Wednesday's Words on a Friday

 

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over by a moveable feast of participants when Delores had computer troubles. Sadly, Delores has now closed her blog forever due to other problems.

The aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to mind.

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please let us know so we can come along to read it and add a few encouraging words.

This month the words/prompts are supplied by Wisewebwoman and can be found here

This week's words/prompts are: 

1. jail 2. bar 3. asphyxiate 4. herring 5. dump truck 

and/or: 

1. kiwi 2. bowling 3. rifle range 4. permit 5. daiquiri

also including Charlotte's colour of the month: light blue

Here is my story:

“Lucky” Jack stared at the light blue sky through the bars of his jail cell window. A single tear made its way down his wrinkled old cheek. He’d promised himself this wouldn’t happen this time. He was going in for just one drink and then heading home, sober.

As always, his promises flew out the window with that first daiquiri. With the second, those promises hopped on a rocket ship to the moon. Jack blamed his ancestors. Generations of past Pirates ensured that rum ran in his veins instead of blood, though Jack himself had never sailed the seas.

Usually after a bender, Jack slept in a corner of the alley behind the Bowling club, being sure to stay in a sitting position so he wouldn’t asphyxiate should he vomit in his sleep. But this latest bender had ended differently.  He couldn’t understand how it had happened.

According to the policemen who had arrested him, he’d stolen a dumptruck and driven it all over the local rifle range, so as well as theft of a truck, he was charged with being on a rifle range without a permit. And of course driving that truck without a permit too, since his licence had expired ten years ago.

He turned as he heard the jailer coming with his breakfast, they knew each other well by now, and “Lucky” Jack wasn’t surprised to see a plate of pickled herring on the tray. Conrad had learned that pickled herring helped a lot with the sobering up process for Jack, and today he had a surprise, a couple of kiwi fruit, “for the vitamin content” he told Jack.

“I’ll be back to escort you to the showers,” he told Jack, who was wearing ill-fitting pants and a shirt dragged out of the spare clothes locker. “Your own clothes should be back from the cleaners in an hour, then you’ll shower and be sweet for the judge.”

“Lucky” Jack, who wasn’t feeling terribly lucky just then, hoped the judge would be someone who knew him and might go easy on the sentencing.