Well I wrote a Weds Brief this week. Been busy getting ready for a move. Not fun at all. I hate packing up my life into boxes and hope that I don't lose anything.
Here are this week's prompts:
“Can you just give me five minutes to get this done?”
“That… just never gets easier.”
"And how was your day?"
"Option number one is…"
"Just a little case of mood poisoning... must be something I hate."
"He has Van Gogh's ear for music."
"You smelt it, you dealt it."
"Oh my goodness, the fallout from that…"
or use: cat litter, brush, tree limb
or have character sneeze over and over
or have music playing loudly
or use: ketchup, glass, boots
find a penny on the ground
or use: paper plates, hammer, magic marker
or take the initiative
or "You have no idea what I've been through..."
or "Don't judge me, bro..."
or "She was bred in old Kentucky, but she's just a crumb down here..."
“Hey Tom, can you bring in the cat litter in from the car
for me? I forgot it, and I want to change the box before we head out
to the flower show.”
Ben and Tom had planned to go to the flower show in Philly
for a while now. They were so sick of
winter; they wanted to go somewhere with signs of spring.
“It’s a good thing I work out. A person could get a hernia
lugging this thing in.” Tom groaned as
he carried the large bag into the laundry room where they kept their cat,
Love’s, litter box.
“That’s why I had you carry it in, honey, ‘cause you’re my
strong hunka man.” Ben put on some old
clothes and a pair of gloves, and donned a white mask, the kind a painter might
use to avoid paint fumes, to clean the litter box. He hated the dust the litter created as he
cleaned. It made him sneeze.
“Honey, we just bought that all-natural litter made from
corn. It shouldn’t kick up any dust. You can stop putting your haz met suit on,”
Tom kidded him.
Ah choo, ah choo, ah
choo. Pause. Ah choo.
“Oh yeah, sure Tom. As you can see, I’m still sneezing my
head off.” Ben put his mask back in place.
He knew he shouldn’t listen to Tom.
“Sorry, hon. Listen, we better get a move on or we’ll never
make the train to Philly.” They decided
to ride the train rather than deal with traffic and parking in the big city.
“Can you just give me five minutes to get this done?”
They boarded a train about half an hour later, Ben sat by
the window, ‘cause he liked looking at the scenery as it flashed by. He and Tom held hands all the way. Tom rested
his head on Ben’s shoulder and took a snooze on the trip there. Poor guy had just come off three days of work
and was still tired.
The flower show was at the convention center. The place was
huge. Ben and Tom made sure they wore
comfortable shoes cause they knew they were going to be on their feet all
day.
“I’m going to go to that seminar on backyard gardens.” Ben
looked at the event schedule pamphlet they’d picked up on the way in.
“But you already know about gardening, Ben.”
“You never know everything. Maybe I can pick up tips on how
to make our garden better. Maybe grow
some new things I never tried before.”
The place smelled like a spring garden. The flowers seemed
to give all the attendees a welcome whiff of what was to come in a couple of
weeks. Everyone was sick of winter, so they came to places like flower shows to
remind themselves that spring was definitely coming soon.
“I can’t wait for our garden to look like this.” Ben showed
Tom one of his favorite exhibits he’d seen so far. The brilliant colors of the
flowers made Ben’s heart soar.
“Honey, I’d like to help you in the garden this year. I know
it’s your baby, but I’d love to try.
Would that be okay?”
Ben turned to him and wrapped his arms around Tom and kissed
him, not caring if anyone at the show had a problem seeing two men kissing.
“It’s more than okay, Tom. I’d love for you to help. We’ll
set up a place for you where you can grow whatever you want. Flowers or vegetables or both.” Ben was so
excited. “I didn’t think you’d be interested in gardening.”
“Maybe coming here to this show lit a fire under me. And besides, it’s something we can do
together.” Tom had to admit that he’d never
had much of a green thumb. But Ben and
this place inspired him.
“We can pick up some books and plan out our backyard,
Tom. This just made this trip here extra
special.”
They spent a couple more hours at the show, stopping briefly
for lunch, got back on the train and headed home.
They sat in front of a roaring fire—spring had not followed
them home from the show—and planned out their spring and summer time fun in the
dirt.
“I love you, Tom,” Ben said as Tom was writing down the
plants he thought he might be interested in trying to grow.
“I know, honey. I love you too.”
“No, I mean I really love you so much. That you would join
me in the garden...I know it’s not your favorite thing to do.”
“Well, maybe it will be after I get my hands in the dirt. Besides,
I want to do something together. I don’t
think we do enough of that. I’m so busy at the fire house, and you’re busy with
your real estate business, that sometimes we spend just enough time to say hi
and goodbye some days.”
“Yeah, I know.” Ben
sighed. He wished they could spend more
time together. “Okay, let’s plan out
that garden of ours.” Ben felt Tom’s
arms come around his shoulder, and his lips on his, and suddenly he forgot
about the garden. His mind turned to mush. Tom knew how to make his toes curl
and his heart soar.
TBC
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