The Bettermost Drabblefest: Please Join In!

[mariez]

An Inextricable Link

Sage, Wyoming
February 20, 1984

She moved slowly as she swept, smiling wistfully as she remembered when she could clean the entire store without losing a breath.  But those days were long gone, and soon the old store would be another memory, too. 

She leaned over painfully to pick up a small black and pink wrapper stuck in the corner of a bare shelf. Why, it had to have been 30 years since they'd last sold black licorice taffy, and she only remembered two people who'd even liked it – that old man and that young boy.  The old man used to buy a small bag of it now and then; but she'd known that the boy could rarely even afford the penny and she'd sometimes slip him a piece, his dark eyes lighting up as his soft voice murmured a "thank you, ma'am."

The old man only came around once more after that horrible thing that everyone knew about – but never spoke of.  And she never saw the boy again after his parents died in that tragic accident. 

But she'd always wondered what became of them because, somehow, that solemn young boy and that haunted old man would always be inextricably linked in her mind.

~~~~~~~
200 Words

[mariez]

Some Thursday prompts   

• supposed
• collection
• debris

Marie

[mariez]

He Did

He was supposed to help the old bastard out, so he gritted his teeth a few times a year and made sure he did.  He was supposed to get married, so he did.  He was supposed to have a kid so, without really wanting to, he did.  He was supposed to work hard, and play along, and be "one of the guys," so he did.

But no matter what he did or didn't do, he couldn't escape the lonely feeling that he was not who he was supposed to be, so….

…..he wasn't supposed to cry, but sometimes he did.

~~~~~~
100 Words

[fernly]

An Inextricable Link

Sage, Wyoming
February 20, 1984

She moved slowly as she swept, smiling wistfully as she remembered when she could clean the entire store without losing a breath.  But those days were long gone, and soon the old store would be another memory, too. 

She leaned over painfully to pick up a small black and pink wrapper stuck in the corner of a bare shelf. Why, it had to have been 30 years since they'd last sold black licorice taffy, and she only remembered two people who'd even liked it – that old man and that young boy.  The old man used to buy a small bag of it now and then; but she'd known that the boy could rarely even afford the penny and she'd sometimes slip him a piece, his dark eyes lighting up as his soft voice murmured a "thank you, ma'am."

The old man only came around once more after that horrible thing that everyone knew about – but never spoke of.  And she never saw the boy again after his parents died in that tragic accident. 

But she'd always wondered what became of them because, somehow, that solemn young boy and that haunted old man would always be inextricably linked in her mind.

I love all your drabbles, Marie, but this one... to show, in so few words, one life so clearly, and how it was brushed, indelibly, by the brief, haunting contacts with two souls, never named, but so vivid.
Wow.
Thank you

[mariez]

...... and how it was brushed, indelibly, by the brief, haunting contacts with two souls.....

Yes! Exactly.  Thank you so much, Fern.  Always wonderful to see you....(hope you don't mind if I take the opportunity to pester you.......?

Marie

[mariez]

A few prompts to start off the week:

• actual
• virtual
• doubtful

 
Marie

[Penthesilea]

I misread your first prompt for a split second and bang, there was Jack in my mind, moving acrobatic(ally). I didn't want to put the thought away for the actual prompts and just went with it. Outcome is a silly little piece which made me smile. I hope it does for others, too.




Watching Jack with his acrobatic moves was pure delight. He reached out with his left arm, stretched his body to the left until Ennis thought he might topple over every moment. But Jack held on with his right hand, the contracting muscles of his biceps clearly visible. A moment later Jack bent down to reach -

"Ennis!"

"Whut?"

"Hell, are ya sleepin' or what?" Jack frowned down on Ennis from the top of the ladder.

"What do you need?"

"The next piece of garland. We keep goin at this pace, we'll never come to an end with the Christmas decoration."

"Don't need no decoration." Ennis only mumbled the words, but Jack had heard them anyway.

"But you do enjoy me hanging the stuff, doncha?"

"You bet."


 
127 words

[mariez]

I misread your first prompt for a split second and bang, there was Jack in my mind, moving acrobatic(ally). I didn't want to put the thought away for the actual prompts and just went with it. Outcome is a silly little piece which made me smile. I hope it does for others, too.




Watching Jack with his acrobatic moves was pure delight. He reached out with his left arm, stretched his body to the left until Ennis thought he might topple over every moment. But Jack held on with his right hand, the contracting muscles of his biceps clearly visible. A moment later Jack bent down to reach -

"Ennis!"

"Whut?"

"Hell, are ya sleepin' or what?" Jack frowned down on Ennis from the top of the ladder.

"What do you need?"

"The next piece of garland. We keep goin at this pace, we'll never come to an end with the Christmas decoration."

"Don't need no decoration." Ennis only mumbled the words, but Jack had heard them anyway.

"But you do enjoy me hanging the stuff, doncha?"

"You bet."

Chrissi, this not only made me smile - it made me laugh!    Thanks for drabbling.   I'm sure glad you posted it- who couldn't love an acrobatic Jack?  And those images that come in a split second are always the best!

Marie

[mariez]

Private Lives

Why she was so drawn to them, she couldn't say, but she found herself following them with her eyes whenever they came into the store.  In her mind, he seemed disconnected and uncomfortable; and she tried to glean clues to their relationship from the way the man's eyes wandered about the store, the way the woman hooked her arm through his, even from the food they placed in their cart.  She imagined them sitting wordlessly over their frozen dinners while the television droned in the background….

The realization struck one day as she watched them, and she shook her head a little as her quiet laugh rang humorless and hollow in her ears.  How foolish to think that she knew anything at all about the couple that she looked on from afar.  After all, she knew better than anyone that you can't even be sure that you actually know the people that you actually know. 

~~~~~~~
155 Words

[mariez]

It's lunchtime, so these are the prompts today!

• salty
• sour
• bitter

Marie