Here's a tandem exercise I wrote with Harry Sanderford last winter. He didn't feel that it was up to our usual high standards, so we didn't post it. But the older I get, the lower my standards become, so I say...To Hell with standards! Let 'er rip!
Through the Window Glass
Maggie leaned her forehead against the cool glass of the Greyhound bus window. Over the river and through the woods, she thought, watching the snow east of Interstate 95 gradually melt away into skinny pine trees and palmettos.
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Finally, after two days and two nights of hard riding, stopping only for bathroom breaks and scrumptious bus depot meals, Maggie's heart skipped a beat and she felt something like a smile forming on her formerly gloomy face when she saw the sign on the highway that read, "FLORIDA - 1 mile."
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Florida was a coin burning a hole in Maggie's pocket. After all, her name was short for "Magnolia," not "Margaret," like most people guessed, and freezing NY winters spent with cold company had taught her one thing; not every tree is meant to drop its leaves and stand stoically awaiting the arrival of spring.
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As the bus rolled into Jacksonville, she was tempted to jump out and start dropping some of her leaves, but she fought the urge and held on to her seat. She was headed for Kissimmee, her old home town, where she had arranged to re-connect with Bubba, her high school sweetheart.
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Twenty years ago, with youthful curiosity and ambitions far too great to be contained in any small town, Maggie had grabbed her diploma, loaded her Chevy and left Kissimmee and Bubba behind, like shoes that no longer fit, to run barefoot out into the world.
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But now, with sore feet and aching heart, she was back in town, pulling into the bus station, and looking for love. Then, through the steamy bus window, she saw Bubba, all 300 pounds of him, none of which included any hair on his head. Bubba, spitting tobacco onto the sidewalk while scratching his huge ass, and Maggie suddenly realized that snow and ice weren't so bad after all. She dived under her seat and rode that bus all the way back to Buffalo, where she lived happily ever after.
6 comments:
LOL! <3
Tricked me... I thought she and Bubba were gonna wind up 'spittin' terbacco' together... ;)
"she was tempted to jump out and start dropping some of her leaves..."
Now that's a nice metaphor for something.
"Buffalo, where she lived happily ever after."
Once upon a time I was driving through Buffalo, minding my own business, just driving my Volvo at the speed limit when an 18 wheeler decided to ram me. I swerved to the left lane and he followed me and did the ramming thing again.
He then pulled in front of me and slammed on his brakes. I tried to pull off the road and he would block my attempts. This went on for many miles. Eventually, he sped up and disappeared down the pike.
Oh yeah, I love Buffalo 'cause I almost spent eternity there because of a deranged trucker!
I reworked a little different version of this and sent it to "The Times Union Holiday Short Story Contest" sponsored by the Jacksonville newspaper. Kind of did a last minute rush to get it in by deadline. I'll let you know what happens. :) H
1. How come the name Harry sent your joint-delight too is so long for a short story contest?
2. You two got extra points for using Bubba and Kissimee in the same sentencing structure.
3. If a 7/11 store is open 24/7, why are there locks on the door?
Whoops ... sorry, I was on a roll there and still laughing because you're the only woman in the world to have high enough standards to publicly pronounce, enounce and announce that you lower yours every year. This was a real swell shuffalo off to Buffalo.
4. "You know I used to be Snow White, but I drifted."
~ Mae West and Absolutely*Kate were both here at the same time and find Madame Z a hoot and that Harry'boy a holler
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