Today I opened The Last Drive randomly to Page 243. With eyes closed, I pointed to the page. The word closest to my finger is “throat.” That is our prompt today.
Throat by John W. Howell © 2026
“What did you just do?”
” Gargle”
“Why?”
“I have a sore throat, and that makes it feel better.”
“What did you use?”
“Water.”
“Water? That’s not going to help.”
“Why not. It felt good.”
“You need something with some medicine in it.”
“The water was warm.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s going to help.”
“So what kind of medicine should I use?”
“Well, to start, I would get some saltwater and see if that helps.”
“That is easy enough. What if it doesn’t work?”
“Why don’t you try it first?”
“Yeah, I guess worrying about the ‘what ifs’ is a waste of time. You want to come with me?”
“Sure. I haven’t had breakfast yet, so I could do that while you are gargling with saltwater.”
“Good thing we live by the sea.”
“For a lot of reasons and not just your sore throat.”
“I’ve often wondered.”
“What?”
“What they say about our color.”
“What do they say?”
“We are pink cause we eat shrimp.”
“Yeah, that’s a good one. Can’t say if it’s true or not.” Here we are. Get to gargling.”
Fiction Favorites 
Excellent! Saying without saying! They do say that is why these lovely birds are pink… Must have a shrimp stuck in its throat!
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😊 The funny part is most shrimp are grey until cooked.
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Exactly! Doesn’t make much sense…
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😊
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Can you gargle while standing on one leg?
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Never tried it. Of course, doing anything on one leg is risky. 😁
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This is why you’ll never meet a Jewish flamingo.
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😁
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Very entertaining – you always leave us with a smile.
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I hope so. Thank you, Esther. 😊
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Another outstanding story with some sound medical advice.
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Ha ha ha. Thanks, Craig.
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Wouldn’t you love to watch a flamingo gargle? 🦩😂
Flannel shirt weather this morning? 29 degrees at 6am!
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Yes, indeed. 39 here. 🥶
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Happy gargling…. Feel better! ❤️🩹
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😁
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Good story. I’ve heard the shrimp caused their color. I’m severely allergic to shrimp. If I ate them, I would first turn blue, then cold, and then grey.
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Better not eat them then. Funny that shrimp are mostly grey until cooked.
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This is a great story! I love how it turned out to be flamingos. lol
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Thank you, Kymber. 😊
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Ha!! Yep, and that’s a long throat. 🙂
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It is long and very bad when sore.
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Cool, John! 🌞😎 It would be fun to watch a flamingo gargling with salt water. Maybe before and after eating?
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Ha ha ha. That would be fun. 😊 Thanks, Tim.
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😊
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😊
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Lol…good one, John:)
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Thank you, Denise.
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Got that feeling in the throat…
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Does happen.
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Flamingos! I could have sworn the speakers were humans this time. Silly me.
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Won’t happen unless I think humans would be a surprise. 😁
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When I saw the word was throat, I predicted you’d do something with giraffes – you surprised me again, John.
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I did think of giraffes, but needed a water bird near salt water. Thanks, Teri.
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Hahahaha!
Man, when they get a sore throat, it must be a killer sore throat!
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Can you imagine?
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My God, it would be awful!
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Gulp.
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Gargling Flamingos would be a great name for a Jester King beer. I did not expect flamingos. It was a fun story.
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That would be a good name. Thanks, Thomas.
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😀
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😊
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Should be able to scoop up a lot of saltwater with those beaks 🙂
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I would think so, too. 😁
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I was wondering about the flannel shirt, John, and I totally missed on the flamingos (my son used to call them dofingos when he was little!) and yes, gargling with salt water is good, but such a long neck!
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Was in the high 30s overnight and only 60 in the day. Flannel shirt weather.
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Hah! A true Texan. No flannel here until it’s in the low 40s during the day!
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