Sunday July 31st, 2011

The exercise:

Let us write about: home movies.

Spent a relaxing day with my parents after seeing Kat off this morning. She's heading up north with her mother to help with the preparations for her brother's wedding. I'll be flying up on Friday with Kat's dad and then we'll all drive back together after the celebrations.

I'll be spending most of tomorrow with the weeds in the garden. I suspect they will not appreciate my presence.

Mine:

"Katie, where's your sister?" Their father looked up from the instruction manual for the video camera long enough to fix his youngest daughter with a stern glare. "I thought I told both of you to be ready for exactly one o'clock."

"Well at least I'm ready," Katie replied, hands on hips.

"And your sister?"

"She's refusing to come out of her trailer until someone does her makeup."

"And where, exactly, is her trailer?" He knew he shouldn't have asked but they were running behind schedule and he needed to find his other daughter fast. Katie gave him an unreadable look before pointing solemnly at the doghouse in the backyard.

"You don't want to know what she's done with Rusty."

Saturday July 30th, 2011

The exercise:

A four line poem about: showing off.

Long day. Decent market this morning, not as good as we were expecting. Took both sets of parents to the restaurant we supply in the evening. Pretty much exhausted right now.

Mine:

Speeding down the street,

Shouting, "Look! No hands, Mommy!"

He's such a bloody show off,

That stupid amputee.

Friday July 29th, 2011

The exercise:

Four lines of prose about: teamwork.

It was good to have Kat out there with me today for the market harvest. It's a long weekend here and the forecast is calling for nothing but sunshine, so hopefully it'll be a good day tomorrow.

Well, of course it will be. My parents will be there.

Mine:

It was a simple matter to get over the wall. Just a matter of a bit of teamwork, that was all. I simply killed the rest of the team off one by one, then piled them at the base of the wall.

I mean, I had to jump a little to reach the top of the wall, but otherwise the rest of the team did a truly admirable job of getting me over and out.

Thursday July 28th, 2011

The exercise:

Write a little something about: the pet.

Inspired by the flies around here that pick one of us to follow around for the entire day, landing on and buzzing around their chosen pet to their little heart's content.

Until I kill mine, at least.

But then they're just replaced by another one :(

Mine:

"I'm not sure that your Mama is going to approve of this," the store clerk said with a slight frown.

"Why not?" Bobby asked, not looking away from his newly purchased pet. "Don't you think she'll like Destroyer for a name?"

"No, it's not that," the clerk replied, struggling to find the right words. "It's just that... in my experience... well, most mother's aren't too crazy about their little ones having a poison dart frog as a pet."

Wednesday July 27th, 2011

The exercise:

Today we write about: the argument.

We had a big order from the restaurant this week, so harvesting for it took most of the morning. That's not a complaint!

Mine:

A house so filled with love

Has now been hollowed out;

It began in sullen silence

And ended with a shout.

Neither can remember

What brought them to a head;

Both can't stop wishing

Those words could be unsaid.

The air has grown cold,

Their hearts twin blocks of ice;

All because they could not

Agree to play nice.

Tuesday July 26th, 2011

The exercise:

Two haiku about: the anchorman.

Much more pleasant weather today, thankfully. Had a chance to chat with my parents and I'm really looking forward to their visit this weekend as they head for home after a lengthy road trip.

Mine:

What a lovely bay -

look at all the fish! Better

throw James overboard.

*     *     *

He shares the day's news -

wars, bankruptcies, suicides -

with a perfect smile.

Monday July 25th, 2011

The exercise:

Let's see what we can do with: left behind.

Weather was quite garbage today, but we still managed to get some good work done in the garden. The forecast is more promising for the rest of the week, but we shall see how accurate they are this go 'round.

Mine:

The call to evacuate found them sound asleep in their beds. There was no time to pack, no time to think. They were out of the house before they were fully awake.

Helicopters filled the sky, drowning out the instructions being broadcast from the military vehicles below. They stood in a dazed shock before being gathered up and escorted to a crowded shelter.

Groups were airlifted away every three minutes, as many men and women as each aircraft could safely carry. They waited for their turn in silence.

It wasn't until they were in the air fifteen minutes later that they fully realized they had left their old lives behind, never to be retrieved.