Astronomer

We bought Jimmy a telescope for his birthday.
He’d stay up late and watch the stars.
Two or three in the morning, we’d have to drag him back inside.
He proposed a new schedule. He’d wake up at dusk, go watch the stars all night, and then go to school.
When he got home from school, he’d go to sleep.
It’s not like he did any afterschool stuff, like football or baseball or even the chess club.
He thought about starting an astronomy club.
But other parents weren’t as willing to let their kids flip their schedule like we were.

Yanny and Laurel

The Hirschfelds named their twin daughters Yanny and Laurel.
I guess it’s all about how you pronounce it.
And they dressed them the same, even though people thought the dresses were two different colors.
I guess it was how the room was lit.
When the Nazis came, their mother Sophie could only save one.
And she saved Yanny.
Or was it Laurel?
Her mother never wrote down her name.
Only speaking it.
The girl grew up so very confused.
“WRITE DOWN MY NAME!” she screamed.
And her mother screamed her name.
And fell to her knees. And cried. And cried.

Rick – Why is Mother Crying?

Creep Herder

There was always something about mama that Drew me in. Good looking … sure … But there was something else. Something about her seemed to flip a switch in creeps and pedophiles. It was that way since she was young …
It was the same for my little sister.

Mom would meet a man … a creep … and within a week or three, inevitably, they would try something inappropriate with Sissy and Mama would catch it on film …

It was pay up or go to jail!

Over 20 men dropped off envelopes of cash … REGULARLY!

Mama could sure pick em …
She could work em too!

Weekly Challenge #769 – Why is Mother crying?

Sleep

LIZZIE

Why is mother crying?
Why does she not listen?
Why is she stubborn?
Why?
Why does she live in the past?
Why does she have those photos up on the wall?
The architect. The painter. The President.
Why?
They tried, she said once, but she was too good for them.
Why?
She sneered in contempt. She was too good for them.
Why is mother crying?
Why?
They never acknowledged her talent, never.
Why?
She shrugged away their stupidity.
Why?
She doesn’t care. She doesn’t listen. She is stubborn and will never change.
Why is mother crying?
That’s why, that’s why.

RICHARD

Why is mother crying?

Johnny was a wrong ‘un; Johnny was a thug

He got caught up in a gang, hawking a new designer drug

When the cops kicked the door in, our Johnny didn’t run

Three shots rang out, two cops fell dead, thanks to Johnny’s smoking gun

And now his days are numbered, waiting on death row

Two more appeals, and final meals; one long walk left to go

The chair awaits to claim his life; justice will have its way

An eye for an eye, a life for a life, on Johnny’s final day

So, Johnny sleeps; and his mother, weeps.

SERENDIPITY

Miss Appleton crouched to look at my painting.

“So, this is your house, and that’s your dog… And who’s this then?”

Tongue, stuck out in concentration, I mumbled, “That’s mother.”

“Oh, and why is mother crying?” Miss Appleton asked, pointing at the smudged red teardrops running down her face.

“She’s not crying, Miss.” I replied, “She’s bleeding!”

Miss Appleton looked at me curiously, “And why is she bleeding?”

“Because I stabbed her in the eyes with a great big knife!” I chuckled.

Maybe that’s why Miss Appleton called my parents, but it was far too late.

They were already dead.

TOM

Why is Mother Crying?

One minute it was a mixture of laughter and warm conversation. Then I saw the shadow pass her faces. The mussels set and her voice was edged with an empty breath. It got very quiet. Time slowed down, then stopped. My mother glazes was turn away from her assembled children and toward a haphazard pile of old worn books. Of the 100s of books in that house only three were my father’s. He was not much of a reader, but he love Tarzan. I catch my mom’s eye, she knew I knew. I said, “Sabor.” She smiled, then she cried.

NORVAL JOE

The flames of the fire reflected in the tears of Billbert’s mother’s eyes. Billbert saw no need to ask his mother the reason for those tears.
Mr. Blanketmaker put his arm around his wife’s shoulder and hugged her. “I know it’s sad, dear. But we’re insured. We can rebuild our lives.”
Mrs. Blanketmaker shook her head. “It’s true. This is sad. More than that, I’m angry. I’ve had it with Nuclear Fission harassing us. It’s gone on for years, but this is going to end. I’m going to kill her.”
Billbert knew his mother wasn’t one to make idle threats.

TURA

Why is Mother crying?
———
The mothership was less than halfway to its destination, the star directly ahead, still light-years distant. Maintenance droids scurried about, perpetually undoing the work of entropy upon the ship.

But in the most important chamber, sirens perpetually wailed. Softly, so as to not alarm the droids, but Mother would not silence them entirely. For over the decades, the humans carried in hibernation had, one by one, all died. The machinery had been built as well as it could possibly be, but still it was not enough to preserve them through the voyage.

The ship flew on, crying in the dark.

JARED

Mama Cried
My parents are very much against Country music – they didn’t like the depictions of infidelity, and alcohol and drug use. Naturally, in this environment, when I reached my rebellious adolescence, I began listening to this ‘forbidden’ siren’s song. If you imagined these men were singing about their actual lives? I began to understand what my parents had been saying. Merle served a life sentence without parole. Johnny shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die. Hank and his son Hank lamented about the troubles booze has wrought upon them. We can only imagine why their mamas were crying.

PLANET Z

The afflicted stumble the desert in large herds.
Their black robes like shadows on the dunes.
They stop to kneel and pray.
Then rise up together to continue.
To where, nobody knows.
Their faces show determination and direction.
But if you watch them… track them like we do, microchips sewn into their robes, no pattern exists.
Day to day, they wander this way and that.
We leave food and water out for them.
“A MIRACLE!” some shout, falling to their knees, praying.
Are they praying to us?
Their providers? We who watch over them?
Or to be saved from us?

Olestra

Food scientists created olestra, a fat-substitute that was lower in calories and could be used in snack foods.
But the drawbacks outweighed the benefits.
It caused gas and bloating and severe diarrhea and flatulence.
So, people didn’t like it.
Never mind that regular snack foods cause arteriosclerosis, heart disease, obesity, and other severe conditions.
God forbid someone shit or fart a bit, more, right?
They’d rather sit all fat and happy, getting fatter and sicker as they’re chowing down their bucket of potato chips.
As if any of this matters. Just look at the label on this French onion dip.

Random stuff

The office coffee bar had sprinkle dispensers.
I totally loved them.
So, a coworker got me a bag of sprinkles.
I bought a dispenser and put it in our team conference area.
No, I’m not going to put it in the break room.
People can be messy things.
If I could still eat M&Ms, I’d buy every kind of M&M.
Then, I’d put them in a dispenser all mixed up.
Because life’s about mystery and randomness and fun.
It’s why I did the candy cane roulette.
A basket of random candy canes.
And why I’d make a random M&M dispenser.

The Pope’s ring

It’s considered an honor to kiss The Pope’s ring.
Well, the one on his finger.
Which finger?
Any of them, but the big one is the one most people talk about.
The one on his big toe, that’s different.
He usually needs help getting his slippers on and off, so he usually only lets people do that in private.
The ring in his nose, that’s off-limits. Don’t even try to go for that one.
Or the one in his belly button.
As for the one on his you-know-what, that’s strictly for the altar boys.
He’s a Catholic priest, after all.

Maria gets vanished

The State has ordered Maria’s removal.
She has been removed from her apartment along with everything she owned.
All photographs of Maria have been collected and burned.
The article about her arrest, censored.
Maria’s family no longer has a daughter.
If you ask them, they respond “Maria who?”
And they will look around to see if anyone is watching and listening.
Why did this happen? What did Maria do? Where did she go?
She asked about Leslie too much.
The State had removed Leslie.
So, they removed Maria, too.
And if you keep asking about Maria, they’ll remove you, too.

Warm bed

Theodore loved the comfort of his nice warm bed.
But what made it warm?
The blankets didn’t.
The sheets didn’t.
Yes, it was his own body heat.
Trapped by the blankets and sheets.
Theodore did experiments with the number of blankets and sheets and the fabric of them.
He tried an electric blanket, and then an electric mattress.
He got cats and dogs to sleep with him.
Once, he went as far as hiring a hooker to hold him while he slept.
This annoyed his wife quite a bit.
She set the bed on fire, which warmed up Theodore considerably.

Trevor’s dad is a hero

You know that weird kid Trevor?
Trevor’s dad is a hero.
Trevor tells everybody this. Over and over.
“What does your dad do?” everybody asks.
“He’s a hero!” says Trevor.
“But what heroic things does your dad do?” everybody asks.
“Lots of them!” says Trevor.
You’ll never get a straight answer out of Trevor.
Believe me, I’ve tried.
And it’s not like Trevor’s dad is some kind of superhero.
Those are pretty rare.
The only one I know of is my dad.
He’s a superhero.
What superheroic things does my dad do?
Lots of them!
He’s a superhero, after all.