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 Hilary Melton-Butcher and can be found here

This week's words/prompts are: 

1.tennis  2.turkish  3.delight  4.melon  5.brook  

and/or: 

1. officers  2.steps  3.conclusion  4.earliest  5.pan  6. asparagus

Also including Charlotte's colour of the month surviving yellow iris.

Here is my story: continuing on from last week:

 I arranged the armchairs in a semi-circle around the big old fireplace after first putting a mesh guard in place to stop sparks, and placing a big brass bucket of cut logs off to one side. A carved black walnut table was placed nearest the softest chair, with a tray of home-made Turkish Delight I’d purchased at the market, I knew Great-Aunt Ida would love both the chair and the sweet.

A knock at the door announced my family’s arrival and I hurried to let them in. Dad helped Aunt Ida up the two short steps and the rest bundled themselves in, eager to see the place and what I had done to it. A few had come to see it right after I’d bought it, but for the rest it was their first visit. After all the silence of my own company the chatter seemed deafening as they exclaimed over this and that.

Eventually they were all seated and warming themselves and Mum joined me in the kitchen. Dinner was well underway and she offered to stir the gravy while I prepared a pan of asparagus with garlic butter to go with the roast beef and other vegetables. I heard all the latest news as Mum stirred, police officers had caught a prison escapee down by the brook beyond John’s apple orchard, Maxine had declared an interest in tennis, but admitted it was just for having a crush on one of the instructors.

“I might have known it was a boy,” I said, “Maxine doesn’t have a single sporty bone in her body.” Mum agreed. “Since she turned fourteen, that niece of yours has just gone completely boy crazy. Tom and Emma are having a heck of a time getting her to stay on the straight and narrow and get her homework done. She wants to be out with her friends all the time. I think at this point they’ve reached a sort of agreement about weekends and curfew times."

Aunt Ida tapped her way into the kitchen to ask about the bathroom and to say “everything smells delicious dear.” I showed her where to go and turned back to gather plates and cutlery to set the table. Voices from the fireplace area told me everyone was pleased with what they saw and I heard Marianne declaring she would return at the earliest possible moment when Spring arrived. She had already handed me a brown paper bag with a few bulbs of the single surviving yellow iris patch by Grandma’s grave for me to plant beside the rain water tank.

Dad came out to help carry platters of vegetables and asked if I planned to have a melon patch, we all loved cantaloupe, I said I’d give it some thought and maybe ask around at the next farmer’s market for information on growing etc. “let me know what conclusion you reach and I’ll save you some seeds from Ben’s patch, he couldn’t make it today but says he’ll catch up with you in a week or so.”