20/02/2014 – tnkerr-Writing Prompts and Practice

I slid my index finger into the collar of my dress shirt and tried to loosen the cinch around my throat that passed for a necktie; cleared my throat and slid the application across the desk to the HR representative (called personnel clerk, in those days).

“Please have a seat,” the personnel clerk said, indicating the folding metal guest chair on the other side of the desk. I sat on the chair and it promptly collapsed, dumping me butt first on the floor.

I scrambled, quickly but ungracefully, to my feet, righted the chair, and abashedly said, “Sorry, I’ll just uh, stand, if it’s OK.”

“Whatever, suit yourself. Let’s check to see if you have all the information filled in shall we? All right then, first – ‘What is your name (real or otherwise)?’ I see you have your first name shown as TN. Does that stand for anything? Are those initials?”
“No, that’s my name, TN – TN Kerr.”

“Odd,” said the clerk. “Let’s pick it up, shall we? I’ll read the question and you just tell me what you wrote down. I can check the paper and we can get through this a lot faster. OK?”
“Sure,” said I.

“Describe your writing style in three words.”
“Eccentric, rubbish and somewhat entertaining”

“That’s four words.”
“Rub out rubbish then.”

The personnel clerk licked the end of his pencil and drew a single straight line through the word ‘rubbish’

“How long have you been writing online?”
“A year and some.”

“Which, if any, other writing challenges do you participate in?”
“Occasionally the WordPress Daily prompt and sometimes their Weekly Challenge. I also hang with the OC Writers Guild. We call ourselves Book Bandits and meet weekly.”

“Describe one way in which you could improve your writing. “
“Practice”

“What is the best writing advice you’ve ever been given? “
“Practice”

“Who is your favorite author? “
“I have two full time favorites; Adrienne Rich and Michelle Cliff. I supplement that list by adding the name of whoever I am currently reading, as well.”

“How do you make time to write?”
“I get up really early in the morning”

“Give us one word we should consider using as a prompt. Remember–it must have a third definition.”
“mouse
noun \ˈmau̇s\
plural mice
1: any of numerous small rodents (as of the genus Mus) with pointed snout, rather small ears, elongated body, and slender tail
2: a timid person
3: a dark-colored swelling caused by a blow; specifically : black eye ”

“Why would you pick ‘mouse’ of all the words to choose from?”
“You know, I was thinking three blind mice. I can change it though.”

“Let’s move on” said the HR guy. “Direct us to one blog post of yours that we shouldn’t miss reading.”
“The last one I wrote.”

“Alright then,” said the clerk. “It looks like everything is in order. We will put this application in our files and if we ever have a requirement for someone with your, how do I say it? ‘Particular skill set’ we’ll give you a call. Please remember to turn in your visitor badge at reception on your way out.”

He stood, opened the office door and hollered into the hallway, “Next!” A large girl with a nice smile met me at the door. She was coming in and I was going out. We danced in the doorway for a few seconds then both turned sideways and passed through at the same time. Opposite directions.

“Good Luck” I said to her. “Careful of that chair.”

The door closed behind me. I turned and trudged down the hallway towards the exit, slipping my visitor badge into my shirt pocket.

Daily Prompt: New Sensation

Ah, sweet youth. No matter whether you grew up sporting a fedora, penny loafers, poodle skirts, bell-bottoms, leg-warmers, skinny jeans, Madonna-inspired net shirts and rosaries, goth garb, a spikey mohawk, or even a wave that would put the Bieber to shame, you made a fashion statement, unique to you. Describe your favorite fashions from days of yore or current trends you think are stylin’.

***

Marie LeBouf stepped out of the limo that had just pulled up in front of the terminal. Thankfully she was heading to LA. It was too cold here in New York and she could feel the goose bumps rising on her flesh. She was wearing a 2 inch square of zebra print fashion tape, her own design, covering a spot just above her left collarbone. She walked a few steps toward the car boot and surveyed the crowd while waiting for the driver to unload her luggage. She missed the days when you could wear boots and coats when traveling. She studied the various colours, prints, positions and shapes of the patches that everyone was wearing. Always scouting for ideas she could use, Marie was a people watcher.

A statuesque lady was standing in the taxi line wearing small pinpoints of pink tape. They were so tiny she must have been wearing at least 100 of them, positioned artistically on her right shoulder and her left hip. A man walked by with matching black tape circles on his knees, each about a 1 inch diameter. She clicked her tongue in approval. Basic black is always a good colour choice, regardless of your gender. She decided that she would sketch up some concept designs in black while she was on the plane. With any luck she would have some working ideas by the time she got to California.

As owner of LeBouf Fashions, Marie knew she was lucky. She knew too well how fortunate she was to have been in the right place at the right time. Marie had been trying to figure out how to unload her dear departed father’s glue factory when the Transportation Security Agency had figuratively thrown in the towel. When it was announced that the best way to ensure passenger security was to have everyone using public conveyance travel nude she had invented fashion tape. The TSA announcement, it seemed, had uncovered a huge problem. It was against the law in 47 of the 50 states to appear nude in public and now it was to be forbidden to travel if you were not disrobed. No one knew what to do about this but the stage had been set for a long drawn out legislative battle.

Marie had begun applying the adhesives that her father developed, to cloth and selling 2” wide rolls of “fashion tape”. She declared that when wearing a small piece of fashion tape a person was not, technically, unclothed and would therefore be able to comply with TSA requirements and not be in violation of the law. Much to her surprise the lawmakers had bought it and declared that as long as the total area of tape was less than two inches square this was a workable solution. A new industry was born – Her Industry. She patented her adhesive formulation and became a business leader and designer. She still owned the original glue factory, and about a hundred others, globally, just like it. She published fashion magazines and her face appeared on billboards all over the world.

She collected her luggage and briefcase, walked to the terminal and got in the security line behind a lady wearing a red diamond shape on her cheek. How funny it was that people didn’t complain much about x-ray screening anymore.

***