The Bettermost Drabblefest: Please Join In!

[cwby30]

Evenin', Marl.

Well, interesting two chapters. Ennis being so closed-mouthed, not wanting to talk to Tom.  And then, Wham! the tree falls, and Tom is out like a light [heart attack!], and Ennis can't stop talking.  What a shock it must be, to see Tom like that.  Bet Ennis feels like he's losing Tom suddenly without the chance to say goodbye, just as he lost Jack.

Great cliffhanger...waiting for more.

Thanks again. 

[mariez]

The Crash

......
“Damn you” Ennis cried, shaking Tom with all strength.  “Wake up,….wake up!!!!.....

Can I hope that maybe Tom just passed out momentarily?......although if Ennis can't wake him.....

Marie

[mariez]

Some hump day prompts 

• respectful
• opinion
• companion

Marie

[Cameron]

Panic

(Aug 1986)
“Will you wake up!!!!  Damn you!!!”  Ennis cried, still slapping Tom’s face.

Finally, Tom stirred.  He opened his eyes, and looked at Ennis, whose frantic face was right near him.  Then Tom looked ahead at the huge fallen tree.

“What…..what happened?”  Tom asked, and rubbed his eyes.  “Hey, you okay?  Did I black out?”

“I thought you were dead.”  Ennis said with a quivering voice.

“Naw, I’m okay.” Tom said, turning to Ennis.  “Been happening…… since I was a boy.  I get scared, I just conk right out.  Scared my momma half to death lots of times.”  Tom paused and closed his eyes.  “She thought I was jokin’, and bein’ disrespectful or somethin’.  Doc never knew why.  Didn’t happen in a long, long time.”

Ennis stared at him, then moved away, back to his own seat.  He put his head in his hands.

“Hey” Tom said.  “You okay?  Sorry, man, I didn’t do it on purpose.  Sorry.”

Ennis lifted his head and glanced at Tom, then he picked up the duffel bag, wrapped his arms tightly around it, and put his head down against damp canvas.

“Ennis?”

Ennis looked over at Tom.  Then he looked ahead, at the huge fallen tree on the flooded road.  The rain was still coming down, not quite as hard as before, the wind was still howling, and the sky was still dark with thick, heavy clouds.

“I......I just…I…..just…..”  Ennis said, but he stopped.

“Look, I’m sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya, just somethin' that happens to me.” Tom said.  Ennis just sat there.  The rain was finally letting up.  “So what are we gonna do now?  Ya want my opinion?  Let’s just go get that breakfast, then we’ll decide.”

Ennis quickly glanced at him.  “Fine, but I better drive.”

Tom grinned.  “Ain’t gonna argue, ya sure are a good companion, sorry, wish it didn’t happen.  Hey, we were lucky, this time.”

Ennis went around the truck to get into the driver's seat, Tom slid over to the other side.  Ennis started the truck and pulled away, going slowly around all the fallen trees and miniature lakes on the road.  Every so often he quickly glanced over at Tom, looking relaxed and comfortable in the passenger seat.

“I….just….ya know….I…..”  Ennis tried to speak, but the words still wouldn’t come out.

[mariez]

Panic

. . . .
“I….just….ya know….I…..”  Ennis tried to speak, but the words still wouldn’t come out. 

That's a relief.  But how will Ennis's relief following that panic manifest itself?

Thanks, Marl
Marie

[Clyde-B]

       
      “Easy now, you gone a have a real head on you in the mornin.”
      “I haven’t drunk like this in thirty years.”  She sighed.  “We were at the beach in a romantic little Italian restaurant, right on the sand.  You could almost touch the water.”  She took another swig.  “My first husband had taken me there to tell me he was running off with some tramp from the phone company.”
      “That calls for more beer.”  Ennis reached in the Woody’s bag.  “What the..?”  He pulled out a short, squat bottle.  “Well, I’ll be...” 
      “What?”
      “It’s a pint a Old Rose.”


     100 words

[mariez]

      
      “Easy now, you gone a have a real head on you in the mornin.”
      “I haven’t drunk like this in thirty years.”  She sighed.  “We were at the beach in a romantic little Italian restaurant, right on the sand.  You could almost touch the water.”  She took another swig.  “My first husband had taken me there to tell me he was running off with some tramp from the phone company.”
      “That calls for more beer.”  Ennis reached in the Woody’s bag.  “What the..?”  He pulled out a short, squat bottle.  “Well, I’ll be...” 
      “What?”
      “It’s a pint a Old Rose.”


     100 words

I always look forward to seeing exactly how you'll use the prompts  - this is great, Clyde!

Marie

[mariez]

Hey, drabblers.  Let's see what we can do with:

• lemonade
• fresh air
• an awkward moment

Marie

[ifyoucantfixit]

           Ennis had to get away for a bit.  He could not fall apart in front of those women.  He knew that each time he cried, it took him a spell to get back to reasonable condition.  He would always have his face all swollen and his eyes red with the shed tears and pain.  Mostly it was done in the privacy of his trailer.  At night when he would allow himself the permission to let go.  It was less these days, than in the beginning.  During that time, he hardly could hold it together enough to work..He tried to get the labors that allowed him to be alone.  That way if he had a spell when he could not hold it in.  He would not have to be seen.
           This day he knew he had to get it together quickly, or they would not make it back down the mountain before dark.  It was a good long trail, and with all the slippery rocks, as they descended, dangerous for them, if not undertaken soon.  He thought of the awkward moment that had caused him to flee.  He could not tell them what Jack had meant to him.  It was still too painful, even after  time that had passed.  Those old times were still too fresh in his mind. 
            When he thought back on it.  It seemed like only last week. As he dreamed of Jack.   It seemed more often these days.  It was like stepping back in days gone by.  It was real.  He could feel Jack's hands on him.  The warmth and tender touches.  The thrill of it still as new as ever.  The voice of Jack so carefree and happy, so hopeful.  It was the voice he had on the mountain.. Not the one that he showed later on.  That one, sounded defeated and sorry.  But still even just thinking about him made Ennis grow hard.  After all these years. The sound of his voice. It was like home.
             "I have got to get control of myself, can't have these women seein me like this."  He alighted from the horse and walked with the reins in his hand,  beside the small creek.  He stopped to allow the horse a drink, and got back up after washing his face and smoothing his hair down, with his hands.  He could go back now.  He was becoming resolved again.  He took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, and got back on the horse, going back to real life once again.
           

[MaineWriter]

A little something that is recycled from "A Love Born From Steel" but I couldn't resist with awkward moment. From Chapter 12:


Ennis went into the house while Jack sat on the porch, sipping his whiskey and lighting another cigarette. He had no sense of time passing but obviously, some minutes had passed because before he knew it, Ennis was back on the porch, standing tall and leaning over him. Ennis braced himself on the arms of the chair and looked down at Jack, his face, as it had been for the past two months, flushed with happiness. “I love you, cowboy,” he said, leaning in for a deep and loving kiss. Jack kissed him back with equal fervor.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ennis sensed a shadow at the screen door. He pulled back and stood up, and saw Jenny standing there, the light from the living room reflecting behind her. “Honey,” said Ennis, “I thought you were in bed.”

She tentatively pushed the screen door open. “I forgot my coloring book,” she said, “and crayons,” as she pointed to the corner of the porch floor.

Ennis could hear Jack whispering under his breath. “Uh oh, cowboy, awkward moment.”

“Shut up, Jack,” whispered Ennis, but he said it with a smile. He went over the screen door, “C’mon sweetheart, let’s get your book.”

Jenny scampered to pick up her coloring book and crayons, holding them close to her chest. She started to walk back to the door but then turned and looked at Ennis. “Daddy,” she said, “why were you kissing Uncle Jack?”

He paused. “Because we’re friends, sweetheart,” he said.

“I’m friends with Amber and I don’t kiss her,” replied Jenny, with the matter-of-factness of youth.

Ennis looked at her for a second, then smiled. “C’mere, honey,” he said, turning to his empty chair, sitting down, and then pulling her onto his lap. “Let’s talk.” Jenny turned and looked at Ennis expectantly. “Uncle Jack and I are friends,” he said, “very special friends…very close friends. Uncle Jack is the reason I left Riverton and moved to Texas.”

Jenny nodded. “I know that, Daddy.”

Ennis bit his lip. “We wanted t’be together.”

Jenny looked at him. “Are you in love with Uncle Jack, Daddy? Is that what you’re tryin’ t’say?”

Ennis nodded. “Yes, sweetheart, that’s exactly what I’m tryin’ to say.”

Jenny nodded as if this was the most natural thing in the world, having absolutely no issue with the fact that her father was in love with another man.