Sunday 160 - Surrender

He slumped on the steps
of the church
holding his aching head
in his hands.
His skin so red
he nearly blended
with the chapel doors.
“God, help me,” he slurred.
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If you wish to take the challenge, here is a quick look at the rules.

For the original Sunday 160 post click here.
The Sunday 160 only uses 160 characters (including spaces).
Keep on schedule - post Sunday.
Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site.
Visit at least one other Sunday 160.
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Fishy 55

A scream flew across the water with dire emergency.

“He’s fallen in,” screeched a frantic voice.

“Help. Please.”

An empty inner tube

floats down the river

as many searched beneath the rushing surface.

“Found him,” yelled a rescuer.

On the shore

a teary mother’s eyes

gazed down

as a little voice said,

“I saw fishies.”
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This is a Flash Fiction Friday 55.
If you want to know what the hell that means visit g-man.
The challenge is on.
______________
Or if you want yet another challenge write a Sunday 160.
Like a text message, the Sunday 160 only uses 160 characters (including spaces)
Keep on schedule - post Sunday
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Visit at least one other Sunday 160
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This is a true story. When I was about three years old, my mother and father took us kids to the Molalla River. While neither of them could swim, My father took me out on an inner tube in shallow water. He slipped on the algae covered rock and I fell into the rushing water. A family friend who was at the river with us found me in three feet of water and brought me to shore. To this day I remember what I saw while laying on the bottom of that river. Small trout fry, smooth river rock and sand. My mother told me that after coughing up the water I had swallowed, I excitedly told her that I saw fish under the water. I have heard of people who developed life long fears after an experience like this, but I love the water and feel very natural in it. I scuba dive and love to "look at the fishies".

Theme Thursday - Bicycle

The wind had blown the last of the flower petals away.

Sweepers and thieves had removed

the stuffed animals

along with the notes of love

and remembrance,

only leaving behind

the ghost bike

as a monument

to the fallen.

Share the Road.

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If you want to play, check out Theme Thursday.

A new theme suggestion is given every Sunday

and you post on Thursday.

If Headstones Could Talk

No love coursed through the veins of this house.
Life was hard and it was meant to stay that way.
She would see to it.
Work hard first.
Chop wood and carry water.
Do what you were told
and never veer from the assigned path.



It was difficult for him.
All he wanted was to dance.
To hold her until her heart
left that frigid place
in which it had become so comfortable.
He smiled and whistled
while he worked in the field,
but kept his head low in the home.
It was not his castle.
It was a prison of forced humility.

The last to go,
it was left to him
how the future
would remember them.
He stayed humble
while her eyes
would pierce the world
until nature’s immutable laws
turned the stone to sand.

160 Economic Stress

Fidgeting nervously
at the counter,
the woman waited
until the clerk was alone.
Pulling an object
from her purse,
she barked,
“I’ve never bought resale before.”

______________________________
If you wish to take the challenge, here is a quick look at the rules.

For the original Sunday 160 post click here.

The Sunday 160 only uses 160 characters (including spaces).
Keep on schedule - post Sunday.
Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site.
Visit at least one other Sunday 160.
_______________________________

The Monkey House

Welcome to my home. Let me take you on a tour.

Entry

Family Room

More Family Room

The Kitchen

Still the Kitchen

Dining Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bath

Monkey Boy's Room

Monkey Girl's Room

Security System

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I hope you enjoyed this little tour.

If you are ever in my neck of the woods, stop by, we'll have a room for you.

55 into the cold cold ground

The old pickup truck quietly
pulled up the drive
of the isolated home
on the hill.
Two shadowy figures emerged
with shovels and an axe.
Digging.
Carefully digging.
The hole had to be
precisely the right size.
Unloading a burlap covered form
they placed it tenderly in the earth.
Another tree successfully planted.
Earth Day.
_____________________
This is a Flash Fiction Friday 55.
If you want to know what the hell that means visit g-man.
The challenge is on.
______________
Or if you want yet another challenge write a Sunday 160.
Like a text message, the Sunday 160 only uses 160 characters (including spaces)
Keep on schedule - post Sunday
Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site
Visit at least one other Sunday 160

Customer Service is Dead

Remember the days you would walk into a store, any store, and a smiling face greeted you in some fashion - "Good Morning." "Good Afternoon." "How are you today?" "How can we help you?" - or some other polite form of salutation? I know there are places out there where store personnel still employ this old fashioned method of customer contact, but they seem few and far between. Take my recent experience for example.

When search for something at our local variety store the other day, you know the one that has everything from groceries to gardening to automotive to clothing, (no not Wal#&*% but that ilk) I looked for a clerk to direct me so I didn't have to spend half an hour running up and down every aisle until the hidden jewel revealed itself. I swear to Goddess that clerks in this store are hired because they have customer radar that pings as we approach so they can run away and hide. "Excuse me, miss, but can you tell me where the (Ping! Ahh Ooo Gahh - customer approaching - DIVE! DIVE) is?" Gone. Dove under the pile of brightly colored, flower print pillows. Another potential sale and customer contact averted.

So that is how it goes at my store. Customer service is dead....or at least it is dying. It's no longer "How can I help you", but "Run away! Run away!" Like a Monty Python movie without the clippity clop of coconuts husks.

Now, mind you, there are stores you go into and the clerks/sales people are on you like stink on Detroit (I kid you Detroiters out there) and that is no doubt the difference between hourly rate employees and commissioned sales people. Some of the latter see you as dollar signs, not human beings. What I want to know is what ever happened to a smile, a nod, an acknowledgement and just a tad bit of help? Something in between an all out blitzkrieg and a French army retreat.

Are all retail employees anti social these days? Is customer service dead? All I want is to feel welcomed, get some occasional help and for someone to be just a little gracious that I have entered their place of business to spend my hard earned money. Treat me like I have feelings and real warm blood pumping through my veins. I'm a human being. We all like to be treated with respect and courtesy.

So, hey retail world, what do you say? Roll back the clock and try to smile the next time a customer approaches.

Webbed 160

Boredom packed each cubby hole
with indecision and apathy.
Cobwebs draped action
and activity - two old friends
who were played with daily.
Time to clean house.
______________________________
If you wish to take the challenge, here is a quick look at the rules.

For the original Sunday 160 post click here.

The Sunday 160 only uses 160 characters (including spaces).
Keep on schedule - post Sunday.
Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site.
Visit at least one other Sunday 160.
_______________________________

Non-Fiction 55

Young Quincy hobbled along
on his teal cast
with the lime green
lightning bolt painted on it.
He tried pretending
he was a super hero,
but as his leg
dragged beside him
he was too slow
to live up to the
emblazoned lightning design.
Truly, he just had to face - his was a dog’s life.

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This is a Flash Fiction Friday 55.
If you want to know what the hell that means visit g-man.
The challenge is on.
______________

Or if you want yet another challenge write a Sunday 160.
Like a text message, the Sunday 160 only uses 160 characters (including spaces)
Keep on schedule - post Sunday
Let me know you have posted via a comment on my site
Visit at least one other Sunday 160
_______________

Meet Quincy. I am puppy sitting him while his "parents" are away.