Today at RDP, sgeoil asks us to get creative
with the word โhullabalooโ. Thanks, Heather!
Hereโs where the prompt word took me.
Tag: Teenagers
Death and Taxes
Written for Song Lyric Sunday
where the challenge is to write
about a song dealing with taxes
and/or money. Hereโs my response.
911
Written for Sammiโs Weekend Writing Prompt #406
using the word โdecisiveโ. In 39 words, this is my flash.
Want To Watch A Movie?

Bill and I watched this beautifully bittersweet movie last night. We knew nothing about this 2023 film except for the brief description below; we were sold after watching the trailer. Paul Giamatti is an excellent actor and his performance was impeccable. There were some award-winning insults and one-liners delivered with great aplomb. If youโre looking for a lighthearted romcom, this is not for you. We enjoyed this one a lot and highly recommend it.
The Holdovers follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually he forms an unlikely bond with one of them …. a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa) …. and with the school’s head cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who has just lost a son in Vietnam.
Letโs watch the trailer.
Iโll save you a seat. Enjoy the movie! ๐ฅ ๐ฟ ๐ฅค
NARยฉ2024
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy ~ The Sicilian Storyteller, Nancy (The Sicilian Storyteller), The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantโs Trunk, and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NARยฉ2017-present.
My Baby’s Baby: A Dectina Refrain

Itโs
really
amazing
how time flies by.
People say โdonโt blinkโ;
where did fifteen years go?
She is my babyโs baby,
his first child and my first grandchild;
our world changed the instant she was born.
It’s really amazing how time flies by.
This is my beautiful granddaughter Mckenna; sheโs funny and fun to be with. At one time she wanted to be a writer; now sheโs hoping to become a professional musician in an orchestra. Her instrument of choice is the baritone sax โฆ a powerhouse! She just finished her freshman year of high school and was accepted into the National Honor Society. Sheโs been a member of her schoolโs swim team for the last couple of years and today she will start her first job as a lifeguard for her townโs public pool. She really wanted that job and is psyched she passed the test. So are we! Congratulations, Mckenna! Weโre so proud of you!

NARยฉ2024
This is โDonโt Blinkโ by Kenny Chesney
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantโs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NARยฉ2017-present.
Inquiring Minds
Written for Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge
and Weekend Writing Prompt #368 where we are
asked to be creative in exactly 100 words incorporating
the prompt words “sleep” and “quaint”. This is my story.

We visited the Poe Cottage this week, former home of the poet Edgar Allan Poe. Itโs about a 30 minute drive from my house and I thought my two teenage grandchildren would enjoy the walk-around since theyโre both reading the works of Poe in school.
Itโs a quaint old place with small bedrooms, a common kitchen-parlor-dining room downstairs and an upstairs loft. My 6โ tall grandson questioned how a grown man could sleep in the tiny bed.
At one point I realized my grandson had gone missing. Imagine my embarrassment when he was found napping in Poeโs bed!
Inquiring minds.

NARยฉ2024
100 Words
This is โIโm So Tiredโ by the Beatles
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantโs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NARยฉ2017-present.
Fiasco In Florence

When my sister Rosemarie had her 16th birthday, our parents decided it was the perfect time for our first family vacation in Italy. Plans were made for the summer โฆ. three weeks traveling around Italy and another three weeks visiting family in Sicily.
One of our stops was Florence where we stayed in a breathtaking guesthouse called Pensione Mona Lisa. Our accommodations were similar to an apartment but without a kitchen; all meals were served in the communal dining room. Our parents took the master bedroom on the first floor while Rosemarie and I shared a loft bedroom which also had its own bathroom.
All the rooms were exquisitely decorated with beautiful furnishings and expensive rugs. In our bathroom there was a claw-foot tub, separate shower, a pedestal sink and an enclosed area with the toilet. Next to the toilet was an odd-looking fixture neither of us had ever seen before. It was the same size as the toilet but with extra faucets and handles and a strange sprinkler contraption in the center of the bowl. When we turned the faucets on, water shot out straight from theย sprinkler; we immediately turned off the water, then sat there trying to figure out just what the hell the damn thing was.ย
After considerable thought, we came to the conclusion it was for foot-washing. Happily kicking off our sandals, we turned on the water and bathed our hot, tired feet. We dried off with the small paper guest towels in the bathroom and tossed them into the bowl, then pulled one of the levers expecting the towels to flush away. Well, they didnโt. In fact the โfootwasherโ very quickly filled with water and overflowed as Rosemarie and I tried desperately to stop it.
Before we knew it, the bathroom floor was covered with water which leaked out into the bedroom, soaking the rug. We watched helplessly as the water trickled down the stairs into the main living section, drenching the gorgeous rugs. Our mother saw what was happening and rang the front desk for help but it was pretty much a lost cause.
The pensione staff arrived and started yelling and screaming at us in Italian as other guests hurried over to see what all the commotion was about. The rugs were ruined and we were responsible for the damages. The rooms became uninhabitable and when we inquired about other lodgings, the pensione manager told us they were all booked and we had to find another place to say for the remainder of our time in Florence. After paying off the front desk clerk, he begrudgingly made a few calls for us; we were told there was a small hotel in Pisa that could accommodate us.
Despite all the angry hotel personnel, the name-calling, the expense for damages, the inconvenience of relocating and our parents general frustration, nothing could have prepared them for the embarrassment and mortification they felt explaining to their sixteen year old daughter and her tween sister the purpose of a bidet.
NARยฉ2024
This is “Only Sixteen” by Sam Cooke
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantโs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NARยฉ2017-present.
Park Avenue
Our delightful host Rochelle at Friday Fictioneers
has offered this challenge: to write creatively in
100 words or less in response to this photo.
Here is my story in 100 words.

Each morning they would incline their respective hospital beds, draw back their curtains an inch and raise binoculars to their eyes. They would wave, smile radiantly and lift a hand-written note which read โWanna blow this joint?โ
A different note followed at noon and 9PM. And theyโd laugh!
They found each other by accident, two teenage girls occupying apartments diagonally across Park Avenue. Each was bedridden with the ubiquitous daily flow of boring people in and out of their rooms โฆ. parents, nurses, doctors.
It was indescribably joyful to have a secret friend.
These were the highlights of their days.
NARยฉ2024
100 Words
This is Bette Midler with โFriendsโ
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantโs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NARยฉ2017-present.
Driving Lessons

โDanielle wants to learn how to drive, Bobโ
โDonโt look at me, Helen. Last year’s lessons with Vanessa nearly put me over the edge.โ
โWell, I canโt do it! Ever since Marcia Morelli snatched that promotion for Real Estate Agent of the Year away from me, Iโm spending all my time at work playing catch up.โ
โThatโs not my problem, Helen. Anyway, I signed on to coach Brandonโs baseball team this season, remember?โ
โOh, cry me a river, Bob! Youโre the one who took an early retirement; your schedule is much more flexible than mine.โ
โThatโs right, I retired so I could do things I enjoy like playing golf and going fishing. Itโs important to stay mobile after retirement so we donโt become dust in the wind.โ
โWell, if you canโt do it and I canโt do it, why donโt we get Vanessa to teach Danielle how to drive?โ
โAre you out of your mind, woman! Vanessaโs been driving less than a year. She canโt take Danielle out driving! Can you imagine the mayhem when those two hit the streets?โ
โAt least Iโm making suggestions, Bob. All youโre doing is justifying why you canโt do it.โ
โOh, Helen, save your breath and donโt look at me with such contempt. Iโm right and you know it. I wonโt idly sit by and watch both our daughters driving without an adult in the car. Itโs out of the question.โ
โYou wonโt? Oh, thatโs wonderful, Bob! I knew youโd come around!โ
โNow hold on there, Helen. I didnโt agree to anything.โ
โWhy, sure you did, Bob. You said you wouldnโt sit idly by while the girls are driving around without an adult in the car.โ
โBut I didnโt meanโฆ..โ
โLook at it this way, Bob. Danielle is used to being driven everywhere she goes. If you donโt teach her how to drive, youโll just have to drive here wherever she wants to go. Iโd say this is a win/win situation.โ
โAnd how do you figure that, Helen?โ
โSimple! By giving Danielle driving lessons, youโll be doing your part to keep our insurance rates down, youโll be able to coach Brandon’s baseball team and still have time to do the things you enjoy and you wonโt turn into dust in the wind. And all it takes is just one daily one-hour driving lesson! Youโre a genius, Bob!โ
โI am? Yeah, I guess I am. Hey! Wait just a gosh darn minute, Helen!โ
NARยฉ2024
This is Kansas with โDust In The Windโ
This portfolio (including text, graphics and videos) is copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantโs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NAR ยฉ 2017-present.