Shades of Pink

Nancy has chosen one of my favorite colors for this week’s theme. So, without further ado…

The Quiet Life [fiction 325]

“There she is!”

“Oh, my God! She’s really alive.”

“Can you believe it? After all these years!”

The Countess waved gracefully to the crowd gathered on the lawn. She had agreed to answer a few questions and pointed to a reporter near the edge of the stone steps. Two armed guards stood at the bottom of each side of the steps, ostensibly to deter anyone from coming too close.

“Countess Greta,” the reporter said. “It’s so good to see you again. What inspired you to emerge from your solitude?”

Greta smiled and indicated the perfectly maintained grounds. “I wanted a fresh lemon for my afternoon tea.”

Everyone laughed politely. It wasn’t a real answer, for they all knew the Countess could summon a servant to fetch a lemon.

Another reporter asked, “We were used to seeing you dressed in mourning black. Does your more colorful attire signal a change in your lifestyle as well? Will you be entering society again?”

The crowd murmured. It was a bold question, to indirectly refer to the death of the Count. No one really knew what had happened, though of course there were many stories and rumors, some of them bordering on the scandalous and vile.

But Greta appeared unfazed. She touched the lace of her heather pink dress and said, “Oh, thank you for noticing my gown. It is springtime after all. But I do prefer the quiet life of reading poetry and painting watercolors in my studio.”

A few more questions followed regarding her taste in poets and such. One of the guards subtly shifted position, at which point, the Countess said, “It’s been lovely chatting with you all. We shall do it again soon.” With that, she disappeared back into the cavernous castle.

“She has so much class.”

“So ephemeral.”

“Such a great beauty, even now.”

“How old is she? Does anyone know?”

“The guards seemed more concerned with keeping her in than keeping us out.”

~*~

Written for The Daily Echo

Happy 4th! (with bonus rant)

My latest discovery, which I will share, is that everything is ridiculously complicated and costs too damn much.

In my youth, life was simple (although frequently unhappy). My mom did many things herself, but now these projects are out of reach. Take knitting and crocheting and sewing, forex. Loading up on the supplies costs a fortune and the patterns are complicated, wah. Don’t even get me started on scrapbooking (again) or making bead jewelry. Soooo costly! Plus, in my case, I’d have to take classes first, for jewelry, sewing, cooking, etc. I’m not one who can watch a video for twenty minutes and then go mmhmm now I see how to construct a tiny house, easy peasy!

I remember we usually had an aquarium going on. My mom dealt with it, but it could not have been outrageously expensive because we weren’t wealthy and we lived in small apartments for many years. The aquariums were really pretty, but the fish died often, and we were always traipsing off to the pet store for little baggies of new ones. I bet now though aquariums are just another one of those crazy costly and super complex hobbity bobbity things.

I liked watching the bright little neons dart through the water after their specks of food. We had graceful black and white stripey fish and some goldfish varieties too. A few catfish at the bottom keeping things clean. Mom always indulged me and got a teeny pirate treasure chest for decoration in the sand. Haven’t thought about our aquariums for years…

Ah yes, the sands of time, rushing so fast through the hourglass now, piling up at the bottom, waiting to meet that last big wave that will wash them out to the eternal ocean and then… and then what?

Nothing.

*

You know, I feel I’m pretty chill with anyone who comments here unless they’re an obvious spammer or troll. If you’re of a different political persuasion, cool, just keep it civil and don’t insult other peeps or me. I have accepted loads of criticism and disagreements over the years. Don’t mind it at all, and I particularly welcome any comments on my poetry and fiction. I am not thrilled with advice I haven’t solicited, especially about health, but whatever.

But that’s not the case elsewhere. Some bloggers don’t want any disagreement or difference of opinion. I’ve noticed I will be condescended to or explained at if I dare to express a thought contrary to the OP’s. That is unpleasant, FYI, and I will not be visiting these blogs much or at all in the future.

YHBW. 🙂

Have a great weekend! ☄️💥🔥

Jungle [flash 99]

She painted her house all the joy she’d been denied. Fresh dripping sugar mango walls. Bright glittering turquoise waves across the floor. The ceiling turned into pink puffs of cotton candy for she’d never been to a fair. Why shouldn’t her bed be covered in soft flowers? Tulips were her favorite, purple velvety tulips. There needed to be green! The bathroom was green, like a jungle, twisting vines and lush leaves everywhere.

“Wonderful, Jillian!” the Director exclaimed. “It’s time to put our paints away now and have dinner. Tomorrow we can paint again.”

But Jillian was finished with painting.

~*~

Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction

The Analyst [flash 150]

“A boa constrictor wrapped around your boss’s head?” She made a note on the chart. “And what else do you see?”

He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. Swirls of color rushed through his mind forming brief images and breaking apart again. Then he gazed at the poster once more. “A bonfire. A bonfire of charge cards.”

She bent her head and wrote something. “Very interesting. Anything else?”

“The neighbor’s cat. It’s always digging in our flower garden. Annoying little critter.”

There was a rap tap tap on the office door. “Must be an emergency,” she said.

He shrugged. “They always are.”

The door opened. “Excuse me, but it’s time for Analyst Britney’s ballet lesson.”

Britney jumped out of her chair. “Oh hi, Mommy. We were just about to have a breakthrough!”

He waved them off. “My brain should still be here when you get back. Hopefully.”

~*~

50-Word Thursday

All The Leaves Are Brown [SOCS]

Leaves 🍁 are lovely when they change color, and it used to be a fine tradition to press them in waxed paper between leaves of a book, when we found particularly pretty specimens. Now, I live in Southern California, where we don’t generally have a visible change of seasons, and I also do most of my reading electronically. But I’m not one to pine away for the past, for the most part. I’ve never been back East since I left in 1983, to witness the beautiful colors of the trees in autumn, though I wouldn’t mind going, someday.

My first thought was to write about people leaving, as in relationships, but I like to begin the SOCS with the prompt word, in its proper form, and I couldn’t come up with anything that made grammatical sense. For the regular daily prompts, I don’t always use them in their proper form, and now this inconsistency may bother me.

Or not!

I see I italicized pine because I thought I’d stuff this post with more tree words, but I forgot, and now it’s time to branch out to other endeavors and schedule this thing already. Yes, I am barking mad, thank you for asking! 🤪

Numero Uno

Oopsy, I missed Cee’s Number One photo challenge last week and I hope it’s okay to do a little catching up meow. I am partial to numbers. 🙂

My single lost rainbow kitty sock, now reunited (and it feels so good!) with its mate.

My best photo, maybe. At the HB air show in 2016. Didn’t get great pics of the planes.

I don’t know if cupcakes are one thing or two (cake plus frosting), and they’re usually decorated as well. So, to be safe, I didn’t include any.

Rainbow Kitty Sock Smile

Trent says our Weekly Smile can be anything, large or small, and mine is pretty darned small this week. Sometimes I don’t even participate because I have nothing to say and that’s not because I’m sad; it’s cuz my days are samey same, no highs or lows, and that’s how I like them. I hate surprises and I don’t crave adventure or excitement. It’s all too stressful.

Anyway, last week I lost a sock in the laundry, which made me upset. First, I can’t stand misplacing things. It drives me crazy. Second, I hate the thought of being one of those sloppy people who leave things behind in dryers (cue Revenge of the Lost). But I unfolded and shook out all my clean clothes and no sock. To top off the misery, it wasn’t just any old boring sock, but a rainbow kitty sock.

I was resigned to this tragedy of epic proportions, determined somehow to slog on like the trooper I am. I suppose I’ve survived worse things. Once I made a carrot cake for game night and it didn’t get done in the middle ~ that was pretty terrible. But still! There are always more carrot cakes… what was I supposed to tell the sock waiting patiently for her mate? Just gone out for a walk, no worries. He’ll be back! She was getting suspicious.

But then Monday morning I was leaving for work, glanced into the laundry room, and what did I see? The rainbow kitty sock just lying there on the bench as casual as you please! Hey wassup? I grabbed him and stuck him in my purse. Yayyy!!!!! 😀💕🎉

Symmetry is restored.

Laura’s Music Challenge 16

Hey kids! Chase away Monday blues by joining the superfun Laura’s song challenge. 💙🎶🌈

1. Post a video of a song that either in the title or lyrics mentions the color blue.

2. Post a video of a song that has the word color in either the title or the lyrics.

3. Post a video of a song by an artist or band with a color as part of their name.

Sunny Side Up

The lovely Mrs. Wayfarer nominated me for the Sunshine Award. Thank you! 🙂💖

I’ll answer her great questions, but I don’t do nominations myself. Everyone who likes and comments here brings me a bit of sunshine and I’m grateful for your support. Thanks for reading my posts! 🌻🌻🌻

• Where do you find the inspiration to write your blogs? 

Lately my inspiration comes mainly from the prompts around Blogville.

• When was the last thing you’ve done something for the first time? 

I downloaded the coloring app last week. It’s been very relaxing.

• If you were a superhero, who would you be? 

Catwoman.

• What is one simple thing (or person, place, event) that never fails to brighten up your day? 

Seeing a cat.

• What tradition in your family or country do you always look forward to? 

Halloween costumes.

• What blog (and whose blog is it) inspired you to take action? 

The Haunted Wordsmith inspired me to begin hosting prompts too.

• What is your favorite TV show?

Of all time? Probably The Sopranos.

• What movie can you watch over and over again and make you feel the same way every single time? 

When Harry Met Sally.

• What is your favorite holiday destination? 

Northern California.

• When was the last time you laughed so hard you had tears in your eyes? 

Probably when talking to my daughter.

• If you had the power to change anything in the world right now, what would it be? 

Terrible instant virus takes down McConnell, POTUS, and VPOTUS, and then mysteriously disappears. Nancy Pelosi becomes POTUS.