Today, I randomly opened The Power of Three by Teri Polen to page 67. With eyes closed, I pointed to the page. The word closest to my finger is “trash.” That is our prompt today.
Trash by John W. Howell ©2026
“When are you going visit the trash young man?”
“Aw, Mom. I just got interested in this puzzle.”
“That’s not a puzzle, it’s just a bunch of sticks.”
“Yeah, and the idea is to make them look like something.”
“Well, mister, you need to put that stuff away and get to the trash.”
“Why do I always have to do the trash?”
“Because you live here and we each need to pull our own weight.”
“What about sister?”
“What about her?”
“I never see her do the trash.”
“That’s because she does other chores.”
“Liked what?”
“Well if you must know, she is at the creek .”
“Doing what? Throwing daisies and making wishes?”
“Hilarious, smart guy. I’ll have you know she is catching tonight’s supper.”
“When did she learn how to fish?”
“Dad taught her.”
“Oh man. I thought that was something special between dad and me.”
“No when it comes to putting food on the table. Now, I think you’d better get moving.”
“Okay, okay. Anything special?”
“Some fruit or salad would be nice.”
“Why aren’t we raccoons like other animals?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know. Hunt and catch prey.”
“Cause we are fat, lazy, and human stuff is easy pickings. Now get to it.”
“Yes, Mom.”
Fiction Favorites 
Haha! The necessities of racoons in urban settings. Not like they can forage in the woods, many of them. I should have caught on it was racoons! Nicely done, Sir.
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Thank you, Dale. 😊
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Nice. Read that raccoons are steadily domesticating themselves like cats did. They could be one viable pets in the near future.
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We had one move into the house and stayed for a week. We didn’t know it was there until we put it together that the cat’s water was dirty, and kibble was on the floor. We finally found it under the bed in a guest room.
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Did he leave a tip for housekeeping?
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Used to see these guys pretty regularly when I worked downtown years ago. Why they aren’t in the fringes I don’t understand.
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They are certainly in my fringe. 😀
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Dang! I read “just a bunch of sticks” and thought ‘I’ve got it–beavers!’ You keep me on my toes, John. 😀🦝🦫
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Good one, John! I would see racoons often when we lived on some acreage. They couldn’t get to our trash which was held in the pole barn garage. Our dog would chase them away.
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You’ve captured their character so well. Made me smile.
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Good one, John 🙂 The bears help out our raccoons, they eat well.
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Another good’un, John! You’re constantly catching me with your surprises!
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{giggling} Hadn’t expected trash pandas in this great finger point prompt! Well done, John.
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Thank you, Monika
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Oh they’re another group that likes to take over. Good you have a job for them, John! xx
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Yes. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop for any species.
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Hilarious! I did guess it was raccoons early on. Normally you stump me until the end. Great use of the prompt!
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If you think that I’m usually writing about an animal the word trash naturally fits raccoons
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I didn’t guess raccoons — I was thinking beavers. Oh, well, I guess they’re kinda close, right? Nice for Mama to split the chores between the wee ones!
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They are close. Yes, she is a good Mom. Thanks, Debbie
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Ha ha racoons bringing home the bacon. Racoons are smart animals. I saw this TV documentary about an abandoned racoon kit who was taken care of by a family. He became a pet and got along very well with the cat and the dog. He learned how to open doors, used the litter box, and he refused to leave the house.
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They could be a cute pet. They do have a habit of washing their food, though.
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That seems like a good habit making up for the trash raids
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Yes. Much better to go through the trash and then wash up.
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Yes that sounds like a good plan
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I was convinced they were beavers. You got me at raccoon! A mama raccoon dug under the canvas floor of the balcony of the house we lived in, in Cleveland. We didn’t dare go out there because she made a nest and had her babies there. But it was fun seeing her teaching them how to go down the tree she had used to access our balcony (top floor of a duplex.)
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She was resourceful for sure. Thanks for sharing the story, Noelle.
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Clever as always, John. I thought it might be raccoons. I’ll never understand why some people think it’s okay to try to turn wild animals like raccoons into domestic-like creatures.
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Another good one, John. We used to have raccoons living under my workshop. They are cute, and we had a hard time keeping them out of our trash.
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We had locking bins in California, and they still managed to get in. Amazing creatures
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For most of the story, I thought the two speakers were human.
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Well, I tried to make it appear that way. 😀
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Mission accomplished!
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Time for coffee. 😊
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I am constantly amazed by people who can write stories so organically. I tried once and each took weeks. Might as well write a novel!
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Thanks, Jacqui. I hope you see this. You came in as anonymous.
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Ha! I love this one, John. Terri’s book is fabulous — congratulations to her. Between the two of you, I was inspired to make an image. Hugs.
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Love that image. I hope Teri sees it.
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I’m honored you chose The Power of Three for finger prompt Tuesday, John!
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I thought it would be fun.
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That one was a surprise, with a funny punch line. 😊
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Thank you, Michele.
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Thanks to you, John.
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😊
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This brings to mind a very early morning run I went on many years back. I was arriving back at the house when who comes up the alleyway but a whole family of raccoons. They were coming back from having worked the third shift. They walked right past me, too tired to even make a scene I’m guessing.
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Great story, Pilgrim.
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I was ready to run again but they had no interest in anything other than a good day’s rest.
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Well, you know how that third shift can be.
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The Commodores made it song way more romantic than it really was.
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