Fourth of July, No Celebration (My WWBH Story - July 03, 2013)

In keeping with the fact that the Forth of July is right around the corner (tomorrow)  I decided to base my story on that and on what a young soldier might have to deal with.

The Photo by Kristoffer Sorensen:

John walked along the beach the sand squishing between his toes as he walked along.  In the distance, beach-goers  enjoyed their "beach-time"  strolling, swimming, sunning  all that fun stuff that he had once enjoyed doing.  But now?  Now he was only here because he needed to be because the therapist had said that the best way to get over the grief that was weighing him down was to face what happened, face the area in which it happened.  Okay, so maybe this wasn't exactly where the incident had occurred, but it was the closest he could come for now.  He knew that the people here on the beach (as well as all over the nation) would soon be settling down to the one of the biggest celebrations of the year - Hell he had once been one of those folks.  Hamburgers, Hotdogs, Beer, Soda and the Fire Works, the whole shabang........  John shuttered at the thought of the word.....  ShaBANG  that's exactly what had happened and in in instant his best friend and comrade was gone, gone forever.  Just a thin cord like trigger, running across the darkened beach that they had landed on,  not even noticed until it was too late. 

Thoughts of celebration brought a bitter taste to his mouth.  There would be no more celebrating for Timothy.  Hell, he hadn't even gotten to celebrate his 21st birthday (which was just a week from that day).  Timothy had been excited about turning 21, about being able to legally go into any bar and order ANY drink he desired (he'd never get that opportunity now).  And of course, Timothy had insisted that he would have to order his absolute favorite Chocolate Custard.

John pulled himself back to the present....  Wallowing in the memories wasn't going to change anything, wasn't going to alter the past.  Best he deal with reality rather than memories and myth.  

The Five Words:

Custard

Cord

Birthday

Alter

Myth

My #WWBH story: June 12, 2013 - A nice day for a jog

 

A Nice Day For A Jog

It was a beautiful day out and Jeannie was enjoying one of those rare moments when she was able to get out and go for jog.  Work kept her so busy much of the time that she rarely found the time to get out.  The cough variant asthma that plagued her made it that much more difficult to get out (even though she knew the exercise would do her good). The path along side the woods. not too far from where she lived, felt like the perfect spot to relax and get a way from all the stress and worries of every day life and just let her mind go numb.

The day promised to be so gorgeous that she had decided to treat herself  to a picnic lunch at a small park nearby the trail's start/end. A small lunch, as well as a food magazine that she had gotten in the mail a couple weeks ago (but hadn't had a chance to really read yet) waited for her in her car.  One thing Jeannie loved to do was cook and was always interested in trying out new things, especially ways to bring variety to boring bland foods.  This particular magazine was all about ways to "bring spice and life to the boring potato"

After she finished her jog, Jeannie took a big long swig of water from her water bottle before retrieving her lunch from the car.  After finishing the sandwich she had made earlier, Jennie picked up the magazine and opened it.  Nibbling on a carrot from her lunch she began to read, her mind formulating new ideas from those that she gleaned from the magazine as she read.

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I believe there's a little bit of time left (if you hurry) before this weeks Blog Hop Photo Prompt goes up.   Just a few quick rules: Must be related to photo and include the 5 random words (as seen in bold in my story - or click here) and be under 500 words Click on the linky thing below and link your own creative short story to the "hop"