The exercise:
Your word of the day is: awkward.
Woke up to snow again, just in case I might have forgotten it was still February. A lot of it has melted away already, but still.
Managed to get a few errands done anyway, including filling up the car's gas tank across the border. It's a little inconvenient, and I'm not a huge fan of the US border guards, but paying 97 cents per liter instead of $1.32 per liter is hard to say no to.
Mine:
"Hello, Arnold."
"Oh! Oh, hi, Mrs. Martinez. I thought today was your day off."
"It was, but I decided to pick up an extra shift this week to help pay some bills. How are you doing?"
"Fine. I'm good. Thanks."
"And my daughter?"
"Tammy's good too. Great, really. I'm a lucky guy."
"I'm glad you realize that."
"I do! Totally. So, uh, what do I owe you?"
"Fourteen dollars and seventy-five cents."
"Jeez, they ain't cheap, huh?"
Awkward
ReplyDeleteShe was new in town and the looks on the faces of those in the waiting room confirmed it. In a place where everyone knew everyone else, a newbie stood out like a sore thumb.
She sat there awkwardly, straightening her skirt which had begun riding up. She was nervous. It was always so when you had to start over with new people.
Another patient came in through the automatic door which wooshed open like something out of Star Trek.
She couldn’t help but look over - she’d been here five minutes and she was already acting like one of these citizens.
She thought she recognised his face. He checked in at the desk then sat down opposite her.
Yep, he was in that bar last weekend. She’d had a few but her memory was clear enough to recall his charming face, his surfie hairdo and the tatts on his biceps. She recalled something else about him and blushed as she remembered her uncharacteristic behaviour that night. She must have been caught up in the feeling of free anonymity and a fresh start in a new town.
He must have caught her gaze or heard her clearing her throat ever so slightly.
He smiled. He remembered her, too.
Very, very well.
He recalled every curve, the scent, the feel of her...
but his thoughts were interrupted by the doctor calling his name.
“Hank”, your test results are in...” Hank rose to meet with the doctor and grew concerned with the look on his face. He knew the outcome was not going to be favourable.
She caught a glance at the top page of Hank’s file as the doctor brushed past her... the header said STD...
Uh-oh, to say this was awkward was the least of her troubles now...
@Marc - oh that would be an embarrasing moment...
ReplyDelete@Write - epps... yeah that woudln't bode well would it?
And for mine, I'm rewriting a ascene from Sarah's Phoenix, when Griffon meets Sarah. It's an awkward moment for Jason. Trust me on that one ;}
Awkward
Sarah’s sword flew from her hand. Once more Jason had gotten the best of her.
“Damn it Jay!”
“You need to work harder on defending yourself Sarah.” Jason lowered his sword point from her chest, where it could have pierced her heart.
“Can’t we use wooden weapons?”
Jason grinned as he picked up her sword and proffered it to her. “You’ll well past the age where wooden swords would be used, besides I have no with me.” He gestured to the supplies that had been left in the cave with them.
“Well we can make some!” Sarah turned on heel and strode towards the entrance and stopped.
A figure blocked the opening and he leapt the small gap between the rock on the hillside and the outcropping of the cave. The sound of his boots landing was covered by the roaring of the fall the formed one wall of the cave. Jason moved instinctively just past Sarah hand upon his sword hilt. Relaxing his stance as the man moved from the opening, Jason smiled.
“Scout Sergeant Griffon...”
But Griffon’s attention was on Sarah, and hers one him. Both wore puzzled expressions and spoke at once.
“Father?”
“Lynn?”
Jason looked between the two who had hesitantly stepped towards each other. “Uh, well...” For once in his life Jason was not entirely sure what to say.
“No, I’m Sarah,” she spoke first as Griffon took another step towards her.
“Not Lynn then?” he replied.
“Nope, and since you think I’m Lynn, then I suspect you’re not my father.”
“No,” Griffon chuckled as he closed the gap, “But Phoenix,” he addressed Jason as his arm wrapped around Sarah shoulder and he stood them in the light. “I do look like I could be don’t I? Remarkable resemblance to Rosalynn don’t you think?”
“Uh, yes, Scout Mathew already informed me of that fact,” Jason let the words out slowly.
“Wait,” Sarah suddenly put things she knew about Jason together. “You’re Rosalynn’s father?” Griffon nodded. “But she goes by Lynn now?” Griffon pulled back from Sarah and cocked his head at her. “Jay told me about when she disappeared, but she didn’t really did she?”
“No” Griffon extended the word before he turned back to Jason. “So, Scout Sergeant Phoenix, care to explain?”
“My Godwood climbing, pant wearing girl Friend.” Jason’s reply was barely audible over the sound of the falls. And if Sarah wasn’t mistaken his face was turning a nice shade of red.
Note: Jason/Jay/Phoenix used to court Rosalynn, Griffon's daughter, as did Mathew. Rather than choose between the two of them Rosalynn decided to change a skirt for pants and take to the sea
@Cathryn - LAWL! That scene makes me laugh xD
ReplyDeleteHehe, LOVE the rest of them though ... I suspect I would be a dead girl if I were caught by my dad buying a pregnancy test. A very very dead girl. Which only makes that scene funnier, bahaha!
Awkward
ReplyDeleteThe door slammed behind Jan as she walked into her mom’s house, as usual the mingling scents of roses and cedar permeated the air. “Mom,” she called. “I’m here.” The house breathed silence back at her. Kicking off her flip-flops she walked through the entryway into the kitchen, the marble tiles feeling cool and wonderful against her bare feet. “Mom?”
Suddenly she stopped and listened, there it was again, the sound of muffled voices coming from out back. Mom must be out by the pool, she thought. Opening the sliding glass door Jan stepped back out into the bright glare of the sun, the pool deck accentuated the blistering heat of the day. She immediately felt the sweat start to drip down between her breasts. Sure enough she heard the sound of laughter coming from the pool house. “I could use a swim too,” she murmured to herself.
Jan took quick, mincing steps across the pavement trying to keep the bottom of her feet from frying. She was almost sprinting by the time she got to the pool house, she flung open the door and jumped from the concrete into the cool shade of the small outbuilding. Jan’s sun dazzled eyes looked at a bundle of naked skin twined around arms and legs on the chaise lounge in front of her. “Mom?” she asked. Jan took a step back out into the heat. “Mom!” she exclaimed. Her hand came up to her mouth. “Auntie Marnie,” she whispered.
Poem-ish......
ReplyDeleteAWKWARD
Avoid
Walking
Klutz.
Wallow
And
Relax
Drunkard.
Darren's legs were killing him and as far as he could tell they were probably out at the far end of the loop. More specifically his thighs were killing him as he did he damnedest to keep a hold of the great lumbering beast under the saddle. He did this so that he could keep a 'casual' grip on the reins and not look like he was freaking out about trying to control the horse in case Katie looked his way.
ReplyDeleteHe had no one to blame but himself, he admitted within the confines of his own skull, seeing as he'd been too stunned to just tell the truth when Katie had unexpectedly popped the question.
Sure he would love to go riding on the weekend and yes he had been out riding a few times. It's just that 'I'd love to go riding' really meant 'I would pretty much go anywhere short of base jumping as long as it meant being in your general proximity' and 'I've been riding a few times' meant 'I rode the ponies at the petting zoo when I was six'. He watched Katie's every, effortless move on the large Bay she was riding and snapped into a look of enforced, casual relaxation any time she cast a glance his way.
At the moment he was as close to being relaxed as possible, given the circumstances, because they were all just reigned in looking out over a ridge to the valley down below.
Darren noticed the black shoulder of a huge horse looming into the corner of his vision even as he watched Katie chatting gayly with a few of the other female riders. He turned to see one of the ride leaders urging his horse up along side of Darren's.
“Son. You got to ree-lax a little or youse gonna squeeze the air outta that poor fella your ridin.”
The weathered cowboy spoke softly and managed a kindly demeanour.
“Sides, your lady friend is gonna see what's up when old Caesar there get's tired of you puttin the squeeze on him and makes up his mind to get feisty. Then things is gonna get awkward.”
The cowboy pushed up the brim of his hat a little and turned to spit a volley of tobacco. He inclined his head toward Caesar.
“Take my advice. You just relax a little and old Caesar will get you home safe and sound as long as you don't try any funny stuff.”
Darren nodded and took a deep breath, trying to keep it from shuddering. He tried to ease up the pressure in his legs but wasn't sure he could feel them properly.
Even as the old cowboy drifted away Darren was trying to figure out how he was going to get off the horse at the end of the ride without Katie seeing him and his inevitable collapse on to the ground.
Writebite - ooohhhh dear...
ReplyDeleteCathryn - I like the updated version of that scene. Adds some interesting angles to things.
Charley - hey Spook! :D
Iron Bess - oooohhh dear... again. I knew she was going to walk in on something she wouldn't want to see fairly early on, but you still managed to surprise me with that ending :)
Krystin - acrostics with only one word per line are very hard to manage, so my hat is off to you on this one!
GZ - hah, I can totally relate to Darren. Poor guy. I like the ride leader :)