Today I opened My GRL randomly to page 51. With eyes closed, I pointed to the page. The word closest to my finger is “worked.” This is our prompt.

Worked by John W. Howell, © 2025

“Well, that worked.”

“What do you mean. This is a mess.”

“It may not look pretty, but at least the leak is stopped.”

“I’ll give you that, but what an eyesore. The neighbors are going to have a field day at the New Year’s Eve party, talking about the mess you made.”

“So you are just worried about what the neighbors will say?”

“Darn right I’m worried.”

“You should be happy that we got the leak under control and not worry about the gossip.”

“I’m the one who has to deal with these folks. All you do is work most of the time and don’t have talk to them.”

“Still. For the most part, we keep our place neat. This was an emergency. Don’t you think they will understand that?”

“I still don’t understand why it has to look like such a fright?”

“The water pressure was just too great to take the time to make a lovely patch. I had to get the water stopped before it ruined everything.”

“Can you fix it now?”

“No the binder has to set up before I make any more adjustments.”

“How does this happen anyway? You built our place. Did you do a lousy job?”

“This is a small setback, and you are making a mountain out of a molehill.”

“You don’t have to listen to the whispers.”

“We had unprecedented rain, and the water pressure was just too much.”

“Why didn’t this happen to others?”

“Take a look.”

“What?”

“Do you see any dams left downstream?”

“OMG, where are they?”

“So much for wondering if ours was built properly. I don’t think you have to worry about what is said at the New Year’s Eve party. I think you and I will be the only ones there. The rest will be chasing their tails trying to find logs to rebuild.”

“You are my hero. Happy New Year, you eager Beaver you.”

*Blush*