The struggle for democracy is real.
Written for Shweta Suresh’s Saturday Six Word Story Prompt, where the word is “struggle.”
#6WSP — In MAGAmerica
struggle
FOWC with Fandango — Struggle
Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).
Today’s word is “struggle.”
Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.
Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.
And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.
Share Your World — 10/4/2021
It’s time for another one of Melanie’s Share Your World prompts. Let’s answer her “off-the-cuff” questions.
How do you feel about sharing your computer or phone password with your partner?
We know each other’s passwords so that if anything happens to either one of us, the other will have access to all accounts and websites.
What is the greatest struggle you’ve overcome? (This isn’t meant to be invasive, just use general terms if you’d like. Or if not, feel free to pass on the question. That’s allowed too).
I have struggled with having rejected the religious beliefs of my family and most of my friends. I so wanted to embrace their beliefs, but my head and heart (and pragmatism) just couldn’t reconcile the mythologies they clung to with the reality I was experiencing. As a result, I have lost some friends and even alienated some family members. But I am at peace with my atheism.
If heaven is real and you died tomorrow, do you think you would get in? Why or why not? (This is purely speculation, no bias if you don’t believe.)
This is an easy one since I don’t believe in an afterlife and I believe that when I die, everything will cease to exists, at least from my perspective. So since there is no heaven, I’m sure I won’t get in to that “place” that doesn’t exist in reality.
What makes you feel like you really need to be alone?
After reading, watching, or hearing political news, I just want to be left alone to stew.
Do you have any traditions around this time of year?
October is the Major League Baseball month leading up to the World Series. The post season playoffs start tomorrow. Go Boston Red Sox. Go San Francisco Giants!
Share Your World — Deep and Dark Thoughts
For today’s Share Your World challenge, Melanie is asking us to dig into the deepest and darkest regions of our lives. So let’s go digging.
What do you think of best friends of the opposite sex? Or to put it another way “Can men and women ever be platonic friends? Doesn’t sex always get in the way?”
I consider my wife to be my best friend, and she and I are of the opposite sex, so I think it’s great.
But that’s not what you’re getting at, is it Melanie? To be honest, I think there are often, if not always, sexual undertones in any close relationship between a man and a woman — and even, depending upon sexual orientation, between a man and a man or a woman and a woman. Sometimes the parties to the relationship can control those sexual urges in order to not jeopardize the friendship or to put a strain on the relationship. But occasionally the sexual tension becomes overwhelming and, well, sex happens. When it does, does it get in the way of the friendship? That depends upon the couple, but it definitely changes the dynamics of the relationship.
What is the greatest struggle you’ve overcome?
I think it’s been my lifelong battle with “benign paroxysmal positional vertigo” (BPPV). If I put my head in certain positions, like looking up toward the ceiling, laying flat on my back in the supine position, and lying down or sleeping on my left side, it triggers what, at times, can be severe dizziness. So the way I manage this malady is to do my best to avoid putting my head in any position that triggers my vertigo.
What is the darkest thought you’ve ever had? What about the darkest thing you’ve done that you’ve never told anybody about?
Darkest thought: I want, in the interest of preserving the American democracy, to assassinate the current president, the current senate majority leader, and the current attorney general. I sure hope the NSA doesn’t read your blog, Melanie, or my next post may be from a federal prison.
And to the good folks at the NSA, who I respect very much for the fine job you’re doing to protect our country and our citizens, let me point out that the question is about dark thoughts, not dark actions or deeds. Do you feel me?
And one ‘fun’ one because I realize those others were pretty deep.
What is your least favorite food?
Brussels sprouts. And fruit cake.
An Impossible, Endless Struggle
“You have been promising to renovate our dingy kitchen for years,” Donna complained to her husband.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” David said. “I’ll get around to it.”
“When?” Donna asked. “I swear, David, you’re impossible. Getting you to do anything around here is an endless struggle.”
“Well, Donna, your ‘honey-do’ list is so damn long, I have to be efficient when it comes how to parcel out my time,” David said. “But I assure you, when the time is right, I’ll glide right into the task. It’ll be so smooth, like butter. I promise.”
“Yeah,” Donna said sarcastically, “but will you glide into it before you die? Because if you don’t get to it soon, I’m going to kill you.”
Written for these one-word prompts: Your Daily Word Prompt (renovate), Word of the Day (dingy), Ragtag Daily Prompt (parcel), Daily Addictions (glide), Scotts Daily Prompt (die), and for Teresa’s Daily Writing Challenge using the words “impossible,” “endless,” and “struggle.
Facts, Fictions & Fantasies 