onsdag den 18. marts 2020

Next Morning - WfW 18 March

  I repeat myself once again: This Wednesdays words by Mark Koopmans, was posted at Elephant's Child's blog as every Wednesday in March. 
   The story continues from last Wednesday. Again we meet Susan from Unicorn Farm, but there's no magic in this. Mark's words are not vehicles of magic for me.   
  I did not use all the words. It's not that they are challenging, but they are too modern, too heavy and grown-up for a story about a girl and her life - magic and mundane - in the late 70es. I painted red the words, I do not intend to use. and crossed out the ones I used. Maybe more story will follow. 
  I'm afraid these small pieces of Susan's mundane life are boring, but it is what I can come up with. 

Toilet               and/or               Ashen
Sunlight                                     Brexit
Dogma                                       Colgate
Spurs                                          Distillery
Vine                                           Elegance
Wilting                                       Flighty

  Next morning Susan awoke, as she always did, the moment their father left the house. She quickly dressed and went to the toilet where she looked out of the window. She did that every morning. Across the yard, on the wall separating their backyard from the backyards of the people in the next street, a vine was growing. It was very old, the stem near the ground was thicker around than Susan's leg. And always something happened in the vine, many birds lived there, and ladybirds, bumblebees, and earwigs. In autumn the leaves went red, and the man living on the other side of the wall peeled all the growing branches off his workshop windows, and let the branches hang dangling and wilting down Susan's backyard wall. Then Susan's father hurried out with a ladder and shears and snipped off all the hanging branches before they pulled down the rest of the vine. Susan's father said a lot of angry words while snipping and hauling down the vine branches, but as the man with the workshop did this every Autumn because his workshop had a flat top roof with skylights and the vine slowly covered these, Susan's father could do nothing but cut off the thrown over branches and swear to cut them earlier next year; which he always forgot. But this morning the vine was shining green and thriving, stretching its green tendrils up towards the sunlight and the workshop windows.
  She brushed her teeth more thoroughly than the evening before, reminding herself to write a tube of her favourite brand of toothpaste on the shopping list. Unlike Linda and their Dad she did not like the taste of Colgate, it was too strong.
  She hurried downstairs, put the kettle over for tea and crammed her schoolbooks into her satchel. Mum arrived bleary-eyed and began making tea and preparing their lunch-packets and breakfast.
  Linda arrived too, and ate a bowl of oatmeal with milk and sugar. Susan preferred toast with butter and honey. While putting on socks and shoes and braiding her hair in front of the mirror in the hall she kept an eye on Mum. Honey and toast with a note of liver pate was awful, indescribably awful. But today Susan avoided that fate, ate her toast and gulped the hot tea. Then she and Linda grabbed their school satchels and ran out of the door. School would begin in only four minutes. 


Maybe to be continued ... And oh yes, I'm still faithfully copying everything to my Unicorn Farm Blog

18 kommentarer:

  1. I really liked the way that the words you chose slipped seamlessly into the story.
    Many years ago I discovered that there is nothing you can swap for a liverwurst sandwhich at school - and that was without honey.
    And, how nice to hear of someone else who thinks Colgate is tooooo strong.

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Thank you.
      If you never tasted liverwurst and honey mixed you're in for an anti treat. It sonds not so bad, but it is! YUCK!

      Slet
  2. Mum sounds like me - not an early bird, and prone to mistakes when she has to get up in spite of it :D

    I agree with EC - you've used the words so smoothly. And your writing is a pleasure to read.

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Mum had been partying yesterday, playing billiards in the sttci, or rather watching the men playing billiards together with some other ladies ;)
      Thank you. I hope to keep on writing.

      Slet
  3. Interesting read ... I'm glad I never tried liverwurst with honey though. I can see your story line ... the vine and the birds. Cheers Hilary

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Thank you, this is a long, ongoing tale of Susan - my magically gifted alter ego - of long ago (late 70es in Elsinore, Denmark). I try to stay true to what happened, but with poetic license.

      Slet
  4. Never tried Colgate, hubby uses it all the time. I like liverwurst, but not with honey, I agree.

    Spent a wonderful holiday in your country quite a long time ago. Did all the usual touristy things but we were friends with some of the Tilling's family and they took us to non tourist spots too including their island cottage. Øreskobing as I recall. Sorry about the spelling. Also to Odense of course.

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Yes Denmark is a small beautiful country. I don't know anybody named Tilling, but after all there's around 6 million Danes ;) Island cottages are so nice, and I know Ærøskøbing (thanks for trying our crazy letters), I was there long ago too. I suppose you visited Elsinore and Hamlet's castle Kronborg as well, I lived very close to the castle - and of course only went there with guests or the school.

      Slet
    2. No, unfortunately I didn't see Elsinore or Kronborg. I was with my parents on their boat and we were moored in the Tuborg harbour because we were too big to more elsewhere. I went to the Tivoli Gardens and was frightened to death by the roller coaster which dived into tunnels. Do you know of the Tilling Bus Company or is that something of the past?

      Slet
    3. The roller coaster is still there; even thougt what with the excanging of older parts each winter, it is not the physically same rooler coaster as when you rode it - it scared me witless as well ;) Tilling bus compay only very vaguely rings a bell. It does not exist any more. When were you in Denmark?

      Slet
    4. I was about 29 or 20, so that's roughly 60 years ago. I hadn't realised it was such a long time ago. I spent about 2 weeks in your country then had to take the ferry back to the UK to go to work. Not sure how long my parents stayed. I always remember that in the Tuborg Harbour, it was the only harbour where the Harbour Master offered us a beer! He served it in ice cold glasses instead of ice cold beer.

      Slet
    5. Sorry that should have been 19 or 20

      Slet
    6. I was not even born yet 60 years ago ;) so we would never have met anyway. But most of what you saw still exists. Tuborg harbour too, and beer in cold glasses.

      Slet
    7. I enjoyed Odense and our friends took us for lunch, smørrebrød (don't think that's right), at, what they told us, was the oldest inn in Denmark. Food was fantastic I remember.

      Slet
    8. Smørrebrød is right :) And yes it can be very good. Odense is on Fynen, the smaller island. I live in the north of Zealand, the bigger one. But I have been to Odense long ago both with my school and with my parents, and have also good memories from there. I have alas never been to Canada.

      Slet
    9. I was going to say not to late, but with the situation at the moment, one never knows. By the way, I write a blog too henderson-jo.blogspot.com fi you want to visit some time. I have enjoyed our chats about my visit to your lovely country. By the way, I am originally from England. Came to Canada in 1975.

      Slet
  5. Your stories always pull me in and leave me wanting more.

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Thank you. I love writing and comments like this one spurs me on.

      Slet

Jeg bliver altid glad for en kommentar, og prøver at svare på alle kommentarer .

I am grateful for all comments, and try to reply meaningfully to all of them.