What’s Under Your Bed?

The coolest thing I have ever found and kept is a shiny new spoon. It took me all night to drag a shiny spoon under the bed. The spoon is my favorite treasure. I love to look at my reflection in it. I have such pretty yellow eyes and a mouth that is a black hollow that opens and closes. So interesting! Until I had found the spoon, I hadn’t known what I looked like.

I’ve found other things, such as coins, that roll under the furniture. I once grabbed a stray baby’s sock that fell out of the laundry basket and pulled it under the couch. The sock keeps me warm from my neck to my feet during cold winter nights. One time during breakfast, a blueberry rolled onto the kitchen floor. I grabbed it, tucked it under my arm, and ran, following a ray of sunlight until I could hide behind a basket.

There are so many intriguing things in this house. I even have a collection of giant buttons. They fell off a blue shirt and a gray sweater. The buttons are so big! When I hold the biggest one up, it comes up to my waist!

Yet, the spoon is the coolest thing I’ve ever found. It can reflect the sunlight. I like to gaze into it and see myself.  “Who are you?” I say, and the face there parrots me back. I am not so lonely when I look at it. I feel at home.

Daily writing prompt
What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever found (and kept)?
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Do You Stand Out in a Crowd?

What part of my routine would I always skip if I can? I would say it’s my face. Yeah, I can tell by your reaction that you weren’t expecting an answer like that when you asked for this interview. But, like I said over the phone, I’m not like other people that you know.

So while you’re checking your interview notes to see what detail you missed about me, let me explain.

Every day, I go to work, I take the transit like hundreds of other people in this city. I check my phone for the latest news during my ride and then I grab my coffee on the way to the office. I enter data and write reports all day. I say hello to my coworkers on the way to my desk, and goodbye on my way home. Yeah, it sounds boring, but I’m as pleasant and polite as can be.

So what’s this got to do with my face?

Well, everything. No one really knows anyone. No one really knows me.

My coworkers and my boss call me reliable and hardworking. But they couldn’t tell you a darn thing about my favorite hobby or favorite food. They think it’s pizza and beer, but that’s because they all have pizza and beer after work when we gather at the pub.

My parents say I’m a good son. I visit them on the weekends. I play with their dog and their cat so they think I like animals. They like going to Europe in the summer and I’m always intrigued by their adventures so they think my dream is to visit Europe.

The reality is, I don’t know what I want. I try so hard to be a people pleaser, that over time, I’ve lost myself. Every day, I put on my face before I walk out that door. That face is the face of the person everyone thinks is me, you know?

But who am I? If I didn’t put on my face, who would they see? 

For once, I wish I had the courage to be late for work because I slept in, so yeah, fire me. Wouldn’t that feel good! I wish I could board the train and start belting out a song and hope everyone joins my impromptu concert. For once, I wish I could say to my parents, I want to go hiking in the mountains, even though I could get lost, and it’s a little dangerous. But I’m not brave enough.

I guess I’m too scared to see the faces of the people around me go from acceptance to shock. So I guess the answer to your question, “What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?” would be, “not putting on my face.” I always try to go out as the real me, to skip that step of putting on my fake face, but I always run back. No one will ever see who I really am. I’d rather just be another face in the crowd.

Thanks for reading this post!

Daily writing prompt
What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?
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I’m Still Here

These days, we’re all wondering if we’ll be replaced by technology. Some organizations are using AI to write, instead of hiring writers. Does this mean writers will be out of jobs in the future?
Yet, the vacuum still hasn’t replaced the broom. I own both a vacuum and a broom. I also have a computer and a smartphone, and I still read paper books.

For sure, technology has replaced what used to be a regular part of people’s lives in the past. The average person will travel by car or public transit instead of by horse to get where they want to go. The average person will use electric lighting instead of candles to brighten their room at night.

However, some things are still here to stay, co-existing in a modern world. What do you think?

Halloween Tales: A Life to Remember

The year of my life that I would re-live is the year that I got married. My husband was handsome, thoughtful, and kind. He never got sick because he said he wanted to protect me forever. Love me forever. I never met his family. They had all passed away or lived far away. I grew up with my family, but when we were married, he bought a house in another country, and that’s where we would live. That scared me, to be away from my family, but I loved him, so I trusted him.

One night, while we sat across from each other during one of our candlelight dinners, he said nonchalantly, “I’m a vampire.” 

I laughed. He liked to tell jokes. He said he didn’t have enough opportunities to tell jokes because he worked the night shift. He didn’t have any friends. The words played over in my head. He had no friends, no family.

“I’m a vampire,” he repeated, “and I want to make you one too because I love you.”

“That’s not love!” I said, confused. Yet I could not run from him. I trusted him. Right? We were married. I started to feel the doubt and fear crawl across my skin. Could I love someone who had hidden such a big secret from me all this time?

“You’re sick, my love,” he said. “You saw the doctor yesterday. They confirmed it was cancer! I can’t lose you.”

“There’s a chance we can still beat it. What you’re suggesting is ridiculous.”

“No, not at all.” He rushed over to me and held me in his arms. I sank into his familiar embrace and told myself this was a dream or a prank. There was no such thing as vampires. Soon, everything would be okay again. 

“You wouldn’t hurt me.” I felt his lips on my neck, then a numbness took over me. 

He pulled back and said, “I can’t live in a world without you. If you were to die from cancer, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. This is what’s best for us both. This is what I must do. Thank you for the love that you gave me.”

“The love that I gave you?”

I felt myself being lowered to the floor. My head and back rested on the carpeted floor. Next to me, my husband’s skin started to peel. He started to disintegrate like ash. All the pieces of him fell in a heap to the ground.

***

I haven’t been sick for decades. I feel fine. I can’t remember when I finally swept his ashes off the floor and put them in a beautiful container, locked away. I found a journal on the chair where he had been sitting at dinner.

I’m a vampire now. But I don’t drink blood. My husband said, our kind drinks away poisons and illnesses. And of course, the price is our life. I keep replaying that night over in my mind, reliving it for years. This was not the decision I wanted him to make. We were supposed to make decisions together. I wanted to go back to that night, to change the past. He’s left me here alone. 

The question I think about a lot now is this: does it really matter how we live if we find our true love? I will always wonder what the best answer is.

Image credit: CrimsonMystique

Daily writing prompt
Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live?
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What are some valuable words of wisdom you want to share?

What should everyone know? This question is difficult to answer. The first thought that came to mind was financial intelligence. 

Money can be a source of suffering if you are barely scraping by, stressed about your never-ending bills, and feeling ill because you can’t afford good food. In school, they don’t teach you how to balance your bank account and keep it in the black, how to deal with debt, or how to invest. They just tell you to do well in school and then get a job. If you know how to deal with good debt and bad debt. 

However, there is something we should know that is more important than financial intelligence, and that’s people skills.

Knowing how to interact with people is critical. As they say, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. When you’re in school, the right friends can help you with your studies and offer you the social and emotional support you need. When you’re working on your career, building a solid network can get you ahead of other job applicants. 

If you know people, you can get great recommendations for a mechanic, plumber, or house painter you can trust to get the job done right. A trustworthy financial advisor will give you insights on how to invest your money. 

If you’re in a jam, friends can help you out on moving day, be a shoulder to cry on on your worst days, or celebrate with you during your happiest moments. 

It’s hard to find people you can trust, who can be there when you need them. People skills can get you far in life.

What do you think? Would you agree?

Daily writing prompt
What’s something you believe everyone should know.
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