Life in progress

Monthly Archives: September 2017


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18. Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right

Monday, September 18th, 8:00am
Michael (and Phil)

 

Michael sits beside the window, reading a book. Phil takes the seat beside him.

Phil: My car broke down.

Michael: Excuse me?

Phil: I don’t usually take the bus, but my car broke down today.

Michael nods and goes back to reading.

Phil: I had a feeling it wouldn’t start.

Michael begrudgingly looks up from his book.

Phil: It’s just one of those days when you know something’s going to go wrong. Know what I mean?

Michael: Yeah. (glances out the window for a moment, then goes back to the book)

Phil: Do you own a car?

Michael: (lets the book drop in his lap) Nope.

Phil: You wouldn’t understand then.

Michael: Understand what?

Phil: What it’s like to have to take the bus.

Michael frowns but Phil doesn’t notice.

Phil: I mean, what do you do on the bus? When you’re driving to work, you have something to do.

Michael: I like to read a book. (lifts the book up and shows Phil)

Phil: Oh yeah? That’s a good idea. What are you reading?

Michael: Deadly Karate Blows – The Medical Implications, by Brian Adams.

Phil: Oh.

 

Next stop: Tuesday, September 19th, 5:00pm

Click here to learn all about this series, how it works, and where to find your favourite characters.


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17. Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right

Sunday, September 17th, 1:00pm
Agatha and Kitty

 

Agatha: When we get home, I think I’ll need a cup of tea.

Kitty stares out the window silently.

Agatha: All this traveling on the bus is for the birds. I’m not as young as I used to be.

Kitty regards Agatha and looks back out the window.

Agatha: I see all these young people, the boys with their bottoms hanging out of their pants and the girls … (shakes her head) If I’d tried to go out in the things the girls wear these days, my mother would have sent me to my room without any dinner. But, times change. I suppose I’m just old-fashioned.

Kitty turns to Agatha and blinks.

Agatha: You’re such a good girl, aren’t you pet?

Kitty yawns.

Agatha: Where would I be without you?

Kitty: Probably sitting at home drinking tea instead of taking me out to buy new jeans.

 

Next stop: Monday, September 18th, 8:00am

Click here to learn all about this series, how it works, and where to find your favourite characters.


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#SoCS – Volition

Gah! Why do I struggle so much to write something positive these days? To write something – anything – of my own volition? I swear, if it wasn’t for these prompts, I might not write at all for weeks on end. Which is strange, really, because when I start, it’s natural. It just goes. Before I go off on a tangent, I want to say thank you. To all of you who help me keep going with my prompts. Because though they may originate here, if it wasn’t for all of you reading and participating in them, I’d have no motivation to keep it up some weeks. Thank you. 🙂

I’m not going to get this posted on Saturday, but I’m happy I at least started it with a minute or two to spare. I’ve spent the day working and occasionally tending to my son Chris’s needs.  And talking to my mother on the phone about half a dozen times, allaying her fears that there really is nothing to worry about when she finds a note in her room that she wrote about something she was trying to remember to do three years ago. I swear sometimes it would be best to go through her room when she’s not there and empty it of every scrap of paper once a week. She’s always been a worrier. Now she finds something to worry about and with her dementia, she can discover it for the first time ten times in the space of an hour.

I actually tried not giving birth to an only child, as I am, so that only one child would be stuck looking after me as I age. As it turns out, my eldest will likely be stuck with both me and his two disabled brothers. Life just isn’t fair.

Gah! Why do I struggle so much to write something positive these days? (Yes, I copied that.)

So I was at the hospital with Alex the other day, and I was amazed at how many people I recognized from when he was there for the first eight months of his life. Not only that, there were so many of those people who recognized me. I must have made an impression. Or Alex did. He was admitted for a night after vomiting as he came out of anaesthesia and they were afraid that he may have aspirated. He spent the night with the nurses at the desk, apparently, hanging out and flirting. He didn’t want to leave the hospital when it was time to go. I remember one time he was in ICU after having a second surgery in the space of two days. He’d had sleep apnea and the first surgery wasn’t as successful as they’d hoped. Even after all that, he managed to wrap every nurse in the ICU around his little finger. I’ve never seen so many nurses drop what they were doing (in the bloody ICU!) to wave goodbye to him as they wheeled him on a stretcher out the door and back up to the ward where he would spend another few days recovering.

He gets it from his dad, I’m sure. I’m simply not that charming.

But soon we won’t have that particular hospital to go to anymore. It’s a children’s hospital, and Alex will turn seventeen in five weeks. I fear the adult hospital may not be as good.

Gah!

Alex’s first day of school, Sept. 5, 2017.

 

Check out the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt at the following link and read all the other posts. And join in too, if you’d like. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2017/09/15/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-1617/


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16. Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right

Saturday, September 16th, 4:00pm
The Darkness (the bus driver, everyone else on the bus)

 

The Darkness: (shouting) I AM THE DARKNESS!! I AM THE DARKNESS!!

The Darkness: (stands) I AM THE DARKNESS!!

The bus driver stops the bus and walks back to The Darkness.

The bus driver: I’m sorry, sir, but you’re going to have to get off the bus.

The Darkness: (one octave higher, as though explaining) I AM THE DARKNESS!

The bus driver: I get that, sir, but you’re going to have to leave now.

The Darkness: (walks toward the door, mumbling) I am The Darkness.

Everyone else on the bus applauds.

 

Next stop: Sunday, September 17th, 1:00pm

Click here to learn all about this series, how it works, and where to find your favourite characters.


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15. Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right

Note: Adult themes.

Friday, September 15th, 10:00pm
Joel and Holly

 

Holly: (whining) Buses make me sick.

Joel: (sighs) Hold on babe, it won’t be much longer.

Holly: So, do you think I should tell Bill tonight, about the baby?

Joel: About that. You said he’s going to be mad, right?

Holly: (nods) He might be okay if he thinks it’s his, but when he finds out it’s yours …

Joel: Yeah, I get the picture. So the way I see it is this. We can either take off together, maybe go across the country where he won’t find us or …

Holly: … or what.

Joel: (takes a deep breath) I know a guy who knows a guy who can take him out.

Holly: What do you mean, ‘take him out’?

Joel: What do you think I mean?

Holly: You mean kill him!?

Joel: SHHHH!!!! (whispers) Yes. What do you suggest? Just let him kill me? And you? And the baby maybe?

Holly: (retches) Oh God, get me off the bus now!!

 

Next stop: Saturday, September 16th, 4:00pm

Click here to learn all about this series, how it works, and where to find your favourite characters.


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Sept. 16/17

It’s Friday again and time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. I just got back from Ottawa a couple of hours ago after an unexpected extra night’s stay. The doctor wanted to observe Alex for the night. But good news: all is well. Here’s your SoCS prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “vol.” Find a word with “vol” in it, and use it in your post. Have fun!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!


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14. Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right

Note: Strong language, adult themes.

Thursday, September 14th, 3:00pm
Madigan and Ken

 

Madigan: Do you really think we should be seen in public like this?

Ken: Why not? I’m your brother-in-law. We met on the street outside your work and now we’re going…

Madigan: Right. Where do we say we’re going again?

Ken: For a coffee.

Madigan: On a bus? Everyone knows there’s a Tim Horton’s within walking distance of anywhere downtown.

Ken: Don’t worry about it. We’re not going to be seen by anyone who knows us anyway.

Madigan sighs and looks out the window.

Ken: Do you want to go back?

Madigan: No.

Ken: You said yourself it’s not safe to get together at your place anymore. So what choice do we have?

Madigan: (mumbles) We could stop seeing each other.

Ken: (puts his hand on her knee) Did you say you want to stop seeing each other?

Madigan: I just don’t want to get caught. Barb is my sister … my only sister. And what am I teaching Missy?

Ken: You’re teaching her to follow her heart.

Madigan: How? When I’m not following mine? All I’m doing is following your cock.

Ken: Fine, let’s get off the bus then.

Madigan: No.

Ken: (frowns) Maddie, you’ve got to decide what the fuck you want, coz I’m getting confused.

Madigan: (glares at him) Why don’t you decide what the fuck YOU want? Do you want me or my sister?

Ken: You know I want you.

Madigan: When are you going to leave her?

Ken: I can’t, you know that.

Madigan stares out the window.

Ken: What do you want to do? Right now, I mean. Do you want to go to the hotel?

Madigan: (sighs) I guess. I hear self-flagellation is good for the soul.

 

Next stop: Friday, September 15th, 10:00pm

Click here to learn all about this series, how it works, and where to find your favourite characters.


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13. Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right

Note: Strong language, adult themes.

Wednesday, September 13th, 7:00pm
Drommen (and Andrea)

Drommen sits at the window. Andrea sits down beside him.

Drommen: (smiles) Hello.

Andrea: Well hi! See this is, like, what the world needs. More friendly people.

Drommen: Mind if…

Andrea: It’s like I was telling my friend, Lacey? I said if there were more guys in this world who would, like, just be themselves and stop jerking around, don’t you think everyone could be, like, happier?

Drommen: Speaking of jerking around….

Andrea: I know, right? It’s like this guy I met online the other day. He’s, like, all nice and everything and we’re talking away and he seems like this really nice guy, you know? And the next thing I know he’s asking me if I want to get on the webcam, right?

Drommen: (slips his hand in his coat below the waist and nods) Ok.

Andrea: So I turn on my cam and he turns on his and he’s EXACTLY like he described himself! Which is great! Coz, you know how people are these days always misrepresenting themselves and shit, right?

Drommen smiles and nods, his hand moving slowly up and down.

Andrea: So we’re talking and he’s smiling and everything’s, like, going great and then this GUY, asks me if I want to see his THING! Can you believe it?

Drommen nods, leering.

Andrea: So I’m, like, dude! That is so cool! NOT! I mean, why would I want to see THAT? That’s fucking so disGUSTING! So then he’s, like, all apologetic and shit and I’m, like, dude, whatEV! (looks at Drommen for the first time) So what’s your deal?

Drommen: Oh, just enjoying the ride. Hey, would you mind if I get off?

Andrea: Of course not.

Andrea gets out of her seat, but Drommen doesn’t move.

Drommen: (stares up at her for a moment, then removes his hand from his coat) Never mind.

Next stop: Thursday, September 14th, 3:00pm

Click here to learn all about this series, how it works, and where to find your favourite characters.


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One-Liner Wednesday – Cheating?

Not sure whether or not this is technically cheating (since I make up the rules), but I’m using this week’s one-liner Wednesday to let you know I’m going away for a couple of days – Alex has dental surgery on Thursday morning.

Here’s a pretty picture to make up for my sucky one-liner.

See you Friday! Wish us luck!

____________________________________________________________________________

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

#1linerWeds badge by Dan Antion


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12. Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right

Note: Strong language, adult themes.

Tuesday, September 12th, 5:00pm
Sandi (and Candice)

 

Sandi sits at the window seat daydreaming about Jeff.

Candice: I didn’t think you were going to work today.

Sandi: (jumps hearing Candice’s voice, then pats the seat beside her) I wasn’t going to but Lana called in sick and The Grump is coming in today.

Candice: Fuck, no.

Sandi: Yeah.

Candice: I wish I could take him off your hands.

Sandi: Eeh, he’s not that bad. Sure, he’s loud and whiny, but he’s pretty easy to please.

Candice: I’ve got Mr. Avon today.

Sandi: Shit. So you’ll be up to your elbows in makeup before you even start. And isn’t he the one who wants you to wear nothing but rubber?

Candice: (nods and whispers) That rubber bra chafes something awful.

Sandi: You should tell him no.

Candice: Tried that once. He refused to pay.

Sandi: Ooh, was Madame very upset?

Candice: I couldn’t sit down for a week. So, how was your weekend with the preacher?

Sandi: (sighs and rests her head on the glass) Heaven.

Candice: The Grump is in for a treat then.

Sandi: (nods and smiles) I’m going to correct the fuck out of him.

 

Next stop: Wednesday, September 13th,  7:00pm

Click here to learn all about this series, how it works, and where to find your favourite characters.