The machine waits patiently for me to pad over and touch the screen with my choice. Today feels like a Latte Macchiato. A touch of the button and here it comes. One sip and my caffeine-deprived brain reaches out to grab and chug the rest. Before that could happen, the doorbell expresses its familiar Westminster chime. The baying hounds are pacified with a knucklebone thrown into the soundproof room. The slammed door brings back the former peace of the morning. Checking the security feed, there is no one in sight. “Who’s there?” is the demand through the speaker. “Delivery for Howell,” the reply. “Just leave it.” Seconds pass. “Need signature.” More seconds pass. “Show yourself.”
The figure steps into camera range, and although fuzzy, the image is remarkably similar to Wile E. Coyote. With a sigh, the security shut down begins., 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. A call to the tow truck driver stops the deployment of an M1A1 Abrams Tank. 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, and the IEDs and shoulder-held rockets put away. The Proton torpedoes switched off. The gamma ray beams covered. The high powered maser guns switched to stand by and the nanorobots chained in the basement. The locks on the door are thrown. And the door opened.
No words are spoken, and the Coyote hands me a clipboard. I sign, and he gives me an envelope. His paw is outstretched in the classic tip request fashion. “Fall seven times. Stand up eight” is my tip of the day. The coyote seems displeased as I shut the door. My thought, given his challenges, the tip is a good one. The envelope has one note. It reads: Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “pad.” Use it as a noun, use it as a verb, use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
If you would like to see what others have done with the prompt, visit Linda’s post. Here is the link: https://lindaghill.com/2025/08/22/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-aug-23-2025/
Pad by John W. Howell © 2025
“So, no clock, huh?”
“Nope, not much going on on the dates in question.”
“So we have the security cartoon backup.”
“You trying to tell me something?”
“Was hoping for a historical jaunt.”
“Maybe next week.”
“Fair enough.”
“I thought you would be dropping VooDoo Ranger hints.”
“No need.”
“Why?”
“You just did.”
“Uber?”
“Right over there.”
Photo by Dan Antion
“Now we are talking.”
“Yup. Nice seat in the back of the coupe for the older folks.”
“Older folks?”
“I’m just sayin'”
“I suppose we’d better get going.”
“Just one thing.”
“Yes, of course.”
“We have to stop at the drag strip on the way.”
“To race?”
“No. Just to deliver some packages. The guy is a DoorDash driver.”
“Just the drag strip, right?”
“Maybe one or two others.”
“Sure. What is that smell?”
“One of the deliveries is corned beef.”
“Good grief.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
“Or have an olfactory meltdown.”
“Yeah, that too. Let’s go.”
Fiction Favorites 
we have the perfect door opening routine, John… if they don’t want to wait for one of us to stagger to the door, they leave whatever it is on the doorstep…
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Sounds perfect, Jaye. 😀
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Works for us… so far anyway…
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😊
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If it were me, John, that corned beef would be gone by the time we made the first delivery!!
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Ha ha ha. I’d be right there with you. 😀
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I couldn’t do that job. The corned beef would never make it to the drag strip.
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I think I would help you. 😀 Thanks, Dan
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Never realized corned beef has a strong smell. Though I haven’t had it often.
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In a small coupe, it would be pretty intense.
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Dear John
We hate corned beef. The last time we smelled it was many years ago, fortunately. Impressive car.
We wish you a fabulous weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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And a peaceful weekend to the F4oC 😀
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Enjoyed this John…apart from the smell of corned beef..it wafted over here!😅
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Ha ha ha. Good one Ange.
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😁
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Rumble seat, corned beef, drag races. Sounds like a pretty good day. They sell beer at the races.
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Yes, they do sell beer. Just another reason to go there.
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Last month my nextdoor neighbor texted me to ask if the cops had knocked on my door at 2am. Heck no! Why would they do that? Someone had called the cops to report a woman walking in the park across the street and they were concerned. We figured the cops knocked on her door because she has security cameras and we don’t. Can you imagine if we had your security system?! 😂 I’d never get a good night’s sleep!
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Oh no. You would sleep like a baby since no one would have the guts to ring your bell. Think of the boiling pot of oil overhead.
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The boiling pot is my favorite part!!
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Ha ha ha. Mine, too.
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As I sit here drinking my second iced coffee of the day I can’t help being reminded that Doordash drivers are always the most unique characters…uber drivers are a close second but I don’t think they can be quite as strange what with driving the people around.
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The other strange ones are the contractors for Amazon. I think you are right, DoorDash folks can be as weird as they wish. No one is spending time with them in a car. 😀
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Well, you padded over to the coffee machine and I’ll bet the back seat of that drag racer is padded. I’d like to go for a drag!
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I hope it is padded. Thanks, Noelle.
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A good tip for Wile E. Coyote, John. It will be tempting smelling the corned beef, and a nice stop at the drag strip.
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Ha ha ha. Thanks, Tim.
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Hahaha.. the things you’ll do for a ride in the blue coupe… why not order an extra sandwich for lunch. Made me hungry… lol 😂
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Extra sandwich coming up. Thanks, Cindy.
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Yum, thanks John! 🙏🏼
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😀
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I don’t mind corned beef if I can ride along in that car 🚙!
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I agree with you, Thanks, Holly.
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That is certainly an impressive security system. You have tanks, boiling oil vats, and even Proton torpedoes.
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Can you think of anything that’s missing?
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How about gamma ray beams, high powered maser guns and nanorobots that eat you up in a second?
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Good adds. Look for them the next time.
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Sweet ride, John. What you need is a vegetarian to act as driver. 🤣
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Ha ha ha. Great comment, Monika.
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What a great car… even if you have to do DoorDash deliveries. I thought your tip to Wile was a good one.
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Thank you, Jennie. My tip might be worth more than cash.
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You’re welcome, John. Yes, you’re right on your tip.
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😊
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I enjoy your introduction to the word challenge every week.
Nice ride this week, but maybe a hanky with a sprinkle of Cologne wouldn’t be a bad idea.😀🥬
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I like your solution to the corned beef issue, Deborah. I’ll take an N95 and put a few drops of Channel no5. 😀
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That’s a nice find by Dan and fun story by you. Surely an upcharge for that delivery!
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I think an upcharge is a great idea. 😀
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🤑
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🤭
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Interesting!
There’s been a character that looks a lot like the one you described who came to your door, hanging around my hood.
He’s climbing drain pipes, up to no good and has the olfactory presence of boiled cabbage.
OX OX
Does he look anything like this?
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He looks exactly like that one. Resa. Soooo funny 😄X
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He’s funny, but chaos, and destruction follow him, like Acme following a coyote! 😂X
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😊🛠️Sent from my iPhone
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💥⚒️
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😊XSent from my iPhone
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Well, that was an iBlast. Lots of iOX over the last comments.
💻X
iSent from my old laptop that will need replacing soon!
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Ha ha ha. 🤣X
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🤣X
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I gotta figure how to make these pics come out smaller!!!!
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Looks great to me. At least it is there. 😊X
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Ox kay!
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😊Sent from my iPhone
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Love the Wile E. Coyote “tip”! The tip I would give him is to not order anything from the ACME company.
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Or make sure it can be returned in any condition.
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Good point!
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I see you got the prompt right in the first sentence 🙂 I love that vehicle … that would be riding in style! Hope you didn’t have to wait too long for the VooDoo Rangers 😉
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We snuck some in a cooler just in case.
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lol …
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😊
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I thought it was a good tip, Boss.
As for the corned beef and drag racing, I think you could be onto something. You start looking for classics like this and I’ll find a food truck. Corned beef on anything with Voodoo on tap. What’s not to love?
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A food truck dragster. Perfect.
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On it!
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😀
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