Is she you?

I am really excited about today's post!

Today's red writing hood post should be no more than 600 words and should take no longer than 3 minutes to read aloud. And a character MUST tell a joke and a character MUST cry. One character can do both.

She loved being a stay at home mom to her 3 kids.

The kids never had to worry about who was getting them from place to place; it was always her. She was the one person the kids could always count on to meet their needs.

They usually had a good time.

All 4 of them agreed that one thing was not fun - shopping.

But it had to be done as a group during summer break.

Half way through the trip to the grocery store everyone was still behaving. Whew!

She heard Megan ask her brothers What did the tree name her baby? Jake shrugged his shoulders and said in his cute 4 year old voice I don't know.

Woody! Megan blurted out.

Jake thought that was pretty cool since Toy Story 3 was his favorite movie.

As they giggled, their mother smiled and thought Okay just 3 more things and we'll be out of here with no melt downs or drama.

The few items remaining on the list were in the produce section. She just wanted to grab some grapes, potatoes, and lettuce.

Yes! It's always so nice when the kids behave in the store. Maybe I'll let them pick out a little something in the checkout line. Wow my life has changed since staying home with these guys. Who would've thought a trip to the store could make or break my da-

Her train of thought was broken by the thud of something or somethings hitting the ground.

Marcus (the 10 year old) was scolding Jake for touching the apples. Megan chimed in saying Oh my gosh, Jake! Why did you do that?!

Jake's face said it all with the big bottom lip and the huge crocodile tears. He knew this was bad.

He managed to whisper I justed wanted some apples.

She took a deep breath and tried not to worry about everyone staring at them. Well, we have to buy these now, she said while scooping the busted apples up into a produce bag.

The older two kids kept scolding, which wasn't helpful. She tried to keep cool while she gave them 'the look.'

She got down to Jake's level. This is why we don't touch things in the store, right Jake?

He was beyond embarrassed & buried his wet face in her neck. She heaved him up and ordered Marcus & Megan to grab the grapes & lettuce. The potatoes could wait.

They moved as quickly as possible to the checkout line.

*Heavy sigh* So much for a drama-free shopping trip.

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After taking part in the #trdc Twitter party Wednesday evening, I was all kinds of inspired to write this post. Thanks girls!

Word count: 511

Feel free to critique if you want to. I have never done any 'writing' before The Red Dress Club, so be gentle. =)

I could never have imagined...

I could never have imagined a more emotional day.

Really it started out like most days. I was in a hurry to get to work, and traffic was horrendous. The smell of exhaust always made me feel sick to my stomach. Or maybe it was my nerves that morning.

That was the biggest day of my career. It was all on my shoulders to seal the deal with IBM.

We needed that deal. The bad economy had been brutal on us, and without that account we would have had to do some serious down-sizing.

We weren't a large company by any means. And I had become good friends with so many of the women I worked with.

I didn't want to see any of them, or myself, go.

A few of us grabbed a quick lunch, but I was too nervous to eat much. Once back at the office I looked over my notes one last time then started the proposal.

Things seemed to go well. IBM was very receptive to my ideas. And at the end of the meeting they accepted my offer!

That was huge! It was great for the company. And of course for me too.

After work several of us went out to celebrate. I loved having those women in my life. They were pretty much the onlypeople in my life.

To be surrounded by such amazing friends at that point was too overwhelming to hold it in. As things sometimes went after a few drinks, I teared up & got emotional.

We continued to talk & laugh & have a good time.

Eventually most of my friends needed to get home, and it was just me and Janet.

Janet was older than me, 17 years older to be exact. But she was my best friend.

When my parents were killed 3 years earlier, Janet was the one friend I could call any time of day. We knew everything about each other.

As the two of us sat in the booth Janet got quiet. I asked her what was bothering her.

She was obviously nervous.

I reassured her that no matter what was on her mind, I would be there for her. Besides, I was still on such a high from making the IBM deal I could handle anything.

Janet took a deep breath. "I am your birth mother."

Then the whole world shifted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week's prompt is to write a piece that begins with the line, "I could never have imagined" and ends with the line, "Then the whole world shifted."

My immediate thought was to write about my BFF Lori who passed away 1 1/2 years ago.

But I wanted this to a happy "world shift."

I also wanted to write fiction. It's a bigger challenge for me.

I wanted to do something different than most people. I figured they would write about having a baby, 9/11, or getting bad medical news.

...the rest of the story

Starting from where we left off last week...*

"What?" is all I could say.

I felt dizzy, like the world was collapsing in on me.

Janet apologized for just blurting it out like that, but she didn't know how else to say it.

"So, how long have you known, um.., that I was your daughter?" Those words sounded so strange as they came out of my mouth, like someone else was speaking from within me.

How was I asking my best friend this question?

Janet explained that she had always known. It was an open adoption until I turned 3. Then there was no more direct contact between us, but she continued to keep track of my whereabouts & achievements thanks to newspaper articles and the internet.

For the first 3 years of my life, I had monthly visits with Janet. She told me that the 1st Sunday of every month was her favorite day of the month. It was a time for her to see that she had indeed made the right decision. And she cherished the photos of those visits. They were among her most precious possessions, keeping them in a locked safe in her bedroom closet.

Janet was only 17 years old and still in high school when I was born. Her boyfriend got scared and left when he found out she was pregnant. Thank God her parents were incredibly supportive of her choice.

All of that information was getting to be too much for me.

I needed some air. And time to process everything.

I was an huge mess of emotions.

I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but I just couldn't understand why Janet chose that evening to reveal the secret.

So when she joined me a few minutes later, I came right out and asked her.

Janet apologized again and said she hadn't planned on doing it that night. She told me that she was so proud of my hard work, that she just couldn't keep it a secret any longer.

Ironically all I could think was: I want my mom!

But Janet was my best friend, and she was the only other person I would honestly confide in.

As I stood there watching Janet I soon smiled & couldn't stop smiling. I became excited; joyful; relieved. This was really happening!

After many hugs & tears, I told her that I would love to see those pictures.

Even though I'd done it hundreds of times before, it felt strange entering Janet's house that night. I looked at things from a completely different perspective now.

But it was good.

I sat on Janet's bed as she found the pictures in her safe. She sat down next to me and shared the stories that went along with every picture.

She told me to take some of them home with me. Then Janet returned the rest of them to her safe. As she started to close the door, she spotted something in the back. She didn't recognize it until she took it out.

She wondered how she forgot it was back there.

When she joined me back on the bed, I saw the tiny little pink sleeper in her hands. I looked up at her & she had tears in her eyes.

It was the sleeper she gave my parents when I was born. It was the outfit I wore home from the hospital.

After a long hug, Janet told me that she wasn't letting me have it! And we shared a big, stress relieving belly laugh.

As strange as it was initially, knowing that Janet was my biological mother ended up being a wonderful thing. I had the best of both worlds in Janet. My biological mother was my best friend. Not many birth mother reunions turn out as perfect as this one.

*This is a completely fictional story.

Write a piece - 600 word limit - about finding a forgotten item of clothing in the back of a drawer or closet. Let us know how the item was found, what it is, and why it's so meaningful to you or your character.

Oops! Word count: 688.

I struggle with switching tenses a lot.

Any tips? Thanks ladies.

I prefer the other kind of blizzard

This week's Red Writing Hood prompt is: You are trapped (alone or with others) in a single location during the fury and/or aftermath of a blizzard of historic proportions. Keep the post under 1,000 words.

Lucas was a worrier my nature, and I knew he was scared. He kept his eyes on the white line, never blinking I'm sure.

When the south bound interstate traffic came to a 2 lane stand still, I realized I had made a mistake.

We shouldn't have tried to make it home. We were in the middle of nowhere. 10 miles away from the nearest exit in either direction.

Google image

I called Alex to let him know we were stopped. While I was on the phone I heard the sound of sirens, but Lucas & I couldn't see the source of the sound through the blizzard.

The ambulance finally passed us, but it quickly went out of sight again. I could only see as far as the SUV in front of us.

As time passed, Lucas really had to go. Bad. But we had nothing for him to go in. So as he opened the door of the truck, I reminded him to put his back to the fierce wind.

He slipped. But somehow didn't fall.

It was simply too cold and too difficult to 'go' and he got back in the truck.

Poor kid.

A few minutes later, a police officer came around to all the vehicles & told us to turn around because the interstate was closed in our direction.

I immediately called home & told Alex to get on-line to find some hotels in the nearest town. As I drove back in the direction I just came from, I couldn't see 5 feet in front of me.

Lucas was absolutely quite. He was staring at the fog line again, making sure I didn't go into the ditch.

We finally made it to the exit. Along with the 200+ other people from I-57.

Alex called & said the 3 hotels in the small town were all booked.

Great.

The only option was to get a room in the next town which was 13 miles north. So Alex booked a room for us while Lucas & I finally got something to eat (and go pee).

Ever so slowly, we followed a caravan of vehicles and actually made it to the hotel. Enter choir of angels singing!

We enjoyed the comfort of a warm comfortable room, relieved to be safe.

The next day, we traversed the still icy & snow blown interstate and made it home at last.

The whole reason for our travel (an amazing 4th grade basketball tournament) was completely overshadowed by the blizzard.

* So my "single location" was a truck. Is that cheating?

** This is actually a true story. Except it was Alex with Lucas instead of me. It's an experience I hope we don't have to repeat. Ever.

*** Word count = 491. Really? That's it? Hm.

Pass the what?

"You heard me. Pass the fruit pectin," the old man said to the teenage boy on the public bus.

The boy looked around, making sure the old man was talking to him. But instead of seeing people riding the bus, he saw giant strawberries sitting in the seats which didn't seem strange to him.

When the boy looked back, the old man was gone. The bus hadn't made any stops. He had just disappeared.

The next thing the teenager knew, he was singing Pour Some Sugar On Me - a song that was popular before he was even born - while cooking. He was adding citric acid to corn syrup in his grandmother's house. But not her current house. The house she lived in when he was a toddler.

As he did this, his 3rd grade teacher walked through the kitchen and said, "Oh sweeite. Be careful, you know how bad that high fructose corn syrup is for you, right?"

All of this seemed completely natural to him.

Until he woke up.

What's in your pantry? For this week's prompt, grab something out of your pantry and write a short piece - using all the words in the ingredients. It can be fiction or non-fiction, poetry or prose. My item was Smucker's Strawberry Jam.

Cuz it sounded like fun

When I read this prompt, I knew it would be fun!

Here it is...

"Your assignment is to write a short piece - fiction, non-fiction, poetry, whatevs - in which each sentence starts with a the next letter of the alphabet. Starting with "A." So, yes, your finished product will consist of 26 sentences."

Another day started out with big grey clouds & strong, steady snow. "Blah!" thought Erin. "Can we just have 1 day without snow?"

Don't get her started about the weather. Ever since she moved to Chicago she's had a hard time adjusting to it. For as long as she can remember she has hated the cold. Go figure she'd end up in a city with brutal winters.

How did a country girl from Texas end up in Chicago? It had to be fate, because she always thought she'd live where it was warm.

Jake had proposed a year ago, and the wedding was only a few weeks away. Keeping up with everything had become stressful for Erin. Leaving her family & friends to move to Chicago was hard. Making the long trip back to Texas for the wedding was what kept her focussed. Nobody ever doubted that the wedding would take place in her hometown.

On her way to work, Erin couldn't help but be distracted with her thoughts of the wedding. Particularly thinking about the reception. Quaint wasn't her style. Rowdy, fun, & lots of dancing was what she wanted.

Soon her last day of work was over, and she & Jake made their way to Texas. This day seemed so far away last year! Upon landing, Erin was greeted my her sister, mother, and father.

Various groups of friends showed up for the big event. When it was time for the dance, everyone knew it would be a great time. Xerox copies of pictures would be made for sure! YouTube videos from the wedding will probably be seen around the world! Zimbabwe too!

Whew! I did it! It got kind of tricky there at the end, but I think it worked. I can't wait to read everyone else's post.

Fiction?

As they finished their dinner at the restaurant, Paige and Owen decided to go back to his place. They had spent the larger part of the day together and didn't want it to end even though it was the coldest day of the season. Paige looked through the foggy cab window as the snow quickly covered the ground. She was amazed at how fast the landscape had changed over the past hour.

Once at his apartment, Owen prepared hot chocolate for both of them. As he handed Paige her frothy mug their fingers brushed each other's. "My goodness! Your hand are just like ice," he said. "I'll hold your hands."

This made Paige blush, and she pulled back while taking a sip. "Say, what's in this drink?" she asked, changing the subject.

Owen just smiled and said, "I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell."

"I really can't stay," she said. But down deep she wanted to. "You know how crazy my family gets when I am late. My mom worries, my dad paces, my sister gets suspicious, and my brother! Well, you know he'll be waiting at the door."

"Oh, come on. It's freezing out there." Owen pleaded.

Paige countered with, "You know how gossipy your neighbor is. Everyone will be talking about us tomorrow. I need to go now."

"Okay, but good luck getting a cab in this weather. I've never seen it like this before," Owen scuffed.

"Well, maybe just a cigarette more," Paige conceded.

Owen couldn't help but watch her lips. They looked delicious, and he was tempted to lean over and kiss right then and there. He thought to himself, "How can you do this to me? I'm going nuts here!"

Then as Paige finished her cigarette, she asked Owen if he would lend her a coat. "Was she for real?" he thought. "Think of my lifelong sorrow if you got pneumonia and died," he said to Paige.

"Don't be silly, Sweetie." she said as she took the telephone and called a cab. They both knew she had to leave.

Once her cab arrived, Paige hugged Owen good-bye. And as she she turned to leave, Owen said to her, "Baby it's cold outside!"

That was my 1st time submitting a post to the Red Dress Club.

The red dress club's writing prompt this week was:

Write a piece (fiction or non-fiction) inspired by a song. It can be any song of your choosing. If it is not clear from your story what the song is, throw us a bone and put a note at top or bottom of your post to let us know what you picked."

Baby It's Cold Outside was my inspiration for this lovely story.

If you've never seen the movie Elf I'll wait while you go watch it. It's one of my favorites! Here's the scene with the song that inspired my story. Or you can watch/listen to other versions on You Tube.