The Night Before Christmas

This post is in response to the ‘100 Word Challenge’ prompt here, where there are links to the other responses. I really struggled with this one. Then I remembered how I’d been thinking about all the people whose jobs require them to work ‘unsocial hours’ for the sake of the rest of us. Doctors and nurses, fire, ambulance, and police personnel, and all those who keep our public services going – something often taken for granted. There will have been some children, somewhere, who might have said something like the first verse of my little poem, on Christmas eve.

“‘Twas the night before Christmas, and our Dad was just home
When his mobile rang again.
He kissed our Mum, then back outside
He went, in the pouring rain.”

Dave, the foreman, took a call, the other side of town:
“…When you’re done, go straight to Bridge Street, somewhere near ‘The Rose and Crown.’
The pub and fifteen houses are off supply, they say
The section engineer’s already on the way.”

Engineers and gangers worked through that dreadful night;
A fault repair was made without delay.
A cheer went up as lights came on in Bridge Street
And festive fare got cooked on Christmas Day.

Edit, Christmas Day, 2014:
I’ve just remembered this post as I was thinking about all the people who will have been working today, and how much we have to be thankful for, here in the UK and so many more countries. So now, I’m linking this post to ‘The Prompt’ here, which is themed on the single word ‘Christmas’.

mumturnedmom
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Yet to Come?

This post is in response to the ‘100 Word Challenge’ prompt here, where there are links to other responses. The brief was to write 100 words on the based on the prompt words I have typed in bold. I’ve allowed myself a total of 102 words as I have included the prompt words in the text.

Just this once, Dickens might have got it wrong. The ‘ghost of Christmas yet to come’ was not clad in black. A lady ghost, she was. She wore silver stretch-fit leggings and a knitted top emblazoned with reindeer. She carried a tiny evening bag that matched her leggings, and on her head was a miniature plastic Christmas tree complete with LED illumination, with a choice of flashing modes. The song We wish you a Merry Christmas blared out from a tiny loudspeaker at the top of the tree. Her black-and-white striped high-heeled shoes gave a new meaning to the words ‘Bah, Humbug!’

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A Minor Problem

This post is in response to the ‘100 Word Challenge’ here, where there is a list of links to all the other responses. As you will see, the brief was to write 107 words, including the seven-word phrase shown in bold below.

The tree was up, decorated, and festooned with the light set. Joe looked round.

“Sophie plug it in now!”

“Go on then, pet!”

The little girl dived behind an armchair. A clunk, a click… and then… no light.

“Oh. So what’s wrong, then? They worked when I put them away.”

As Sophie crawled out and stood up, she lost her balance for a moment and collided with the hi-fi system, hitting the button labelled ‘FM’. A familiar tune blared out.

“… ONES… I USED TO KNOW…”

It was hard to say which of them was the more startled.

“It’s all right, pet. You’ve just put the wrong plug in.”

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The Chairman’s Speech

This post is in response to the ‘100 Word Challenge’ here, where links to other responses can be found, as usual. As you will see there, the prompt this time was a photograph of a piece of chocolate of some kind, on a plate. What I have written is entirely fictitious, but I’m sure there are many firms like this and I hope directors are as grateful in real life.

“Good evening, Ladies and gentlemen. I hope you’ve all been having a good time. I just wanted to come and see you all here for a few minutes. And it’s a real pleasure – not least because early this year, I wondered if the firm would see the end of it, yet alone have a party. Well, we have. And that’s every credit to all of you. You’ve all gone the extra mile to get and keep business, and my co-directors and I just want to say thank you. And thank you, too, for that piece of chocolate someone saved me.”

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