04 January 2014

04 January 2014

The prompts are:
1. She peered through the hole in the fence.
2. That explains a lot.
3. Miles and miles of memories

Begin Writing
Marley leaned forward, over the rose bush and put her left eye up to the board.  She peered through the hole in the fence into Theagarajan’s back yard.  Mr. Theagarajan had moved in next door about a month ago.  He was friendly enough but not very outgoing.  The eight foot high redwood fence was the first thing he built.  The boards pressed so closely together than Marley thought they might actually be watertight.

Once the fence was up the construction continued but now, no one could see what he was building .  Sometimes at night a flickering light would reflect off the trees.  Occasionally there would be some metallic hammering sounds, like two pipes being knocked together.  Saws and other power tools were in frequent use.

Marley noticed the hole where the knot in the board had opened up about a week ago.  The hole was small, maybe 15mm in diameter, about halfway up the board, right behind her rose bush.  She didn’t want to be the nosy neighbor so she had refrained from looking into Theagarajan’s yard but, then she had spotted him on his roof.  He had a flashlight and appeared to be signaling to someone, or something.  He had been up there for the better part of an hour, unmoving, flashing his light into the sky.  Marley’s curiosity was piqued.

She began quizzing the neighbors about Theagarajan.  Betty seemed to know the most.  She lived directly across the street from him.  She said he gets a lot of mail.  Lots of catalogues but, she couldn’t say what kinds.  Betty told Marley that Theagarajan had been the subject of discussion at the salon last week.  She said that she heard that he had owned an import/export business in Malaysia before he moved here and that he had an ex-wife living in Show Low, Arizona.

Mr. Wilson, who lived on the other side of Theagarajan and worked at the hardware store, told Marley that he had bought a lot of poisons and fertilizers.

Marley scanned her neighbor’s yard through the hole in the fence.  Then she saw the platform built low and close to the rhododendron.
Time is up. Put down your writing implements and step away from the paper.

Daily Prompt: Beyond the Pale

Daily Prompt: Beyond the Pale

When was the last time you did something completely new and out of your element? How was it? Will you do it again?

Last night was Friday night and I ventured completely outside of my comfort zone.  I listened to a story on the radio that afternoon about how women are attracted to men with enough confidence to bust a move on the dance floor (aka John Travolta and Saturday Night Fever).  I like for women to be attracted to me so I dug out my white polyester suit and decided to hit the disco.

My skull and crossbones tattoo was covered up (I got that after reading that chicks liked “bad boys” – but that’s another story), my hair was slicked back, my platform shoes were shined, and I was styling.  I jumped into my 2005 Yaris and headed for “The Sweaty Cougar”, a dance club in the Anaheim Hills.  I hadn’t been there in decades but it had always been busy – lots of girls.  Traffic was terrible and it took longer than expected to get there but, I kept telling myself that the rewards would justify the effort.  I pulled off the freeway a little before 11:00 and thought my timing was… a little late but still workable.  Wait, something was wrong.  I peered through the windscreen at the strip mall where “The Sweaty Cougar” had stood.  It wasn’t there.  Not only was “The Sweaty Cougar” missing the entire strip mall was gone.  In its place stood a large Home Depot store flanked by an even larger Costco store.  In front were acres of parking lit by bright white LED fixtures.

My grandma had always said that when life gives you lemons make lemonade.  If ever there had been a time when I had received a bushel of lemons – this was it.  I decided to improvise.  After all, I was here to impress women, I was wearing my three piece white polyester suit with the wide lapels and two button coat.  OK, I couldn’t quite get the buttons to work but I was here to dance, so the buttons would have been an impediment anyway.  I pulled my Yaris under one of the bright white LED fixtures and opened both doors.  I cranked the stereo LOUD (all the way to 11), plugged in my Bee Gees mix tape and posed under the light.  My left leg bent at the knee, my hip cocked provocatively, my head turned slightly and my hand raised with my index finger pointing to the LED’s over my head.  When the music started, so did I.  I was awesome.

I was awesome for about three minutes because that is how long it took for Anaheim’s finest to arrive.  They ejected my cassette tape, stopping the music, and took me into custody.  Creating a Nuisance and Disturbing the Peace is what they said.  I got out of jail about 45 minutes ago.

How was it? You ask… It was great while it lasted.

Would I do it again? You ask… Probably not.  One of the female booking officers at the jail told me that white polyester suits creeped her out!