The Bettermost Drabblefest: Please Join In!

[Scott6373]

He let the thick batter drop into the hot pan.  The words of his eldest daughter flittering in his head:  “Daddy, you gotta eat better.  I’ll go get ya some groceries from the store.”  She didn’t wait for him to finish putting the food away before she left him, otherwise, he could have asked her how to make pancakes from the boxed mix that she had brought him.  He fretted over the directions for quite sometime, until he decided to just dump the stuff into a bowl and guess at what measurements were required.

The resulting batter had enough body to patch holes in a wall, but nevertheless, he heated the frying pan over very high heat, and poured a goodly amount of oil into it.  By the time he was ready to drop the batter onto the scorching, hot surface, the oil was smoking, but not having any culinary background, he assumed this to be the correct temperature for making pancakes.  The batter dropped, and hit the molten oil with a vitriolic sizzle.  He jumped back as the hot oil leaped toward him.

“Holy crap…”  He reached out, without moving closer, to turn the burner down.  When it was safe enough to approach the pan without fear of harm, he peered over it.  The high heat and the excessive oil had created a pancake that Ennis had never seen before; Not round, hardly fluffy.  The batter had contorted into a shape, that to Ennis was instantly recognizable, and reminded him of other times, when heat was present.  He closed the fire under the pan, and moved it to a cold burner.

He walked intently to the small bathroom, suspiciously looked in all directions, then went in, and shut the door firmly behind him, one hand already unbuckling his belt.   


300 words

[jpwagoneer1964]

Ennis awoke for just a moment from his sleep his gaze fixed on Jack against him sleeping soundly (but not soundlessly) in the moonlite. Dark hair, warm smile, blues eyes he has known so well and so long now expressing total peace. Focusing on those dark heavy eyebrows Ennis thought of all the joy he had seen in this face...and sometimes hurt and pain. Maybe...just maybe...soon...with his daughters almost grown...he could ....someday.....be ....with....Jack. Ennis closed his eyes, tightened his grip on Jack falling into a tranquil slumber.

[ifyoucantfixit]

    " I am so cold, and just plain pissed.  I want to just punch his lights out.
He's got no right to make me do this.   Its freezing up here."  Jack looks
first at his smoke, then over his shoulder, the blackened sky looms over
his head, and, the only thing in this light is the bright and solitary moon. 
    He can't even see the sheep.  The cloudy sky and the roiling trees are the
very meaning of dark and gloomy.  Jack feels isolated in a way he has never
felt in his life.  He doesn't know what it is.  What makes him want to stay in the camp so fiercely.  He stayed in the camp last night.  He didn't find it
very good either.  He was somehow disquieted, even then.
     He glances over his shoulder, and sees the slighest flicker of light.  It
is bright and warm looking, and the thought of it,  somehow more
warming than the fire itself may have been, had it been right beside him.
     He knows that Ennis has kept the fire.  Let it burn, fed the logs
they had chopped, and split, consume, so that he might feel his
companionship.  Even if they were several miles apart.  That is a friendly
thing for a guy to do.  It gave him another warmth, when he thought of
the two days they had spent together.  "Don't know what it is about that
boy," he thought plaintively.  His eyes brightened, and the corners of his
mouth raised, along with his eyebrows, and he found himself smiling like a
straight up fool.  He couldn't seem to, not smile, when he thought of the
quiet cowboy.  "Ill have to tell him in the morning, how much i thank him
for that fire. " He's got no right to make me do this." "Fuck Aguiree."

[Scott6373]

"Don't know what it is about that
boy," he thought plaintively.  His eyes brightened, and the corners of his
mouth raised, along with his eyebrows, and he found himself smiling like a
straight up fool.  He couldn't seem to, not smile, when he thought of the
quiet cowboy.  "Ill have to tell him in the morning, how much i thank him
for that fire. " He's got no right to make me do this." "Fuck Aguiree."

Very nice Janice

[mariez]

He let the thick batter drop into the hot pan.  The words of his eldest daughter flittering in his head:  “Daddy, you gotta eat better.  I’ll go get ya some groceries from the store.”  She didn’t wait for him to finish putting the food away before she left him, otherwise, he could have asked her how to make pancakes from the boxed mix that she had brought him.  He fretted over the directions for quite sometime, until he decided to just dump the stuff into a bowl and guess at what measurements were required.

The resulting batter had enough body to patch holes in a wall, but nevertheless, he heated the frying pan over very high heat, and poured a goodly amount of oil into it.  By the time he was ready to drop the batter onto the scorching, hot surface, the oil was smoking, but not having any culinary background, he assumed this to be the correct temperature for making pancakes.  The batter dropped, and hit the molten oil with a vitriolic sizzle.  He jumped back as the hot oil leaped toward him.

“Holy crap…”  He reached out, without moving closer, to turn the burner down.  When it was safe enough to approach the pan without fear of harm, he peered over it.  The high heat and the excessive oil had created a pancake that Ennis had never seen before; Not round, hardly fluffy.  The batter had contorted into a shape, that to Ennis was instantly recognizable, and reminded him of other times, when heat was present.  He closed the fire under the pan, and moved it to a cold burner.

He walked intently to the small bathroom, suspiciously looked in all directions, then went in, and shut the door firmly behind him, one hand already unbuckling his belt.   

300 words

This was me reading this:                I want to move into your brain, Scott.  Seriously.  How do you do that?

Ennis awoke for just a moment from his sleep his gaze fixed on Jack against him sleeping soundly (but not soundlessly) in the moonlite. Dark hair, warm smile, blues eyes he has known so well and so long now expressing total peace. Focusing on those dark heavy eyebrows Ennis thought of all the joy he had seen in this face...and sometimes hurt and pain. Maybe...just maybe...soon...with his daughters almost grown...he could ....someday.....be ....with....Jack. Ennis closed his eyes, tightened his grip on Jack falling into a tranquil slumber.

Impeccable and beautiful . . . both the words and the picture.

.   .  .
"Don't know what it is about that
boy," he thought plaintively.  His eyes brightened, and the corners of his
mouth raised, along with his eyebrows, and he found himself smiling like a
straight up fool.  He couldn't seem to, not smile, when he thought of the
quiet cowboy.  "Ill have to tell him in the morning, how much i thank him
for that fire. " He's got no right to make me do this." "Fuck Aguiree."

Janice, you always capture our boys so perfectly.  Nothing I love better than Jack's smile!

.   .  .

   Ennis nodded.
.  .  .   
   Ennis nodded again.
   He motioned with his thumb through the wire glove...  "Sign 'bout five mile down.  Go left."
.   .  .   
   Ennis nodded.
 .  .  .
   Shaking his head...  "What next?!"

Yep, that's our Ennis - great job, TH!

Thanks!
Marie

[Scott6373]

This was me reading this:                I want to move into your brain, Scott.  Seriously.  How do you do that?

I'm sick and twisted...that helps a lot...LOL

[Lumière]

This was me reading this:                I want to move into your brain, Scott.  Seriously.  How do you do that?

Funny, my reaction was along those lines as well! 

[Lumière]

A dabble: 


January 1979

A long time ..

They were seated by the window in the Black Horse Diner, eating their breakfast in silence.  Jack seemed restless – he shifted in his seat and stabbed mercilessly at the syrupy pancake on his plate, his eyes downcast.

“Jack, something the matter? You seem a little .. tense.”

“I’m just a little preoccupied, is all” Jack said managing a weak smile, finally lifting up his head to look at Randall.

“We ain’t doing nothing wrong, you know?  I invited you here because I wanted to spend time with ya .. I mean, away from the wife and all .. A little vacation, ya know?”

“Yeah, sure” Jack responded, lowering his head once more.  “Sorry .. jes’ got one or two things on my mind.  It’s no big d..”

“He doesn’t know yer here, does he?” Randall interrupted, a knowing look in his eyes.

Jack looked up at him suddenly, his eyes wide.  “What? ..”

“It’s okay, Jack .. I know.  You’ve got that guilty look written all over yer face and I know it ain’t ‘cause of Lureen.”  He took a sip of his coffee, never taking his eyes off Jack.  “How long ya known ‘em?”

“A long time ..” Jack mumbled sadly, his eyes returning once more to the disfigured pancake on his plate.  He sighed heavily, wishing all the while that the man sitting across from him was the one now haunting his every thought ..


(~ 241 words)

[ifyoucantfixit]

Ennis awoke for just a moment from his sleep his gaze fixed on Jack against him sleeping soundly (but not soundlessly) in the moonlite. Dark hair, warm smile, blues eyes he has known so well and so long now expressing total peace. Focusing on those dark heavy eyebrows Ennis thought of all the joy he had seen in this face...and sometimes hurt and pain. Maybe...just maybe...soon...with his daughters almost grown...he could ....someday.....be ....with....Jack. Ennis closed his eyes, tightened his grip on Jack falling into a tranquil slumber.

          Oh Mark, that touched my heart.  So sweet and sad, all at once....
                                                                                 janice

[MaineWriter]

Lazy L Farm
Quanah, TX
June 1, 1976

Ennis rubbed his thumb along the black hair of Jack’s eyebrow, then leaned in and kissed it softly. “It’s been two weeks,” he said.

“Two weeks?”

“Two weeks since we got here. I still can’t believe it.”

Jack smiled up at his lover. “I know. In one way, it feels like two hours, in another, two years.”

Ennis leaned in, placing small kisses along Jack’s neck and collarbone. “I know what ya mean.” He paused, then, “Y’know, this is the longest we’ve ever been together…besides Brokeback that is.”

Jack chuckled softly. “Ya think we’re compatible?”

“Yeah…once we figger out which a us is doin’ the laundry.”

“Didn’t ya live in an apartment over a laundromat?”

“Yeah…so?”

“Well, I’d think you’d be a pro.”

“I know fuck all ‘bout laundry, Jack.”

“What’s to know? Stuff the clothes in, add the soap. Lookit this way…two weeks ago, I knew fuck all ‘bout cookin’ pancakes.”

“And now yer a pro.”

“Yeah.”

“Y’know what Jack?”

“What?”

“We’re good for each other.”

Jack hitched himself onto his elbow, and ran his thumb along Ennis’s cheekbone. “We are. And somehow, I suspected that all along.”

Ennis smiled at him. “I love you, cowboy.”

“I love you too.”

“Ya gonna make me pancakes?”

“Only if you do the laundry.”

Ennis chuckled as he leaned in for another kiss. “I s’pose if I can figger out how ta love a man, I can figger out how ta do the laundry.”

“Which one do ya think is harder?”

“Oh, that’s easy. Laundry.”

Jack smiled. “Yeah, yer right…’cause lovin’ you is the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Tell ya what…”

“What?”

“Let’s do the laundry together.”

“And I’ll wash the pan after cookin’ pancakes.”

“Sounds like a plan. Ready to face the day?”

Ennis nodded. “Day one a week three a the rest of the our lives together. Ya with me cowboy?”

“Forever,” said Jack, with a kiss.

(321 words)