Prompt: 093. visiting a farm

1. It was supposed to be a fun day for the preschoolers. They’d visit a farm, pet some baby animals, and return home with new coloring books and butter they’d churned themselves.

A. It was supposed to be a fun day for the preschoolers. They’d visit a farm, pet some baby animals, and return home with new coloring books and butter they’d churned themselves. Unfortunately, on the way to the farm there was a massive accident on the freeway.

There was no room for the bus to turn around, so the children and adult chaperons spent four hours waiting for the traffic to clear up.

Instead of cute farm photos and young children learning a love of nature and animals, there was hours of whining complaints and several potty training setbacks.

2. Fired up by her desire to provide healthier food for her family, she arranged a visit to a local farm. She wanted to see where her food came from.

A. Fired up by her desire to provide healthier food for her family, she arranged a visit to a local farm. She wanted to see where her food came from.

In retrospect, she wished that she had done a bit of research before driving out to the farm. She’d had no idea how a modern organic farm worked. It was not the Willy Wonka-ish factory tour she’d somehow been expecting.

It didn’t help that the farmer’s handsome single son flirted with her to the point of offering up her number. They went on a couple of dates, but she quickly decided they had nothing in common.

3. They were a group of tourists visiting a farm—his farm—and they had to be some of the most obnoxious people he’d ever had the misfortune to meet.

A. They were a group of tourists visiting a farm—his farm—and they had to be some of the most obnoxious people he’d ever had the misfortune to meet. If he could have told them to leave and never come back, he would have, but he needed the money. It was why he’d agreed to the tour idea in the first place. And since he’d agreed, he made himself play along.

He smiled until his cheeks ached and calculated the number of hours until they would be gone in his head. He put up a calendar just so he could cross out the days.

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Prompt: 092. cinnamon toast

1. Raised with cooks and housekeepers, she’d never learned to cook anything. For him she learned to make cinnamon toast.

A. Raised with cooks and housekeepers, she’d never learned to cook anything. For him she learned to make cinnamon toast.

She was ridiculously pleased with herself, to the point that she was embarrassed by her own sense of pride. There was just something about looking down at the tray she carried and seeing the plate with four slices of cinnamon toast and the cup of coffee that made her feel as though she was providing for someone she loved.

She couldn’t make anything elaborate—yet—but she was sure that someday she would be making complete meals. Being a chef wasn’t her dream career, but she wanted to be able to make delicious food for herself and her loved ones.

2. Mom always buys generic Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal no matter how often you ask for name brand.

A. Mom always buys generic Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal no matter how often you ask for name brand.

Just to have the box in the house would be a point of pride. And with the careful use of a Sharpie to warp the expiration date, it would be easy to refill the box. No one would have to know.

But Mom never buys the good stuff. She always says there isn’t enough money. Not even for one box, one time.

3. Toast slathered with Country Crock and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Scarfed down after midnight when everyone else was asleep.

A. It felt like a dirty secret when she climbed out of bed late at night after everyone was asleep. Yet she would do it anyway, unable to resist that siren call.

She would creep downstairs to the kitchen where she would make toast slathered with Country Crock and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Standing over the sink, she would scarf down the toast, crumbs and sugar crystals flaking from her mouth and bouncing off the back of her hand.

Her eyes would close in silent bliss as she chewed and swallowed bite after bite, slice after slice. The crunch of her teeth through toast would be the only sound in the kitchen. She would be drifting through a sleepy haze of cinnamon and sugar as she stood flat-footed and loose-kneed.

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Prompt: 091. April 1st

1. Born on April 1st, it was as though his entire life was one big joke.

A. Born on April 1st, it was as though his entire life was one big joke. At least, that’s how his family seemed to take it.

When he was five years old he realized that he was actually a boy. It was something he kept quiet for the next thirteen years. Dressing in girls clothes, he would swallow down his desire for action figures, dungarees, and a male name. From a very young age, he knew better than to say what he truly wanted.

His family was not the sort that would approve.

2. He made it all the way to school before remembering that it was April 1st. By then his hand was already glued to the lock on his locker.

A. He made it all the way to school before remembering that it was April 1st. By then his hand was already glued to the lock on his locker.

Standing in the hallway with the other kids streaming around him, nobody knowing his plight, he closed his eyes and thumped his head a couple of times against the front of the locker. He should have known his bullies weren’t going to give him a day off, especially not April Fools Day.

I’m the fool for thinking I could have a good day for once, he thought. He should have known that things were going too well for him. Nothing good ever lasted.

3. There was an odd delight in teaching the young child about April Fools Day pranks, harmless little things that made him laugh.

A. There was an odd delight in teaching the young child about April Fools Day pranks, harmless little things that made him laugh gleefully and clap his hands. He was barely old enough to begin understanding the idea of jokes, but he already loved them.

Standing on her thighs, dressed in his cartoon print pajamas, he was the most adorable thing she’d ever seen. “You’re amazing,” she said, smiling into his face.

“I know,” he said.

“You’re a little cheeky though,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

He grinned and slapped his own butt. “I’ve got two pairs!”

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Prompt: 090. my girlfriend was a centerfold

1. There was a sense of horror when he opened the magazine and saw that familiar face staring back at him. He hadn’t believed the guys when they’d told him, but here was the evidence.

A. There was a sense of horror when he opened the magazine and saw that familiar face staring back at him. He hadn’t believed the guys when they’d told him, but here was the evidence.

My girlfriend was a centerfold, he thought, and a hysterical laugh escaped his lips.

He had no idea what he was going to say the next time he saw her. He didn’t even know how he was supposed to feel. The shock was all-consuming.

2. Beautiful and sexy, everything she’d ever wanted, until things started going wrong. Then it was all accusations and pain as she couldn’t get over the fact that her girlfriend had starred in a series of pornographic movies.

A. Beautiful and sexy, everything she’d ever wanted, until things started going wrong. Then it was all accusations and pain as she couldn’t get over the fact that her girlfriend had starred in a series of pornographic movies.

She never should have watched them. That was her biggest mistake. Because once she’d seen her girlfriend doing all those things, the images would not leave her mind. Those movies filled the invisible space between them, overwhelming the love they’d shared.

3. “My girlfriend was a centerfold, you know, back when that was a thing,” the old man said with a tone of pride. “She was the most beautiful girl I ever saw.”

A. “My girlfriend was a centerfold, you know, back when that was a thing,” the old man said with a tone of pride. “She was the most beautiful girl I ever saw.”

“Wow, Grandpa, now how am I supposed to look at Grandma?” the teen asked.

Grandpa smirked. “Who ever said I meant your grandmother?”

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