JOELLE’S TALES: FIRST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH #TMAT120 #WRITING #PROMPT FOR AUGUST 2018
PLEASE participate
It’s not like I’m asking you to jump over a cliff holding your mother-in-law and her nasty little poodle.
TELL ME A TALE IN (EXACTLY) 120 WORDS
Welcome to August 3 because I missed Thursday so I’m writing this on Friday.
Today’s prompt is: An event that left an indelible imprint on your mind.
So that you don’t feel so alone in your embarrassment, I’ll share a vignette with you:
<_><_><_>
I remember hanging onto the rings… nothing else. Then I was in my mother’s arms, with double vision, watching two of every bush and flower wavering at me just past the carport.
What child under 5 listens when you say, “Don’t hang upside down on the rings?”
What parent hangs gymnastics rings over concrete?
The tired kind.
I was almost a month premature and arrived butt first. Mom almost died before, and after, giving birth. She had a chronic infection from it for 10 years. I had colic and screamed all night, but she still had to take the calls for my dad’s taxi business.
Hitting concrete left an indelible imprint on my mind, and so did my mother’s strength.
Here are the rules:
- A prompt for #TMAT120 will be given the first Thursday of every month. The prompt challenge begins whenever it’s that day in your time zone. It ends on the 1st Thursday of the next month.
- Copy and paste your 120 word entry into the reply section below, along with a link to your blog. To me, everyone who enters is a winner, but if you must have a winner, the entry with the most likes wins.
- Limit your #TMAT120 post to 120 words. People who participate in limited-word prompts aren’t expecting a 1,000 word explanation before it begins.
- When/if you publish your entry on your blog, use the #TMAT120 picture to show that you are participating in the prompt. Please don’t alter (except for size).
- Please don’t use hard-core curse words. They’ll be edited out if you do, and you might not like the words I choose to replace them with. 🙂
- Take time to read other people’s #TMAT120 & their posts, after all you might make a new friend.
© Joelle LeGendre Joelle’s tales: Tell me a tale in 120 words
Pingback: TELL ME A TALE IN (EXACTLY) 120 WORDS | Morpethroad
Excellent choice to share.
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Kids will be kids. And your birth? You didn’t want it easy did you? I imagine your mum was not one to be trifled with. The future generations could learn much. Cheers,H
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She was formidable, even when sick. Karma has come too roost though, I inherited her chalk-soft teeth. 🙂
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Pingback: TMAT120 #WRITING #PROMPT FOR AUGUST 2018 | pensitivity101
Helping someone and knowing it meant the world the him or her means just as much as having someone believe you’re worth helping.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
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Hi Joelle, Here’s mine
I was a foster carer to a teenager who got in with the wrong crowd.
He was sniffing glue, which accounted for mood swings and dazed state, and asked for my help.
Over a bottle of Dad’s homebrew and a pack of cards, we were still talking at 3 am.
I contacted our social worker and we got him into a rehab programme, but he had to be moved to do so.
I said I was always there if he needed me, but didn’t hear anything.
He came back months later and I didn’t recognise him.
He’d done good, and I was so proud. He told me just knowing I was there for him and he wasn’t alone got him through.
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Thanks for sharing your experience.
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It was an important and most rewarding part of my life.
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I thought of the death of my Mother, but I see Michael already did that, so I will try and think of something else…
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We were stopped at the lights, while you pulled into the intersection on your motorbike. Travelling in opposite directions, I wondered where you were going. It was Friday, and I was happy to start the weekend on a high note.
Then a car zoomed past me, going a million miles an hour, making a U-turn in the middle of the intersection. I blinked, heard a bang, and saw you flying into a glass window of the nearby bank.
The lights turned green, and we drove off. I kept checking the news, but I never saw anything.
Sometimes I wonder if you pulled through. If you’re able to walk and ride your bike. Or, if you passed before the medics arrived.
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What a horrid experience! That would, most definitely, leave an indelible imprint.
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Witnessing a horrible event such as an accident is something that never leaves you. damn, I’ve had that experience too.
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I remember seeing a dog run across the road in N.C. and get hit by a car at 70mph while the young boy he was with watched it. I saw the dog’s eyes go from bright to dull while flying through the air.
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Friends told me I was getting too serious with her. I was too young, find some other girls, we lived in a college town and there were plenty around. Amy had beautiful eyes and everything else a nineteen year old boy would want. More than that she made a socially awkward, quiet guy feel special whenever we were together.
We stopped going out and I went back to hard partying. One night Amy was in the bar with another guy. My eyes caught hers, my heart dropped and I knew a horrible mistake had been made. Amy said “hello Michael” and I responded, but couldn’t find words to express how I felt. I wanted only her. It was over.
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Wow! I’ve been there and know how that stays with you for a lifetime.
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Pingback: CW: An an indelible imprint on my mind. – One day at a time…
I tried this before, but for some reason, my comment didn’t appear. Hope I’m not too late!
We had driven five contentious hours with two young children to show our youngest sons the majesty and power of the famous falls. Our middle son’s immediate response was “Huh! I thought it would be bigger.” Kids!
We retired to our hotel and were relaxing in the pool when another young family arrived. Their little boy hopped off the diving board, into the pool to play with our sons.
Unfortunately, he could not swim! My hubby quickly jumped into the pool after the little guy, pulled him to safety, and made sure he was OK. After a brief recovery, the boy made a beeline to rejoin his family, who were still checking in.
A potential tragedy had a happy ending!
Whew! Exactly 120 words.
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Perfect 120! 🙂
And I’ll bet the parents never said, “Thank you.”
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They didn’t even know the boy was at the pool!
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That’s what was so strange. They didn’t seem to care. Do you ever wonder how he turned out, or if he lived through childhood?
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Yes!
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Pingback: #TMAT120 / WRITING PROMPT FOR AUGUST 2018 – 365 Days to Happiness
First timer here, I hope I did this and the pingback correctly 🙂
I went in to see the midwife for what would be the last time, before my daughter was born.
While checking to see how things were progressing the midwife says “well that’s weird, I think that’s a foot”. I had been to every pre-birth appointment, with no complications thus far, I had chosen to have a water birth. All my birthing choices were now out the window.
7 long hours later, I am at the hospital not giving birth, but having it taken from me. My husband is hoping for a boy and I am just hoping the baby is healthy. As they tug out my beautiful baby girl my husband’s first words “it’s a girl, but that is OK”.
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Congratulations…Perfect 120 words!!!
I can imagine it was a harrowing experience when you’re expecting to have a gentle birth only to have your baby girl torn from you.
That would, indeed, leave an indelible imprint — as well as a scar.
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