blue and white paper sculpture

Athena was having a grilled cheese sandwich, an orange, grapes, chips from a fifty cent bag, and orange juice. She hunched across from Hugo who ate a turkey panini with kale and tomatoes, a one dollar bag of unbuttered popcorn, and pineapple slices. He drank water, supposedly rare water, from a hidden island in the mediterranean sea.

“I tell you,” he said. “This water is brought to Chicago only for a select few and I am one of them.” He sipped the water slowly closing his eyes every time. “Want to know what it does to you?” he whispered. With a full mouth of grapes, Athena glanced at her watch. In ten minutes their lunch would end.

Before I worked in a cubicle, I would measure trees in the middle of Millennium park. On a Thursday, I was measuring a tree. The largest tree I have ever measured to date. It had a tree trunk with a radius of two feet and a half and was fifty feet tall. An orchestra played as I rocked on my heels. The measuring tape, in my hand, touched the pavement. During the violin solo, I was tapped on the shoulder. A little woman in her mid-thirties stood before me.

“I see you have an affinity for nature,” she said, her blue droopy eyes travelled from the measuring tape to the tree. “I’m Estelle. Guess how old I am?”

I stumbled backwards. The tape scraped against the pavement. “Uh, um, thirty-five?” I replied.

Estelle poked my chest. “Nope! Guess again!”

“Thirty?”

“Nope. I’m seventy-five!” she said and her smile exposed wrinkles around her eyes. She had to be at most thirty-seven. Not seventy-five. That couldn’t be, but then she let me in on a secret.

Hugo reached for one of Athena’s grapes and raised his water in a fragile toast. “This here will keep me looking twenty-five forever.”

the cramps

Dog Walks

Simon was the second to last puppy to leave the animal shelter. The reason why. He had short fur. Other adoptees wanted puppies with fur that could reach the floor. To me, Simon was the cutest of them all, so I took him. I tucked him under my oversized sweater to stop the rain from touching his short rough fur and drove to our home. An apartment where the landlord only allowed one small pet. Luckily, Simon was small and plump. He barked sporadically, sneezed excessively, and followed me throughout the house. When I arrived from work, he stepped on his food dish to ask for food and drank water so fast he had trouble breathing. He never learned to stop barking at people when we went on walks. Small children would run, crying, to their mothers when they heard Simon. Grown-ups would walk on the grass and cover their ears to stop Simon from becoming a part of their life, even if just for a second.

Now, Simon is almost four years old and gaining weight. With his temper we only go on walks when no
one is around, early 6:00 am and 11:00 pm, usually. He once barked at a pitbull who got so mad that he
attacked Simon and sent him to the E. R. Wounds did not stop Simon from barking at the E. R. veterinarian. The back of his fur stood up when he sensed the threat of the vet approaching. Gums appeared inside the muzzle I placed on him. After the surgery, Simon barked worse than ever. He barked at mice inside the walls and cars parked on the street. I think he has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and I am convinced he will never change. I bet Simon thinks he’s a large dog similar to a pitbull, lion, or possibly a bear. But he’s not, he’s a small, plump dog with a temper.

Two Milks

It was a dreary afternoon and rain poured rapidly. The clouds appeared to jump around and although it had been raining for four hours there were no puddles on the ground. Alicia stood with Athena at their house’s front door entrance. Alicia wore a pink raincoat with matching pink boots. Athena wore the same outfit except her ensemble was black. They stood in the doorway after bickering about where and what type of milk they should buy. Alicia became a vegetarian when she went on a field trip with her third-grade class and saw a farmer carrying a dead chicken. The sight of the chicken awakened in Alicia a desire to stop eating meat. When she arrived home, later that day, she ran through the front doorway, opened the fridge, and threw all the chicken away. She proclaimed, “I will not eat animals anymore! I will not!”After Alicia threw away the chicken, Athena picked it up. “Who does she think she is?” she said. “Wasting perfect food.”

Athena wanted plain cow milk, the one that comes in the blue gallon. Alicia desired almond, soy, or maybe cashew milk. “You know what? I’m just going to buy almond milk at the farmer's market,” Alicia said as her feet stepped on the front porch. “Since we can’t decide where to go.” Athena stared at her sister as she walked through the gate, but when she lifted her gaze, a figure in a dark purple raincoat approached rapidly. The figure stopped next to Alicia as she closed the gate door behind her. Without saying a word, the figure handed Alicia a bag and walked away.

“Wait, wait,” she said. “I think you have the wrong person.”

Inside of the bag, there were two milk cartons, one was cow milk from the blue gallon. The other carton was almond milk. Alicia raised her gaze to where Athena stood. She was smiling and motioning for her to come back inside.

A New Beginning

The puddles splashed as Hugo walked on the pavement surrounding the park where his mother was having her 53rd birthday party. He looked at his relatives standing far off in the distance. They were all talking. Perhaps catching up on the past years. Hugo’s mother walked from relative to relative making sure, Hugo guessed, that everyone was having a fun and comfortable time. It was more of a cookout than a party, though, because Hugo’s father grilled in a corner. Hugo stopped in a puddle on the pavement and looked at his relatives. He had not seen many of them in the four years he was gone. From far away, his parents looked the same from the last time he saw them. Hugo took a deep breath and as he was about to step into the grass to walk to the birthday party he spotted an aunt and uncle step out of their car with their two children. They saw Hugo step into the grass in the same direction they were going, but did not say a word or even hello. They must not recognize me, Hugo thought. After all, he had not seen them in over seven years. They must have travelled to Chicago for this particular occasion.

Hugo slowly walked in the direction of the birthday party. Unusually calm, he went over what he would tell his mother.

“Happy birthday mother, I haven’t seen you in so long.”

“Hello, mother and happy birthday. You’re fifty-three now.”

“Wow, you’ve aged so well mother. You look like you’re forty-five.”

“If it isn’t the best mother of all time. Happy birthday.”

It started drizzling and Hugo’s converse were soaking wet. He felt the drizzle on the top of his head, face, and shoulders. His glasses were fogging. Hugo’s aunt and uncle with their two children almost reached the birthday party. Why were they walking so fast or was it just that Hugo was walking so slow? Hugo rubbed his glasses and put them back on. He recognized one of his younger uncles. The brother of his mother who was just two years older than him scrambling to put up a canopy along with two other men he did not know. He was the uncle Hugo grew up with. Once, when they were young Hugo stepped on an ant while they played at a small park close to their home. As soon as Hugo’s uncle saw what had happened he picked him up and carried him all the way home. When he walked in the driveway, Hugo’s mother ran out of the house asking what had happened. All Hugo’s uncle could muster was, “He was bitten.” “Bitten by what?” asked Hugo’s mother. “A dog?” That day, Hugo’s uncle saved Hugo’s foot.

Hugo walked even slower. A woman reached into a huge black bag and took out rain capes. It had started to rain harder. She then yelled, “The weatherman said it would only drizzle, but you know they are always lying. Always lying those damn weathermen!” She handed the rain capes to the people gathered under the half-open canopy. “Here you go,” she said. “Dammit! I knew this would happen. Happy Birthday to you Minerva!”

Small children ran in the pouring rain while their parents chased them down. One parent yelled, “Melanie! Come back here, you are going to catch a cold!” Hugo smirked and continued to walk. He could smell the hot dogs on the grill and saw a two-tiered cake on one of the tables. When he was about twenty feet from the rain when all the napkins and paper plates from the tables flew from under the canopy. The people under the canopy did not move. Minerva ran to fetch them. Her bright pink rain cape, which she had not put on yet, flew from her arms. Hugo’s father, who had successfully rolled the grill under the canopy yelled after her, “Honey, stay here. I’ll get the utensils!” Hugo’s father was always so proper. Utensils.

Hugo turned around before anyone could get a good glimpse of him and say something. What had he done? Why had he come back? Minerva did not listen to Hugo’s father. Hugo walked away slowly and watched the napkins and paper plates fly further away. By now, he was soaking wet. Minerva ran past him as she yelled back at her husband, “We have to feed our guests Julian!” She did not pay attention to Hugo who continued to walk. She must not have seen him approaching the party. Then Julian could be heard yelling at the guests who just stood under the canopy, “Can someone please help? Minerva shouldn’t be the one picking up the napkins and plates. It’s her birthday!” Hugo didn’t hear what was happening behind after his father spoke. He kept walking further away from the people and closer, but not directly, to his mother who had a handful of wet napkins and paper plates in her hands. He focused on her and blocked out the rest of the world. Why did I come back? Why am I here?

Minerva, with no more room in her hands, stood to walk back to the canopy. Her mascara ran down her eyes. Her eyes were red. Hugo walked in a straight line back to the pavement, but as Minerva began to walk she spotted him to her left. She dropped the soaked napkins and plates on the ground. Her shoes slightly splashed on the grass as she walked toward him. Hugo walked faster this time, but not fast enough. Minerva caught his left arm in a tight grasp and looked him in the face.

“Hugo?” she asked. Hugo looked down at the ground. “You didn’t tell me you were coming. Why?”

Hugo stood in silence as she looked at him. Then, she looked at the people under the canopy and yelled, “Julian, come here!” Julian stopped picking up the napkins and plates closest to him. His eyes spotted Minerva and Hugo together. He smiled.

starting now

52 weeks in a year. 52 short stories inspired by prompts.

mouse

There's nothing more gratifying than trying and succeeding, and even when you do not succeed at least you know that you tried.

haha

Athena woke up one day after Christmas after having a very scary dream. Tito, her cat, sat on her lap as she stared at the white ceiling above her. Athena was confused. She had had the weirdest of dreams as of late, but the one from last night was the weirdest one yet. She squinted at the ceiling and tried to recall the dream from last night. The dream that had woken her up in fright. The dream went like this. Athena recalled the following.

The dream from last night was in the first-person point of view. Athena was the main character. In the dream, she ran up an endless amount of stairs through dark hallways that were almost pitch black. She could not tell if she was in a house, mansion, or hotel. All she could feel was dark wooden stairs under her feet from stairwell to stairwell. Athena ran and sometimes when she ran, she ran past windows whose glass had been broken. From the corner of her right eye, Athena could see snow with a grey tint falling. The snow fell slowly and sometimes graced her cheek as she ran by. After running for what felt like a marathon, Athena reached the last stairwell which led her to a ledge. Athena did not see the ledge so she fell over the edge into darkness.

Athena opened her eyes to feel Tito on her lap. She awoke from the dream very confused. It probably meant nothing, so Athena stood up to grab a bowl of cereal from the kitchen to forget the bad dream. What a dream to have one day after Christmas.

life update

One two three... Say words that come to your mind in one minute with the last letter of a word being the first letter of the next word. No words can repeat.

And go!

1. pineapple
2. evil
3. liquid
4. deer
5. rider
6. river
7. rabbit
8. tiger
9. red
10. downward
11. dream
12. mother
13. rain
14. nerd
15. dread
16. damp
17. pepper
18. road

Something I discovered: I thought of a lot of words that began with r and ended with r. Also, I discovered that I thought of words that ended with d.

chipped black nails

It was 8:30 am in the morning and Athena barely woke up. Her alarm was set to seven, so she could relax that morning. Her class began at nine. She did not want to worry to get to class on time. After the annoying alarm beeped, Athena quickly changed from pajama pants and over-sized sweatshirt into dark red jeans and a periodic table of the elements shirt. She put on a black sweater, grabbed her backpack, and ran out of the door at 8:40 am. In fifteen minutes, she would get to school. Five minutes later, her class would start.

As Athena drove she liked to look at the people on the street.

A tall man stood at a corner bus stop eating two donuts and drinking a small coffee. He wore a brown jacket and jeans. His blond hair flowed in the wind while he took a bite of one of the donuts.

"I wish my hair was as luscious as his," thought Athena.

Then, a lady jogged with her dog on the sidewalk. Since it was going to rain, she wore a pink raincoat and rain boots. She didn't even look uncomfortable. Also with a pink raincoat and rain boots, the lady jogger's dog ran in the drizzling rain.

“What a weird thing to wear while running,” commented Athena.

Afterward, a small kid ran for a ball that rolled across the street. Luckily there were no cars, except for Athena's car one block away. When the kid reached the other side of the road he raised his hands high into the sky triumphantly. Then he walked into a pet store nearby.

"Why isn't he is school?" asked Athena.

There weren’t many people on the street today. Thirteen minutes into her drive and while at a red light, Athena spotted a little old lady with a grocery cart full of groceries attempting to cross the street. Her grocery cart was stuck on the curb, though. She pushed and pushed, but it would not budge. Athena considered pulling over to help, however, the red light would not change. Finally, the grocery cart budged. It went. It moved. It allowed the little old lady to advance. Athena was so happy to see the little old lady move again that she grinned so big her mouth hurt. The little old lady could finally take her groceries home or wherever she was going. As Athena drove past the little old lady, she grinned even more.

“What a wonderful thing to see this morning,” said Athena.

peanut butter can be candy? whut?

MADE UP DIALOGUE

"I was sort of joking sort of nah, but then what I said was taken seriously so it was more nah, so I wasn't joking more than what I was."

- This sounds like something intricate to say. 

Thanksgiving Haiku, Ahem

*sits down at kitchen table, folds hands in front of self, looks at family members as they sit, looks down at table, and finally speaks*

"I have written a haiku poem for this occasion. Please do not laugh or cry or eat until I am done."

(silence)

Turkey

I saw the turkey

It gave me overwhelming

Fright, now eat quickly.

*looks up at family members*

"Thank you. Thank you berry much."