Romance on the Wing

 

This photo prompt was provided by Delores at Under the Porch Light

Flying in this yellow box with wings and engine, Melba smoothed her new silk dress.  It cost her $600, the new purse $400. Dammit! I've saved for this moment, I deserve this!

When her long-time beau, Clarence, decided to take her up in his brother's plane, Melba hesitated.  James was an okay pilot, she had been told.

After a spectacular loop and bank, Clarence turned to her with a giant diamond ring in hand, "Will you marry me, Mel?"

Melba looked at him in a daze.  She opened her $400 handbag.  "Blaaah!" as she threw up in it and all over her dress.

It was a moment to remember.

Re-post, changed and rewritten, September 2015

The thing about photo prompts is the freedom. 

About 100 words or so

 

Wings against a Grey Sky

Crafty Crow by Sean Briggs

Black wings gleam against a grey sky--

Murder of Crows

Beating the air, striking the air

Birds meant to stay in trees,

Perching, watching,

Cawing and shrieking,

Diving in, driving out.

Red feathers, red tail flash--

Boil of hawks,

Birds meant for the sky--

Gliding and turning,

Sweeping in wide circles.

Black wings flee.**

William Harrison, Dreams of Flight

Scree…scree…scree

**While hawks can handle one on one, crows unite, diving and chasing the hawk away. Damn crows.

They fly so fast, Grammy!

A three-year old boy can seldom be depended upon to be still and quiet. He can seldom wait until something will happen, but my grandson Thomas will watch carefully while life buzzes around him. He examines, analyzes, and finds it.

My "girls" (gr-daughters) were eleven and nine at the time, and he thought they were his, that they belonged to him. Between them, they filled our house with joy.

In 2015, my little man walked with me to meet a friend across the street from our house. He and his parental units were visiting from England, so we raced about from ocean to museums to playground to...

But, this day Thomas was mine to enjoy. And that was what we found across the street: amazement.

She wasn't home, but her hummingbirds were. Thomas squatted down quietly like a statue, wordless and eyes wide open. They were there, in their bold flight. Thomas held his hands folded in his lap, watching intently. And I watched him.

We didn't go back, why I don't know. Thomas wanted to see my friend who was gone for a few days. But the hummingbirds were there and we didn't go to see them.

Instead, Thomas ran and played with his cousins. They laughed, threw stuff, read books. I laughed, but I didn't throw stuff.

I watched them, my "girls" and my "little man". Good times.

For the next few postings, we will be heading back to the Cow Chipping Country to visit my brother. Please leave a comment, simply because I like to hear your thoughts. 

Keep moving, Sheila!

Source

Staring into the light was the onset of despair.  Rolling dunes as far as could be seen robbed her of balance and Sheila fell, tumbling and rolling hard.  Get up, I must keep moving, she muttered as she stumbled to an outcropping of rounded stones and palm trees. 

Sunstroke was a distinct possibility in this heat, driving her to find rest in the shade.  

She grasped the nearest beverage and swigged back the green slime, thinking of it as a tropical treat.  Sheila choked and spit it out.

Source

Mojito?  Are you kidding me?  Bring me a Margarita!  

Sheila looked around the luxury resort and its exotic décor, with its handsome waiters.  That’s it—I’m catching the next flight outta Yuma!  

She did not know but there were no flights that day or any other.

Source

No disrespect is meant to Yuma, AZ.  Yuma is set among beautiful scenery.  When we drove through Yuma recently, it was 112 degrees F.