readers & writers, welcome to a new week on write away every day. many thanks to all of this weekend's posters: Chuck Galle, Bess Weatherby, Ash, FilmGuy, De Langer, and Jessica Lemmon. i have such fun writing with you all! readers, several of these folks have wonderful blogs or websites - click on the blue links/names to see them.
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today's photo prompt is of a convenience store here in austin. loved the look of it. i'd be thrilled to read your spin on the photo. 250(ish) words or less - submit by clicking on comments below. here's my take:
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Mmmm, do I love the coffee at Good Luck convenience store. Well, not so much the actual coffee, though it's okay. I love having a reason to go in every day. I don't play the lottery, and I walk to work, so I don't need gasoline. Coffee's as good a reason as any. Starting each day there, even weekends lately, has become something of a talisman to me. I love the mojo of the place, the idea that the owner - the guy behind the counter, maybe - wants my luck to be good. Maybe he'd even say he wants me to be happy. How many people in life are intentional about sharing well wishes for others? Since he and I don't speak the same language, it's hard to know whether he wishes me the best. But I'm thinking yeah, he does. Even if he didn't put the sign there, he works under those words every day, doesn't he? They're a banner over his head, and how can a person be unchanged by that? I'm thinking its transformative, living under a sign with kind words. It was for Wilbur, some pig, Charlotte's terrific friend. It seems to be for this guy whose name tag says Larry. Maybe all of us should work under banners like this. Good Luck. Pardon Me. After You. Get Well Soon. Nice to Meet You. Gesundheit. Thank You.
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This morning, as I pay for my coffee and turn to walk away, I pause and blow gently across the top of my cup. I decide to take a chance. "Good Luck, Larry," I say. An enormous smile expands across his face, like a sunny side up egg just cracked in a pan. "Good Luck, you," he says.
Good luck, you. Come write with me!
Tom chuckled to himself as he pulled up to the convenience store. ‘Good Luck’ it said in big yellow letters. I’m not going to need the luck today mister, I have all the luck I need here in this shotgun.
ReplyDeletePulling on his balaclava he stepped out of the car and quickly crossed the short distance to the front door.
“EVERYBODY GET ON THE FLOOR OR I START SHOOTING!” he shouted as the door shut behind him.
There was no one in the store to hear him.
He checked the aisles and behind the counter and there wasn’t a soul in there. Ok, he thought, this is weird. What’s going on? He was totally freaked out now that this had taken a turn that was totally unexpected. He checked the aisles again before jumping the counter and opening the register.
It was empty. What was going on?? This was totally bizarre!!
He jumped back out into the store and looked around for cameras. Was this some kind of set up? He could see one camera but it was pointing in the wrong direction, back towards the wall. He stood there waiting, panting and thinking.
If this is a setup why are they taking so long. There was just total silence. Well, apart from the gentle whirr of the squishy machine.
Tom stepped back out into the sun. There was no one out here either.
Getting back into his car he scanned the area for something, anything. But it was like a ghost town.
As he drove off towards the next store, the Good Luck convenience store flickered and the people, blinking back into their lives, continued their shopping.
Just before sunrise, Shirley saw the first sign for the cafe, and wondered about stopping. The thought sent a tingle up her spine, but by the second billboard, she made up her mind she would. She said so aloud in the empty car, and that made her stomach tie up for a second, but the only response was the squeaking of the car, and a thrill went through her. She smiled for what felt like the first time in years. It hurt, that smiling. She reached up to touch her face, still swollen and bruised, and quickly dropped her hand back to the steering wheel.
ReplyDeleteWhen the place came into view, she almost chickened out. The thought of doing this on her own, of her own choice, felt too strange. It was like a weight she’d carried for a long time was suddenly gone, and she didn’t know if she could move without it. Still, the car needed gas, and she needed caffeine to keep going. She deliberately turned on her signal and pulled off the road into the dusty drive.
The old car rattled and squeaked across a minefield of potholes. Every big bump sent a stab of pain through her side, and she wondered again whether her ribs were broken, but it wasn't as if that would change anything. It wouldn’t be the first time. Then again, it would definitely be the last.
Shirley stepped out of the car into the dawn and watched the brightening sky,
What a good idea for a blog! I love it! You are officially being followed my friend.
ReplyDeleteI have luck you wouldn't believe. No seriously. I have won more stuff than anyone I've known. $100 from Pepsi. Front tickets to Van Halen. Laser printers, cameras, movie tickets... you name it, I've won it. Well, ok, I have never won big money. But man, am I lucky with the little stuff.
ReplyDeleteI also have luck running the other way. I've been shot. Nailed (nail gun, accident I swear). Robbed. Food poisoning. If you have a cold, damned if I don't get it. Maybe this is why I have never won the lottery?
So my luck is strong, just extreme. Good or bad I have it. You can imagine when I saw a store that has, "Good Luck" in big white letters across the front, well I had to go in. Seemed like a sign. Well yes, it actually was a sign, but you get my point. If you have luck and believe in it and such, you look for these signs.
What I can say for certain is this. I went in and bought a lottery ticket, a coke and some chips. Sun Chips cause they're kinda healthy. And you know what? I didn't win the lottery. But, I also didn't get hit by a car, come down with food poisoning or cut myself opening the can. Dang I am a lucky guy!