Crime/Horror/Fiction
Ingenuity amid tortured souls
Daddy left the deep freeze to Margie and Beck.
That white behemoth was legendary. Its size rivaled anything stored in neighborhood basements. Hell, it was so long and wide it took up more than half of the substantial party room. Put it this way. A pool table was sacrificed to make room for the chest freezer.
Daddy was a hunter, so regularly frozen deer, moose, rabbit, pheasant, and duck parts filled up the cavern. Garden veggies too. Baked goods and fries. Yup, you heard correctly. Frozen french fries bursting from a restaurant-sized cardboard carton.
You see, boyfriends were not welcome inside the Palmer compound. Daddy, in addition to specifying…
Mothers/Relationships
One woman’s journey to understand the concept of motherhood.
Today I mourn the passing of Claire, one of my fake mothers. “Good grief,” I say to myself, “I’m not certain I ever thought of Claire or any of the others under the fake mommy label.”
I know plenty of people affectionately applying that title to their stepmom, mother-in-law, the lovely neighbor next door, you name it. “Not this girl,” I used to insist, “why would I need it?” Tough, strong, self-sufficient me.
Even though I had a stepmother for the bulk of my teen years. No fake mommying there, let me tell you. …
DEATH/FAMILY/LIFE LESSONS
Finding our way on those rocky roads was a challenge.
My Mom was very much alive when I was a junior member of the Girl Scouts. She gave it her all, trying to talk her headstrong, almost nine-year-old daughter into either dressing warmly or staying home. After all, on that Saturday morning, the temperature was early winter freezing cold.
No luck, the front door slammed shut, and I was off, my red wagon weighted down with the first of three loads, twenty Holiday Wreaths at a time. …
Work/Quitting/Starting over
Relinquishing the pillar of my identity wasn’t the only price I paid.
I noticed I was clutching my coffee cup a little too firmly. No wonder because the jerk sitting opposite me in the cafe, Byron, was condescendingly telling me about his new multinational contract. He discovered it, he bragged, out of the blue.
Yet two months earlier, I sat down with Byron and that very same new piece of business, brokering an introduction and a deal. This day in the coffee shop, I was fuming while this wanker ignored reality.
Here’s another fact. It took me months to convince Byron to take the meeting with this prospect. He refused to accept…
Scrittura/Prompt
Later the adult lamented the waste.
Susceptible at fifteen
to the dominance of
emotional floods,
her body mimicking a
sandy
shoreline with
static pools of
self-doubt, pepper grinded
over the beach-scape
and the waves rolling
in
contained
not water, but
liquid fear configured
in lapping motions,
coating skin and seeping
into nostrils or
any crack in the dermis,
then transforming to
cloned brain trembles
paralyzing creativity
because
her nose is too
not-turned-up in that
cute pseudo piggy
style the mean girls
declared cool and
they
made fun of her short
skirts or anything
to torture her immature
insecurity so
she
goes rigid as she mocks
the squished rabbit decorated
with tire pockmarks on the
road in front of her house,
still, she said yes to the
teacher,
the one seeing her potential
and…
FROM LEMON/FRIEND ADVICE COLUMN
We are thrilled to do a shout-out.
Written by: Suzanne V. Tanner, Paroma Sen, Amy Marley
Hello, Amazing Winners of our Very First FROM LEMON Challenge:
Why yes. Yes. You heard correctly. Plural. Winners.
Remember the dilemma written by FSUC and the excellent eFriend comments to her troubling situation?
Remember we said our criteria for picking a top response to FSUC would be random, cause hey, we are just getting our feet wet on this whole shebang?
Remember the prize is twofold?
1.a guest Lemoness spot for you to write a dilemma post and also respond to that story with the FROM LEMON team ( the Suze, Amy and Paroma trio)
2.when we finally get around to printing our t-shirts (it might…
Love/Marriage
July wedding vows
one. The first time I ever felt this degree of peace in my head and heart while in a state to enjoy the concept of pure love of life and you.
Satire/Humor/Writing
Embarrassed is a better word.
No, no, I was not bitten by a rodent. Yet sure as hell, I was stung by a bug.
One definition of hamsteritis: extra speedy, compulsive, task repetitive behavior. Becomes worse (speeds up significantly ) if one frequently pauses for a cookie. A racing heart is a possible side effect.
I went to a clinic uttering:
“Doctor, doctor, give me the news.”*
I listed my symptoms while crying the blues.
When I reached item seven, she said:
“Feel no shame.
Your hamster piece in May did not falsely claim.”
All to declare, I find myself wanting to write, write, write this month. And “Ok,” you are probably thinking, “Yeah, sure, you just want the Medium July bonus.”
And hey, maybe that’s true, and I do.
Or…
Prompt/WotWU
An invitation to join in the fun.
I am going to tip my hat and mention two publications and two editors. Please know that easily, quickly, I could name fifty more. And counting. I stick with two in these moments because of the fit with this post and prompt.
We all appreciate the gifts of support, experience, knowledge, and guidance sent our way from many owners and editors of various publications. Those inside and outside Medium.
Please note an additional perk extended by the amazing Sherry McGuinn of Rogues’ Gallery and ScienceDuuude of Woodworkers of the World Unite (WotWU). I call these remarkable skills: engagement and creation…
Humor/Life
Teenage angst never entirely disappears.
Ok ok. First, you should read this funny post by Kitty Whitemore, my reply and then the weigh-in from Thief
Spoiler Alert: all 3 together will take less than one minute!
Are you all done?
Hope you had a few giggles reading the above back and forth. The thing is, it also made me recall this 14 year old’s cringe-worthy life event ( AKA will-never-leave-the-house-again story).
I just have to share the saga with you.
It was not a bikini. Picture a two-piece bathing suit, hip-coverage style, solid black panties. The top, white with quarter-size black polka dots all over it. …
