Fun Monday - Write it Out

Fun Monday is being hosted this week by Mommy Wizdom!

Her challenge this week was right up my alley - and a good warm up. This is the assignment:

CHOOSE ONE OF THREE THEMES:

A visit by your mother in law
Bedtime Stories
Raising a Teenager

USE ALL OF THESE WORDS:

Ostrich, goosebumps, magazines, soup, cats, lethargic, noodles, tequila, doorknob, biscuit

USE ANY OF THESE WORDS IF YOU WISH:

prehistoric, Jedi Knight, cactus, periscope, humor

Your job is to write a story (true or made-up), poem, song, letter... whatever strikes you ABOUT one of the three themes. You must INCLUDE all 10 words. Wild cards words may be used in addition to or in place of the main 10 words.

It had been a rough week. My husband took off for the weekend with the guys, camping out in the swamps and fishing. My son had gone home with a friend from school and was spending the night. It was one of those rare evenings when my time was my own and I could do anything or nothing if I wanted to.

I was sitting at my candlelit table spooning hot tomato soup with a silver spoon; a fresh-from-the-oven biscuit dripping butter sat on good china to the side. Soft music played from the CD player and the cats were curled up on two of the other diningroom chairs. It was an elegant scene from one of those housekeeping magazines and I was thoroughly enjoying my quiet evening alone, relaxed, bordering on lethargic.

Then the doorknob began to rattle. Goosebumps ran up my arms. Here I was, home alone and someone was trying to break into the house! Like a prehistoric woman, I put out the candles, turned off the CD player and tried to make it look like no one was home. Perhaps whoever that was would give up and go away.

Doorknob-rattling progressed to loud banging as I cowered there in the dark. The cats raised their heads in unison as the banging continued, then laid them back down to resume their naps.

I was shaking my head at their nonchalance when I heard a trilling voice above all the banging. It was hard to make out, but I got up my nerve to approach the door and look through the peephole.

Standing there in the porchlight was my mother-in-law.

The banging and rattling continued as I stood there in the dark, shoulders slumped in defeat. My lovely quiet evening had ended and I would have to open the door soon or the police would be arriving on my doorstep. I heaved a big sigh and opened the door.

My mother-in-law swept into the room like a battleship wearing a boa of ostrich feathers. She turned to me and trilled grandly, "Oh, Dah-ling! I heard you would be here alone tonight so I've brought noodles and tequila! "

My jaw dropped to the ground. Noodles and tequila? What kind of dinner was that?

I knew I'd have to humor her, so I ushered her over to the table, wishing I had a cactus to place in her chair so she wouldn't stay long. It was no use though. As she plunked herself down, she reached back into the cabinet behind her and grabbed a drinking glass and poured herself a good 8 ounces of tequila. It would be a long night.

(Please note that this story in NO WAY resembles my mother-in-law. It does, however remind me of several people that I actually know - but none of them is my mother-in-law!)

One of the reasons I was so interested in this particular challenge is that I'm taking on another writing challenge as of November 1st. It's time for NaNoWriMo! Thirty days of writing insanity where I attempt to put 50,000 words together in something that resembles a novel. I actually did it last year. If I do it again this year, I will have three novels in the can. I must say that I am not sure I care for the editing part of being an author, but next year I need to knuckle down and turn those three books into something that can be sold. Things may get a little quiet around here in November as I bend my fingers to a different kind of storytelling. But I'll be back. I'm still trying to come up with an idea. My mind is curiously blank at the moment...