Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – Curl

~ John W. Howell

A picture of a string with drops of water- the logo for SoCS

 

Saturday morning coffee is not a simple item that one wants. It is a crucial part of living that one needs to survive. A steaming cup with a bit of half and half is all that is necessary to continue down life’s path. Reaching for the half and half, a strange feeling came over me. The carton was too warm, and one sniff told me that the use of this would curl my hair. Then it hit me. Not only was coffee without half and half a catastrophic event, but something was obviously wrong with the chiller.

Holding my nose and taking the first sip was interrupted by the familiar Westminster chime of the doorbell. The Hounds of Hell took up their ear-bursting refrain and were redirected by a fresh knucklebone tossed into the soundproof room. Slamming the door brought the sound of silence, which spread like a relief wave over the household. Checking the windows for cracks brought me to the security monitor. Sure enough, centered in the view was a big-eared elephant. “You look like Dumbo,” was my greeting through the intercom.

“Letter for Mr. John,” was the reply. To prevent shutting down the security system, the suggestion was made to drop the letter on the porch. The elephant was having none of that. A mouse in his hat held up a sign. We work for tips. Heaving a sigh, the security system shutdown process has begun. The SWAT team needs to be put on standby. A quick text to the leader confirms that status. Also, the flight of A-10 Warthogs must be diverted. Another call to the commander puts that worry to rest. The SEAL team needs to be called off, and a call to the leader makes that possible. The control panel simplifies the shutdown process of the security system. The boiling oil vats are put on standby, the turret mortars disengaged, the Trebuchet on safety, the concertina wire rolled, the Claymore mines reset, the tower Gatling guns on safety, the moat net dropped, the alligators fed, the IEDs and shoulder-held rockets put away.  The Proton torpedoes switched off. The locks on the door are thrown. And the door opened.

“Here’s your tip.” Handing the elephant a bag of peanuts and the mouse a wedge of cheddar, they smiled and, in turn, gave me the letter. The elephant started flapping his ears. Before long, both were airborne and out of sight.

The letter is from Linda Hill and reads: Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “curl.” Use it as a noun, use it as a verb, use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

To see what others have done with the prompt, visit Linda’s blog. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2025/07/11/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-12-2025/

Curl by John W. Howell © 2025

“Well, that was a mess.”

“What do you mean?”

“Warm half and half?”

“I just wrote that because then I could use the word curl.”

“Which is the prompt?”

“Correct.”

“A cheap way to do it.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, come on. You made up the story about the half and half. Feels like cheating.”

“Okay, Einstein. Tell me what part of this post is not made up?”

“Um. I think you have me. Time to curl our fingers around a nice cold VooDoo Ranger.”

“Sure, change the subject, why don’t you? Uber?”

“Right over there.”

Photo by Dan Antion

“Wow, a 1972 Chevy Camaro Z28. Now we are talking.”

“I thought you would like it. I’ll sit in the back.”

“That’s nice of you. So there is always one thing. What is it with this car?”

“Nothing really. All we have to do is pay for gas.”

“Oh, that’s doable.”

“I thought so. Of course, it burns Nitro-methane.”

“How much does that cost?”

“$45.00 a gallon.”

“I almost hate to ask the mileage on this beast.”

“We won’t be going top end, so I would say 5 miles to the gallon.”

“That’s 90 bucks just to get there.”

“But in style, my man, and very quickly.”

“I have a headache.”

“A couple of Voo Doo’s will fix that.”

Reminder

 

Eternal Road – The final stop – The first book in the Eternal Road series, Kindle edition, is on sale now for 99¢.  Sam and James battle Lucifer for the future of mankind. 4.6 stars https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GL135KQ

107 thoughts on “Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – Curl”

  1. Dear John
    We had never heard of a car that runs on Nitro-methane. Where do you get this expensive stuff?
    Besides this, it’s a beautiful car.
    Wishing you a lot of fun with it and hope that it doesn’t ruin you
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  7. First off, John, you have far too many security measures to protect the coffee and your made-up stories. Although…I wouldn’t mind if Shemar Moore came to my door in his SWAT fatigues. Just sayin…

    The Camaro was my dream car when I was young and couldn’t afford one. Now I don’t know if I could easily get in and out of one. ;-p

    Liked by 1 person

  8. “We work for tips” made me smile. Thanks for that this morning.

    Did you add more to your security ? It seems to me there is something else but I can’t spot it. Anyway, ditch the half and half. Coffee black for me !!!

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Unrelated comment but something wrong with the chiller made my anxiety spike. Our weather has been accompanied by unpredictable power outages and that’s the worst.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Loved Dumbo and his mouse! And the car is a real winner, except for the $45 dollars just to rev the engine. Somehow I kept thinking you were going to somehow work the curl into curdle – which is what your half and Half must have been!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. I was so invested and on edge that I ended up spilling my precious morning liquid gold all over Diane! 😱 But the moment I saw you had taken delivery of your new Protons, I knew everything was going to be alright! 💥 It’s time to declare war on the Voodoo Ranger—he’s just a devious tea-drinking villain! 🐳

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Tea-drinking ??? What the heck is that? You need a chill pill. Go apologize to your BRIDE and relax. Don’t make me come down there.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. John, speaking of black coffee (our own Uncle Tom), whenever I was working with Walt, the waitress would ask if we wanted cream. Walt would always say, “No thank you, I take mine natural.” Great memories, great times.. 🐳

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Pingback: Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – Curl – Unique style

  20. Nothing worse than bad milk or half and half… usually realising it is bad when it has curdled in the coffee! Oy!

    And that is quite the ride…

    Liked by 1 person

  23. John you get the best callers to you door! The fact it takes so long to disarm …is unsettling!

    thats a lovely Camero very classy.!

    I don’t believe you can buy Nitro Methame in the UK we have to order it?

    Liked by 1 person

  27. Another brilliant meeting the prompt. Well done, John. Yikes, buying that rocket fuel sounds like a very expensive endeavor. But as you pointed out…riding in style. Nothing like a classic. Happy [but short] road trip. #zoomzoom

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Would love a ride in that car but too rich for my pocket.. your precautions before allowing Dumbo to deliver his message sounds a bit like around here when strange men in a suit in 30 degrees ring the doorbell at our electronic waving leaflets and asking if we wish to repent… as they did yesterday…lol. Always entertaining John. Hugs

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m glad you liked it. We had a guy selling bug control who refused to pay attention to the No Solicitation and “please do not ring the doorbell” sign. What a pain. Thanks, Sally.

      Liked by 2 people

  29. Ha! Agree on the coffee (though I drink mine black for the very reason you discovered). And am with you on the security system. We just upgraded ours from simple to not-so-much.

    Liked by 1 person

  30. Haha! Great use of the prompt, John. I’ve yet to have a chance to try a VooDoo Ranger — dagnabit… But I would love to curl my fingers around the steering wheel of that old Camero!
    I had tried to comment on your Friday post — and well, I’ll just blame it on solar flares. I wanted you to know that I enjoyed it a lot too. Hugs.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. It’s definitely a tragedy of sorts when there’s no cream to go with my cafe, and since I don’t use sugar the way I used to, it only adds to the woe. But you done good with this adversity by nailing the challenge. Again!

    And this ride IS your wheelhouse. I took one look and said, “Yep, that’s the Boss right there”. So what if it costs a little extra? By the second round of voodoos, we’d be talking road trip.

    Liked by 1 person

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