Today, I randomly opened Detour on the Eternal Road to page 247 and then, with my eyes closed, pointed to the page. The word closest to my finger is turning. This is our prompt.
Turning by John W. Howell, © 2025
“I see the leaves are turning.”
“Yeah, that means we need to get busy.”
“Busy? Doing what?”
“We must prepare for winter.”
“I’m still a little foggy. What do you mean?”
“When the snows come, we will have to be prepared to stay warm and cozy.’
“Okay. We are warm and cozy now.”
“Yeah, when the temperature is warm, we are.”
“You mean it doesn’t stay this way all the time?”
“Are you having memory issues?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t remember the ice and cold from last year?”
“You know me. I’m a one day at a time kind of person. Of course, I remember. I just don’t want to think about it right now. Let’s go swimming.”
“Did you ever hear the story of the grasshopper and the ants?”
“Tell me.”
“The grasshopper played and played and, too late, found himself with no food and shelter when it got cold.”
“Okay. What about the ants?”
“They had prepared for winter and then took the grasshopper in and saved him.”
“So the point of the story is to be more like the ants.”
“You are pretty sharp, grasshopper.”
“What do we have to do?”
“Gather nuts and put them in the tree.”
“Hey. I already buried a ton.”
“Good luck finding them when the snow is a foot deep.”
“Yeah, good point. Okay, I’ll start getting the nuts into the tree. Are we squirrels the only ones doing this?”
“No. Everybody does it. Well, except for the birds who take off and the humans.”
“What do the humans do?”
“Watch football and drink beer.”
“Sounds productive.”
“You can never accuse a human of being productive.”
Fiction Favorites 
Haha! At first I thought it was ants, tilll, of course, the ants/grasshopper story was told. I’ve done some preparing for winter myself all weekend. Nicely done, sir!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Dale. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
The ants here carry the grasshoppers away and share them with all the other ants for a feast!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my. 😳
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah but in defense of us humans, you can’t bury burgers and wings and pizza. They don’t take kindly to it so we have no choice but to eat them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
An excellent point. 🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahaha!
LikeLiked by 1 person
😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
haha, I love it, John – especially the final line!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, GP. I’m glad you did.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If only the squirrels remembered where they buried their nuts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It would make their lives easier for sure.😊
LikeLike
What do humans do? Eat the squirrels.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There you go. 🐿️
LikeLiked by 1 person
That last line says it all! Very amusing, John.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Esther.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ouch. That last line hit a nerve, John. Then again, the squirrels do work harder than I do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha ha. I don’t think so.
LikeLiked by 1 person
‘watch football and drink beer’–we sound like sloths. **what do sloths do? never mind, kid. Gather more nuts** This was good, John.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Lois. In some cases, sloths look like Olympic athletes compared to some humans. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
What better than to watch football and drink a VooDoo Ranger? Anyway our squirrels never forget where they buried their peanuts (provided by us). In our flower beds!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good training for them. Great exercise for you, replanting the flowers.
LikeLike
They like our parsley beds, which are easy to fix!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh good.
LikeLike
This is too cute, John. Thanks for the chuckle!
LikeLiked by 1 person
A chuckle is a good thing, Cindy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Always!!!!! 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well done, John! There’s definitely a hint of Fall in the air, so it behooves all of us to prepare for the winter to come (and I imagine it will be another doozy!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Our hint is a drop in temperature all the way to 96 degrees
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not trying to rub it in, but it was 50 here yesterday morning!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
My kind of cool. When we lived in California, it was 55 every night. We slept with the windows open under a comforter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep. It’s pretty ideal … and saves on A/C costs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😊
LikeLike
The squirrels got in their licks today!
LikeLiked by 1 person
They did. So take that, you drivers of squirrel flatteners.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Squirrels do bury nuts for winter. I guess dirty food is better than none.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s why a shell comes in handy. Wipe it off, crack the nut. All’s good. Thanks, Tim.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Loved that last line! You really can’t accuse humans of being productive.
Excellent little story and some brilliant characterization. Thanks for sharing it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, AJ. These little stories help keep the cobwebs from gaining ground.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That was a favorite story way back when. Our squirrels have been very busy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
In your neighborhood, winter comes early. They should get busy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A very amusing reminder of that story. We need to prepare for harder times.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Or at least know where our next nut is coming from. Thanks, Thomas.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha! Ha! Watch football and drink beer 🤪🤪🤪 Entertaining as always, John.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Jan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You write with the conviction of someone who has been there and not done that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Or an active imagination. Thanks, Pat.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🤔🫡🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person
🤭
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really enjoy your creativity and the way you share your prompts very inspiring! You seem like a really nice person. Would you be open to connecting through Instagram, Facebook, Google Chat, or WhatsApp?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Emma. I really don’t do chats. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey John–I was just reading my September The Fresh Market magazine and they advertised Voodoo Ranger Atomic Pumpkin beverage. Mm-mm. Yummy! Fall calls! 🍺
LikeLiked by 1 person
Atomic Pumpkin? Sounds like it might be dangerous. I’ll have to check it out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I figured we had a discussion going on between critters, John. The last line, however, that was a good one and had me chuckling. Today, I’m unproductive for sure.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sometimes it is worth taking an unproductive time out. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t know, John; I think you’ve also proven the benefit of being the grasshopper *among* ants.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The other side of the coin, for sure. Thanks, Chel.😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hee, hee…yeah football has ruined many a human’s weekends at getting things done. I suppose there are worse things. 😆
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think there are worse things.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! Well done, John.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Jennie.😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome, John.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree!
LikeLiked by 1 person