Writing Prompt: It was hard to find the words.

Morning all and happy Friday. Also happy first day of May. Let’s jump into our last prompt of the week and our first prompt of the new month. Timers set for fifteen minutes and off we go.

I knew I wanted the large number of people dressed identically witnessing something horrific but it took me a bit longer to get there than I thought. Still I do like the set up and the fact that non of the people in costume know the other people in costume. This could be really fun to write.

Friday, May 1^st: It was hard to find the words.

It was hard to find the words.  I stared at the outfit and wondered what exactly I was supposed to portray.  I knew that I had been volunteered to walk in the parade near the float giving out candy.  Two of my siblings would be riding floats.  Carrie and the rest of the cheer squad would be on one float and John and the rest of the football team would be on another.  My step siblings, Gina and Marcy would also be there.  Both of the twins were in the dance team and would be following behind the band. 

I was the odd one out.  None of my extra-curricular activities merited a float in the town parade. So I was volunteered to walk between floats and give out candy.  It didn’t sound too onerous a task.  I just hadn’t realized it came with a costume.  A full costume.

“Am I some sort of mascot?” I asked looking at the head of the costume I was supposed to wear. 

“It’s not a mascot,” I was informed.  There are several people in the same costumes.  It’s part of the theme.

I sighed but was reprimanded for my lack of community spirit.  I wasn’t certain why walking around and sweating an a mascot costume and looking like some strange unidentifiable animal showed community spirit.  As the temps were going to be in the nineties today and the costume looked like it was built to keep you warm in a blizzard I was certain not wearing it was sensible.

My sensible was as usual not part of the equation.  I put on the outfit still trying to figure out if it was a mouse, a badger or some other random mammal/rodent.  There were no real defining features and whatever it was I doubted that it actually wore an electric green sequined suit in real life.

‘Unless those are scales and it is actually a lizard,’ I thought as I took my bag of candy and walked into my position.

I was not a parade type person generally.  I didn’t care for crowds and while others seemed to be reveling in the spectacle, I counted he streets wondering how many we had to circled though before I could leave.  The suit was just as hot as I feared.  I gave out candy and sweated buckets inside the suit.  I was certain it would not only have to be de stinkified but actually have to dry out from the buckets of sweat pouring out of me. 

Finally we reached the end and I was completely rung out.  I walked the length of town at least twice as the parade made a couple of loops through town. Everyone else still seemed excited.  Inside my suit of indefinable origin my hair was plastered to my head and dripping at the ends and every garment I was wearing was soaked through.  My sneakers were even squeaking with my steps. 

I wanted to strip down and take a cool shower.  When the floats were moved into one area I could see the others dressed identically to me looking as limp and wrung out as I was.  None of us seemed to be picking up the community spirit.  I didn’t know if they were perkier than I was before, but by this point all of us were done. 

No one gave us a second glance as they left their floats and went on to barbeques.  The band, the dance squad everyone left until it was just us mascots.  We were sent to the side to wait while someone else went to figure out where our costumes went.  With the over sized stuffed gloved hands none of us could undress without help and none of us could really sit down so we simply stood there, exhausted and dreaming of bottled water.  That’s when the shots rang out.  We heard the gunfire, turned and saw several armed men running.  Standing next to the discarded floats we looked like part of the décor and as they ran past I doubted they realized we were real people. They didn’t realize we could see them.