Tuesday – Anything Possible – Finger Point Prompt – Language

~ John W. Howell

Today, I randomly opened Eternal Road – The last stop to page 233. With eyes closed, I pointed to the page. The word closest to my finger is “language.” That is our prompt

Language by John W. Howell © 2025

“That is not the kind of language we use, young man.”

“Sorry, Mum, but I’m very frustrated.”

“Over what?”

“Well, you know how Pa sent me out to hunt for dinner.”

“He said it was about time you learned to contribute to the family.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

“So, what is so frustrating?”

“Pa makes everything look so easy.”

“And?”

“I found out that hunting is more complex than it looks.”

“I think anyone could have told you that.”

“Well, long story short, I didn’t get any dinner.”

“Hmm. That does present a problem for you.”

“I know. Pa is going to be pretty mad.”

“Don’t you think your father knows how hard hunting is?”

“I suppose. He’s been doing it a long time.”

“And don’t you think he would have made sure we had dinner, knowing it was your first time?”

“You mean?”

“I think the only problem is not your father getting mad, but how you see yourself as a hunter.”

“A failure.”

“See, that’s not the way you should look at it.”

“Well, that’s how I feel.”

“You have to know that every time your father went hunting, he didn’t always bring back dinner.”

“Really?”

“Really. But what he did was to continue to go out each day, no matter what.”

“So never give up?”

“That’s it. Tell me, did you see any game?”

“Sure.”

“So what happened?”

“Every time I stalked the game, they ran away.”

“Sounds like a scent problem.”

“What’s that?”

“Did you pay attention to the wind?”

“No. What’s wind got to do with it?”

“Springboks have a great sense of smell. If the wind is behind you, your scent blows toward them.”

“If the wind is in my face, then their scent blows towards me and mine is not detectable.”

“That a boy. Take this information and make us proud.”

“Make the pride proud. You got it, ma.”

I will be taking a blogging break from Friday of this week to Thursday of next. Totally off the grid.

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Published by John W. Howell

I have been working in business for over forty years and now have the time to work in special areas of interest. My passion has always been to create compelling stories of fiction. I have authored six novels and am working on my Seventh. The first novel is still in manuscript form and being utilized as a door stop in the laundry room. The second is a contemporary fiction novel of 89,000 words and is complete and I am currently seeking a publisher. I also write poetry but have not had the guts to share any with anyone. The one time I read a piece to a person their only comment was, “it doesn’t rhyme.” I will continue to write and hopefully my blog, Fiction Favorites at www.johnwhowell.com will provide some entertainment and an interesting thought or two. I live in the Austin area with my wife Molly and an assortment of loving pets.

65 thoughts on “Tuesday – Anything Possible – Finger Point Prompt – Language”

  7. The first sentence of this brought back a memory I hadn’t thought of for a while. When Son #2 was very young, he latched onto a word he shouldn’t say, and no matter what I did he kept using it. I borrowed a trick from A Christmas Story and made him hold a bar of soap in his mouth for a couple minutes. That did the trick. Thanks for the memory, John, lol!

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  17. Great story, John. Have a wonderful week away from it all. Much like you, I’ll be off-grid Thursday through the following Wednesday — visiting my kids in the Northeast. I’ll send a hello from your old stamping ground. 😊

    Liked by 1 person

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