Happy Father’s Day. I hope you celebrated in your own way.
Here are three 100-word takes on the same prompt.
And the prompt is: Write about someone rediscovering something old they thought they’d lost.
Take #1 I call “Metal Box”
Under the bed, among the dust clumps and single socks and headless dolls rolled into the corner where, even if the sun could shine it couldn’t be seen, sits a dented metal box the size of a matchbox or maybe a tiny coffin. The lady collects one of the dolls and uses its outstretched, disjointed leg to kick the little rectangle close enough for her to grasp. What’s this, she thought, as the possibilities rippled behind her eyes. Dolls’ heads, toothpicks, marbles, teeth, buttons, used Band-Aids, crayons, ribbons, eyelashes, eggs, rocks. She opens it. Teeth. But whose, she can’t recall.
Take #2 I call “Poor Snickers”
Shake it harder, like a grown-up. Knock on the side, like when you hit the 57 on the Heinz 57 bottle to get the stuff to come out. Remember that? Better than A1. Steak sauce. Who needs it. But let’s be honest, anybody make me a steak of any kind, I’ll eat it. Any more nuggets in my life, I’ll be the one to off myself inside a cage. I can’t see it in there. Why are all the tubes different colors? Like a hamster cares. This is what I get for letting a five-year-old have a pet. Poor Snickers.
And Take #3 I call “Doorbell”
He rang the doorbell. A cat purred against the screen door. Inside, the house was dark against sunshine that shouted onto the porch where he stood. She wore white. Linen pants, casual and breezy. She slipped nearly into view, but stopped when she saw him. He heard her heart clench. He felt her throat tighten. He waited. The cat plopped onto the floor. She flattened against the wall. Her phone, on the table, rooms away. Her children, oblivious, playing in the backyard. She shed fear like heat, a sweating scent he inhaled through the screen. He rang the doorbell, again.
I look forward to participating in the Fictionistas’ The Great Substack Prompt Celebration for June. Story to come this week.
Also, don’t forget:
And, here are three good stories I’ve read lately:
“The Times I’ll Trade with the Crows,” by Joel Hans, published in Atlas and Alice
“Time of Mother,” by Jefferson Navicky, published in Electric Literature
“Mr. Kimura Has Lunch with His Wife in York,” by Carolynn Mireault, published in Pithead Chapel
Thank you for reading. Good luck this week.