The exercise:
Write about: the gazebo.
Work went well today, though I was vaguely annoyed that the gym got busy just as I was about to vacuum the stairs. I didn't really have any other cleaning that I wanted to get done at that point, so I had to stand around pretending to look busy for far longer than I cared for.
Oh well, it all got done in the end.
Mine:
The tea, resting in delicate cups atop an ornate table, was cold and untouched. In that way it was quite similar to the hearts of the two women seated across from each other, each determined to ignore the other in the most polite manner possible.
Rain clouds were mustering on the northern horizon, preparing their assault on the bright, warm afternoon the park was currently enjoying. Leaves in the trees surrounding the gazebo began to stir, rustling in nervous anticipation.
The two women remained as they were, silent and unyielding.
Friends and acquaintances passed by on their way to the safety of their vehicles, not bothering to stop to chat. They knew, with the parking lot so far away, that time was of the essence if they wished to remain dry.
They also recognized a situation they would be well-advised to avoid.
The women, of course, also wished to leave. They had no interest in getting stormed upon, or ruining their fine dresses. They would have happily returned home to warm blankets and roaring fires while the weather screamed and pounded against their windows.
But then, that would require that they actually say goodbye to each other.
2 comments:
Hmm, I'm having a harder time finding a suggested solution to the stairs problem given that I don't know where they go and what they link. Perhaps the solution is to stop people dirtying them in the first place... so take advantage of the Canadian weather and pour water down the stairs to ice them over. Then the ice collects the dirt, thaws in Spring, and the job does itself!
Oh, and it'll make the previous surfboard idea work better still :)
That's a frosty gazebo you have there, with a very nice punchline at the end. I definitely wasn't expecting that!
The gazebo
"Mavis, how do you kill a gazebo?"
"...I'm sorry Derek, I think my ears stopped working for a moment there. Could you repeat that?"
"I said, Mavis, how you do kill a gazebo?"
"...it wasn't my ears. Perhaps it's your brain. Derek, what do you think a gazebo is?"
"Large antelope type thing. There's one in my back-yard and it's eaten all the shrubs, the rhododendron and the hydraingea, and it's been eyeing up my walnuts."
"That's not a gazebo, Derek. That could be a gazelle, but it more probably a moose or elk. A gazebo is a small covered portico, a bit like a shed."
"Oh. Well, I've got one of those too, Mavis, and I think it's eaten the pool boy."
*thump* *thump*
"Mavis? Mavis, I don't think you should bang your head on the desk like that. Mavis!"
Greg - well, problem solved then, right? :P
And I'd say your proposed, shot in the dark solution would fit the reality of the situation quite nicely.
Poor Mavis. I'm not sure how she's managed to put up with it all for so long.
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