Debb Stanton, Author offers a weekly writing challenge with prompts.
Please join in if you feel creative
https://www.facebook.com/groups/581037879387720
The prompt this week was to construct a story using these five random words:
*careful* *obnoxious* *gutteral* *voracious* *dispensable* *vivacious*
Here is my story:
THE OFFICE
She walked in on a conversation
in the office that she probably shouldn’t have been a party to. It wasn't her fault that they were shouting
at each other, the office at the end of the corridor probably heard the slanging
match going on.
Gareth was becoming quite obnoxious
in his utterly guttural voicing of all the wrongs the young apprentice
was not doing. He reduced her to tears
which only led to another barrage of insults.
If she couldn’t take the heat she shouldn’t be in this business, it’s
cut-throat, dynamic and to be a journalist of any sort of repute she would have
to be voracious in seeking out the stories that would sell their online
newspaper. No long the printed matter
for them. According to Gareth it didn’t matter how adept Milly was at IT and
getting the items published, what he needed was prompt copy, fact checking and
editing in a fast turnaround time.
Finally, Gareth ran out of
steam. He stormed out the office wishing
it wasn't open plan so he could have the satisfaction of slamming a door, he
just made do with stomping down the corridor.
Boy, did he need a coffee. He
really didn’t enjoy dressing down a young, new member of staff, let alone one
who was as attractive and vivacious as Milly was.
Susy rushed in and took Milly in
to her arms, cuddling her fast to her matronly ample bosom, the mother hen in
Susy coming in to play. She shushed and
told her it be alright with comforting strokes on Milly’s back. She passed Milly a tissue to wipe her eyes
and nose while they had a whispered heart-to-heart conversation.
‘You have to be very careful
around Gareth. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, even though he is at least 10
years older than you. Just take care and
if he acts in any way out of line we will go to HR and lodge a sexual
complaint.’
‘It won’t come to that,’ Milly
replied. ‘I know I am dispensable
in this team, there are hundreds of graduates like me just waiting to jump into
my shoes. Somehow I have to make my mark
and prove I am worthy of this job and valued as a bona fide journalist.’
Susy nodded her head, knowing
Milly would pick herself up, she left her alone and went back to her own work
station. As she walked away she noticed
Annette, Gareth’s wife, walking into his office. He was the only one with a ‘proper’ office, a
door and windows out in to the office.
The door was shut, the blinds came down, so privacy was wanted. Susy knew Annette was the power behind the
throne and she would calm Gareth down, probably enough to elicit an apology
from him to Milly at some point during the day.
Milly noticed as well. Right girl, time to sit up, straighten that
backbone of yours and think of an article that would blow his socks off.
Got it! Last week was International Women’s Day. Everybody jumped on the band wagon but now
was the time to keep it going. She would
open up a competition of sorts, asking for essays on the women who influenced
other women’s life, poetry perhaps. She
knew a lot of people were put off by poetry thinking it was dull and staid and
old fashioned. She’d pitch it as; you
listen to poetry everyday and don’t realise it.
What are song lyrics if not a form of poetry? Oh, she was on a roll now. She could have a section called ‘prosetry’ a
mixture of flash fiction and a poem. She
could open a blog, a chat room, a forum, a safe space for women and maybe men
who were influenced by great women in their lives. There was so much stuff she could do, this
could run and run. She punched her fist
in the air as she figuratively put pen to paper while her fingers pounded
across her keyboard hardly able to keep up with her thoughts.
She’d write a poem herself, mark
it anonymous to be able to pitch it as an example to Gareth. Leading with the title of women over the last
70 years – 1950’s – 2020’s.
A few minutes later she was ready
to print her poem:
The housewife of
old was meek and mild
She looked after
the house and her child
She tended to all
her man’s needs
Then found time to
pull up some weeds
She cleaned and
washed and cooked all day long
Listening to the
radio enjoying the pop songs
Matching handbags
and shoes
Twinsets and
pearls
Hair neatly
coiffed and lacquered
All meals were
home cooked and catered
No machines to
save time and energy
Any ambitions to
work were thought to be haughty
She was there to toe
the line
To comfort,
nurture and be his sunshine
Nothing was too
much trouble, never angry
Abused physically
and mentally by all and sundry
As time went on it
wasn’t enough
Soon women found
the strength to rebuff
The social norms
of their lives and times
Sometimes having
to commit crimes
Suffragettes and
pioneers who wouldn’t be beaten
We need to thank
our brave women who were certain
Who led from the
front for their sisters and daughters
To find the right
answers our female warriors
Taking voice and
fighting hard to unite
Making sure it’s
everyone’s birth right
Regarded and
respected as any other human being
Genuinely admired
and loved with feeling
So now we are in
the 21st century
Some women are
still living in penury
Working hard to
change women’s lives
No longer willing
to be captives
Standing against
discrimination and prejudice
Knocking down the
walls of the fortress
Dismissing the
world of unfair bigotry
Trying to get
everyone to agree.
Standing up for
women’s rights and others
As did our
grandmothers and great grandmothers
Not only for sex discrimination
or prejudice
Righting the
wrongs in the world with fairness
Thinking of the
whole world with compassion
Helping out others
with consideration
Lots of empathy
and sympathy along the way
Hoping to make it
a brighter day.