For her “Can You Tell a Story In…” prompt today, Esther Chilton has challenged us to tell a 45-word story using the words doodle, temper, gin, wart, and ruby.
In a smoky bar, Ruby nursed her gin, drawing hearts on a napkin. A man with a wart and a temper slammed her table. “Give me that doodle” he growled. She smiled sweetly, slid the sketch over, and whispered, “Only if you can handle heartbreak.”
Image created using ideogram.ai.
Written for Bulbul’s Twenty Words Tuesday prompt, where this week’s word is “ruby.” Photo credit: Wall Art by Grako Design.
When I saw that Jim Adams has given us the precious gems theme for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, I decided to go with “Diamond Girl” by Seals & Crofts. But then I realized that I had already used that song back in my July 21, 2019 Song Lyric Sunday post. So I shifted gears from diamonds to rubies and went with the Kenny Rogers rendition of “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town.”
“Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” was written by American country music singer and songwriter, Mel Tillis. It was originally recorded in 1967 by Tillis and then by Waylon Jennings, but was made famous in 1969 when released by Kenny Rogers and The First Edition. Rogers sang the lead and the song was a big hit for the group. It reached number six on the U.S Billboard Hot 100 and number 39 on the country chart.
The song tells the story of a wounded soldier who has returned home to a woman who shows him little sympathy, leaving him to go out at night and enjoy the company of other men. All he can do is beg her to stay home and keep him company, but his pleas fall on deaf ears.
Tillis said he based the song on a couple who lived near his family in Florida. In real life, the man was wounded in Germany in World War II and was sent to recuperate in England. There, he married a nurse who took care of him at the hospital. The two of them moved to Florida shortly afterward, but he made periodic return trips to the hospital as problems with his wounds kept flaring up. His wife saw another man as the veteran lay in the hospital.
For the song, Tillis changed the war in the song to the Korean War, and left out the real life ending, where the man killed his wife in a murder-suicide. In the song, the man says he would kill her if he could move to get his gun.
Because the Kenny Rogers and the First Edition song was released as the Vietnam War was raging, the song was often assumed to be about a man who came home crippled from that war. Some thought the song was disrespectful to veterans coming home from Vietnam, but Rogers insisted that it was about Korea and not Vietnam and it was a personal, not a political song.
Here are the lyrics to the song.
You’ve painted up your lips and rolled and curled your tinted hair
Ruby, are you contemplating going out somewhere?
The shadows on the wall tell me the sun is going down
Oh, Ruby, don’t take your love to town
It wasn’t me that started that old crazy Asian war
But I was proud to go and do my patriotic chore
And yes, it’s true that I’m not the man I used to be
Oh Ruby, I still need some company
It’s hard to love a man whose legs are bent and paralyzed
And the wants and needs of a woman your age, really, I realize
But it won’t be long, I’ve heard them say, until I’m not around
Oh Ruby, don’t take your love to town
She’s leaving now ’cause I just heard the slamming of the door
The way I know I heard its slams one hundred times before
And if I could move, I’d get my gun and put her in the ground
Oh Ruby, don’t take your love to town
Oh Ruby, for God’s sake, turn around
“Do we have to go to your grandmother’s house?” Sam complained to his wife. “The last time we were there, the place smelled of bengay and peppermint.”
“I know,” Karen said, “but she said she had a special gift for the new baby. We’re almost there, sweetheart, and I promise we won’t stay long.”
“Fine,” Sam said, “but no more than an hour, okay.”
Karen’s grandmother was standing by the front door waving at her daughter and son-in-law when Sam pulled the car into the driveway. “Here we go,” Sam said.
When they got to the door, Karen’s grandmother warmly hugged them both. She stood back and looked at her granddaughter. “Oh Karen,” she said, “Look how big you are. You look like you’re going to have that baby any second now.”
“The baby’s not due for another two weeks, Granny,” Karen said. Didn’t you write the due date down on your calendar?”
“I think I did, honey, but with my memory the way it is, who knows? Would you mind checking? It’s the one hanging in the kitchen with a picture of a dolphin on it.”
“Sure, Grandma,” Karen said. “You know, we can’t stay too long. Sam has this work thing.”
“Well, let’s get down to business, then,” Grandma said. “First I have something for you, Karen.” She pulled a little velvet box from her apron and held it out to Karen. “Go ahead, open it up.”
Karen opened up the box and found a pair of earrings in it, each with a small ruby stone in it. “Grandma, these are your earrings,” Karen said.
“Yes, dear, but I never go anywhere to wear them, so I want you to have them.” When Karen started to protest, her grandmother said in a firm voice, “They’re for you. I’ve been saving them for you, so no argument, do you hear?”
“Thanks, Grandma,” Karen said, “but I thought you had something for the baby, not for me.”
“I do, sweetheart,” Karen’s grandmother said, beaming. “I ordered this wallpaper for the baby’s nursery. Here’s a sample,” she said, as she handed a three by three square sheet of the wallpaper to Karen. “Fantastic, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Grandma, that’s, umm, really something,” Karen said, as Sam ran out of the house laughing hysterically.
Written for Paula Light’s Three Things Challenge, where the three things are “calendar,” “dolphin,” and “ruby.” Also for The Haunted Wordsmith Daily Prompt from Teresa, where the setting is an elderly person’s home, the sentence starter is “The place smelled of bengay and peppermint,” and the photo is the flowered wallpaper. Photo credit: Ylanite Koppens from Pixabay
The first thing the two detectives noticed when they arrived at the scene was that the place was in shambles. Everything, from furniture to clothing to books, was strewn about in a seemingly haphazard manner.
A uniformed officer approached the detectives. “This place is a mess,” he said. “We’re just starting to sort through it all.”
Getting right down to business, Detective Morrisey asked, “What did the owners report as missing?”
“Mr. Von Cloussan said that he was holding the world-famous Haverford ruby, which he was planning to auction off at Sotheby’s tomorrow,” the officer said.
“The genuine Haverford ruby?” Detective Hayden asked. “That’s got to be worth a nice chunk of change.”
“Yeah, I read about that,” Morrisey said. “That jewel has been appraised at close to half a million smackeroos.”
“They’ve started dusting for prints,” the office said, “but the thief or thieves must have been wearing gloves. No fingerprints other than those belonging to Von Claussan and his wife have been found.”
“We can’t rule out an inside job,” Morrisey said, thoughtfully. “What if the Von Cloussans staged this whole scene to make it look like the ruby was stolen, and plan to collect on the insurance?” he wondered out loud.
Written for these one-word prompts: Word of the Day Challenge (shambles), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (haphazard), Scotts Daily Prompt (genuine), Your Daily Word Prompt (change), and Ragtag Daily Prompt (jewel).
Facts, Fictions & Fantasies 