Prompt: 098. dirty computer keyboard

1. The worst thing about the IT job was fixing the office computers. It was hard to believe that so many people could happily use such dirty computer keyboards.

A. The worst thing about the IT job was fixing the office computers. It was hard to believe that so many people could happily use such dirty computer keyboards. It made her skin creep to see the crumbs and smears of grease on the keys.

The office was a breeding ground for germs. It was like a trip through a sewer every time she had to make an office visit. On leaving she would practically bathe in hand sanitizer and would wash her hands, arms, and face thoroughly once she was back in the IT department.

It reached the point where she finally had to face the facts: 1. She couldn’t do this job anymore. 2. She was going to need a new job.

2. The soda can hit the desk and tipped sideways. A flood of sugary soda covered the computer keyboard, slipping into the nooks and crannies.

A. The soda can hit the desk and tipped sideways. A flood of sugary soda covered the computer keyboard, slipping into the nooks and crannies. By the time he’d lunged across the room and begun mopping up the mess, it was already too late.

His keyboard was dead.

As the office had a no open beverages around the computers policy, he was going to have to buy a replacement keyboard out of his own pocket. And considering how close he’d been cutting his finances, he would be living on ramen, Spam, and rice until his next paycheck.

“Dammit.”

3. There was a dirty old computer keyboard poking out of the ground. Someone had gotten creative to mark the grave.

A. There was a dirty old computer keyboard poking out of the ground. Someone had gotten creative to mark the grave, using a remnant of the old world to help shape the new.

Julienne leaned down to read the name scratched into the plastic of the keyboard:

CRAIG DANSEN
14 YEARS OLD.
HE WAS BRAVE.
HE DIDN’T CRY.

Just another dead kid. One amongst the billions that had died since the end of the world.

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Prompt: 097. gold hoop earrings

1. She clutched the box with the gold hoop earrings to her chest. “Thank you!”

A. She clutched the box with the gold hoop earrings to her chest. “Thank you!”

Though it felt a bit strange to be accepting expensive gifts from him, she’d admired the earrings in the store and wanted them with a desperate longing. To have them in her hands now… there was no way she was giving them back.

They belonged to her now.

2. Steve raised his eyebrows at Linda and nodded his head toward the baby in the stroller. She glanced down, and he saw her eyes widen when she saw the baby had gold hoop earrings in its earlobes.

A. Steve raised his eyebrows at Linda and nodded his head toward the baby in the stroller. She glanced down, and he saw her eyes widen when she saw the baby had gold hoop earrings in its earlobes. Then she looked back at him, her eyebrows drawing together as she gave him a sharp glare. “NO!” she mouthed forcefully.

He shrugged his shoulders with an innocent expression on his face. He’d learned some form of tact. He wasn’t planning on saying a word. Not now anyway. Later he would bend her ear off.

“What are you looking at?” a strident female voice demanded.

Flinching, Steve met the eyes of the baby’s mother. “Nothing,” he said.

“You were staring at my baby,” she said. “Are you a creep?”

“What? No. I’m not a creep.”

She snorted. “You seem like a creep.”

3. The gold hoop earrings had once belonged to his mother, which gave them a sentimental value he couldn’t ignore. Which is why he had his nipples pierced and the earrings became nipple rings that he never took out.

A. The gold hoop earrings had once belonged to his mother, which gave them a sentimental value he couldn’t ignore. Which is why he had his nipples pierced and the earrings became nipple rings that he never took out. It gave him comfort to think that he would never lose the earrings, not even if he had to run again.

They were a comforting weight against his chest as he went about his day-to-day life. He would finger them sometimes when he was alone, feeling out the shapes with his fingertips.

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Prompt: 096. iced tea

1. “One Long Island iced tea, please. And keep them coming. I’ve had a terrible day.”

A. “One Long Island iced tea, please. And keep them coming. I’ve had a terrible day.” She propped her elbows on the bar and rested her forehead in her hands. “I didn’t think it was ever going to end.”

“A pretty thing like you shouldn’t be frowning so hard.”

She glanced up through her fingers, taking in the guy filling the barstool next to her. “I’m not in the mood,” she said. “Please leave me alone.”

“Baby, you don’t mean that.”

“I do mean that. I have never meant it that much in my life. I’m not looking for a date, a relationship, or anything else right now. Not with you or anyone else. Please leave me alone.”

“Oh, come on.”

2. There was a pitcher of iced tea spilled across the kitchen island and smears of blood on the refrigerator door.

A. There was a pitcher of iced tea spilled across the kitchen island and smears of blood on the refrigerator door. She took one brief look and hurriedly backed out the door to the safety of outside. Then she ran as fast as her legs could carry her back down the driveway toward her house.

“Mama! Mama!” she screamed as soon her front door was in sight. “Mama!”

The door was open and her mom stepped outside as she left the gravel driveway and sprinted across the grass. “What’s going on?” her mom asked.

3. Caught staring by the waiter, he hurriedly asked for a glass of iced tea.

A. Caught staring by the waiter, he hurriedly asked for a glass of iced tea. The last thing he wanted was to be confused for a creep.

He was here on serious business.

Opening the menu and holding it up in front of his face, he peered over the top at the couple in the corner. He was a blandly handsome man with brown hair and brown eyes, while she was an attractive brunet with the beginnings of laugh lines around her mouth.

She was also the older sister he’d never met. The mysterious sibling his mother had given away when she was desperate, poor, and thoroughly incapable of taking care of herself, much less another human being.

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Prompt: 095. visiting the beach

1. Visiting the beach had sounded like a great idea. Unfortunately algae blooms had resulted in the release of some kind of toxin.

A. Visiting the beach had sounded like a great idea. Unfortunately algae blooms had resulted in the release of some kind of toxin. Dead fish and sick sea life abounded, releasing a godawful stink that sent them running back to the car. There would be no enjoying the wonders of sea, surf, and shore.

Forced to change their plans, they consulted a tourist map and decided to spend the first day of their vacation at the farmer’s market twenty miles away. It wasn’t what they’d spent weeks looking forward to, but it was better than being at home.

2. Sitting on the sand with her legs outstretched and her head tipped back as she breathed in the sea air and relaxed.

A. Sitting on the sand with her legs outstretched and her head tipped back as she breathed in the sea air and relaxed. She felt as one with the sea and sky. Delicate traces of wind ghosted against her cheeks and down her neck, stirring the hair left loose around her shoulders.

Her belly was full and contentment radiated through her whole body. It had been a good idea to visit the beach. It was something she’d needed, something that she’d denied herself too long.

Ignoring the Call of the Sea had become second nature. She’d nearly forgotten that in the end she needed the sea to live.

Even resting on a beach joined to the sea was enough to fill her body with energy and life. If she touched those rolling waves… she would shed these human legs and remember the body to which she’d been born.

3. For someone born and raised in the city, visiting the beach was a lifetime event.

A. For someone born and raised in the city, visiting the beach was a lifetime event. Thirty years old, and this was his first time seeing the ocean.

It was beautiful. With the sun shining down and the water a greenish-tinged blue, he felt as though he was standing in one of the seaside photographs his mother had been so proud of. He could almost feel her at his side, a warm and loving presence overflowing with gentle cheer.

It was thoughts of her that had brought him here. A sudden desire to be close to her one more time, even if her physical presence was forever gone.

She was here with him now. He was sure of it.

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