Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – Page

~ John W. Howell

Stream of Consciousness Saturday

 

Gazing at my watch convinced me to stay inside this morning. The temperature is below freezing, and the wind chill is in the teens. This is not a day to consider opening the front door. Getting settled with a hot cup of coffee and my trusty Apple, I was looking forward to a productive day of writing. That is when the sound of something hitting the roof caused me to jump.

The coffee was dripping behind me as I ran across the floor to the window. The cold of the glass caused my breath to fog the view. I couldn’t see what was lying in the driveway. Clearly, whatever it was had first impacted the roof and then come to rest out there.

There was no choice but to open the door and enter the deep freeze. Oh sure, I could have left the item laying there till spring, but what fun is there in that? Besides, not knowing what it is would make this a brief post.

Suitability outfitted with the latest winter gear, I undid the deadbolt and made one small step for knowledge. With the ice crunching under my feet, I arrived at the object. A quick investigation determined a box addressed to Wile E Coyote in care of my address. Feeling somewhat put out, I decided to simply leave the box where it was, and if Mr. Coyote wants to get it, he will need to swing by and pick it up.

Turning to go back inside, I heard a horn sound followed by the sound of a panic stop. Looking down, there was what appeared to be a drawing of a roadrunner with a printed page from an e-mail in its mouth. Taking the page, I could see it was a prompt from Linda Hill. Here’s what it said. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “page.” Use it as a noun or a verb. Have fun! If you want to join in this fun, go to Linda’s blog and read how easy it is. Here’s the link. https://lindaghill.com/2022/02/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-5-2022/ 

The horn sounded again, and with a swishing sound, the bird was gone.

Page by John W. Howell © 2022

“Don’t you dare leave us hanging like that.”

“Like what?”

“We want to know what’s in the box.”

“Who are we? I only see you.”

“Never mind. What’s in the box?”

“I have no idea.”

“Come on. You are writing this trash. Tell me.”

“You saw where I walked away, right?”

“Yeah, but you must know what’s inside.”

“I didn’t open it.”

“Arrrgg. Okay then. Let me ask a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

“Your question?”

“Why would you bring in something that was supposed to be delivered to Wile E. Coyote yet shows up on your driveway.”

“Simple.”

“Uh, go ahead.”

“It sets up a story for the next time.”

“I get that, but why can’t we have the story now?”

“No time. I ran out of available words. In fact, folks are starting to hit “like” and move on even as we speak.”

“What, folks?”

“Fourth wall, folks. Right out there.”

“OMG. I never saw them before.”

“Behave then.”

“H-how do we get out of this mess?”

“We get on the same page. You offer to buy the beer, and we exit stage left.”

“I’m buying.”

“Let’s go.”

“Don’t we need to do the soft shoe or anything?”

“You can if you wish.”

“No, let’s just go.”

“After you, my man. Page the bartender and tell her to set ’em up.”

“Page?”

“Never mind, I was just taking another kick at the prompt.”

 

88 thoughts on “Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – Page”

  4. I think some jazz hands as you exit would work. I’ll be ruminating on the contents of that box all week. Well, at least for a few minutes. Well done, John. I hope things are warming up in your area. Take care.

    Liked by 2 people

  12. I’m still thinking about that steamy cup of coffee. I need mine, but I’ll wait for the laughter to subside first. Cuddle up with the ladies today, John, and stay warm. 😊

    Liked by 1 person

  13. I will wait patiently for the contents to be revealed, but I fully expect to be strung along longer than a week. 😂 My niece in Dallas sent me pictures of the snow a few days ago. Hope your weather warms up quickly.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Oh goodness! Yep, another mysterious box and we have to wait to find out the contents. Great post and great use of the prompt. I think in this weather, I’d page the bartender for a home delivery! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  17. What is life without a little or a lot of mystery. I like that your bar has page ahead set up. Now if I could just teach the WP happiness engineers to keep the reader list out from under the trajectory of the acme anvil they might be able to deliver the page of your latest post to my browser. Or it could be they were distracted by that beep beep and the cloud of dust disappearing over the horizon…

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Great job slipping in a Wile E. Coyote reference. How many times did he go off a cliff and suspend in the air before falling? I kept looking for page, and you deftly slipped it in with another round. A good day to drink a hot toddy, John.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. ‘One small step for knowledge’… Hilarious and brilliant post. Who doesn’t love Wile E. Coyote? I hope you (or he) opens the box next week. I just love your Saturday stories, John!

    Liked by 1 person

  28. What’s in the box?
    What’s in the box?
    What’s in the box?
    I just love the Wylie Coyote deliveries. Why won’t you look in the box?
    What’s in the box?
    I’m sure it won’t blow up….. almost sure.

    Love your response to the challenge!
    I’ll have a page of wine!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. One page of wine coming up. (You do know a page of wine is 50 liters right?) I don’t know what’s in the box. it’s going to sit there until Wile does something with it. I’m not sure it won’t blow up. Most Wile E. Coyote things do. Thanks, Resa.

      Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.