Ah December is upon us and most people are deep into shopping mode. Some people are still fighting to finish their Anthology stories, which are to be in by today if you are smart, and some are busy with their on going stories. Yet I am here to tempt you all with new ideas to write about. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is Friday once again.

Prompt 284 – Creative
Tag – List of Words
Use the following words in a story – a large pimple, an old man, a torn pocket, a diamond earring, and a stack of magazines.

Prompt 285 – Creative
Tag – Wonderland
Lately you felt your life was getting a little crazy. You kept wishing you could get away and just not deal with your daily life. Then you ran into a guy who was dressed all in a white, with a rabbit design on his tee shirt that read, “Never late so always on time.” You watched him dash down the street ahead of you and seem to vanish into a store called The Looking Glass. Curious you go to follow him and slip as you cross the threshold. When you go to stand up you find yourself in a totally different environment. What is this Wonderland like? Is it better or worse than your normal life?

So another week with no takers for the prompts. However I decided to dig into the past and find something interesting to post. So here is one I thought everyone might enjoy.
Prompt 246 asked the author to use the opening line "What now?" Kitt rose to the challenge and gave this story to us to read.

“What now? How the hell should I know what now?” Carlos looked at the boys around him at a complete loss.

 

“Well you are the one got us into this! It’ll be fun you said. What could go wrong? Famous last words!”

 

“Oh come on now. How was I supposed to know mom’s car would toss a fan belt in the middle of a desert? Or that Jason over there didn't know how to read a map and would get us lost in that desert? Or that the satellite help thingy would send a tow truck without telling us about it? Or that the tow truck driver that they sent to get us was a complete pervert? “

 

The day had started out innocently enough – borrow mom’s car and go out to that new amusement park on the edge of the desert. It was supposed to have the best coasters in the country and the idea of a water park, while it sounded odd to put in a desert, sounded like the best way to cool off between rides on the super coasters. Mom had even been cooperative and only extracted the promise of one day’s labor in the garden to get the car.

 

The excruciatingly slow start should have clued the boys in that celebrating Billy’s 18^th birthday was not going to go the way they planned. First they all had to pitch in and get Jason’s chores done before his mom would let him leave. Then Wayne had forgotten his rescue inhaler, and they had to go back for it, and then they needed to stop for gas. Between the long line at the gas pump and the exorbitant price when they filled the car they were all a tad irritated before they even left. Being the youngest always seemed to make Billy take the brunt of the irritation when things went wrong, but today when the others started he tossed the blame right back at them. It was his birthday after all, and he wasn't going to take all the abuse they usually piled on him. Seeing how things had started he shoved the map at Jason and informed him it was his turn to navigate. No way was he going to get blamed if they got lost this time.

 

And lost was an understatement. Seems no one ever told Jason that just because north on the map was at the top didn't mean that you were actually traveling north on any given road. In fact they had driven a good 30 miles in the wrong direction before someone noticed that things were looking more and more desolate and less and less like the road they had traveled to the park when Carlos’ dad had driven them out there only to find they were not open yet.

 

OK – so being lost isn't all that bad right? Billy reasoned that they lived in California. Find the nearest reasonably paved road and turn west. If you have to turn north or south go south till you can find another west bound, and sooner or later you have to find the coast right? Then it’s reasonably easy to get on the coastal highway and find your way home. He had just suggested this course of action when the car made this god awful screeching noise and a loud bang under the hood announced yet another problem. None of the boys had any experience working on cars but they all gathered around the hood to look anyway. Bits and pieces of the fan belt were all over the engine compartment.

 

“I read somewhere that you can tie a stocking or the leg of a pair of pantyhose on those pulleys real tight and it will work till you can get to help” Jimmy offered after several minutes of staring into the engine compartment and bickering among themselves. A voracious reader, Jimmy believed there was no problem you could not find a solution for in a book somewhere.

 

The boys all stared at him with these dumbfounded looks on their faces. Jimmy stared back confused. “What? I read it in one of my brother’s car magazines I think. It will work, I know it will!”

 

“ Ummm Jimmy? Is there something about your wardrobe you are not telling us? Unless you have a pair of stockings on under those jeans, just where do you propose we GET a stocking leg?” Conner poked at his ribs several times as he said this. He knew his boyfriend hated to get his ribs poked, but this one deserved it.

 

“Carlos?” The tiny squeaky voice came from inside the back door where Wayne had sat to get out of the sun a bit. He wasn't exactly the most robust boy in the crowd. Small and frail, he tended to blend into the background whenever he could.

 

Carlos sighed heavily as he turned to Wayne. He didn't have the patience to deal if the kid had a panic attack now.

 

“I know your mom tossed a fit about you using the satellite thingy the day Conner was pushing all sorts of buttons in the car just to see what they would do. But she did say it was for emergencies only. Isn't this sort of an emergency? I mean, we are lost and stranded in the desert with only a couple bottles of water each in our packs. I think this qualifies.” He said meekly.

Do you want to know what else Kitt came up with? Of course you do. So go read the rest and then leave a comment.

http://www.gayauthors.org/forums/topic/37326-prompt-246-creative/

Till next time - remember to write, read, and review. Enjoy everyone. - Wayne