OLWG is back. I wrote something sweet for this intro.
Here’s how to play along, if you are unsure.
Warren paused at the corner, waiting at the crosswalk for the light to change. When it did he crossed the street and headed on up the block towards home. It was Friday afternoon and he was thinking about his date tonight with Lucy. Lucy was the prettiest girl in school and Warren was excited. He was going to pick her up at 5:30 and they were going to go to the library where they would collaborate on their biology project. This might not really qualify as a “date,” but it was close enough for him. He would get to be alone with her! At the library! They could talk about science, biology! He figured he could call it a date, just not in front of Lucy. She might not like him the way that he liked her.
He chuckled a bit to himself and nervously pushed his glasses up before wiping his nose with the back of his hand. Lucy was not only the prettiest girl in school, she was the smartest too.
***
Lucy stood outside the door that led from the carport to the kitchen. She hitched her books up a little higher and tighter against her chest. She twirled her dark curls round and round on her index finger and puzzled on the fix she had gotten herself into. Warren was coming over to pick her up tonight and take her to the library. She had just blurted out agreement when he suggested that they should work together on their asignment. What had she been thinking? Did this qualify as a date? She wasn’t sure. Maybe she should ask her mom.
Warren was smart and she thought he was pretty good looking, with his pudgy cheeks and all. This was complicated; he might be thinking of this as just prepping for an assignment. How should she dress? How should she behave? Warren was smart but she was smarter. She pushed her glasses up and went inside.
***
“Hey Mom,” Warren hollered as soon as he got in the house.
“I’m back here,” his mother called from the laundry room.
Warren dropped his books on the table and found his way back to where his mother was working. “Can you give me a ride to the library tonight? My friend and I are working on a big Biology project together and we need the reference section.”
“Sure I can.”
“We’ll need to stop and pick up Lucy on the way.”
Mom turned her head away and smiled to herself. Her boy was growing up. “No problem, Warren. No problem.”
***
Lucy set her books on the kitchen table next to the elephant head salt and pepper shakers. Her parents were cooking and dancing around one another in the small kitchen. The room was really too small for two cooks but her folks always worked together at mealtime.
“How was school, Lucy?” her dad asked as he pinched some brilliant red powdered spice that she didn’t know the name of. Rubbing his fingers together to dispense the seasoning into a saucepan, Dad turned his attention to his daughter and waited for a reply.
“It was good,” she told them both, “but we are going to have to read Catcher in the Rye for English. I’ve already read it. I was hoping for Silas Marner.”
There was a moment of silence while Lucy and her dad watched Mom sample the sauce. Whatever it was that was simmering in the pot. It must have been good because Mom closed her eyes and smiled.
“I’m going to the library tonight to work on a big biology assignment.”
“I can drive you,” Dad said, “no problemo.”
Lucy walked across the kitchen and opened the pantry door. “It’s OK, Dad. Warren’s mom is going to drive us over.” She took out two Oreo’s and headed back towards her room. She was thinking that she might like to wear that flowered shift she and her mother had made together last Spring. It was going to be a warm night.
***
This week’s prompts are:
- There’s a hole in my sock
- Do as I say, not as I do
- Wait, is that a monkey?
Ready, Set, Go – 25 minutes!
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