wild

Writer’s Workshop — It’s Wild World

Fandango16 Comments

For his Writer’s Workshop this week, John Holton gives us six writing prompts and we are tasked with choosing one of the prompts (or as many as we want) and writing a post that addresses that (or those) prompts. I am responding to two this week:

  1. Write a post inspired by the word wild.
  2. Write a post in exactly 10 sentences.

The night of graduation, Emma sat on the front porch swing bench, her high school graduation cap still dangling from one hand. Her father leaned against the back of the swing bench, the glow of the porch light carving deep lines into his weathered face.

“First off, I am so proud of you, sweetheart, and I know your mother, God rest her soul, is looking down at you from heaven with a broad smile on her face,” he began. “But she’s not here and it falls upon me to tell you that it’s a wild world out there. You’ll meet people who will smile at you with kindness and compassion and others who will smile just to take advantage of you.”

Emma listened, her chest tight, knowing he wasn’t trying to scare her, just to prepare her.

“There will be nights when the road feels endless and no one is there to guide you,” he said, tenderly reaching out and brushing a strand of hair from her face, the gesture softening his words. “But bravery is born in the messy, unpredictable places and you mustn’t let fear keep you still.”

She nodded, clutching his hand, feeling the weight of his years pressed into her palm. And in that moment, Emma understood that his warning was really a gift of love disguised as caution.


Badge by Patty, http://anothercookieplease.com

Image conjured using ChatGPT.

Thursday Inspiration — Wild Things

Fandango9 Comments

For this week’s Thursday Inspiration prompt, Jim Adams has asked us to respond by using the word “wild.” It’s too bad it was yesterday’s WordPress Daily Prompt that asked the question, “Do you ever see wild animals?” If that had been today’s daily prompt question, I could have used this response for both that prompt and Jim’s prompt today. Alas, that’s not the way it worked out.

I’m not going with the wild party image Jim used, but instead, I am using the image from Maurice Sendak’s book, Where the Wild Things Are. And I’m not using Van Morrison’s song, “Wild Night is Calling,” although I do like Van Morrison and that song. I’m going with the song “Wild Thing” from the Troggs.

“Wild Thing” was written by American songwriter Chip Taylor and popularized by the English rock band the Troggs. It was originally recorded and released by the American rock band the Wild Ones in 1965, but it did not chart. The Troggs’ single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart in 1966.

The style of music exemplified in this song became known as “Caveman Rock.” The Troggs is short for “troglodyte” (meaning “cave dweller”), which helped bolster this image. Over the next few years, The Troggs moved away from this Neanderthal sound and had a big hit in 1968 the much more evolved “Love Is All Around.”

Songwriter Chip Taylor, who is the brother of actor Jon Voight and the uncle of Angelina Jolie, has made tons of money from this song because it has been recorded by many artists and is constantly being used in movies and TV shows.

Wild thing
You make my heart sing
You make everything groovy
Wild thing
Wild thing, I think I love you
But I wanna know for sure
Come on, hold me tight
I love you

Wild thing
You make my heart sing
You make everything groovy
Wild thing

Wild thing
I think you move me
But I wanna know for sure
So come on and hold me tight
You move me

Wild thing
You make my heart sing
You make everything groovy
Wild thing
Come on, come on wild thing
Shake it, shake it, wild thing

Rory’s Morning Dawdler — 02/12/23

Fandango14 Comments

Rory, the king of questions, also known as the Autistic Composter, has come up with a new series of questions that he calls “The Morning Dawdler.” He poses four questions three times a week, questions he says are “inspired by life, humor, conversations and observations, town life, blog posts, writers, gardening, news stories, television, entertainment, and human curiosity, and so on.”

Here are Rory’s four morning dawdler questions today.

What is it about writing that you enjoy?

I feel that I can express myself much better in writing than I can verbally. Writing down my thoughts, opinions, and perspectives gives me an opportunity to read what I’ve written and to refine it, sometimes multiple times, until it expresses exactly what I’m thinking or feeling. I also enjoy how writing gives me an opportunity to flex my imagination and hone my composition and crafting skills when I write short pieces of flash fiction. Finally, I enjoy the interaction with other bloggers here on WordPress.

You have twenty minutes to take five practical everyday items from your house that will fit into a backpack that you will need to survive for two weeks in the wild – what do you take?

I’m not exactly a survivalist and I doubt I’d ever find myself spending two weeks in the wild. But I think I’d need these six items at a minimum.

  • My iPhone and charger.
  • A large water bottle.
  • A sleeping bag.
  • A warm jacket.
  • Thick socks.
  • Hiking boots.
  • Oh, one more thing: a box of kitchen matches.

Have you ever experienced road rage while driving in your car as a driver or passenger in someone else’s car?

I get angry when I see drivers do really stupid or dangerous things on the road, but I try to keep my rage in check. As my wife often reminds me, in the U.S., you never know who may be armed.

Do you complain or keep quiet if you receive lousy service when out and about and what is most likely to tick you off the most?

I will complain if I’m served the wrong dish or if something that should be served hot is only like warm. What ticks me off the most is when the person I’m dealing with is downright rude or nasty.

Thursday Inspiration — Wild Thing

Fandango9 Comments

I’m not back from vacation yet, but I did see Jim’s Thursday Inspiration post today, where the word is “wild.” All I could think of was the song “Wild Thing” by the Troggs.

“Wild Thing” was written by American songwriter Chip Taylor and popularized by the English rock band the Troggs. It was originally recorded and released by the American rock band the Wild Ones in 1965, but it did not chart. The Troggs’ single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart in 1966. Their version of “Wild Thing” was ranked at number 257 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It has also been performed by many other musicians.

It’s a simple song where a guy has fallen hard for a girl, a “wild thing,” and he’s trying to know for sure it what he’s feeling for her is the real thing.

Wild thing, you make my heart sing
You make everything groovy, wild thing
Wild thing, I think I love you
But I wanna know for sure
Come on and hold me tight
I love you

Wild thing, you make my heart sing
You make everything groovy, wild thing
Wild thing, I think you move me
But I wanna know for sure
Come on and hold me tight
You move me

Wild thing, you make my heart sing
You make everything groovy, wild thing
Wild thing, you make my heart sing
You make everything groovy, wild thing
Wild thing, you make my heart sing
You make everything groovy, wild thing

MLMM Sunday Writing Prompt — What Could Have Been

Fandango6 Comments

9FDBF731-C65B-4D71-B659-458DD8A49BF2It seemed like such a simple decision. Two job offers. One would enable me to stay local. The other would require relocating to the other coast. Both jobs offers were good ones. So it was a matter of do I stay or do I go.

I had spent my entire life — from birth through college — in the same town. So I made the decision to take the more adventuresome route and to relocate. I packed up all of my meager possessions, said farewell to family and friends, and headed across the country to start my next chapter.

My biggest regret, though, was leaving Wendy behind. She and I had been the best of friends since we were little and our relationship turned romantic during the summer after we graduated from high school. We were almost inseparable during our college years and everyone, including both of us, was sure that we’d eventually marry.

But when I had to make my job choice, Wendy’s father was suffering from stage 4 pancreatic cancer and she would not leave his side. She didn’t want to hold me back or stand in the way of my dreams, so we agreed that I would take the job, relocate, and she would join me as soon as she could.

As they say, “the best laid plans.” Within six months of when I left town, Wendy’s father passed. But by the time Wendy was ready to come be with me, I had met someone new. She was not the homespun, girl-next-door type that Wendy was. She was wild, exotic, erotic. I was smitten. And then she got pregnant.

Wendy’s heart was broken when I told her I was a baby daddy and that I felt I had to do the right thing and marry the girl. I told her that I hoped we could still be friends, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She said she never wanted to see or hear from me again.

My new wife and I ended up having two more kids before she decided to be wild, exotic, erotic with some other guy. I got full custody of our three kids after the divorce. They’ve all grown up now and are out on their own.

Last month I got a call from one of my old high school buddies. He told me that Wendy had succumbed to the flu. I was devastated.

Now I’m a lonely old man who spends most of my time living with my memories and in thoughts of what could have been had I decided to take the job close to home and make a life together with Wendy.

Written for Butterfly Effect on Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie. The prompt asks us to envision an alternate version of yourself whose life veers off course due to a single decision made at some point in your life.