Morning all. I hope you are ready for a fabulous weekend. There are many Veteran’s Day celebrations going on this weekend and I encourage everyone to join in at least one of them. For now, we have the last prompt of the week to get to. So set your timers and let’s get started.
Not sure where this is going, but i like the possibilities. It doesn’t grab me like some have, but it does interest me so I can definitely see myself coming back to find this story.
Friday, November 10th: The mushrooms were thick in the clearing.
The mushrooms were thick in the clearing. Ella smiled and surveyed the area. She wouldn’t take them all, that would go against her own rules, but she could choose the best to take home. Ella had her basket over her arm and she pulled the mushroom knife from the bottom. The basket had an open weave so that spores could fall out from the basket falling to the ground and hopefully creating more mushrooms.
Ella made her selections and began collecting the mushrooms she selected. Even with her limited choices, her basket was still full and the plethora of mushrooms looked virtually untouched. Pleased with her efforts, Ella returned her knife to the basket and covered the mushrooms with a cloth napkin. As she left the clearing she swung the basket, hoping to jostle as many spores loose as possible on her way home.
She reached the old farmstead and as always it made her smile. She remembered childhood visits to Old Uncle Ned. Then the world turned topsy turvey. With her parent’s divorce and the acrimonious custody battle that bounced her between them, there was little time for any vacation. The fact that the battle her parents had was with each other was something she worked hard not to think about. Her time with either of them was celebrated as a victory, however once victory was achieved , Ella was more or less left to her own devices. It was the battle they each wanted to win, not her.
It was something the court appointed therapist helped her deal with. While she understood it, it didn’t mean she had to like it. And she hadn’t. Which is why once she graduated and went off to college she never looked back at either of them. She paid for college with scholarships. Three jobs and a hefty student loan. The loan she managed to pay off after graduation, making an effort to push as much of her paycheck towards the loan as possible.
After it was cleared she celebrated with a bottle of champagne and her three closest friends. And then she went back to work. Slowly, Ella found herself achieving the stability she always desired. She was still renting an apartment as it was convenient, but as she had been in the apartment for ten years, it felt more like home than anyplace she ever lived.
Until she got the call about Uncle Ned. While Ella no longer visited him, he sent her a letter once a month and she promptly wrote back each time. She offered to come out once she was working and could afford to use her vacation time, but he always told her not to come. He had moved from the farmstead to a senior living facility by then and Ella was certain he didn’t want to see her in that place, but to remember him as he was when he was at home. Even with the monthly letters, Ella found it a shock when she was told of his death. She knew he moved but figured it was age and not being able to physically care for the property. A slowing down. He never mentioned his illness.
Ten til Midnight 