hallway to my bedroom……..

…. The rain fell steadily in the darkness, only illuminated by the distant street lamps, flickering occasionally. I was sitting in the passenger seat of our station wagon, while my parents were in a Parent/Teacher Conference up the street. As I waited for them to return, I saw movement not too far down the block, barely visible through the sheets of rain falling across the hood of the car.

I heard her before I saw her… this scary Witch that looked suspiciously like the lady off of the Wizard of Oz, if I am being completely honest. I could hear her laughing wickedly as she slowly materialized out of the darkness. Yup! It had to be that horrible woman who took Toto away from Dorothy. Don’t judge… I have a bucket list of different childhood memories that are triggered by different movies I had in my tiny mind.

Anyway, as the witch steadily approached my car, I frantically checked all the door locks and glanced up at the entrance of the School, hoping I would see my parents walking down the steps toward our car. Nope! As Jack Sparrow says, I was “all by me onesies”!

I crawled down under the dash where I could be hidden from view for the most part, except my feet could still be seen from the passenger door. I heard her approach the car, walk all the way around it dragging her super long witchy fingernails across the metal doors… witches always have super long curvy red nails if you needed a visual.

Then the witch stopped directly in front of the passenger side door where I was crouched down on the floor. All I could see was the tip of her hat, but I could hear what she was doing… she was picking the lock on my door with those awful fingernails. I watched in horror as the little metal door lock popped!

The next thing I knew, I was strapped onto a torture table, in the parking lot underneath the Sprouse Ritz Department Store, and that witch began to tickle me with those long fingernails…

It was torture! I began to laugh and could not stop! I fought to get away, but was strapped down so there was no escape for me… no way out! Except to wake up, but I had been so tired from the night before that it was like crawling through thick Jello to do anything. Never fear though, laughter is here… I laughed so hard that I rolled myself out of the top of our bunkbed and landed with a thump on the floor below. That did the trick!

Isn’t it funny the way we handle stress… often bottling our fears, stuffing them down and hiding them away from judging eyes. I realize that I was just a child and that the dream was probably just a way to release the tension I had been holding for several days over a perceived painful event. There was no real danger or trauma involved in ear piercing, but to a child trying to be a grown up, it most assuredly seemed like there might.

My take away from the whole affair was this… I would for sure think long and hard the next time I wanted to be a grown up!

From then to now, I still often find myself thinking long and hard every time I have to do grown up stuff… I know I should be fine with getting tickled all night in a parking lot, but this girl would rather leave the Witch back at Sprouse Reitz…

Barnyard Business…

Wiwohka10 Comments

Today must be one of the laziest days we’ve had in quite some time. Honestly, I didn’t realize how good it would be to get back to the barnyard. There isn’t much better of a feeling than sleeping in your own bed, after a long time away from home.

Eustace was invited to a company retreat, so I’m not exactly sure what he’s doing, just this moment, but I can hear snores coming from the porch, the barn, and my upstairs bedroom. It seems that everyone around here is sleeping in, this lovely Friday morning. Everyone, that is, aside from myself.

While I might not be able to enjoy coffee anymore, I still love to sit in the still of the morning, with a good cup of tea. It’s so quiet, aside from the wind in the trees or the occasional birdsong floating across the meadow.

Well, I should say that it’s usually very quiet. As for this morning, it’s a fair bit away from being the normal serene calm that I’m used to experiencing. Funnily enough, I’m not bothered in the least from all the snorts, mumbles, and growls calling to me from every corner of the barnyard. In fact, I find it rather comforting, like a warm blanket on a winters day.

Snoring babes means happy babes, as far as I’m concerned. Life at sea has it’s benefits, but when it comes to rack-time aboard a massive ship on the water… well, you never know if you’ll wake up in your bunk, or on the floor, what with rough waters and high winds!

Take Osrig, for instance. He barely came out from under my bed while on the ship, but now that we’re home, he rarely comes in the house. His favorite spot for napping is just outside the kitchen window, on the porch…

Honestly, I don’t know that we’ve ever seen him so happy and relaxed.

Speaking of seeing someone happy, oh my goodness, you should see miss Tilly! Well, you can’t actually see her, right this second. She woke up when I did, begging me to help her pack a basket of fruit for young Henry, and his family. She left straight-away, headed for the river where the two lovebirds often meet. I don’t suspect she’ll be back til this evening…

Ahhhh, young love! Something tells me that she will be spending a great deal of time with her sweetheart’s family, which I am glad for. Tilly has grown up right before our eyes, and in such a short time, it seems. Besides, Henry spends a lot of time here with us, as well. I’m thinking of inviting them all for Thanksgiving dinner. There’ll already be an army of ants, from Lilly’s kin, and Squagon has invited family members from both his Acorn and Pinion Valley clans. The more the merrier, I always say!

Well, my tea has gone cold, and my tummy is shouting “Oatmeal… Oatmeal… Oatmeal!” I best get busy making breakfast.

Oh, yeah… and it’s FRIDAY, everyone! Have a blessed weekend… hugs

Treasure!

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We found something!

I’m learning that sometimes getting lost isn’t such a bad thing. Maybe that’s the secret to finding your way… who knows?!

All I know is that I’m glad we did lose our bearings during that storm, or else we might never have traveled in the direction we did, nor would we have discovered the tiny, lone island, out in the middle of nowhere…

But, is it really nowhere? If you get to a place and find something already there that was left by another… wouldn’t that mean it has to be somewhere, not nowhere?

Well, we did find something that someone else left behind. I don’t think it’s considered stealing if the item was simply abandoned, and left in the sand. I mean, it’s not like the island belongs to anyone specifically, as there’s nobody living there, nor has anyone been on that island for some time. Aside from the treasure itself, there wasn’t anything else on the island, other than some palm trees and sandy beaches. I don’t think it was much bigger than a city park and not a very big one, at that! The only reason we anchored there was to repair some of the damage done from the storm.

After the repairs were completed, I thought it was would be fun to do a little exploring on the island. There wasn’t much there, but it still felt good to get off the ship and walk in the warm sand for a bit. The babes played and played and played, chasing each other from one end of the island to the other, laughing and squealing with delight! Finally, when they’d completely worn themselves out, everyone simply collapsed in the sand to rest… all except for one, Dinky!

In all the activity, I’d not noticed her absence. It wasn’t like she could go very far since the island was so tiny. All I had to do was look around, right? She should have been there, but she wasn’t! I ran back to the ship to see if she’d stayed onboard when we went to play on the beach. She wasn’t there, either. In a panic, I began calling out her name, but I still got no response… Dinky wasn’t anywhere to be found!

All the babes came running when they heard me calling Dinky’s name. Boomer was a wreck! Immediately, everyone began walking from one end of the island to the other, calling out her name. I knew that we should have been able to see her without having to go anywhere, but it occurred to me that she may have fallen in a hole, possibly. Maybe that’s why we couldn’t see or hear her, beings that she was so very tiny.

And, yes! The little dragon did fall into a hole… a rather large one, actually. There she was, just sitting there smiling up at us. There, beside Dinky, was something that I can only describe as a priceless treasure!

Now, you may be thinking that we found a chest of gold, silver, and rare jewels. Isn’t that generally what pirate’s like to bury in the sand on remote desert islands, hidden in the heart of the sea? That would have been my first guess, anyway. Well, before you start thinking that it was money, I’ll stop you. It wasn’t money at all, but if you were to ask me its worth… I wouldn’t be able to give you an exact number. Why? Because, a things worth has to do with the value one places on it! I think that it mostly depends on the things one considers to be worth holding onto. While I saw priceless, someone else left this treasure behind… abandoned it, really!

Why on earth was this treasure left behind? Yes, it was rather unusual looking, but I like things that are different. I suppose that some might find it of no good use, but I love to find purpose in things. I think that this treasure was left behind out of fear… fear of something different, something one doesn’t understand. Fear can make us do things we never thought we might do, say things we never thought we might say, and sometimes, cause others pain, neglect, and/or abandonment. In the case of this treasure… I think that’s exactly what happened!

Part of me wants to show you what we found, right this very moment, but I’m not sure how you might react. Will you think me a fool? Will you deny it’s value, once you see what it is? What if it fills you with fear or revulsion, instead of awe and wonder? That’s a possibility, you know. What I think about a thing’s value may be far different than what you imagine it should. I’m still not even sure what it is, exactly, but I’m still taking it onboard with us… that’s how valuable I think it is!

Ok! Don’t freak out or anything…

Now, I may not know the whys of this treasure being left behind, nor do I know the whats or whos or whens, yet… but I will! That’s the beauty of this whole voyage… we can take as long as we wish to get where we need to go, right?!

Today we set sail… again!

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Ok! Once again, we’re all loaded onto the ship and ready to set sail for distant shores. All that is, except for young Henry, the very mouse that we sailed all the way up the river to locate. Why? Well, young Henry has responsibilities to his aging parents that require him to remain at home. Before you start worrying that Tilly will be broken hearted, Brutus saved the day, once again. He’s given Tilly his word that whenever she wants to go and spend time with Henry and his family, Brutus will fly her home and stay til she’s ready to come back. See… problem solved!

Do you know that it’s taken all day to get ready for leaving port, just so that all the babes could pick out their best sailing outfits? I’m not joking! The worst of them was Eustace and Bailey, which I never expected. It’s all about the shoes, according to those two…

I advised Eustace that his choice of enormous backpack and fur lined flip flops would most assuredly cause him to loose his balance and end up over the side of the ship, so we compromised…

Much better!

Now Bailey was more about dressing like a lady, than wearing something that might give off the wrong impression at some port that we visit…

I warned her that she might be mistaken for a caravan belly dancer with these sandals.

As I am Baileys mamma, so to speak, it’s my job to protect her reputation. I like these shoes, because she looks well insulated…

She threatened to stay home, so we had to agree on something we both felt happy with…

There, she can show a little bit of toe… but no more than that and absolutely no ankle showing!

The rest of the babes chose their own outfits and I didn’t even have to say much, at all!

Since we’ve been aboard our ship, Squagon has taken to stretching his ears up into his horns. I know that he looks up to Brutus and all, but I don’t want him to grow up too fast, you know? When I asked him to tone it down a bit, he was quick to adjust them…

Awwwww…. now, there’s my sweet boy!

What is the deal with all the fancy ankle cuffs… sheesha!

Nugget’s favorite snack is honey, so you can see what the problem might be.

While I think the outfit is absolutely adorable… still not gonna work with sticky fingers.

I know it takes more work to keep the hat on, but that’s what ears are for, so it’ll do. Once we settled on the hat, it was easy to get Nugget to lose the sleeves.

Lilly didn’t want to wear anything at all, aside from the hat…

I didn’t want her to get sunburned, though..

Much better, little lady!

Oh, and Tilly?

She’s gonna be just fine… it’s as if she’s a different mouse, ya know?!

Check out Dinky and Boomer…

They chose each others hats.

Why no shoes? Well, Duh! Dragon’s don’t wear shoes, do they.

Anyway, now that everyone’s finally ready to go, let’s do this!

The first order of business is to determine our course. After that, we’re free to set sail. Where will we go first, you might be wondering? Well, without going into too much detail, what I can tell you is that we have a map. If we can successfully navigate to the correct location marked on the map, there is someone waiting… someone who was left behind, just like our young Henry.

This time, however, we shall be traveling for the sake of another… for my grandson, actually. You see, when his family had to move to a new home, they left someone behind. When we talked about his missing friend, the idea came to me that we should seek the little guy out, because it seemed like the right thing to do. No one should feel alone… no one!

His name is Peanut, and yes, he’s a troll. Please don’t judge the little guy to harshly for being a troll. He’s really sweet, honest!

I’ve actually met him, you know. I spied him one day, hiding in the ditch beside my grandson’s house. He’d been watching the children play in their yard, quietly wishing he might join them… I could see it in his adorable eyes. For a time, I actually passed notes back and forth between my grandson and the tiny troll. I believe that’s where their friendship started.

Anyway, I thought to go in search of the little guy, in hopes of inviting him to stay at the barn. We have tons of room now, what with the barn being renovated and expanded. This way, my grandchildren can come and visit him at the barn whenever they wish. Plus, the lonely little troll will have all the babes for company, as well. No more being alone.

A journey such as this seems fitting for our first voyage, wouldn’t you agree?

Wish us luck…

Re-Answer From the Archives…

Wiwohka1 Comment
Daily writing prompt
When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)?
View all responses

I wanted to see what my answer was from last year, so I peeked back into the archives for a look see. I so enjoyed reading what I wrote last year, if I do say so myself! Since the answer to the prompt is still the same, I decided to give it another once through, for your reading pleasure.

May you enjoy the story… I did!

… The woman behind the counter smiled gently at me, as she cleaned her ear piercing tools. My heart was in my throat, it seemed. Getting my ears pierced was the most grown up thing I had ever done by my own choice.

My Nana had bought me a pair of earrings in the shape of bright red apples, but this time the jewelry wasn’t clip on… they were the real thing in the eyes of a 6 year old. My mother told me that I could get my ears done if I chose on my own… no hand holding or cajoling would be forthcoming.

I lay in bed awake the entire night before we embarked on this grown up lady stuff I wanted to take part in. I was terrified, of what I am not sure… but if they could poke me with a vaccination needle whenever they felt like it, and trade me a stupid sucker for my time, then I must be grown up enough to take the needle for a pair of gloriously beautiful red apple earrings. My mind was made up on the matter, so I just lay there and waited for the sun to come up.

I was so terrified of backing down and not being able to wear my new gift… it was in truth, the only thing that kept me on that swinging stool, there in that Bon Marche Department Store. I tucked my feet behind the bar beneath the seat, grabbed the sides of the stool with both hands in a military vice grip and tried to find my happy place.

I apparently had nothing to worry about, because it was over before it had begun! That fast… bang bang… All Done! They were kind enough to do both ears at the same moment, probably in case I backed out half way through the deal. I was so happy and proud of myself that I burst into tears, making the grown ups think I was in pain or shock. Not so!

I WAS A LADY!

So now I will explain the hilarious fall out from my Grown Up Anxiety Filled Sleepless Night… the reality of how most adults handle stress.

As exhausted as I was from no sleep and worry, over my piercing adventure, I never had a moment to catch some zzzzzz’s until that night after we got home. I was so tired that I could barely touch my dinner, and vaguely remember my mom walking me down the hallway to my bedroom……..

…. The rain fell steadily in the darkness, only illuminated by the distant street lamps, flickering occasionally. I was sitting in the passenger seat of our station wagon, while my parents were in a Parent/Teacher Conference up the street. As I waited for them to return, I saw movement not too far down the block, barely visible through the sheets of rain falling across the hood of the car.

I heard her before I saw her… this scary Witch that looked suspiciously like the lady off of the Wizard of Oz, if I am being completely honest. I could hear her laughing wickedly as she slowly materialized out of the darkness. Yup! It had to be that horrible woman who took Toto away from Dorothy. Don’t judge… I have a bucket list of different childhood memories that are triggered by different movies I had in my tiny mind.

Anyway, as the witch steadily approached my car, I frantically checked all the door locks and glanced up at the entrance of the school, hoping I would see my parents walking down the steps toward our car. Nope! As Jack Sparrow says, I was “all by me onesies!”

I crawled down under the dash where I could be hidden from view for the most part, except my feet could still be seen from the passenger door. I heard her approach the car, walk all the way around it dragging her super long witchy fingernails across the metal doors… witches always have super long curvy red nails if you needed a visual.

Then the witch stopped directly in front of the passenger side door where I was crouched down on the floor. All I could see was the tip of her hat, but I could hear what she was doing… she was picking the lock on my door with those awful fingernails. I watched in horror as the little metal door lock popped!

The next thing I knew, I was strapped onto a torture table, in the parking lot underneath the Sprouse Ritz Department Store, and that witch began to tickle me with those long fingernails…

It was torture! I began to laugh and could not stop! I fought to get away, but was strapped down so there was no escape for me… no way out! Except to wake up, but I had been so tired from the night before that it was like crawling through thick Jello to do anything. Never fear though, laughter is here… I laughed so hard that I rolled myself out of the top of our bunkbed and landed with a thump on the floor below. That did the trick!

Isn’t it funny the way we handle stress… often bottling our fears, stuffing them down and hiding them away from judging eyes. I realize that I was just a child and that the dream was probably just a way to release the tension I had been holding for several days over a perceived painful event. There was no real danger or trauma involved in ear piercing, but to a child trying to be a grown up, it most assuredly seemed like there might.

My take away from the whole affair was this… I would for sure think long and hard the next time I wanted to be a grown up!

From then to now, I still often find myself thinking long and hard every time I have to do grown up stuff… I know I should be fine with getting tickled all night in a parking lot, but this girl would rather leave the Witch back at Sprouse Reitz…

Here, don’t forget to grab a cookie…