OLWG #231- the little things

This week’s prompts are at the bottom. Feel free to seize the prompts, twist them, form them, play with them as you will. All comers are welcome. The words below are just practice for me. I had a lot of fun writing them, and you know what I always say, “Practice makes perfect.”

Here’s how to play along, if you are unsure.

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Frank and Joan met at a ‘Parents Without Partners’ potluck in the basement of the Baptist Church on D Street. They had a lot of things in common. They began dating right away and would get away together whenever possible. Joan had been a widow for thirteen years, Frank – a widower for six. Both were writers; both had teenage offspring. Frank’s daughter, Rosemary, was sixteen and Joan’s boy, Morse, was two months older than Rosy. Frank and Joan began collaborating on short stories almost as soon as they started seeing one another socially. The stories were pretty good and enjoyed moderate commercial success.

Frank liked action and science fiction stories.

Joan liked Romance.

The differences were not much of a problem. They managed to write a love story set on the moons of Saturn; it got published in The New Yorker. Another appeared on the pages of Harper’s where two assassins, star crossed lovers, were hired by opposing factions to rub each other out; but somehow managed to live happily ever after.

Joan didn’t know how to tell Frank what the real problem was. Every time he would put two spaces after a period, she wanted to declare nuclear war. It was apparent to Joan that Frank thought commas and semicolons were effectively the same things; discussion of the differences was not suitable for pillow talk, so Joan tended to endure, and she assumed the role of “long-suffering paramour.”

On his part, Frank tried talking to Joan until he was blue in the face. She insisted that plurals demanded apostrophes, and when dealing with possessives – apostrophes should be handled on a case by case basis; sometimes yes, sometimes no.

By this time, the reader will have figured out that Frank and Joan’s relationship could not last very long. Things had seemed so promising at first. Sometimes it’s the little things that get in the way.

On a positive note: Morse and Rosy started dating soon after their parents split. They plan on attending State when they get out of High School, and they’re both saving themselves for marriage; wish them luck.

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This week’s prompts are:

1. there were no screams
2. easy money
3. whisky in the shade

You can start writing whenever you want, just write, get the words down – and have fun!