Wednesday August 17th, 2011

The exercise:

Write something that has to do with: abandon.

We had a good harvest for the restaurant this morning, though we fell a little short of what they wanted for cherry tomatoes. Hopefully the weather can stay a bit more consistently warm and they'll really get going.

It really is incredible how much cooler than usual it's been this year.

Mine:

We abandoned the car in the middle of a corn field and began making our way back to the road. T.J. had taken the key out of the ignition and thrown it as far as he could; I hadn't heard it land, but the wind had picked up by then and was making a racket as it made its way between the stalks.

I wanted to ask him if we were doing the right thing but I already knew he'd just laugh at me if I did. It was infuriating how confident of our direction he was, especially when I felt so adrift. I kept looking back as we walked, even after the car was out of sight.

When we reached the road T.J. turned towards the setting sun and kept moving. I followed a few steps behind, my shoes scuffing the gravel at the edge of the asphalt. How had we managed to get to this point so quickly? I could hardly place all the blame on T.J. - it's not like he had held a gun to my head.

I slowed to a stop, my head turning towards the corn field of its own volition. Maybe I could make a break for it.

But then a car came around the corner towards us and T.J. stuck out his thumb. I watched as the driver brought the station wagon up to him and rolled down the window. And before I could do or say anything, it all started over again.

10 comments:

Nicole Pyles said...

I love your story here! Makes me wonder what the story before was about...why he had to throw the keys away...it actually has become something I would read!

Greg said...

Sorry, running very short of time today! It's a great story, Marc, I agree with Nicole above.

Abandon
There once was a man from Camden,
Who tried his best to abandon,
His manners and grace,
In this very place,
Where nobody could demand 'em.

madness5/6 said...

"Qiuck! Abandon the ship!" I shouted. I was the captain and had to make sure everyone got off. Some people had drowned and some already abandoned the ship. I checked the ship and jumped off to join the rest who abandoned the ship.

Ace said...

I was walking in the corridors of a place that had brought all of the misery and sadness in my life. This is where my parents abonadoned me, in this old, crumbling down, horrible, deserted orphanage which only did one thong, to bring back awful, painful memories. But that dsen't matter know because I have wife and kids to shone a light of joy in the dark despair of my heart. I would never abandon them, so why did my parents? In a dark time abandoning just makes it darker.

Maddy said...

'It's not abandonment, it's graciousness. With me he would go hungry. With me he wouldn't have a father. He would hate me and his life. It's graciousness. It's graciousness...'
She repeated those two words over and over in her head, hoping that if she held on to them strong enough, they could become real and dry her ever flowing tears. But there was no comfort for the woman about to give up the only thing that mattered in the world.

Ace said...

Awesome poem greg!!!

Ace said...

Great descritive peice maddy

Hermione Granger said...

I was walking along the path one day,
When i saw an abandoned child.
I asked her where her mother was and she said....
'I don't know... she just went wild!' LOL my story is very random!

Ruby said...

They abandoned me, never to return
They left me laying there, in pain
How could they abandon such a loving and caring child?

Marc said...

Nicole - thank you very much :)

Greg - a limerick! That's a rarity from you, it seems to me. I like it :)

Madness - I like that your captain made sure everyone else was off the ship before making his escape.

Ace - great atmosphere and emotion in your piece, very nicely done.

Maddy - that makes a wonderful counterpoint to Ace's take on the prompt. I like it a lot.

Miss Mango - random can be good! And in this case, it definitely made me smile which is never a bad thing :)

Ruby - great emotion in your piece, I can really feel the pain and confusion.