Another Saturday means thinking about the prompt that is due from Linda Hill. As I savored the aroma from the first cup of coffee, it occurred to me to check the front of the house once more. Last week there was a mountain of ice that had not only the prompt frozen against the front door but a lingering question on how the ice got there in the first place.

Thinking the whole situation was a figment of imagination, I looked at the Ring doorbell app on my phone. Sure enough, the mountain of ice was still there. Also, a prominent St Bernard dog was sitting patiently at the edge of the hill holding an envelope in its mouth.

I was forced to go out the back door since the front was frozen solid. Coming around the house, I discovered the reason for the mountain of ice. The hose attached to the faucet was doing the dance of the cobra while spewing water in all directions. I quickly calculated the value of a week’s worth of water running helter-skelter and made a mental note to contact the lending officer at the bank for a loan first thing Monday.

Getting the water turned off was challenging but accomplished. Next, it was time to address the dog.” Lovely doggy,” I said. “Snarl,” was his response. Bravely I took hold of the envelope, hoping he had the commands to release upon delivery. “Let go,” I said. His answer sounded like a muffled warning to take my hand away or lose it. “Fine, you win.”

As I turned away to go back inside, the big dog barked, and the envelope dropped from his mouth. Being quick of mind and certainly smarter than a dog, I grabbed the envelope. The dog seemed pleased that the delivery was made and trotted away.

Here is what was inside. Your prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “let go.” Write about the first thing that comes to mind when you think, “let go.” Enjoy!

If you want to join this happy band, visit Linda’s blog and see how easy it is. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2022/01/28/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2022-daily-prompt-jan-29th/

Let Go by John W. Howell © 2022

“At least you explained the ice.”

“A small holdover from last week.”

“Why did the dog hold onto the envelope in the first place?”

“How would I know? I’m not a dog whisperer.”

“No, but you wrote the scene.”

“Okay. He didn’t know if it was me or not.”

“What changed his mind?”

“For heaven’s sake, can we get off the dog?”

“But you made him central to your story.”

“It’s the first thing I thought of when I saw ‘Let Go’ was the prompt.”

“Okay, so you have no idea why he let go of the envelope.”

“Well. he barked, and it fell out of his mouth. Isn’t that enough?”

“Why didn’t he pounce on you when you went to get the envelope.”

“Is this ever going to end?”

“I’m just saying. Plot holes are not a good thing.”

“Alright. The dog saw my blue feet from being all wet from turning off the faucet, so he had mercy on me.”

“Why didn’t you say that?”

“Too much for such a short story.”

“Well, when you leave questions, folks get anxious.”

“Why don’t you write it next week?”

“I’m a beer consumer, not a writer.”

“Magic word.”

“To end this misery?”

“You got it, and you are buying. Time to let go of some of that hoarded cash.”

“Says the guy who framed his first dollar. By the way. You mentioned blue feet. Did you go out there barefooted?”

The day wakes like any other. Its dark curtain slowly rises to reveal hazy images of deer and trees. The cement driveway reflects the glow of the yard lamp. The effect is converting an ordinary grey slab to the appearance of polished granite. It is a rainy day.

Always welcome but at the same time disappointing the rain has come. The immaculate car of yesterday will become the spattered mess of tomorrow. The clear, undistorted windows will be rain marked, denigrating the views to impressions.

A sigh and a cup of coffee will perhaps change the attitude to a more positive view of a rainy day. As the brewer was working its magic, a sound not unlike a trumpet ran through the walls of the house. Not waiting for the coffee, I hurried to the front door. Checking my Ring image on my phone caused a lurch in surprise. A man on a horse was on the driveway looking very much like Teddy Roosevelt. The horse was snorting and seemed in a bit of a hurry. The man kept shouting for me to open the door.

Mrs. Howell didn’t raise an idiot, so I called out through the doorbell. I demanded to know the nature of the business of someone on a horse waving a bugle. He wasted no time explaining he had a dispatch from Linda Hill that was of the utmost urgency.

My response was to yell, “Leave it on the porch.” He clenched his jaw and showed a magnificent set of teeth while telling me a signature was required. I gave in and opened the door. The poor guy was wet to the skin. He handed me a clipboard and told me where to sign. He then gave me a leather pouch. The horse reared while looking at it, and when I looked up, they were both gone.

Inside the pouch were two things. The first was a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, and the second was a message from Linda.

The message read. Your prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “a rainy day.” Write about the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the phrase “a rainy day.” Enjoy!

If you would like to enjoy, visit Linda’s blog and read how easy it is. Here’s the link.

https://lindaghill.com/2022/01/14/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2022-daily-prompt-jan-15th/

A Rainy Day by John W. Howell © 2022

“Now that was a waste of time.”

“How so?”

“What did a peanut butter cup have to do with anything?”

“I like them.”

“Yeah, I like ribs, but I don’t throw them into a story with no other rhyme or reason.”

“Well, it’s my post, and I can do that if I want.”

“What about reader consideration? Don’t you think they will be confused?”

“No more so than usual.”

“What does that mean?”

“Most know I have an unusual view of things.”

“I guess the Teddy Roosevelt thing demonstrates that. What was that all about?”

“Rain sometimes makes me think of Teddy for some reason.”

“Okay. No need to follow that up since I think it is a swamp of no return.”

“When I was a kid, I used to read on rainy days, and I loved to read about Teddy Roosevelt.”

“Cheeze, most kids would pick a baseball star.”

“Like I said, I have unusual views.”

“What about bar stuff?”

“Yeah, love me some VooDoo Ranger IPA.”

“Well, if we can forget Teddy for a while, I’m buying.”

“Who?”

Figuring it would be a good idea to get out of the chest, I found purchase on the sides and, with some effort, lifted myself out. It was a shortfall to the ground, and with some degree of grace, I landed softly on my face. Unhooking my feet from the rim of the chest, I made an effort to get up. Looking more like a crab than a human, I managed to finally stand.

As I approached the chest, the cover slammed shut, blocking any opportunity to see what was inside. Feeling grateful none of my fingers were on the edge when the lid fell, I tried the key in the lock once more.

This time it didn’t turn. Instead, there was a clicking sound like something electronic attempting to disengage the lock. I could almost imagine the same action as two magnets coming together exert their force field and as opposites repel, turn away from one another. Maybe that was what was happening inside the lock.

As I was standing there waiting for something to happen to the lock, I noticed what I thought was a butterfly overhead. On further observation, it turned out to be an envelope turning over and over as it drifted down toward my backyard. I reached up and snatched it from the air.

The lock clicked, and the chest popped open. I stood in wonder as a bright light hit me in the face, and confetti shot from the chest and rained down. A spring-loaded sign exploded up and away from the chest. It was still attached but waved back and forth like a figure just released from a jack in the box. The sign had a message that when the waving stopped, I could read.

Peace on Earth. Goodwill to Humankind is what it said. Music came from the chest, and after a few bars, I recognized the carol “Silent Night.”

I looked down at the envelope and tore it open. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “opposites.” Use the word “opposites” or write about things that are opposites. Have fun!

If you want to have, fun visit Linda Hill’s blog and read how easy it is. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2021/12/17/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-18-2021/

Opposites by John W. Howell © 2021.

“Talk about opposites.”

“What?”

“How I think a story s going to end and how you end it.”

“You don’t like a holiday story.”

“It’s not that, but I was expecting some treasure in that chest.”

“You don’t think what was in there is a treasure?”

“It’s not gold or jewels.”

“Some would say it is better than gold or jewels.”

“You know Peace on Earth is never going to happen.”

“Unless enough wish it to happen.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“You sure don’t have the holiday spirit today.”

“Maybe you are right. I need to get with it.”

“I know what helps.”

“What?”

“A nice cup of eggnog.”

“Does sound good.”

“That sounds like a segway to the pub.”

“Where we always like to end this post.”

“Yeah. Let’s go. First, a Happy Holiday wish to all.”

“I’ll drink to that, but I don’t have anything to drink.”

“We are going already.”

When the lid popped open on the chest, admittingly, my first thought was to run behind the magnolia tree. But, of course, the better part of Valor made me freeze in position. Also, having seen several Sci-Fi shows, I knew not to approach the chest too quickly. How many people have you seen incinerated by some kind of death ray all because they rushed to an opening in a spacecraft?

Mrs. Howell didn’t raise no dummy, so taking my time to slowly inch up to the chest. As I got closer, there was no noise coming from the inside. This led me to believe that this chest did not come from a different planet in all probability. If it had, I’m sure there would be some kind of disturbance by now. Gaining confidence, I approached the chest and appeared over the edge.

“Sign here,” came a voice from behind me. My reaction was to immediately fall into the chest, which by now was the size of a hot tub. Then, quickly standing, I faced the voice. It was the USPS delivery person asking me to sign something on a clipboard. “What’s this?”

“Special delivery. Sign here.” After signing, the delivery person handed me an envelope and left.

Looking around the chest, it appeared empty, so I ripped open the envelope. I’m sure by now you have guessed it was from Linda Hill. There were two messages inside. The first read: Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “tree.” Use the word “tree” or write about a tree. Any kind of tree. Enjoy! The second was a bit more cryptic. It read: Watch your feet.

If you want to join in and enjoy, visit Linda’s blog and read how easy it is. Here is the link https://lindaghill.com/2021/12/10/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-11-2021/

I think next week we are going to discover what is in the chest.

Tree by John W. Howell © 2021

“Next week?”

“Yup.”

“Why not just do it this week?”

“Ran out of time.”

“You drive me up a tree.”

“Bear chasing you?”

“Very funny. You are supposed to be doing prompts, and here you are fooling around with some dumb chest.”

“There are some out there who would have a good chuckle over that statement.”

“Yeah, I remember them from last week. So what kind of tree are you going to talk about?”

“Hadn’t thought about it. Maybe a hall tree.”

“Hall tree? Never heard of it.”

“It’s a place to hang hats and coats.”

“In what life?”

“Okay, so they are a little bit dated. There is one at the pub, though.”

“Hold on. Did you just sneak in the word pub not expecting me to say something like, ‘You had me at the word pub?'”

“I figured one cast, and you would bite.”

“So, let’s go look at the hall tree.”

“It’ll cost you.”

“What’s new? Let’s go.”

I was sitting on the back porch with a cup of coffee, contemplating my next chore on the honey-do list. My thoughts immediately went to what would be a better thing to be doing instead. Golly gee, how about sailing the seven seas? Was one idea that blew through my brain like a rocket from the ACME rocket company. Best forget that, came the next blast that strangely had the face of Wile E. Coyote attached to it.

Finishing my coffee and standing while stretching out the effects of sitting for ten minutes. Gave thanks to the impact of nature on the old bones and heard a slight sound of metal hitting concrete. Looking down, there it was, the key that was long forgotten along with this morning’s breakfast. It might have been Raisen Bran Crunch, but that didn’t matter. The key is what was important. Scooping it up made me realize there will have to be a hunt or a hint about what the key can open.

Just as my thoughts began a quest, I summoned than back to reality as a large chest half-buried itself in the turf. Looking up, the realization that I could have been under that chest hit me a little lighter than the chest would have. Suffice it to say the answer to the key mystery was a few steps away. However, the chest had a lock, and since there is a God, surely the key will fit.

On the way to the chest, a petite man in green stopped me. Come on, the thought hit. I don’t need a troll right now. “Not so fast, big man.”

It was the troll talking. “You need to pay me before solving that key mystery.”

He was holding an envelope, and I just knew it had this week’s prompt. Coming right out and asking for the envelope paid off. “Sure, here you go,” he said. “No lock, though.”

I opened the envelope, and sure enough, there was the message. “Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “golly gee.” Use “golly gee” or another interjection that displays the same sentiment in your post. Enjoy!”

If you want to have this kind of fun, visit Linda’s blog. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2021/11/26/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-27-2021/

Golly Gee by Jon W. Howell © 2021

“Did you pay him?”

“I don’t know how much he wants.”

“Why not ask him?”

“We are out of time.”

“Golly gee, don’t give me that. I refuse to wait a week.”

“So go ask him yourself.”

“Where is he?”

“In the backyard. By the chest.”

“Now you are creeping me out.”

“Why?”

“There is no backyard, and you just directed me there.”

“Of course, there is a backyard.”

“In your mind.”

“In everyone’s mind. I just put it there.”

“You ought to listen to yourself. You sound nuts.”

“That’s what storytelling is all about.”

“Maybe for you. I need hard facts.”

“Like this tall frosty glass of VooDoo Ranger Ale?”

“I’ve had one of those.”

“So to you, that’s a hard fact.”

“Yes.”

“Take a drink then.”

“You trying to confuse me. There’s no beer here.”

“Okay then. I’ll just drink it myself.”

“Hold on. I’ll take one.”

“Here you go.”

“You are a warlock, you know that?”

“Maybe.”

I fixed a nice cup of coffee and wandered out the front door to walk to the mailbox. I was expecting a delivery of this week’s prompt from Linda Hill. Unfortunately, I had completely forgotten about the box from the Acme fireworks company sitting on the porch. The package also reminded me about the key which fell from Linda’s envelope last week. This box has been sitting a whole week, and I’m sure Mr. Coyote is frantic by now. The key was still lying on the porch as well.

My first thought was to figure out how to contact a cartoon character about the missing box. It was only a second thought about the key. Second or not, I picked up the key and put it in my pocket. While walking the short distance to the mailbox, I happen to see a quick flash of light like when a mirror hits the sun. In this case, it was a chrome bumper on a 1953 white Cadillac convertible that stopped in front of me. The driver was dressed in black and wearing a chauffeur hat and sunglasses. “Hey, big boy.”

It was a very colorful person in the back seat, seemingly talking to me. “W-who me?” was my erudite reply. She nodded and beckoned with her finger. Then, moving to the car, it was terrific to see Jessica Rabbit. She was wrapped in a feather boa and wearing a  red dress that contrasted with the grey leather interior of the vehicle. She handed me an envelope and then ordered the driver to pick up the box. He got out and, with ease, moved the box to the front seat of the car. All the while, Jessica fussed with the boa and kept checking herself in a pocket mirror. Finally, she said no more as the vehicle made a sweeping turn out of the cul-de-sac and disappeared around the corner. Jessica did give me a four-finger wave on her way out. I think I’m in love.

I opened the envelope, and here was the Linda Hill message. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “black, gray, and white.” Use one, use ’em all. Bonus points if you use all three. Have fun! If you would like to have, fun go to Linda’s blog and read how. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2021/11/19/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-20-2021/

Black, Grey, and White by John W. Howell © 2021

“What about the key?”

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting the key.”

“You can’t keep forgetting the key. You are torturing us.”

“Who?”

“Me and the readers.”

“Well, the key has to fit something. So it’s safe in my pocket.”

“‘Well, the key has to fit something.’ No kidding. Your mind always goes to the black and white of things.”

“What does that mean?”

“You don’t operate in the grey area of uncertainty. Like your statement, ‘The key has to fit something.’ We want to know what is the something.”

“Well, I don’t know.”

“A grey area for you. For us, we would hope you would find out.”

“How am I going to find out?”

“Tell that goofball behind your persona to figure it out.”

“He’ll tell me to head to the pub.”

“Yeah, that will help. Not.”

“But he will give me the words.”

“What words?”

“I’m buying.”

“Okay, then a different situation. I’m in.”

“Not sure you’re invited.”

“What did I just say?”

“‘I’m in.'”

“Who wrote those words?”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Saturday is a good day to catch up on some of the things that need to be done around the house. Today is the day to tackle the garage. Now for the record, there is nothing wrong with the garage. It’s just in need of a little reorganization. There are several tools I no longer need and so now it’s time to get them ready for a rehoming exercise.

I went out to the garage to make a note of those things that needed to find a home somewhere else. Let’s see. The lawnmower can go since I don’t have a lawn anymore. I think the fertilizer spreader can follow the lawnmower. What about the trimmer? No, I better hold on to that since the neighbor is kind of sloppy about letting his grass grow into my pea gravel bed. I guess the rest can stay since most are used to pick up leaves, and they still need that attention.

I was plugging in my shop vac to give the floor a good sweep when my phone alerted me to someone at the front door. I hit the door cam app, and sure enough, I could see a big guy putting a box on the front porch. I hope he doesn’t ring the doorbell was my first thought. Twiggy was inside, and the ceiling plaster is still wet from last week’s repair. He turned to go and then did a strange thing. He pulled an envelope out of his back pocket with two fingers and dropped it on top of the package.

Waiting until he left, I rushed out to the porch to see what was delivered. The box was from the ACME fireworks company, and I could see it was delivered to the wrong address. No Wilie E. Coyote is living at my house. The envelope had no return address. I opened it quickly and out fell a key. There was also a message. Here’s what it said. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “cam.” Find a word that contains “cam” or use it as is. Enjoy! If you want to enjoy it, visit Linda Hill’s blog and read how easy it is. Here is the link https://lindaghill.com/2021/11/12/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-13-2021/

Cam by John W. Howell © 2021

“You’ve taken all our time with that stupid story about the garage.”

“I snuck in cam, though.”

“Well, that was the only thing good about it. So what’s with the key?”

“I think you will have to come back next week to find out.”

“Oh, no, a cliffhanger. I hate those.”

“I’m sure you do. But there it is anyway.”

“Come on. Tell me about the key.”

“Nope. You’ll have to wait.”

“You know there are a ton of words with ‘cam’ in them.”

“Oh, yeah, tell me one.”

“Er, camel.”

“Not bad I thought you were going to say camera.”

“I was going to tell a story about a camel.”

“Go ahead, tell it.”

“It’s too late the word count is building, and there is no time.”

“Okay, then what do you want to do?”

“Do you think the pub still has shrimp Scampi?”

“They never had Shrimp Scampi. You just threw that in to get a ‘cam’ word, right?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“You got the pub thing right, and if it would make you feel better, we could get a couple of Campari cocktails to drink.”

“You dog.”

“I know, right. Dang me.”

While getting ready for a library book appearance this afternoon, there was an envelope on the kitchen counter which had been overlooked. It left from yesterday’s mail delivery. Since it was from my dental insurance provider, opening it seemed to be a good idea. It was from the head of client services, and she wanted to let me know that if I do nothing, my coverage will continue on January 1, 2022.

I felt all warm inside until I saw the date of the letter was October 15. I had to wonder why there was such a delay. This caused me to read further and come to a section that detailed that my premium was not going to change next year. Well, that’s good, was my thought. Then looking at the premium amount, a surprise jumped out. The amount listed was $11.00 more than I thought. With my finger resting on the word ‘premium,’ my other hand went to the web. Sure enough, the amounts were the same.

A further look at payment history showed the price of my premium went up by $11.00 back in May of 2019. “Where the hell have you been?” This was a question that seemed to have no answer. A call to customer service confirmed the increase and the fact that my autopay took care of it.

Disconnecting in a state of stun, the wondering mind turned to all the other autopay accounts, and then the doorbell rang. The first action was getting Twiggy off the ceiling. The second was to look at the ring camera mage, which showed a guy standing there waving an envelope. I spoke to him through the intercom. “Just drop it.” “No can do.” Finally came the reply, “Special delivery.”

I picked up Twiggy and went to open the door. She is visible through the glass doing her Tasmanian devil impersonation while throwing foam left and right. The guy must have had a second thought since he threw down the envelope and broke the Olympic record covering the 100 yards to his truck.

Putting Twiggy back down, making sure she was breathing normally, I retrieved the envelope. Here is what was inside.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “close eyes and point.” Grab the closest printed material to you when you sit down to write your post, open it up (if it’s a book, flyer, etc.), close your eyes, and point. Whatever your finger lands on, use that as your prompt. Have fun!

If you would like to have, fun visit Linda’s blog and see how easy it is. Here is the link.

/https://lindaghill.com/2021/11/05/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-6-2021/

Premium by John W. Howell © 2021

“Look at you.”

“What?”

“Put your finger on the word premium. You know what you can do with that?”

“I think it’s done.”

“Aw, Naw. You’re not gonna let that story stand as your contribution.”

“I think I am.”

“Come on. You can do a ton of things.”

“Why don’t you write one.”

“What?”

“I said —”

“I know what you said. You must be crazy.”

“Why”

“I don’t write. I review. You know the old adage?”

“Tell me.”

“If you can’t do, review.”

“Please, I heard it a different way.”

“Anyway, I’m a beer expert, not a wordsmith.”

“So get on with your expertise.”

“Premium or lite?”

“Very funny.”

“Maybe I could write.”

“Stick with your strength.”