Wednesday, January 10, 2007

3 Word Wednesday #18

Each week, I will post three (or more) random words. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write something using all of those words. It can be a few lines, a story, a poem, anything. This is a writing exercise. It doesn't have to be perfect. The idea is to let your mind wander and write what it will. I'll also attempt to write something using the same three words.

Be sure to leave a comment if you participate.

This week's words are:
Decisive
Bands
Pen


Brandon sat looking at the lighted Budweiser clock which hung behind the bar. In his current state, he was really wishing for a digital clock, as he wasn't quite able to make out whether it was ten after eleven, or nearly two AM.

He had ducked into one of the local bars off the plaza at some point in the evening, just like he'd done for the past six nights in a row. To drink for awhile. To try and drown the regret. Even though it didn't seem to be working. At least not for very long.

After four or eleven beers, he fidgeted around until he found his credit card and tossed it onto the bar. One of the local bands was on stage, and playing way too loudly. The lead singer, who looked to be nearing fifty, was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, singing nineties songs that he seemed way too old for.

Brandon needed to get outside. His head was pounding. As was his heart. Finally, the bartender laid a pen on the counter along with his receipt. Brandon quickly scribbled some numbers that all seemed to look alike. Then got up to leave.

Once outside, the street was alive. He stumbled down the sidewalk trying to avoid bumping into anyone. When he finally got to his car, he missed the ignition the first two times he tried to put the key in.

Despite the alcohol, Steph wasn't leaving his thoughts. She hated him, he thought. She had to. They hadn't spoken in a week. She kept calling at first, but when he never answered, she finally stopped.

Why had she left it up to him? He was the least decisive person he knew. But she had. Amidst a flood of tears late one night at his apartment. He hated decisions. Especially ones you couldn't undo.

He'd always told himself he would never do that. But you never truly know until you find yourself in that situation.

"A man on the corner told me that Jesus is coming soon. But I was lost in the music and the crowd and the smell of cheap perfume..."

18 comments:

  1. Cripes, those are tough!

    Maybe my boycott should start today instead of tomorrow after all...

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  2. In one decisive motion

    Breaking bands
    Of Silence
    Of Comfort
    Of Conformity
    Of Sadness

    The pen comes to life
    Resurrected from
    Imposed sleep

    And in satisfaction
    Stands beaming

    A new day
    A new hope
    A new dream



    Miss me?

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  3. Dorothy - Wow. Yeah, that's all I've got for you. Holy. And I thought those words were hard: not fair!

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  4. Seems to me like he was making a decision; Even in the absence of saying it.

    Odd how we'll drink to drown our sorrows, when in the end all it does is help them float to the surface.

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  5. Nice the way that you worked in he had control over his leaving but in his indecisiveness....very real

    And it left me wanting to know more about their relationship and the reason for the break-up

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  6. You really kicked a**- butt this week. I started out laughing as he wasn't quite able to make out whether it was ten after eleven, or nearly two AM and ended up wondering what happened.

    Personally, I didn't get that it was a breakup, but something more serious. You can undo a breakup afterall, if you really want to.

    This was exceptional. Worth the wait... and the double digit number of times I checked back for it today. ;) I want to write as well as you do when I grow up... err, when I'm older...um, maybe I'll stop there.

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  7. Like a million rubber bands were constricting her heart. That's the only way Anna could describe how it felt when Josh walked in the office day in and day out.

    "Hey Anna, how're you today." He said with that faint smile. It was somewhere between a smirk and utter bliss. That smile never failed to give her that warm, tingly feeling throughout her body.

    "Doing fine, how are you?"

    "Oh, you know how it is. Up one day, down the next."

    "And where are you at today?" Anna honestly couldn't tell, Josh seemed to be doing just fine.

    "Not too good. Everything seems to be hitting me from all angles. I'm fighting a cold that makes me want to jam a pen up my nose to relieve the pressure, work just keeps barreling in, my girlfriend and I broke up last night, and my car broke down on the I-9 this morning. I just don't know anymore..."

    "What to do, what to do? Should I console him? Should I just nod, and say "things will to pick up soon?"" It was like a freight train of possibilities was racing through Anna'a mind. Now was a moment of decisiveness, she just hoped it would be the right decision.

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  8. TC: Those were tough. I thought the same thing. And thank you. I really thought my 3WW's had been sort of slipping lately.

    Dorothy: I think that is one of your best, D. When ya gonna resurface? You could always use the name Slappy White :)

    Elizabeth: Very insightful. I guess that's exactly what he was doing.

    Odd how we'll drink to drown our sorrows, when in the end all it does is help them float to the surface.

    OK, you can't waste a line that good in a comment.

    Pia: Your 3WW's always leave me wanting more lately. I think that's a high compliment :)

    Big Man: Thanks for participating. I like how you worked "bands" in. That was excellent.

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  9. Oooh. This is a good one. It's easy to lose count after four/eleven beers.

    Lass

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  10. How very Raymond Carver of you, Bone. Well Done. I think this might be your best so far.

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  11. Steph got out while she still could...
    A'fore that DUI happened.
    :)

    I participated.

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  12. I have no idea how hard this would be, but you should do a panel along the side so that you can put all of your 3WW posts together for us to read. Or at least, I'd like to see that.

    I don't think they are slipping at all, though I know the feeling. That's exactly what I've been thinking about my own writing lately.

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  13. Lass: Thanks. Yes, I think losing count is probably a fairly common human experience.

    Hotpinksox: Wow, really? Thanks, Hotpink. I'll have to check him out.

    Blondie: Mmhmm, so that's your interpretation, huh? I'll be over to check yours out shortly.

    TC: Well, I know the new blogger, which I've yet to succumb to, has categories. So I could do a 3WW category and put all of them in there. But again, I'm still hanging with the old blogger for now.

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  14. Ugh. Forget it then: I can go through archives.

    I too, am being stubborn and refusing to succumb to the pressure emitted by Blogger to switch. No matter how many times blogger might hate me and not allow me access to sites, I'm determined.

    Btw, you'll notice that boycott never came to play... I'm weak, very weak, when it comes to your blog. ;-)

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  15. I'm with pia on this one... want to know more...

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  16. re: sleeping on the couch...partly because of my poor parenting skills and partly because it doesn't really matter if Darly sleeps all day and stays up all night since we can do school at anytime...Darly has decided that she prefers to be nocturnal. But someone has to stay up with her and that someone is me, but I am not nocturnal so I end up crashing on the couch. I usually wake up at about 2am because some annoying infomercial came on and drag Darly to bed...where she crashes before I make it to my bed.
    She's gonna have a RUDE AWAKENING next week when we have to get up early for a 9am field trip. hee hee

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  17. TC: Well it's not like it's that difficult. Just most every Wednesday for the past 3 or 4 months :)

    I'm thinking we'll all be forced to aquiesce at some point. And yes, I noticed. I'm glad :)

    Shayna: Why, thank you :) Perhaps I could do a part two, if I could fit in the words next week.

    Renee: Yeah, if I lie down anytime, I'm pretty much out. So I sit up and watch TV or sit at the computer until 1 AM. For some reason.

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  18. I usually lurk because your comments are such a bitch and I don't have a blog, but I love reading your blog and think that it should be a book

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