I wrote this for the March 21st Flash Fiction Challenge
Kenny hitched his trousers up and plopped on the front porch couch. A cloud of red dust rose up; some settled back on his Momma’s old Chesterfield, while the rest got picked up by the breeze and carried away.
He sat for a while watching the clouds roll in. When he was sure it was gonna rain he went and fetched the old galvanized bucket with the broken bail from beneath the sink. He sat the bucket in the bedroom directly below the ceiling stain.
Tonight he would say his prayers and ask for cash to fix the roof.
The prompt and instructions were:
In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story that features a bucket of water. What is the condition of the water and what is the bucket for? Drop deep into the well and draw from where the prompt leads!
Kenny’s bucket is currently empty, no water. There should be water tonight though. Should be water tonight.
tnkerr-Writing Prompts and Practice 
We all pray for our own “sure thing,” yes?
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Does this take place during the dust bowl?
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If that’s where and when it was when you read it then, YES, by all means it does.
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Brilliantly rendered scene. I could see the whole thing.
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Wow, thanks for letting me know.
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I love how visual the first paragraph is. Nice work!
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Gracias!
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Felt like I was right there.
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An impoverished life often waxes and wanes between dust of toiling and water of leaks. Your writing is strongly visual and can be applied to many working poor not getting in on the American dream left behind by their parents.
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