Jillian Chantal

This week, the writers of Tuesday Tales are writing to a picture prompt. We are limited to 300 words this week.

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“Will you be all right or do you need help going home?” Mike asked.

“I’ll be fine. I’m goose sitting for some people who live down this road and have to go check on the geese. Once I’m done there, I’ll head home. Should be fine. Thanks for your help.” Brenda Sue hobbled off, hoping Tyler wasn’t looking at her like she was a loser.

She stopped at the mailbox and gathered the mail before leaving it inside the door of the home then headed out to be sure the geese had their evening meal. Her leg muscle was still tight but she thought she would make it home okay. It wasn’t that far.

Out in the yard, she flung out more of the feed and the geese swarmed around her as if they hadn’t eaten in thirty years as opposed to just that morning. “Do you usually get fed all day? Or think you’re at an all-you-can-eat buffet?”

None of the geese answered her but one actually nipped at her shin. “Hey, stop that. I’m feeding you as fast as I can. You’re an ungrateful wretch.”

Something trickled down her leg. Brenda Sue looked down. A stream of blood. “Great, you nasty beast, you’ve cut my leg now.” She dumped the bowl of feed on the ground and turned sharply to escape from the mad frenzy that ensued when the food hit the ground.

As she tried to run away, her left ankle twisted and she fell to the ground, conking her head on a rock.

This week, the writers of Tuesday Tales are using the word prompt intense. I am still in my story about the prom date.

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As she moved forward, a huge Charlie horse snatched at her calf. The muscle cramp sent her to her knees and she dropped her backpack. Tears filled her eyes and she grabbed the calf with both hands to try to rub it out. Her father’s strong hands usually did this for her when she had the cramps in the night. Hers weren’t enough to make much difference.

Sitting on the grass, she kept rubbing and crying, wishing someone would come and help with the intense pain.

Just when she thought she would die there, the two boys who she’d been trying to catch up to turned around.

“Hey, are you all right?” Mike called as they both ran toward her.

Now I want to crawl in a hole. Why’d they turn around? Here I wanted to be smooth when I talked to Tyler and now he’ll see me on the ground crying and I’m sure my ponytail is a mess. What a horrible day.

Tyler and Mike knelt beside her. “What happened?” Tyler asked. “Did you trip over something?”

Great, he thinks I’m a klutz. “No. It’s just a leg cramp that caught me by surprise.”

“Oh, my sister gets those. She always gets up and walks it off.” Mike held his hand out to help her up. “Come on, I’ll help you.”

Brenda Sue took his proffered hand, wishing it was Tyler’s. “Thanks. My dad usually rubs them out so I’ve never tried walking them off.”

“Just flex your toes hard as you walk. That will stretch the muscle out. Maybe you could get coach to give you some salt tablets. We take them during the heat of the summer practices. It seems to keep cramps away. Let me warn you though, they are big and taste nasty.”

“I will try those. Thanks for the tip.”  She wished he and Tyler would go on. This was not how she planned to get closer to Tyler to get him to be her prom date. No, this was not the plan at all.

This week, the writers of Tuesday Tales are writing to the word prompt bright. I am working on a short story.

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Her lab partner, Randy, was waiting beside their table. “I was afraid you’d be absent today. I know you’re kind of skittish about this dissection thing.”

“You got that right. But I’ll be fine. Mom made me some homemade smelling salts from salt, essential oils and peppermint. If I start to go down, wave this under my nose.” She held up a lace pouch.

“You’ll be like an old fashioned lady with her swooning?”

“I truly hope not. We don’t want me to become the gossip of the week, do we?”

“Nope. That would be a tragedy.” He flipped his hair out of his eyes. Always with the hair hanging down. She didn’t know how he got any work done with the way his eyes were usually covered.

Class went by fast and the day was over before Brenda Sue really was ready for it. She would have to go back out to the Mims’ place and make sure the geese were in for the night. They had clipped wings so they wouldn’t fly off but she had promised to check on them twice a day. They better appreciate me. The little freaks.

She walked back down the road from the school toward the Mims’ house. Ahead of her, she noticed Tyler and his best friend, Mike. They were laughing and jostling each other as they walked. She wondered why they weren’t at baseball practice since they were both on the team.

Brenda Sue shaded her eyes from the bright sunshine. This time of year, the sun was still super high in the sky on the walk home. Sometimes, looking at it caused headaches or crazy spots hovering right in front of her. Ugh. What a pain to have to go deal with those swans. I didn’t know what I was agreeing to when I signed on for this. Charlotte is right. I’m saving for a dress with no date in sight.

She stepped up the pace to try to catch up with Tyler and Mike. It was time to open the lines of communication. If she ever had a hope of dancing with Tyler at prom.

this week the writers of Tuesday Tales are writing to the word prompt dirt. I am working on another short story. This one aboue a high school girl who took on a part time job to make money for a prom dress.

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Someone at church told her mom about the Mims’ geese and their plans to be out of town for a month. Not that her mother knew she’d gone to their house to talk them into letting her take care of the animals. Mom told her about the need but also told her she couldn’t do it as she didn’t know anything about birds. And what if they laid eggs while the Mims’ were gone? She’d have no idea what to do.

Brenda didn’t let that worry her. Until today. The reality of the birds was totally different than her idea about them.

The only experience she had with geese was that silly Jack in the Beanstalk story with the goose with the golden egg. Of course these birds wouldn’t have golden eggs but she also didn’t know they’d be so mean.

They clucked around her and she tossed the rest of the feed to the ground at once. “I have to get to school. You can fight over it for all I care.”

She turned and left the coop. She stopped at the shed to leave the bowl before continuing on to the school.

When she arrived at the door, it was close to time for the tardy bell to ring so she darted inside and down the hallway to her home room.

“How’d it go?” Her best friend Charlotte asked as Brenda slid into her chair at the exact moment the bell buzzed.

“It was frightful. Those things ae beasts when they’re hungry.” Brenda Sue held her hand out. “Look, I even have dirt under my fingernails. I wasn’t meant to be a farmer.”

“But think of the gorgeous prom dress you’ll get with the money you earn.”

“It’s not like I even have a date yet either. If I have to go alone and wear it, I guess I will.” Brenda Sue darted a glance across the room toward Tyler Madison, the boy she wanted to ask her to go to prom. The pie in the sky dream. But she did love that dress.

“I don’t think he’s ever going to ask you if you never speak to him,” Charlotte said.

“Ladies. Do you have something you want to share with the class or can I continue with roll call?” Mrs. Anderson asked.