Mystery, Noir, Short Story, Word Challenge, Wordle

Bleeker Street: A Dirk Malone Story

Written for Sunday Whirl Wordle – #738. Our host
is Brenda Warren; her prompt words for this week
are shown below.  Hereโ€™s where the prompts took me.

fringe, resonance, frill, spin, swimming, images,
fit, spill, trip, reflect, layer, and lingering

Continue reading “Bleeker Street: A Dirk Malone Story”
Limerick, Poem

All Aboard!

Written for Estherโ€™s Laughing Along
With A Limerick #252
. The prompt
word is โ€˜crazyโ€™. This is my limerick.

Continue reading “All Aboard!”
Poem

When The Storm Rolls In

Written for Estherโ€™s Writing Prompts #80
incorporating the word โ€œstrikeโ€, and for the

image from Mark @ Today’s Writing Practice.
Hereโ€™s where the prompts led me.

Continue reading “When The Storm Rolls In”
Limerick, Poem

Rainy Night

Written for Estherโ€™s Laughing Along
With A Limerick #243
. Using the prompt
word  โ€˜touchโ€™, this is my limerick.

Continue reading “Rainy Night”
Cinquain, Poem

Promise Of Rain

Written for American Style
Cinquain
. Our inspiration is
โ€œboomโ€. This is my Cinquain.

Continue reading “Promise Of Rain”
Flash, Very Short Story

Idรฉe Fixe

Written for Sue & Gerryโ€™s Weekly Prompts
Weekend Challenge
using the word
โ€œobsessionโ€. This is my take.

Continue reading “Idรฉe Fixe”
Music Blog

It’s All About The Rain

Written for  Jim Adamsโ€™ Song Lyric Sunday post
entitled ‘World Meteorological Day’

and the theme of โ€˜weather conditionsโ€™.
Hereโ€™s my response to this weekโ€™s challenge.

Continue reading “It’s All About The Rain”
Uncategorized

PAINT IT BLACK

It is raining; Little Joseph, only four years old, is riding in the back of a big black car, his mother Carla by his side, following a long, flower-covered car and Mommy said Daddyโ€™s in that car but Joseph canโ€™t see him.

Their car stops and other cars arrive, depositing crying people dressed in black who follow some men carrying a long black box into a grassy field as Joseph wonders โ€˜Is this a picnic?โ€™ but then the men lower the box into a large hole in the ground and Mommy tells Joseph to โ€œsay goodbye to Daddy.โ€

Joseph is confused but follows her lead, tossing a flower into the hole and returns to the car where Carla lights a cigarette, smiles and tells Joseph Daddy wonโ€™t be coming back; this makes Joseph feel so very sad โ€“ he canโ€™t understand why Daddy would leave without saying goodbye โ€“ so he looks out the window and waves bye-bye with his little hand.

It is raining again and Joseph wants Mommy to play with him but she says โ€œNo โ€ฆ Iโ€™m busy on the phoneโ€ so little Joseph goes exploring in the cellar where there are lots of boxes โ€ฆ great for climbing and building; Joseph spots a small box among the big ones and decides itโ€™s perfect for the top of his fort and just as heโ€™s placing it on the tippy top, it slips from his hands, scattering torn photos of Daddy and newspaper clippings, too, but he can only read a few words โ€“ โ€˜BOATโ€™ … โ€˜LOSTโ€™ … โ€˜ROMANOโ€™ โ€“ his surname; Joseph doesnโ€™t understand any of it but he instinctively knows Mommy would be mad at him so he puts the box back where he found it and goes upstairs. 

It is still raining but Joseph hears laughter outside and from the window he can see Mommy and a man kissing under a tree; the man takes a suitcase from his car and he and Mommy run to the house, throwing open the door, dripping wet, still laughing and Joseph thinks itโ€™s all very strange for grown-ups to act this way.

Carla looks at Joseph and scolds, โ€œNaughty boy! Donโ€™t you know itโ€™s rude to stare?โ€ but Joseph just stands there, looking at them; โ€œWell, silly gooseโ€, purrs Mommy, โ€œSay hello to my friend โ€ฆ heโ€™s your Daddy now.โ€ and they run up the stairs laughing, hugging and kissing, leaving Joseph alone in the hallway so melancholy and wondering if it will ever stop raining.

NAR ยฉ 2023

Reprised, reworked and rewritten from a 2018 piece
[because I lost track of time and forgot to write a new one].
It’s a 6, don’t you know! Punctuation be damned!

โค๏ธŽ