Category Archives: Trifecta

Take me out to the…what was that line again (Bag Lady Got Nothin’ On Me)

Posted on by February 25, 2020

In the absence of a ball game, we took Scott out to the rain delay to celebrate his birthday. Not quite the same. But then, we’ve never been your standard family, so we enjoyed it a lot until everything was cancelled outright. Oh well. We get in free come Saturday. Happy Birthday, hon.

 

The snacks were good, anyway. Of course, it was ballpark food, so that probably goes without saying. I’m dieting. I ate exactly one bite of a hot dog. #martyrproblems. Oh, and then I went and got the car, all dolled up for our inability to remember umbrellas.… Read the rest

Robert Frost and Trifextra

Posted on by February 25, 2020

This weekend’s Trifextra challenge is a little different. I’ll just quote it for you.

Robert Frost one said, “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”  We want you to do the same.  Sum up anything you want, but do it in three words.  Your response should mirror Frost’s quote by beginning, “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about–.”  And the last four words are yours to choose.

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In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about careers. I must write.

 

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In other news, Trifecta is going to start offering critiques.… Read the rest

Company policy

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Ed ran his hand across a day’s stubble. “What’s Frank Dewitt’s name doing on this list?”

“He’s a fat cat dinosaur,” replied Jeff, the young executive on the other side of the desk. “And that’s the first place we trim.”

“If I listed the things that have kept this company afloat for the last twenty years, every page would start with ‘Frank’.”

“Edward,” said Jeff, “Are you arguing with me?”

Ed moved his hand from his stubble to the back of his neck. “I think you forget my position is being eliminated.”

“What’s your point?” Jeff leaned across towards his employee.… Read the rest

Auditions

Posted on by February 25, 2020

“She’s got potential.” Mary Dailey’s pen hovered over a score sheet. She was thinking of herself more than the young flautist who had just left the room. She remembered being fifteen with coltish nerves.

“You’ve said that about every one of them.” Her colleague and fellow judge Janet Green tapped a pencil on the table, and the third judge, Mitch Engel shook his head.

The auditions proceeded, and Mary’s nerves clamped around her wrist so she could barely fill out the forms.  Janet said, “It’s your first year. It gets better after  you’ve done it awhile.” Still, when it was over, Janet, and Mitch made most of the selections with minimal input from Mary.… Read the rest

Trifextra: Divorce: A Love Story, Spoilers

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Jamie made the first merge of her nine-hour drive and pushed the car faster as she started singing along, understanding exactly which way to go, the music of her childhood all around her.

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Dear Trifecta, thank you for letting me abuse your meme to advertise my novel again. Dear readers, that’s my novel’s last line, but if you think it’s a spoiler, you’re dead wrong.  Take a chance on an e-book, and I think I might just convert you to electronic tomes.

… Read the rest

Old man cactus

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Janine dusted under the cactus then settled it back on the windowsill. She turned to wipe the table, but whipped around when she heard a crunch. “Oh, damn.” The cactus glowered up at her from a pile of clay shards. She swept the pot’s remains into the trash and debated the future of her pointy little friend.

“You know, it’s been five years. That’s a long run for a plant in this house.” The cactus went on lowering from the floor. “I can’t rightly talk to you down there. You’ll have to come up to the table, at least.”

She got a potholder and moved the old man.… Read the rest

The Power of Three

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Madame Julie used a card for a bookmark. “So you’re the fellow who won a reading at the poker game.” The young man nodded. “Sit.” She reached for her tarot deck and smiled.

 

Trifecta wants us to talk about one object with three uses this weekend. Come play with us. Or cross my palm with silver. Whichever.

… Read the rest

The story of the fox and the very round grapes

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Once upon an Aesop, the starving fox jumped up and seized the grapes. They were not sour at all. Then she choked to death. The moral of the story is plain: fuck fables.

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This weekend, Trifecta has asked us to write a new fable in just 33 words. Mr. Aesop and I have never been on what you would call close terms. So I’m afraid I took advantage of my fable to thumb my nose at him.

… Read the rest

When in Rome

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Sometimes, I dream in normal. I dress myself in jeans and a feminine cut shirt above my trendy socks. Nobody looks my way. When I take my kids to school, I smile to the teachers in the carpool line. (And the children, of course, go to public school, where they get average grades.)  Nothing makes me cry. No strange impulses bubble up to subsume my intentions. When I mold myself of normal, my eyes know just where to linger and for how long. My gaze is never out of place. I go to the movies and I don’t twitch with the need to shout at the screen.… Read the rest

Divorce: A Trifecta Love Story

Posted on by February 25, 2020

 

The road manager was puking in the public bathroom.

 

She had been backstage, keeping an eye on things, watching out for security hassles. And then she urgently needed air that didn’t taste stale.

 

 

Those are (almost word for word) the first 33 words of my novel Divorce: A Love Story. And if you want to read the other 73,000 or so of them,  you can always buy it in the links in my sidebar. (It’s an e-book. It’s $3, and you can read it on your PC. Kindle and Nook both have features that allow you to enjoy e-books without an e-reader.)… Read the rest