A Thanksgiving Interrogation

Happy Thanksgiving!  Here's a little piece of flash fiction with a holiday theme. Remember, always express your gratitude to the people who do nice things for you this holiday.  Holidays are stressful enough, and trust me, you don't want to get stuck in a situation like this!

A Thanksgiving Interrogation

“What are you thankful for?”

Sasha never imagined he’d be spending this day looking down the wrong end of a phaser rifle.  The cargo bay smelled of must and damp metal.  His heart raced so hard it felt as if it might punch through his chest and slam his captor in the knees.  “I can tell you what I’m not thankful for right now.”

Morgana sneered and nudged his cheek with the barrel.  “That’s not what I asked you.”

He clenched his fingers around the cold metal of the chair.  Pieces of old rope pierced the skin on his wrists and ankles like incessant needles.  “I can’t believe you've gone this far, but I don’t believe you’ll kill me.”

“I won’t if you answer my simple question.  What are you thankful for?”

Sasha’s fiery eyes narrowed on Morgana’s.  Typically a cool green, her eyes now closely resembled those of a feral animal.  “Seriously, that question would have been a lot easier to answer this morning.  I guess if I had to choose, I can say I’m thankful you haven’t disintegrated my skull yet.”

A strange laughter erupted from Morgana’s throat, but it wasn’t a happy laugh.  Tears began to pour down her cheeks, and she trembled so forcefully that he feared she might accidentally pull the trigger.  “I spent the last week listening to your mother criticize everything about me.  She’s too green for you, she’s too tall for you, and her species smells a tad too much like a damp towel for my taste.  I put up with all of it for you, even though you never defended me.  Then, I figured on our journey home, I could make a nice meal for us to share.  Just us, all alone, a romantic meal among the stars.  And after all that, you have the nerve to tell me the turkey is too dry?”  Her voice rose in pitch as she raved, until at the end, her words came out in a squeal of fury.

He blinked back his disbelief.  “That’s what this is about?”

“Until I met you, I’d never seen a turkey before.  My people have nothing like it on our world, so how can you be so demanding?”  With a click, Morgana released the safety on the formidable weapon.  “Worst of all, how could you have the nerve to tell me how bad your mother would think my cooking was?”

Sasha recoiled.  “I’m sorry, but don’t you think you’re overreacting?”

She ignored the question.  “If I could do this all over again, I’d tell your mother what an ungrateful brat she raised.  Now we’ll try this one last time.  What are you thankful for?”

A Dramatic Fire

I wouldn't be posting at all today under normal circumstances.  After all, Saturday is supposed to be a day of family fun, right?  Our plans for the day weren't exactly fun, but we were looking forward to a relaxing day, at least.

Fat chance of that now.

Last night, my husband got home from work a little after 11PM.  We planned to have a couple of drinks, maybe watch a few stupid videos, maybe play a board game.  Husband was taking a quick bath to clean up when there was a frantic knock on the door.  And guess what?  It was a nice neighbor lady informing us that our car was on fire.

I can't make this up.  Well, maybe I can, but if I'd read the plot of how this went down in a story, I might have thought the plot seemed contrived.  Clearly, I would have been wrong.

When the lady said our car was on fire, it took a moment for that information to sink in.  I mean, WHAT?  Then I looked over, and yes, the car my husband had just driven home from work in was indeed on fire.

There's something bizarre about watching your car go up in flames.  Knowing that it was far too dangerous to mess with, we could only watch helplessly from the front porch while we waited for the fire department to arrive.  The fire spread quickly, and with each passing moment, we grew more restless.  Our only other car was parked right next to it, but with a bad alternator and a seized calliper, we couldn't move the other car.

Three firetrucks (it looked like three anyway-the whole experience happened in the midst of an odd mental fog, so it's hard to be certain of anything) arrived.  It took awhile to put out the fire, and we got a good scare when the front tires blew out and made a heck of a noise doing it.  Still, the firefighters did their job well, while my three year old happily watched the incident from his bedroom window.  He thought this was the best thing that could have happened.

One thing I can be sure of it this.  The car is finished.  The fire started around the manifold, and it took all the major components of the car with it.

The car seats were also in the backseat of this car.  They didn't actually sustain any damage, though they were permeated with the worst smoke smell ever. After washing the covers and scrubbing thoroughly, the seats smell like they've been a little too close to a campfire for awhile.  That's progress.  When they first came out, the smell was so strong I nearly coughed my lungs out while taking the covers off.

Overall, it wasn't the evening we had planned, though I'm sure our incident is being quietly discussed among our neighbors.  Not that I can blame them.  We were the show of our tiny town last night.

Now today will be spent trying to get our other car running.  We didn't have the extra cash to deal with ANY of this, but that's how it goes.  Plus we just fixed the brakes on it last weekend.  I wish I were kidding about that, but I'm not.  These things always happen at the worst time, I suppose.  On the bright side, no one was hurt.  

We suspected our Buick was going to break down for good in the near future, but we never expected it to go out in such a blaze of glory.

I need some coffee.  Or tea.  Or a day off from this mess.

Happy Birthday To Me, and Happy Unbirthday To All of You!

Image courtesy of digitalart @ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Thanks to all of you who've already wished me a happy early birthday.  Now that today is my actual birthday, I thought I'd return the favor by wishing all of you a very happy unbirthday!  Here's your unbirthday card!

Now I'll return to my tea time.  I already finished all my birthday cake a couple of days ago.  The hazards of celebrating over the weekend, I guess.  Still, some coffee and tea, along with a dose of writing, await me.  Have an excellent day!