The exercise:
Four lines of prose based around: used.
So the greenhouse framework is up, we just have to get the cover up and attached tomorrow morning and it'll be ready for benches and plants and all that good stuff.
What's that? No, no, the missing part did not arrive in the mail today.
Hmm? Well, funny story. Turns out? It wasn't actually missing. It was just mislabeled. Or the number stamped on its side was smudged just enough to make it look like something else.
Depends who you ask.
Mine:
"Where in the world did you find that car?" Pierre asked, staring at the vehicle in disbelief.
"There was an ad in the paper," Corey replied with obvious pride. "I got an incredible deal on it!"
How did you find it then? Did someone think to count all the pieces and realise that you had the right number? Sounds like an easy mistake to make though :)
ReplyDeleteAnd you almost have a greenhouse now!
Used
"Did you finally get that burned-out old wreck towed then?" Sarah sounded cheerful as she breezed into the kitchen losing fruit and vegetables from her shopping bags as she went.
"Nope, I sold it!" said Charles, showing her enough money for the dress she'd seen earlier in Hausmann's. She looked at him in disbelief, so he continued, "I told this sap called Corey it was a demolition derby classic...."
"I never thought I'd miss used tissues."
ReplyDelete"Huh?" I gave my mom a cursory glance, then gave her more of my attention.
She sniffed and said, "Those used tissues, the ones your brother used to leave all around the house when he was sick and carried the tissue-box around with him."
"Oh, mom, he'll be back before you know it," I said, laughing, "And you'll be mad at him for them all over again."
“How did you get all these drugs?” Danny looks disbelieve, exhale a mouthful of smoke and pins the remaining cigarette into the astray as he walks over with his right fist straight at Wilson’s face.
ReplyDelete“Please Danny, Please… I’m begging you, Please don’t dispose the rest of the heroin into the sea… Please...”
My last warning, get off me, idiot!
Used
ReplyDeleteA cleaning out of toys was in the works, though it had been hard to get the children into it.
Now Mom found herself laughing as they just threw toys into the boxes with abandon.
"At this rate you won't have any toys left," she said as she rescued one she knew they would miss.
"We'll just get more for our birthdays and Christmas," her daughter grinned and her mom wondered if she realized that was nine months away.
I feel withered and spent, used and abused, tired and hungry, Baskins and Robbins. My arms and elbows are sore from trying to hold the chainsaw straight out and to the side, away from my face, and away from my legs. My back is aching even more than my arms, I’m out of shape and ready for the scrap heap. But, oh my, the heat will be so welcome come next winter.
ReplyDeleteUsed
ReplyDelete’Used car for sale, $20k ONO’.
She put the Sharpie back on her desk and stood back to survey her handywork. It’ll have to do. She went outside and stuck the poster on the rear window of the ol’ Caddy. It was a hand-me-down from her ex. A beaten up old thing, as used and abused as he’d made her feel too many times. ’Good riddance to him, too,’ she thought.
She packed up the last of her things from the apartment, getting ready to vacate it. She chucked all the stuff that reminded her of her former life, but kept a few sentimental items she always travelled with... her childhood teddy bear, a used analogue alarm clock given to her by her Grandpa before he died, oh, and a miniature perfume bottle from her mother which she rescued before the nursing home took all her stuff.
All her life people had taken from her or her family. It was like they were all a bunch of losers on the scrap heap of life. Others thought they were easy targets and had taken advatange of every one of them. Then slowly, one by one, they died alone and penniless, used and abused.
“It stops right now!” Penny had made up her mind. From now on she was going to change that karmic pattern. From now on she was taking charge. She projected a confident image as she walked out the door and answered the first call on her cell.
“I’m standing outside. I can offer you 15 for the car,” the caller said. Probably a collector.
She needed the money, but... “16,500 and it’s done,” she answered. They struck a deal.
It was the start of a new brand new day.
Dylan hunched forward from his perch on the steamer trunk and cradled his throbbing head in his hands. Through the space between his palms he could make out his stockinged feet resting on the pebbly, dusty ground. He looked up into the blazing sun and squinted, trying to remember the sequence of events that had led him to be sitting here, in his underwear in the middle of the desert.
ReplyDeleteHis car was gone, his wallet was gone and his clothes were gone and there was no doubt in his mind that he had been used!
Paisley, your garden is so bountiful, I’m so jealous. The contrasting colors of the vegetables and aromas of the herbs have created a garden worthy of a magazine. But what did you use to get all these plants to grow in such straight lines?
ReplyDeleteOh, Petunia that’s my little secret. Besides you’d never believe me if I told you.
You have to tell me; back in Miami we have torrential downpours. They cause the seeds to wash out to one side of the raised beds. Two weeks later after the seeds have started to sprout; I have to thin out the seedlings that are too close together. Then I barely have anything left.
Alright but you’re not allowed to laugh, okay? I started watching YouTube videos on urban gardening and found this one series I really like called “Garden Girl.” Patty, the host gives out awesome tips and tricks on how to garden in small spaces. Well in one of her videos she gives instructions on how to make seed tape. I’d never heard of it before but it’s really easy. All the stuff I used to make it can be found in virtually any home. First you make a paste out of water and flour. Put that aside and cut a length of toilet paper the size of your garden bed. Then cut it in half length ways. Check your package of seed to see how far apart the seeds need to be spaced. Measure the distance out and then put some paste there and two seeds. Then fold the toilet paper length wise and trap the tiny seeds in the paste which is now sandwiched inside the toilet paper pocket. Then Wahlah all that’s left is to let it dry and then plant it.
Greg - I think after a morning of staring at very similar numbers my brain had given out on me. I had it sorted out within about two minutes of being out there again.
ReplyDeleteAh, poor Corey. His pride shall surely be short lived.
BelltdieKatze - great way of expressing that lonely, longing feeling. Plus I was glad that he'd only gone away, not died :)
Zhongming - hey, welcome back! I hope you've been well.
Great intensity in your scene :)
Cathryn - I think I'd keep the nine months away information to myself in that situation :D
Iron Bess - loved the inclusion of Baskins and Robbins :D
Writebite - ah, I do enjoy me a good turning life around tale.
GZ - that is a rather dire situation. I hope he figures out a way to get out of there safely!
Krystin - that's definitely an interesting way of planting. Sounds like it might actually work!