Both of Us

Story Based on Jeff's Portrait of Words

John and I wrote this story together. I wrote a line then he wrote a line and so on. We did not discuss where the story should go. But somehow this is the story we ended up with.

Sandra had to go to the dentist whether she liked it or not but she really hoped the penguin wouldn't come as well. It could cause her to get teeth worked on that were in perfect shape by influencing the Doctor. The very thought filled her with as much fear as the bus ride downtown.

Nevertheless she got on the 012 bus and then she found that a young man on the bus disturbed her. He had the look of a tough teen and wore a silly hat and , of all things, a necklace. The seats were occupied and the only available one was next to that strange young man, so she sat with her arms folded keeping herself as far away from him as possible. But she couldn't help looking at him and suddenly on the back of his seat was her penguin and a miniature lama. Her expression of shock made the young man look at her with a question on his face, and then to turn around to see what she was looking at.
" You can see my lama", he said.
"Yes, but are you able to see my penguin?" she asked.
"Of course" he said."They seem to be getting along"
His strangeness now was disappearing with the shared experience of seeing things, and she felt she could talk to him. She was wondering if he was cursed by a gypsy or perhaps, he was a gypsy.
"I am wondering if you find the lama a help or hinderance in your occupation , which is?" she asked.
" Lady you sure are nosy. I didn't ask you about your penguin. did I?"
With that retort she sat silently waiting for her stop.
At the stop which was in front of Bristol Bob's Beautiful Bowlatorium he followed her out of the bus. Sandy paused catching her breath, before she had to climb the steps to her dentist office above the bowling alley. " Are you following me" she said to the young man.
"No I am following the llama and a penguin. Your penguin has a bucket of rusty screws and I'm afraid he will dump them somewhere he shouldn't. Your not paying any attention to him."
"What makes you think I have any control over the penguin?"
He looked at her with a strange smile and said " I thought you were a gypsy but your one of the cursed aren't you."
"I am one of the cursed, but are you a gypsy?"
"Of course! But I thought you knew that because you could see the lama", he said.
" I need to get to my dentist, but I would like to talk to you more about llamas and penguins," she said as she began the climb to the dreaded dentist.
She looked back only long enough to see the penguin dumping the screws on his head while the lama tried to push it aside. Then she sprinted up the stairs.

Jeff's Photo Story

Slip wanted to retire. Slip was not 65 or even 55 but he was tired of bus tours, and large noisy crowds, and drugs, the late nights of drinking . He wanted a more simpler life. Hide, where he grew up was a very small community. There were no bright lights among tall skyscrapers. Slip could hide in Hide and become Henry Cole again. With his guitar and a small duffel bag, Henry left the long sleek tour bus and got a ticket on Amtrak to take him off to his boyhood home.
Amtrak did not go to Hide, so Henry made a phone call to a number of an old acquaintance, Lori Luck. Why he had kept her number he was not sure. She was attractive,and funny, but a bit of a goody two shoes. Lori agreed to pick up Henry,and because of the large amount of time since they had seen each other the ride up to Hide began in silence.But soon they where chatting up a storm going over past times, recalling teachers, and classmates.
The present had not been treating Lori well. Lori had not married, and she stayed at home caring for her dad. Hart Luck had an accident that left him unable to walk, but he continued to manage the bowling alley, with Lori's help. Lori knew little of carpentry and the alley needed a lot of repair. She told none of this to Henry. Henry would not care, he was a wild one. She told Henry she ran the bowling alley now. That her family had a ranch was also mentioned. What she did not say was that they had one llama on that ranch. There were no cows or horses, just one lama. She left Henry at the Pine Tree Motel lobby.
After washing up Henry wanted to see the town, and walking was no problem it could be covered in a short mile. He went to the school, there was only one building that contained grade, middle and high school. He sat on a rusty swing. He slowly swung back and forth and the memories came back. The teasing of Ricky Lang and his gang of what he considered tough boys. He shuddered, maybe this coming back was not a good idea. In the city he was a star, here he was considered odd at best.
He got off the the swing and continued up the road. The buildings looked so worn, just some elbow grease or paint could spruce it up a bit. Before him was the dentist's office, looking as threatening as when he was a child. The sign was painted over, Dr. Payne must not be practicing any more. I wonder who is the dentist now? He move closer to the sign and could not believe the name, Dr. Richard Lang. That is one Dr. he did not want to see.
Across the street from the dentist's office was Luck's Bowling Alley. It was very strange but he had passed a number of people on the street,but none of them talked to him, a familiar face would be nice right now. He entered the building and saw Lori instructing a family. On the next lane a group of young men stopped bowling turning around to stare at him. An uncomfortable feeling arose in him. He turned around and left not knowing if Lori had seen him.
It was then he saw it. Next to Luck's Bowling Alley was an abandoned building with a leather bag of rusty screws sitting on the door frame. The door was ajar, allowing him to see a covered piano, microphones , and a drum stand. He thought the building abandoned but maybe not. He entered carefully expecting someone might jump out at him. Henry could see a potential dance hall,with the beautiful hardwood floors. He would have to investigate the possibility of purchasing the building, even if it did need some repair work. Suddenly he felt himself falling.
Ricky Lang's face was nose to nose with him. The gang was around him as Henry came to. Oh no , he was sitting in the dentist chair.
" I am sorry that I placed you in my chair,but this is the best place to examine you. You seem to be fine,but that was quite a fall. We thought we recognized you and followed." Richard said.
Henry relaxed.
" I am interested in purchasing the building I was in. Do you know who owns it?"
"yes I do."
With the opening of his dance hall Slip was no longer hiding in Hide.

Raven's Challenge 54

Today I face another Raven's Challenge.

sugar bowl, cotton, wizard, fund-raising, Ben Hur, salmonella, luke warm, telescope, bank, walk-a-thon

Mini Challenge: challenge, sparkling cider, melancholy, snail mail, master carpenter

Lisa's committee would be arriving soon to plan a fund -raiser. She found that it was easier to plan while sitting around a table, and snacking. She put on her new cotton table cloth , and her favorite sugar bowl and creamer. She was told that Larry Fin was a wizard at holding fund-raising events so, she hired him. Her committee would meet with him as soon as they arrived. Mr. Fin was walking around her house as she prepared for the guests. That was making her nervous.
" This is neat really neat," he shouted from her sons bedroom.
"What is neat?" she asked. She quickly walked to her son's room. Mr Fin was using the telescope looking out the windows at the arriving committee getting out of their individual cars.
" We should go out and meet them," said Lisa.
Everyone was seated at the table after introductions and coat removal. Lisa brought in some goodies she made and poured the coffee and tea. Mr. Fin seemed to be very interested in different displayed items. He noticed the DVD player and the DVD Ben-Hur.
Then the planning for the fund-raising began. A pot luck received a luke warm following, and was ruled out for fear of salmonella. A walk-a- thon was agreed on, with Mrs Snow and Miss Lane doing the publicity. Mr. Fin would take care of the financial end, making arrangements with the bank. Lisa was to organize the walk itself.
Every thing fell into place and the pledges were coming in for the local hospital. Lisa felt better despite her concerns about Mr. Fin.
The organizing of the walk took a lot of Lisa attention. On the day of the walk she was very busy and Mr. Fin was in charge of the donated monies, so she did not give that end any notice. She returned at the end of the day exhausted to her home. Her house was empty of all of the furnishings. She called the police.
She was sick to her stomach. She put her family into a motel, and because of her gut bad feelings, she called the bank only to find out she was correct. The walk-a thon account was empty. She was devastated. The hospital needed the funds. She had to again report to the police.
At this point there was nothing she could do but wait for the police to do their job. She gave a description of Mr. Fin, and they found his rental car had been returned . Lisa and her family watched the news and tried to avoid reporters.
The police did their job, following all the leads. Lisa and her family watched the newscast of the police chasing a moving truck from their motel room. The truck moved in and out and around the traffic. There were many near collisions. The chase ended when the truck could not manage a curve because of it high speed and turned over. Mr. Fin was injured and was taken to the hospital. Although the hospital tried to give him the best of care they were lacking more modern equipment. The reason for the walk-a-thon. All the participants in the scam and burglary were arrested.
Not all of Lisa's furnishings were damaged. The money raised was recovered.
Lisa thought to herself she would never do a fund-raiser again., but with volunteers from the community it would be worth it.


Mini Challenge:

Sparkling cider did not alter Jenny's melancholy mood. She received snail mail with a challenge to build a play house for her granddaughter. She bought many plans, but she knew that she was not able to implement them. She turned to newspaper ads and found a master carpenter. He did cost a lot but what is money when you can please your granddaughter.
The carpenter did not work alone, for Jenny was right with him as he guided her in the construction.
Five year old Cindy jumped out of her family car when it came to a stop in front of her grandmother's house. She gave her grandmother a big hug and whispered "Do I have a play house?"
"Come see."
In the back of Jenny's house was a miniature Victorian house. It was not finished for Jenny wanted Cindy to have the fun of painting it with her. The family after instructions by Jenny took up the paint brushes and gave the house a pretty exterior and a bright interior.
Jenny felt very happy as she watched her granddaughter play, and she joined her for a tea party in the new house.
















sparkling

Quilly's Word Challenge#5

Quilly words for the challenge:
hitonious-very bad, beyond horrid
teterrimous-most foul
mellifluous-smooth, sweet, harmonious
I am writing this to fulfil my promise to write a ghost story for my granddaughter. This over a year due.


Cindy Lane a member of a small community called Hide would walk home from work through the cemetery. The winding paths, landscaping, and the smell of flowers gave her the impression that she was walking in a park. She had no fear of walking through the cemetery, but that would change.
She had a meeting with the staff and she was late in leaving the office. It was dark, so she used her small flashlight she carried in her purse. The range of the light was small , but the path was familiar. She had reached the middle of the cemetery when she heard of noise.
The noise was soft,like the wind in the trees, but there was a tune. The sound was mellifluous. she swung her flash light around searching for the sounds source. She left the familiar path, but without thought of doing so as she searched.
Then she heard another sound, it was not a pleasant sound, but a hitonious sound. She was on top of the sound. Her flashlight caught something in its small light circle. A form, no two forms. One of the forms gave off a teterrimous smell along with the hitonious sound. The form was singing. The sound stopped and the mellifluous sound came. It was from the other form now singing. Cindy turned off her flash light. She hid, stooping behind a tombstone, listening to the concert of mellifluous sound, and hitonious sound as the forms alternated their songs.
The sounds stopped, and Cindy looked around to find she was facing the two ghostly forms. There was an angry look on their faces. As she arose her flashlight fell to the ground. Her hands searched for it, but her eyes were on the forms, making it more difficult to pick up the flashlight. She finally felt it and picked it up, and the forms moved closer. She fumbled with the switch. The light came on as she aimed it at the forms. They stopped moving, and Cindy took advantage and ran towards the exit by her home.
Where she thought the exit was it wasn't. The search for the music put her in a different direction from her usual path. She ran to and fro searching for the exit and dodging tombstones. The forms floated behind her never quite reaching her. Maybe that was their intent herding her out the exit.
Cindy never again entered the cemetery after dark. She did not want to meet up with the ghostly forms, although she missed the music of the form with the mellifluous sound.

Raven's 53

Today I face another Raven's Challenge.
Ten Word Challenge will be: chopping block, reading list, bangles, oracle, plan, fandango, spelling bee, calendar, utilitarian, flower pot

Mini Challenge: Siberia, citrus fruit, roofer, shamrock, twinkle twinkle little star

It was Flower Pot's wildest dream. She read it in the Chopping Block, Big River's daily news paper. The Bangles were coming to town to do a concert. Flower began to make a plan to be able to attend. The first thing she did was put the date on the calendar, which was on the refrigerator next to the school reading list with words to study for the spelling bee.
Next began the campaign to win the support of her parents. The Pots were utilitarian about their family and would like everyone to be content. Flower thought that it would be possible to convince them, although she was not an oracle.
"The Bangles, I haven't heard about them for awhile. The problem dear child is the cost. Things are a bit tight right now. I would not want you to go alone, so there would be more than one ticket," said Mr. Pot.
" If I can raise the money, can I go?"
"yes, if you can raise the money."
Flower had the idea to raise the money by having a garage sale of her old toys. She cleaned out the garage. Found the best of her old toys, and priced them while putting them on card tables. She made up posters and posted them.
The sale went well except for the rain. She was not sure if she had raised enough so she called the Fandango Ticket Company. Much to her dismay she didn't have enough.
The day of the concert came and she felt the sadness creep into her. It was so disappointing to not be able to go.
She heard a horn honking. Flower looked out and saw her aunt sitting out front in the car. She was curious why her aunt did not come in, so she went out to the car. Her aunt Mary said, "get in."
Her aunt Mary did not say much, but Flower did when they drove into the parking lot of the theater that the Dangles were at. The concert was good , but the best was the time with her aunt Mary.



Mini challenge:

Lister Mort the Siberian, found himself, after following the penguin humming Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, in a small room of Sandy Shore. There were people, not a large crowd but enough to make him very uncomfortable. Uncomfortable, there are not words to describe how he felt about being kidnapped by a humming penguin. He had his zither, but he was not going to play for these people. They stared at him and he stared at them, a very awkward silence. He was actually glaring not starring. Sandy broke the silence.
"This is Lister Mort he will entertain us with his zither. I do not have the names of your selections. Will you introduce each number before you play?"
Lister wished he had not eaten the gift of citrus fruit, but could throw them at Sandy. He chose apanthropinization for a way of life in Siberia. Now he was being forced in The USA to play for people. Sandy was smiling, and waiting. The humming began again from the penguin. He felt compelled to play and he introduced his first tune"The Rough Roofer Who Found the Lucky Shamrock."
He played and the crowed was smiling and gave him applause as he finished. He introduced his next selection " A Lonely Lonely Siberian Home."
Applause again rang out. This may not be so bad he thought. Playing his zither for people may be what he was meant to do. Then he remembered why he went into isolation. He bowed and turned to Sandy and said, "take me home."

Quilly's Word Challenge#4

The Week Four words will be: apanthropinization; paucity & zither
Quilly

Combined Quilly& Raven Story:
Apanthropinization was Lister Morts life choice. He lived in Siberia with a paucity of world goods except a zither which he played for entertainment. His shelter a small hut was in need of a roofer.
Lister was playing his zither, when his hut began to shake. The door blew open and and a penguin stood facing him. He shook his head and looked again and sure enough there was a penguin at his door. A penguin holding a piece of paper in it's beak .Lister thought the penguin hopping up and down indicated the penguin wanted him to take the paper. He grabbed the paper.
There was a small shamrock printed in the corner,and a message.
Dear Mr Lister,
Would you honor me with your presence at my home to present a concert for my friends. Your zither playing is known all over the world. There is a hot air balloon outside your residence to start your journey. In the basket on the balloon are some citrus fruits lacking from your diet I am sure. Follow the humming penguin.
Sincerely Sandy Shore
The penguin began humming "Twinkle twinkle little star." Lister Mort life took a new direction as he found he could not say no and followed the penguin.

Weekend News

Pat and his boys and Curtis came down for the weekend. We for the most part stayed at the house. The boys played on the computer, and we watched snake movies all day on Saturday. We went out to eat at Culvers. By the way my daughter doesn't like snakes but the boys do.
Sunday we made a breakfast of baked french toast, which the boys and Dr. John did not like. I liked it. We went to church. After church they served a meal, with a large variety of foods. Eggs , muffins, veggie pizza, fruit pizza, pancakes and waffles. The bible camp young people were trying to raise money for camp.
We played Canasta where I finally won a game.