Prompts have been kind of heavy lately, so let's do something fun.
Day 8:
Prompt 1: How your cat sees the world
"Meow meow meow. Meow. Meow meow. "
Silly two-legger speaks with heavy accent. Must show her how to meowl properly.
Mrow. Purr purrr.
Two-legger approaches food bowl! Rubbing against two-leggers induce feeding habits.
"Aw, is kitty hungry?"
Two-legger is taking too long. Yell for her to hurry.
Merrow! Meow meow! Mew!
Food. Dry food. Maybe meowling more will produce soft foods in can.
Purrrr?
"Eat your food kitty, no treats today. It's bad for your teeth."
No treats. Hmppf. Will throw food up on carpet later in protest.
Prompt 2: Everyone was laughing, except you
*This is a true story
"Okay, okay, have I got a story for you. Gather 'round kids, and listen to the time your mom embarrassed herself." I beam at my best friend across the sofa and received a look that would have peeled paint in return. Her husband crowed with laughter, knowing the story I had in mind. It had been more than 25 years since that summer's day, but I never let the story go. I did promise to hold it over her. I even brought it up in my speech at her wedding. She chucked a piece of cake at me in revenge.
"You can tell it if you'd like." I grin at her. She throws her hands up in defeat and buries her nose in the cup of hot chocolate.
"C'mon, tell us the story already." Serena, 14 years old and as willowy as her mother had been, nudged me. She delighted in memorizing my stories about her mother's mishaps (many and often) and repeating them to her mother frequently.
"All righty. About 25 years ago now, your mother and I were still in school. We went to the CNE together."
"WHOA. The 'scene' has been around for that long?" Oliver, my nine year old, pronounced CNE as 'scene'. My 13 year old teen daughter Blair clucked at her youngest brother over her texting frenzy. Serena elbowed him for interrupting. I had to smile at how many children we all had now. That day seemed only mere days ago.
"Yes that long. Now we hadn't been to the place in many years, so we explored a lot. We went to see figure skating, ate artery-clogging foods, and," I paused here to wink at my friend, "the Canadian Armed Forces display. Back then it was just a scattering of tanks, artillery and such in a field. Not quite what it's like now."
I let the kids appreciate that. We had just returned from this year's CNE, and they had been cruising in the fully functional hover boats brought by the Navy this year.
"Your mother was trying on part of the uniform for fun-"
"Fun my butt. You practically shoved me into it."
"For fun. The fellas helping her get dressed were very nice." I made a face at my husband, who had come to listen in with our 11 year old Lila. The adults in the room got my implication of young men in the military, suddenly tossed into a swarming pool of young women at a giant festival.
"Anyways, one of the uniforms she tried on was the vest. When they showed her where everything went, one of them mentioned the pockets on the front were for magazines."
An indignant squawk interrupted my story. Serena shushed her mother and turned back to me.
"You guys all know what magazines are, yeah? Well, maybe not you, Oliver. Actually, this story's not too fun for you. Why don't you go pelt daddy with water balloons." His face dropping at first, Oliver jumped up and dragged his dad outside. I laughed at my husband's look of resignation.
"So, extra bullets, pretty much. Your mother, in all her infinite wisdom, and who definitely knew this, replied 'LIKE PLAYBOY?' Very very loudly, too. I wish I had a picture of the guys' faces when she said that." I'm chortling, while my friend hides her face. Her husband is howling and slapping his legs. Serena dissolves into giggles with Blair. They were both well old enough to know of the infamous and now very classic magazine. Lila didn't quite get it, but laughed because we were all laughing.
"Why am I the only one not laughing at this old thing?"
"Because you're butt of the joke, dear."
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