The Pact

Charli Mills took us back to high school this week with the challenge of writing about “not everyone fits a prom dress.” It brought back memories of my Senior Prom and what I did instead of attending the dinner/dance. Of course, the irony for me was that minutes after making “the pact”, I was asked to the prom by the best-looking guy in the senior class. (deep sigh) I didn’t marry him either and he has never forgiven me for that, but that’s another story. Be sure to hang at the Carrot Ranch for loads of writing fun!

Senior prom, the biggest night of high school life, even bigger than homecoming. Cheryl was in tears. She had just been cast as the female lead for a local community theatre production of Butterflies Are Free. Of course, the production would run her senior prom weekend. It meant that she’d be the only one in her senior class who wouldn’t be at the prom.

Hearing her crying, her friend Annette promised to work backstage on the production so Cheryl wouldn’t be the only one not at the prom. There’d be at least one friend there for Cheryl’s big night!

©2021 Annette Rochelle Aben

Summer in Suburbia

Charli Mills gave us the prompt of CACOPHONY this week. Dear me, I had to write about my neighbors. I live in a modest ranch house, with my sleeping/living quarters at the back of the house. I built this addition when thoughtful people lived next door. Alas, a couple with two small children, the woman’s mother, and father all moved in only two years later. Now the men are all gone, but there is a sister of the woman with the two children living there and all three of the women have male partners who LOVE to come over to party whether it is a weekday or a weekend day.

Join in the FLASH FICTION FUN at The Carrot Ranch

The thumping bass of the stereo starts around nine in the morning and blares all day long. Cue the beer-drinking corn hole players who curse if they win and curse if they lose. Then there are the children who bounce from the trampoline into the pool while shrieking like bloody murder at the top of their lungs. Add to this, the poor dog who barks from one end of the yard to the other to remind them that he needs to eat. And when it starts at nine in the evening, it goes on until 4 in the morning.

©2021 Annette Rochelle Aben

That Guy

There

Are no

Such things as

Scheduled chores

In my brother’s life

He’s a total pantser

Wakes each day in a sleep fog

Muddles about without a care

Then the clock looks him right in the eye

And the rumble deep inside him screams, NO!

Oh man! Oh man! His muttering mantra

If each job were to take ten minutes

He’d need twenty-seven hours

In every day to keep up

So, things he’s doing now

Are a month behind

It appears that

He’ll catch-up

Never

Sigh

©2021 Annette Rochelle Aben

Dominic to the Rescue

This week we were invited to write ab0ut someone being in the right place at the right time. As I have done many times in the past, I pulled from my personal experiences. Should you desire to join in the fun, hang out at the Carrot Ranch

Annette loved her job at the Ambassador Bridge, Hers was a glorified secretarial position processing Import and Export paperwork for U.S. Customs. And the friendships formed with people from all walks of life were the best part.

As she did several times a day, Annette walked along the bridge plaza to the Customs dock office. Suddenly, she felt the ground give way under her feet. She screamed for help, and a nearby truck driver grabbed her and pulled her to safety.

It seems she had stepped on a loose manhole cover and that quick-thinking driver actually saved her life!

©2021 Annette Rochelle Aben 2/19/21

 

Take Off, Eh?

First flight! I remember mine well. It was forty years ago, and I have to say, while it didn’t stop me from flying again, I do only fly when necessary.

Thank you to Charli Mills and the Carrot Ranch

for allowing me this opportunity to laugh!

 

The honeymoon flight from Detroit to Los Angeles was her very first. Not knowing what to expect, the young bride allowed her more well-traveled husband to guide her along the way.

He graciously gave her the aisle seat and held her hand gently while the flight attendant covered the emergency instructions.

As the plane pulled back, he reminded her that she should put the chewing gum in her mouth.

“Honey, look, we’re climbing into the clouds!”

She leaned forward to take a look and vomited on the back of the head of the person seated in front of her.

©2020 Annette Rochelle Aben