Category: Writing Prompts

Spring

Published on by Wanda2 Comments

Daily Prompt:  Provoke

 

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Image from Google

 

I love spring.  I love seeing all of the plant life wake up after their long sleepy winter.  When I see the leaves bud on the trees and the daffodils popping through the ground they provoke memories of my childhood.

The spring brought with it daylight savings time so I could play outside after dinner.  All of us kids in the neighborhood would play hide and seek until it was time for bath and bed.  We usually fell asleep right away from all of the running around and fresh air.

Spring also brought Easter one of my favorite holidays.  We went to Mass in the morning, meeting my aunt and uncle and cousins, then to my grandmother’s for brunch.  My dad did the cooking for everyone.  Then my dad and uncle would take all of us kids to the cemetery to put flowers on my grandfather’s grave.  My mother, grandmother, and aunt would stay home saying they had to clean up after brunch.  When we got back, there was an Easter egg hunt.  What fun.  I loved those family days.

When I got married and had a family, the Easter celebration moved to my home.  My kids got to have the same kind of memories that I have from my childhood.  It warms my heart when my three kids are together and they start talking about the family times from when they were young.

I sigh as I look out my window, I see the grass turning green, the forsythia is blooming and the sun is brightly shining in the most beautiful Carolina Blue sky.

 

Noise

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Daily Prompt:  Noise

 

Illustration: iStock

 

Sally just wanted peace and quiet.  She had worked all week, ran the kids around after supper, did laundry, cooked and cleaned.  What a week!  All she wanted to do was sit and relax today.

It had been years since she had to do so much all by herself.  Jeff had had to go out of town for work leaving her to fend for herself.  Having a family was certainly joyous, but right now she was exhausted.

Sally’s mom had taken the kids for the day.  Finally peace and quiet, Sally thought.  As she made her cup of tea, she was thinking about the new book she had picked up and planned to just sit sipping tea and reading.

All settled in her favorite chair, Sally opened the book.  Barely through the first chapter and her first cup of tea, there was this loud, hammering right outside the house.  She jumped up to look into what was causing this noise.  As she came around the corner of her house, she discovered her neighbor jackhammering his sidewalk.

Totally annoyed, she asked her neighbor what he was doing.  Her neighbor told her he had a leak and needed to remove part of the sidewalk to repair it.  Sally just shook her head and walked away.

Sally grabbed her car keys, her book, walked out of the house, got in her car and drove away.  She could not remember a time when she needed some quiet time more.  Where could she go?  Where could she find some quiet?  It was too cool out to sit in the park.  The library was closed.  After driving around for a bit, she found herself at her mom’s house.

Walking into the house she called for the kids.  They came running asking why she was there since she had said she needed peace and quiet.  Sally explained to them that although they weren’t really quiet, the noise they made was music to her ears.

 

Goodbye

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Daily Prompt: Grasp

The boy wondered aimlessly trying to grasp what had happened to his world.  It was just yesterday that his father was playing catch with him.  They had laughed and kidded each other.  His dad was his best friend.  What would he do now if he had a problem?  Who could he turn to?

He had heard someone say that your life can change in a blink of an eye.  He had no reference point for this concept until today.  His dad had gone to bed last night and never woke up.  Why?  He kept trying to figure all of this out.

His mother was sad.  His sister was sad.  But he was just angry.  He felt guilty about being mad his dad had died.  How could this have happened?  Dad was supposed to be around forever.

He finally looked up and saw that there were a lot of cars parked in front of his house. Where did they all come from?  As he walked into the house he saw so many friends and family members all busy making food and answering the phone.  He felt a little out of sync with the activity going on.

He sat down and just watched and listened.  Someone had handed him a sandwich and a drink.   He looked down and wondered where it had come from.  Taking a bite he realized that he had not eaten all day.  The food tasted good, but he usually had lunch with his dad on the weekends.  All of a sudden he lost his appetite.

Visitors continued to come by till the sun went down.  His mom had to go to the funeral home to make arrangements for his dad’s burial.  The boy shuddered.  He just could not imagine his dad being put into the ground.

His mother came home and called he and his sister to come talk with her.  She explained that there was going to be a funeral in a couple of days.  It was the time to say goodbye to their dad.  The boy told his mom that he didn’t want his dad put into the ground.  His mom smiled and told the boy that his dad was not going into the ground.  That his dad was in heaven.  Only his body was left.  She told him that his dad would be with him every day of his life and that because his dad had died didn’t mean he didn’t love him.

That night in bed, when the house was very quiet the boy was thinking about his dad.  He could almost hear his dad’s voice tell him good night.  He said goodnight to his dad and smiled as he drifted off to sleep.

 

First Day of Dance Competition

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We are back in our hotel room and Alannah is already asleep.  She did spectacularly today in her clogging solo.  She won a trophy.  She only competed in one dance today, but tomorrow will be a very long day for us.  She competes in four group dances.

Here is the Competition my granddaughter Alannah is dancing in this weekend.

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Here is Alannah at the beginning of her dance.  I had to sneak this picture.  They don’t like it when you take pictures during the competition.  However, the sign said no video.  I only grabbed this still photo.

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This is Alannah onstage to get her trophy.  She took third in her category Emerald.

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I just love to watch her dance.  She will be ten this July and she has been competing since she was five.  She loves it.

Wanda

C’est la vie!

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Daily Prompt:  Uncompromising

Happy International Women’s Day!

I have just spent a wonderful week at my good friend Sue’s house.  We had such a good time.  We sewed, we shopped, we laughed until we cried.  There is nothing so special than spending time with a good friend is there?

I drove out to her home in Cary last Wednesday.  The ride was so pretty.  The ornamental pear trees were in full bloom.  I couldn’t believe that the blossoms were gone today when I drove home.  The leaves have taken over their place.  I wish they would bloom longer.

Have you ever met someone who was so uncompromising that it made being in their company intolerable?  I came into contact with a woman this past weekend that just drove me to complete exasperation.  I only heard the interaction was not a part of it.

I was shopping with my friend in a fabric store.  As we were looking at fabric, I couldn’t help but overhear this woman and her companion talking.  No matter what the one woman said or suggested, the other was just rigid in her ideas.  They apparently were going to do a joint project of some sort.  Lady one would suggest a color or fabric type, the other would not budge in her opinion.  As the conversation continued their voices got louder.

I thought to myself that I would find it very difficult to work with someone who was not willing to compromise on anything. There is so much to be learned by the art of compromise.  Joint projects are an opportunity for growth and sharing.  I thought that it was so sad that this woman was not smart enough to take advantage of the situation.  C’est la vie!