Mardi Gras Costume thought process...try thinking outside of the box. Something in red.
It was January when the college student started planning. She collected multiple plastic milk jugs over the next few weeks to make the desired shapes. She bought white duct tape and the correct type fire-engine red paint. She went to Amazon.com and purchased a long white night shirt. The construction was more challenging than she had expected, but on parade day, it proved worth it.
The red stove pipe hat said BIG in white letters, and the raised red button that covered her front read EASY.
Note: New Orleans nickname is The Big Easy, and the red Easy button is from a TV commercial for Staples office supply store.
Written in in response to Charli Mills January 2, 2024 at Carrot Ranch Literary, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story using the color red. It can be a descriptor, a setting, a character, or a metaphor. How far can you get in a story by expanding “red”? Go where the prompt leads!
A couple in their early stages was walking the mall. She pulled him into a Victoria's Secret store and picked up a frilly red nightie.
He scowled. "You aren't wearing that for me."
"But Babe, red is for love and romance."
"Blood and anger," he retorted.
"You said you left the service five years ago. You gotta let it go."
"You hold your buddy on the battlefield with blood gushing out of his guts and get over it."
"It's in the past..."
"It's every night in my colorful nightmares." He stormed away, leaving her there with no way home.
January 2, 2024, prompt from Charli Mills at Carrot Ranch Literary: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story using the color red. It can be a descriptor, a setting, a character, or a metaphor. How far can you get in a story by expanding “red”? Go where the prompt leads!
Our house was always a mess. Craft projects lying on the table, unfolded blankets on the couch, a dirty glass wherever it was set. Cat toys on the floor.
The cemetery is so neat, the flowers blooming, the stately stones, and peaceful with only the sounds of nature. What you longed for in life, but with a large family, it wasn’t to be.
I bring my grandchildren here to visit with you. They can’t see you and don’t understand. I tell them they are your beauty beyond the grave, your eyes, and your auburn hair. I miss you, Mom.
Written in response to Charli Mills December 19, 2023, prompt at Carrot Ranch Literary: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about beauty beyond the grave. Who is showing up for you? Will you press into a Dream of your own? Do you dare write of beauty graveside? What connections or contrasts come to mind? Is Beauty Beyond the Grave a modern/ancient myth? Go where the prompt leads!
Have you ever been on a music cruise? I highly recommend going after experiencing one with my husband. There were at least three active stages with music from noon to midnight and there were so many people dancing it looked like a dance-off. Funny thing, there was this one lady, wearing layers of soft flowing fabrics in varied colors. She was always off to one side, alone, swiveling her body and waving her arms more like she was pretending to fly, but never in time to the music. We’re still trying to imagine what internal beat she was feeling.
Written in response to Charli Mills December 12, 2023, prompt at Carrot Ranch Literary: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about a dance-off. Who has come together in dance for what purpose? What are dancers wearing? What kind of music? Bring some unity to people through the act of coming together, each getting to step to their own groove. Go where the prompt leads!
The adoring fan seated herself near the drum set. Batting her eyelashes, she asked, “Tyrell, why do you have a moose sticker on each of your drums?”
He wasn’t very forthcoming. “Identifies them as mine.”
“But, why a moose?”
He opened his arms, then pulled his hands together and ran them down his front. “You figure it out.”
Kurt intervened. “He’s big, tall, brown, aloof, and eats way more vegetables than anyone else. A skinny, short, white guy called him that in the mess tent one day and it stuck.”
“Oh. Now I get it.”
Tyrell wished she didn’t.
Written in response to Charli Mills December 5, 2023, prompt at Carrot Ranch Literary: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about a moose. It can be an attribute of moose — big, protective, wild, gentle. Your story can express realism or fantasy. It can be a sci-fi or cli-fi moose. Is the moose loose or hidden? Go where the prompt leads!
The lady wearing the fancy hat loves to clean.
Says you can eat off her floors.
Maybe that’s true, but standing next to her
The smell of Lysol and bleach gag me.
And that lady’s coat always has an odor.
It’s not totally unpleasant but made me wonder.
I took her some bread and found
She shares her house with ten cats.
How about the man over there?
Doesn’t he smell of an old fashioned pipe?
My goodness, Mom, get a life.
It’s Mary Jane and beer.
Do people know they carry their home odors with them?
Do I?
Written in response to Charli Mills November 28, 2023, prompt at Carrot Ranch Literary: In 99 words (no more, no less), write the smell of other people’s houses. You could compare your childhood home to friends’ homes; houses in different regions; houses on the same street; dorm rooms or public housing. Go where the prompt leads!
Sue Spitulnik 