Short Story

When I Grow Up

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for The Unicorn Challenge where we are
asked to get creative in 250 words or less using
the photo below as inspiration. Here is my story.

© Ayr/Gray

“Hm, what’s this?” I asked myself, cycling up to an abandoned car … a bit of excitement in my otherwise dull existence.

It struck me as odd that the car appeared to have been deliberately driven to the side of the road, the engine turned off while, in sharp contrast, the door had been hastily left open. The key was in the ignition, the constant reminder of “ding-ding-ding-ding” shattering the stillness.

Instinctively, I yanked out the key, pocketing it. I exhaled, savoring the calmness. Looking around, there wasn’t a living thing in sight, but two trash bins implied the presence of civilization.

I stood at the silent intersection, the roads reaching out to the horizon. The only change in landscape was a mound strewn with tree cuttings. I decided to scope out the area to see what was about, but my exploration yielded nothing. The car and I stood idle.

Shrugging my shoulders, I began walking back to my bicycle when an indistinct sound penetrated the air – a muffled voice coming from the mound.

With renewed vigor, I ran up the rise, stopping abruptly at the sight below – a traveling circus being dismantled. It was then I noticed a silver-haired man giddily leaping toward the carny folk, waving and shouting “wait for me!”

Before I knew what was happening, I was bounding after the man, yelling for him to “take me along, too!” He motioned for me to “c’mon!”

At some point the car key fell out of my pocket, no longer needed.

NAR©2024
250 Words

The Unicorn Challenge-30/08/24

This is “Goodbye Cruel World” by James Darren

And for a bit of culture …. from the musical “Stop the World – I Want to Get Off”, this is the incomparable Anthony Newley with “What Kind of Fool Am I?”

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

48 thoughts on “When I Grow Up”

  2. Welcome back, Nancy, great to see you alive and kicking so soon. Fingers crossed it’s all mending appropriately.

    Great story with surprise ending (who was that solver-haired man, I ask myself!), and great music.

    I love the pre-Beatles pop/rock by Elvis wannabes like James Darren, and of course Tony Newley.

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    1. Thank you, CE. I’m alive but the jury is still out about kicking. This surgery is no joke.

      How sad to learn of the death of James Darren at the same time I was writing this story. Tony Newley is eternally magnificent.

      The identity of the silver-haired man is on the car license plate … as if you didn’t know.

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    1. If anyone knows about circuses, it’s you, Cindy G …. The Ringmaster! 😂

      It’s great to be back writing and taking my time about it. This surgery has taught me that I don’t have to reply to every comment, respond to every prompt or blog every day. Now that I have no choice but to take it easy, I will do exactly that.

      Thanks, my friend, for your encouragement and good thoughts.

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  4. I love that James Darren song! We had a friend who threatened to enroll in a seminary every time one of his loves dumped him. We would sing “Goodbye, Cruel World! I’m off to join the priesthood…”

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    1. Haha! That’s a good one, John! There’s another rare version Darren did, I think for a movie, where he sang “Goodbye cruel world! I’m off to join the army”. Remember that one? I almost dismissed this song in favor of featuring only Anthony Newley but at the last minute decided to go with both. I’m glad to know you enjoyed it. Thanks!

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      1. You’re very welcome and yes, probably so. It’s starting to sound attractive to me! 🤹🏻‍♀️ Made me think of the book, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Have you read it? I did a few years ago. Excellent!

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  14. Ha, nice piece of misdirection there, Nancy. That’ll be the end of the dull existence then, and a great contrast to ‘ The car and I stood idle.’

    So good to see you here again. I hope that means you’re feeling a lot better.

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    2. Oh, I so enjoyed writing that little line; I’m glad it spoke to you, Jenne! I was inspired by the times I felt like chucking it all and running off to join the circus. Apparently, the driver of the abandoned car felt the same way. And with his silver hair bore a resemblance to someone we know! 😊

      Recovery is a process, a bunch of baby steps. Thanks for your good wishes.

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