Sunday Writing Prompt #225 – Know Thyself

Posted on October 22, 2017 by Michael

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You look at me like you know I should say something, but I know you know and so what is there to say?

Caught with my hand in the lolly jar, wasn’t I?

Down by the river, there’s a place just under the weeping willows where I go. I like to go there because it’s my place.

I can be alone with myself, and that’s not a bad thing you know.

Being alone I mean.

Alone you can conquer the world, be its greatest lover, climb mountains and be someone.

Sometimes it would be nice to be someone.

Not a fool.

You see me as a fool don’t you.

Always stuffing up, calling you to get me out of one situation or another.

You must be sick of me by now.

But I know you’ll say I’m family and it’s what we do for family.

How come no one ever calls me then?

We both know why.

I’m the pathetic brother, aren’t I?

Drunk, homeless. A wastrel I once heard you call me.

And I am. It’s easier that way.

No responsibility.

No care.

No hope.

I think every time you are going to come around, drag me out of the shit hole I am in and say: “This is the last time. Piss off and fend for yourself.”

I have tried. Pissing off I mean.

But I keep coming back.

Why is that?

I hate being who I am.

Most days I want the world to swallow me up.

But I keep coming back.

The family pantry is never unstocked.

I keep coming back.

I can’t say more than I have.

I keep coming back.

Like a fool, I only know one story.

If I repeat it often enough, will I begin to believe it?

I’m kidding myself I know.

I’m who I am, I know that, and you know that.

Pathetic isn’t it.

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2017/10/22/sunday-writing-prompt-225-know-thyself/

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Reena’s Exploration Challenge #Week 9 – Trust

Posted on October 20, 2017 by Michael

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I find the whole trust issue a difficult one to deal with. I say this as I have trust issues myself.

You could say that as a damaged person you are within your rights to feel trust is something you hunger for, but you are always wary of anyone who purports to be suggesting that is how they feel about you as your past tells you things can change in an instant.

I think trust comes simply by being yourself. The people around you will see you for who you say you are. It’s the consistency of character that makes or breaks you.

Having been married to a narcissist, and completely oblivious to the fact of that is what she was, I am a slow learner, I devoted far too much of my life to running around pleasing her and eventually learning she was not a person I could trust and that damaged me greatly. Your partner should be your trusted companion, not a person who betrays that perception of trust my throwing in your face things you have said in confidence to her. I learned not to say anything nor show my feelings to her.

Since then those days I have worked on me being me. I have a wonderful friend these days who has a simple mantra I have taken on as my own. “Take it or d.”

Take me as I am or decline. The choice is yours, I am me and happy being me.

To gain trust in the opposite gender, I don’t think it’s all about what you say but more how you behave towards them. When they speak with you, it’s best to listen. They often just want to talk to you not feel you are judging them by expressing an opinion, which often the last thing they want to hear.

Listening is not easy. We all have opinions about what we hear, but sometimes it’s important to allow whomever it is speaking to you to have their moment centre stage. Knowing we are being listened to and our opinion valued does so much to build trust in the person we want to be closest to.

As for the future, I don’t know. Society is evolving at such a rapid rate and technology is allowing relationships to develop without actually being in the same room, space or country as the person you are engaging with.

I think the same principle will always exist if you be yourself and consistently do so by openly offering support, and encouragement trust will develop and become an integral part of any relationship.

 

Written for: https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2017/10/20/reenas-exploration-challenge-week-9/

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Thursday photo prompt – Spur – #writephoto

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Michael

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When cowboys meet they like to discuss the size of their spurs, the sharpness, the hours they spend honing down on the one bit of their gear they are most proud of.

At the recent rodeo there was an award given for the cowboy whose spurs jangled the best and loudest. As a result we had singing boots around us all weekend.

What spurred all this on was a conversation between Jed the wrangler and Cletus the stable hand. One reckoned you couldn’t make spurs do much more than be spurs. The other claimed they could a whole lot, like spin and jangle and if you had a good gait about you then your spurs added to the overall effect of you being the perfect cowboy.

So after much debate Cletus said he would produce a flyer about the contest to be held the evening of the first day of the rodeo. A prize of $100 was put up by both men.

So they found a hard floor to maximise the spur jangling and away the contest went. Twenty cowboys and cowgirls entered and a crowd gathered to watch the fun.

Cletus and Jed decided to be judges and watched and listened to each contestant.

In the end a cowgirl called Annie Getcha was proclaimed the winner as her cute figure and very cowgirl gait was enough to swing the competition in her favour much to the chagrin of the male contestants.

But overall it was a great fun exercise and every contestant vowed to be back in the running the next year.

 

Written for: https://scvincent.com/2017/10/19/thursday-photo-prompt-spur-writephoto/

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Tale Weaver – #142 – 19/10/17 – Birthday

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Michael

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Miss Marble didn’t know when her actual birthdate was, but she had decided that October 18th would be a suitable day as it was mid-spring and she liked the spring. Her garden took on a new life, the flowers bloomed, and the scrubs scrubbed everything was fine thanks to her home-made liquid fertilizer.

As she had lived a long time and concocted a lot of potions in her time, she had over the course of time developed a potion which she considered completely self-indulgent but something she enjoyed once a year on her birthday.

It was a “Pleasure Potion” and even though when she looked in the mirror and saw a woman the other side of middle age the spark for a bit of pleasure was always there. In her younger days, she had caused no end of mayhem by using the potion far more often than she should.

It got to a point where her neighbours, particularly the wives would lock up their husbands to keep them safe from the stimulated Miss Marble wandering the street looking for a man. A potential crisis was averted by Miss Marble pledging to not use it as she had but to put it away for personal use only.

She did make the mistake once of offering some to Mabel and Walter Harris at No 27 Grimace Street only to be alerted in the night by their neighbours complaining about all the noise coming from their place and that Miss Marble was responsible. She arrived to find Mabel and Walter stark naked on the roof of their house, aroused as she’d never seen before. She had to coax them down and then change their minds to think Walter was to Mabel an all-day sucker and left them in their living room knowing the potion would soon wear off. Eventually.

But tonight, was Miss Marble’s birthday and she made herself some potion. She’d discovered fresh potion worked a lot better than stored potion, she had once tried that with the most disappointing results. Gathering her ingredients, she set to work and before long what she needed was ready.

She seated herself in her favourite chair and began sipping on the potion.

The effect was almost simultaneous with her lips against the bottle. Her mind began to drift away as her body lit up in delight as every nerve in her body and in the important places came alight and literally began dancing.  Miss Marble had too reliable ‘girl friends’ as she called them, Miss Pink and Miss Purple. They were the only ‘guests’ on her birthday, and she was pleased modern technology had availed her of these invaluable friends.

Birthday parties take on a life of their own in so many ways, and for Miss Marble, hers was an all-night affair.

Invariably she would wake up, refreshed and reinvigorated, sated and ready to take on another year. Her ‘girlfriends’ would return home, and life would carry on as normal, well as normal as life was on Grimace Street. She knew that later in the morning her neighbour with the grey bangs would come over for morning tea, take one look at her and remark that Miss Marble looked as though she had another good birthday.

 

https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2017/10/19/tale-weaver-142-191017-birthday/

 

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Twittering Tale #44 – 17 October 2017

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Michael

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Daylight brings belief.
Lost, alone, cold and miserable,
I look for succor from the suns rays
The darkness stays with me
Maybe soon?
Rescue?
Hope?

Written for: https://katmyrman.com/2017/10/17/twittering-tale-44-17-october-2017/

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Wordle #174 – Peter Pester

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Michael

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This weeks words and phrases: turn signal Corrupt Pester swain [a young lover or suitor|a country youth] gibbous moon [any moon that appears more than half lighted but less than full is called a gibbous moon. The word gibbous comes from a root word that means hump-backed] fen [a low and marshy or frequently flooded area of land|flat low-lying areas of eastern England, formerly marshland but largely drained for agriculture since the 17th century|wetland with alkaline, neutral, or only slightly acid peaty soil] Brunette bombshell [an overwhelming surprise or disappointment|a very attractive woman|an artillery shell] Lilliputian [trivial or very small|a trivial or very small person or thing|early 18th century: from the imaginary country of Lilliput in Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, inhabited by people 6 inches (15 cm) high] mawkish [sentimental in a feeble or sickly way|having a faint sickly flavor] Melodious Garage

 

It was in the garage that all the trouble started. Peter Pester the garage apprentice had a most melodious voice and loved to sing. But there was one thing Lilliputians hated more than singing and that was more singing.

As it was they suffered collectively from small person syndrome believing every one and everything was against them and so for the most part showed no mawkishness when it came to things of the heart.

Peter’s singing was a signal to the community that they had every reason to right feel they were hard done by.

So when Ursula Littlefanny the community brunette and bombshell attractive girl was found murdered on the fen it gave them the perfect opportunity to vent against Peter Pester as his unnatural behaviour was a symptom of the changing times and the Lilliputians didn’t like change or singing. So the story took traction that Peter and the beautiful brunette Ursula Littlefanny had an assignation under the gibbous moon down on the fen and that was the last time anyone saw Ursula Littlefanny. Peter had longed to be Ursula Littlefanny’s swain and knew he had his work cut out for him as it was well known he was punching well above his weight when it came to what Ursula Littlefanny might find attractive about him considering his slight if not hideous hump on his back.

At every turn Peter had been attentive and respectful to Ursula Littlefanny.

But the community had it in for Peter Pester and the corruption within their community fuelled by the vicious rumours circulating following Ursula’s death, caused Peter to flee before things got too out of hand.

With Peter Pester now out of town the community settled back into its regular rhythm of hating all and everyone and the memory of Ursula Littlefanny, the Lilliput brunette and bombshell faded over time until the next fen death was discovered.

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2017/10/16/wordle-174/

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Wot I Shot Wednesday

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Michael

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My house is a building site this week with my kitchen being renovated, given a face lift so I found some roses, I do like roses. These are my ‘black roses’ with their delightful turkish delight aroma along side a rose I pinched from my neighbour’s garden.

So I sat them in a small vase to brighten the place and look out over the view behind my house.

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Mundane Monday Challenge #131 : Learn Photography

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Michael

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Renovations are happening at my house and in an attempt to brighten things up I added these flowers which came in an amazing range of colours.

https://trablogger.com/mundane-monday-challenge-131-learn-photography/

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Weekend Writing Prompt #24 – Shadows

Posted on October 15, 2017 by Michael

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They existed because there were shadows. Without shadow, they would have frizzled in the sun’s heat and been nothing.

Nature had made them shadow creatures because the shadows needed something to call their own. Shadows are transient, and so there evolved the shadow creatures, small and not particularly attractive but content to hug the shadows as they migrated each day east to west and sometimes north to south.

They were proud creatures and understanding of their uniqueness gathered each evening in the last of the daily shadows to settle into the largest and longest shadow of all, the night.

Realising their existence depended on the shadows they rejoiced in their good fortune, sang their songs and chanted the end of day full of praise for the being that had allowed them to exist.

If you look hard enough, you might see them. They eat the remnants of sun-kissed grasses and the bark from the tree facing sunwards.

As a new day emerges, the shadow creatures gather in expectation of not the suns warmth but the emerging life-giving shadows provided for them.

So, the next time you are sitting in the shade on a hot sunny day, and you feel a nudge on your arm, it’s probably a friendly gesture from another shade appreciative being.

 

Written for: https://sammiscribbles.wordpress.com/2017/10/14/weekend-writing-prompt-24-shadows/

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Reena’s Exploration Challenge #Week 8

Posted on October 13, 2017 by Michael

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There have been times when you knew confrontation was going to be tricky, tough and downright scary.

It’s happened in both my working and home life.

I think I ‘stuff up’ a lot with no intention of doing so, and when confronted by authority of my wrongdoing I feel intimidated as now I am on the defensive and have to justify my actions.

It’s that thought of having to justify why you behaved in a certain way that causes us so much angst.

I know I have spent many a sleepless night worrying over a work place action that has required me to front the Principal the next day, when I did things which in hindsight reflected my lazy attitude to procedure.

But you can’t change what you have done, and so for me, it became a matter of let’s get this over and done with. Theirs is only so much berating of yourself you can do, and it’s never productive. So, for me, it was a matter of facing my ‘sins’. I’d eat humble pie if necessary and make promises to lift my game.

I found the longer I delayed action, the worse it got.

Though with angry partners it became a matter of delaying the inevitable. As for pain setting me free, I think that is a debateable point. I say this as there can be a lot of pain in freedom.

 

Written for: https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2017/10/13/reenas-exploration-challenge-week-8/

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