Wordless Wednesday - Canine Yoga

SAM I AM

This pose is called "Upward Facing Dog"

Submitted to Wordless Wednesday at Project Alicia

Watered Down Memories

The picture above is this week's  RemembeRED prompt over at the The Red Dress Club.  We were to write about a memory inspired by this picture.  I knew instantly that I would write about one of my earliest memories, one of those that I am not sure if the picture that I can see in my mind is derived from an old photo or from the actual memory.  I think I was around four years old.

It was a hot, summer afternoon and we had set up camp on the front lawn.  My mother had spread a nubby, chenille blanket out and her and her girlfriend were relaxing on the blanket while us kids played with the hose to cool off.  There were three of us: my sister and I as well as my mother's girlfriend's son.

We took turns squirting each other with the hose, squealing in delight and shock as the cold water hit our warm little bodies.  Over and over again, we would run towards the water anticipating the icy spray and then run away shrieking.

At some point, it occurred to me that it would be a lot more fun if the adults were involved.  With both of my tiny hands squeezing the nozzle as hard as could I pointed the hose in their direction.  My mother and her girlfriend sprung to their feet amidst shrieks of surprise and laughter.

It was a small yard so they had to run out the gate and onto the hot sidewalk to escape my watery assault.  I followed them as far as I could and with my waif-like little frame tugging determinedly on the hose, I was able to reach just past the gate to send the spray towards them.  The smell, like a warm summer rain, wafted up as the water hit the sidewalk.

By this time, I was giggling hysterically and in very real danger of wetting my pants but I was having far too much fun to stop.  Each time they made an attempt to come back in the yard, I stopped them with a spray of water.  I completely ignored my mother's suggestions that I stop and let them back in until about the third time when something in the tone of her voice told me that it really was time to give up the game.  My fun was over but the memory of the laughter and the wonderful sense of empowerment has stayed with me for decades.

 

Submitted to RemembeRED at the The Red Dress Club

Sweetness

Paige turned around to claim her prize and there it was, gone.  She had been distracted for only a few seconds and someone had stolen it right out from under her nose.

Her focus had been disrupted by the fish monger yelling at his wife, berating her in public, again.

"How could you be so stupid?"  he yelled.

The poor woman cowered beneath her husband's withering gaze.  Sadness seeped from her pores and filled every wrinkle on her face.  His words, like a spade, had dug the furrows deeper and deeper over time and her eyes showed nothing more than broken resignation.

Paige quickly turned her attention away from this display as it always made her very uncomfortable and as she did so her eyes sought out what was rightfully hers.  It was gone.

She had been browsing the butcher's stall, trying to decide between the short ribs and the sirloin tip, when for some reason she had looked toward Kim's Fruit Stand and there it was.  A glorious, golden, globe sitting atop a pyramid of lesser globes.  She had abandoned the butcher and walked, purposefully, towards it.  She could taste its juicy essence, already, and she could imagine its sweet ambrosia dripping down her face.  That was when she had been distracted by the fish monger and now it was gone.

She walked dejectedly towards the crime scene and looked around for the culprit.  There was a young boy of perhaps six or seven standing at the till.  Her precious peach was on the counter and he was, earnestly, counting his change to pay for it.

He walked away, forbidden fruit in hand, and an eager smile upon his face.  Paige watched him as he strode, steadfastly, and was surprised to see him stop at the fish monger's stall.

"Grammie," he said, in a delighted voice, "look what I found for you!  Your favourite."

As the fish wife looked up to greet her grandson, a transformation occurred before Paige's eyes.  It was amazing.  Her whole face lit up as she accepted the prized peach from his proud little hands.

"I bought it myself, Grammie!  With my own money."

Paige walked away with misty eyes and a smile lingering upon her lips.  Her craving for sweetness had been completely satisfied.

Submitted to The Red Dress Club

This week's prompt was to write about a treasure that was stolen from you or your character, and what you did about it.

A Pearl For Your Pain

This poem is about my struggle with anxiety and the hope that the pain will be worth it in the end.

Palpable

Pulsing

What sets it off?

Paralyzing

Consuming

How long will it last?

Debilitating

Destroying

Just try to focus.

Creeping

Seeping

Permeating my existence.

Throat closing

Heart throbbing

What does it want?

Circumstances

Situations

Fuel for the flame.

Helpless

Childlike

Riding the wave.

Surrendering

Succumbing

Trust in the flow.

Listening

Learning

What does it want?

Excavating

Exfoliating

Deeper we go.

Grating

Grinding

A pearl for your pain

Submitted to Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop