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Prompt: 041. blackberries

1. The children picked berries all day and ran home with baskets full of blackberries and their fingers stained purple.

A. The children picked berries all day and ran home with baskets full of blackberries and their fingers stained purple. Mama tsked when she saw the state of Nadia’s dress, with the finger streaks of berry juice crumpled into the fabric, but she didn’t yell. Instead she baked them a blackberry pie while they retreated to the backyard bathhouse and thoroughly washed off the day’s adventures.

They sat down to eat pot roast with potatoes and carrots while the pie cooled on the kitchen windowsill. And when they’d cleaned their plates, Mama served them each a slice of pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

It was the best day they’d have for a long time.

2. Tangled in the blackberry bushes, the small child howled in fear and pain. There were red scratches marring the dirty face and arms, one thorn having scratched dangerously close to a teary eye.

A. Tangled in the blackberry bushes, the small child howled in fear and pain. There were red scratches marring the dirty face and arms, one thorn having scratched dangerously close to a teary eye.

Anna ran forward, waving her arms to signal No. “Don’t move, kid. You hold still and I’ll help you.”

“Get me out of here. It hurts! It hurts!” the child screeched, making an aborted lunge forward. Anna winced when she saw that a long thorny branch was wrapped around the child’s chest, digging into the patched and worn cotton shirt.

“I’ll get you, I’ll get you, don’t move.” Anna tried to hide her panic and project a sense of calm concern. The last thing she wanted was for the kid to realize how afraid she was. “Why don’t you tell me your name, sweetie?”

“I’m not sweetie. I’m Brandon.”

“Oh. Well, hello Brandon. I’m Anna.” Working slowly, she began untangling the small body. He couldn’t have been older than four or five, dressed in clothes that would have done better in the rag bin. “Can you tell me where your parents are, Brandon?”

“Don’t have any,” he muttered, his attention focused on her hands. Which is why he missed the expression of shock and pity that crossed her face before she controlled herself.

3. It had been nice having blackberries in the yard for the first year. Then the plants had begun to take over and spread until half of the yard was a tangle of branches and thorns.

A. It had been nice having blackberries in the yard for the first year. Then the plants had begun to take over and spread until half of the yard was a tangle of branches and thorns. People driving by thought the property was abandoned and began to help themselves to anything not nailed down, from an old truck canopy to his brand new wheelbarrow.

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Prompt: 040. getting a pet

1. Looking into the small hopeful face, it wasn’t much of a decision at all. “All right, let’s get you a pet.”

A. Looking into the small hopeful face, it wasn’t much of a decision at all. “All right, let’s get you a pet.”

She cheered, throwing her arms up in the air excitedly. “A puppy! A puppy! I want a puppy!”

“Oh. Are you sure you don’t want a cute little kitten instead?”

“No! I want a puppy, please, please, please.”

“All right. All right. One puppy for my little puppy.”

2. Wandering through the local animal shelter, it was a hard choice between a cat or a dog. They all looked cute and adoptable.

A. Wandering through the local animal shelter, it was a hard choice between a cat or a dog. They all looked cute and adoptable, and it was heartbreaking to see them inside their cages, peering out so hopefully.

There was a yelping almost-cry from one of the cages. The placard in front said the ball of fur and fluff had had its vocal cords surgically removed by its previous owner.

3. There was something living in the crawlspace under the house.

A. There was something living in the crawlspace under the house. They could hear it digging away at the insulation, probably building itself a nest from which it could creep up into the house at night to steal food. It was probably going to have a thousand hungry babies that would clatter around, fighting and hissing long after midnight, giving the children nightmares that they were going to be eaten in their beds.

Since there wasn’t enough money in the budget for an exterminator, they visited the grocery store and bought some rat poison. Hopefully it would take care of the problem.

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Prompt: 039. lemon tree

1. Opening the door to a tall, slender woman holding a potted lemon tree was a new experience.

A. Opening the door to a tall, slender woman holding a potted lemon tree was a new experience. She took it to be a result of moving to such a hoity-toity neighborhood.

The last place she’d lived, she was greeted by someone helping themself to several boxes off the moving truck. She’d never gotten any of that stuff back.

“Hello?” she said.

2. There were lemon trees in the backyard and a hammock waiting for someone to settle in for a nap.

A. There were lemon trees in the backyard and a hammock waiting for someone to settle in for a nap. It was everything that they’d dreamed of when they’d imagined the house they wanted.

“What’s wrong with this place?”

“What?”

“Well, it’s absolutely perfect and lovely and everything that a person would want in a house. It even has a yard! Why is the price so low?”

“Uh… I didn’t want to mention anything, but there may have been a murder or two. Or five over the course of two years.”

3. He woke tangled in the branches of a lemon tree.

A. He woke tangled in the branches of a lemon tree. His mouth tasted heavily of alcohol and his stomach cramped with the need to vomit.

Where am I? he thought, then grimaced at the loudness of his own internal voice. He felt like he was dying.