For 2019 I'm running a year-long series on my blog in which I share my responses to the writing assignment prompts found in THE BUTTERLY HOURS by Patty Dann.
I welcome you to join me, if you like! I've divided the prompts by month, and the plan is to respond to 3 (or so) a week. For some of these I may write poems, for others prose. The important thing is to mine my memory. Who knows where this exploration will lead?
In January I wrote about: apron, bar, basketball, bed, bicycle, birthday, boat, broom, button, cake, car.
In February: chair, chlorine, church, concert, cookbook, couch, dancing, desk, dessert, dining room table, diploma.
In February: chair, chlorine, church, concert, cookbook, couch, dancing, desk, dessert, dining room table, diploma.
ENVELOPE
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| Best Envelope in a Book I've Read So Far. Photo by Rae Tian on Unsplash |
One
not-so-happy envelope I remember distinctly was the one my mother
gave me after she caught me at school wearing different clothes than
the ones I'd left home in. My mom is a seamstress, and when I was in
6th grade, I was suddenly aware of how un-cool my homemade
dresses were. I wanted other clothes, ones that made me feel like I
fit in. So, a friend loaned me some jeans and a cute top, and each
morning I would change into them on the bus. (It's not hard to change
discreetly when you wear a skirt and a tank top!)
Imagine my surprise when I was on the monkey bars during recess and I saw my mom coming down the sidewalk?? She was there to check out my brother, who was sick. I remember how exposed I felt up there on the monkey bars, and the way my mother's lips were pressed together as she passed by. She didn't say anything at that moment, but I knew I was busted. I had all the rest of the school day to think about it and imagine what terrors awaited me at home.
When I finally got there, what I found was an envelope on my bed. It contained a four page letter from my mom expressing her disappointment in me – maybe not a big deal to some, but it was pretty devastating to a pleaser like me!
Imagine my surprise when I was on the monkey bars during recess and I saw my mom coming down the sidewalk?? She was there to check out my brother, who was sick. I remember how exposed I felt up there on the monkey bars, and the way my mother's lips were pressed together as she passed by. She didn't say anything at that moment, but I knew I was busted. I had all the rest of the school day to think about it and imagine what terrors awaited me at home.
When I finally got there, what I found was an envelope on my bed. It contained a four page letter from my mom expressing her disappointment in me – maybe not a big deal to some, but it was pretty devastating to a pleaser like me!
This one brought up two connections for me. Saving those thoughts for a possible slice this month. Envelope, such an interesting word and so filled with possibility for writing.
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