Julia's Free Write
Colors, colors inside the coffee shop and beautiful flowers outside.
And to make life even better, finally a truly glorious, just-the-right temperature summer day.
Inside though something was out of sync: upon arrival there was only one table free, so I grabbed it.
As time went by the early coffee/tea/juice breakfast lot started leaving.
Ah, peace.
In the corner though a mystery: a table waiting to be cleared and an abandoned baby stroller.
However, outside all-of-a-sudden there were sirens, cop cars, ambulances arriving on all sides.
We sat and watched the scene unfold, wondering if perhaps we shouldn’t discretely disappear.
A rush of uniforms and men with guns in hand had us diving for cover.
It was only when I watched the news that evening that I learned that the abandoned stroller had held the baby of the wealthiest person in the state.
D-L's Free Write
"It's your turn to clear that table. I've walked up the blinking stairs three times, Janice knew that the mother never leaves a tip.
Fanny hissed, "Well I've a sore leg."
Janice knew that Fanny's sore leg was selective. After their shift at Harry's café, when she'd been on the bus, she'd seen Franny leave the supermarket carrying a bag of groceries. Probably the limp had been in the bag too, because Fanny was walking fast.
The table they were arguing about had been occupied by a regular young mother with a toddler and a two-month old. The toddler was cue, a good thing too because she was also a brat."
Fanny sighed. "You win." She limped up the five stairs to the other tables.
WOW! The woman had left a $5 tip.
Rick's Free Write
Strange city. Strange country. Strange life.
She was a ‘trailing spouse’ in the parlance of the UN agency for whom her husband worked.
Two children, one just in school, one an infant. Getting a job was out of the question. Not without a full-time nanny, which they couldn’t afford.
So she searched for mental diversions. Not shopping. Not museums. Places where she could sit in a corner, park the stroller, keep the kids calm and quiet.
Like this café on a hillside overlooking the lake. Lots of sunshine. A garden with a plethora of flowers.
She occasionally saw other women who seemed like herself. But she hesitated to engage. Her language skills were not great.
The tea was good. The chocolates were wonderful.
She wished they had never come here.
About the Free Writers
Rick Adams is an aviation journalist and publisher of www.aviationvoices.com, a weekly newsletter reporting the airline industry top stories . He is the author of The Robot in the Simulator. AI in Aviation Training.
Visit D-L.'s website https://dlnelsonwriter.com, She is the author of 15 fiction and three non fiction books. Her 300 Unsung Women, bios of women who battled gender limitations, can be purchased at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/300-unsung-women-d-l-nelson/1147305797?ean=9798990385504
Visit Julia's blog. She has written and taken photos and loves syncing up with friends. Her blog can be found: https://viewsfromeverywhere.blogspot.com/
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment