Drabble Corner

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Drabble Corner

Michelle Swisz

Our theme for July is what you ask for and what you get, and the Drabble best expressing it is entitled Heat Wave, by Mary McIntosh.

HEAT WAVE

The old man wiped the dripping sweat off his face. "I'll walk down to the store. It may be cooler there. Will you join me later?" he asked to his wife.

The old man owned a sweet shop near my home. As he neared the store, he saw several young boys standing around. Often they taunted him. He wished his wife would stay home, but she liked to help. She came. He heard a scuffling noise. Two boys pushed ahead of her. He saw the gun and screamed. It was too late.

The heat wave would bother him no longer.

What have you been doing this past month—living on coffee and yogurt while writing 15-page papers, or grading them (or both)? Chasing after a gaggle of children (one child can be a gaggle, in my experience), all trying to run off in different directions at the playground? Me, I've started singing lessons. I'm telling anyone who'll listen, but I'd better be careful, because I might give in to an urge to sing other than alone in my car, and I'm pretty sure that others are not ready to hear it. I've got a love/hate relationship with singing—at those few times in my past that I've been able to do it, it felt freeing like nothing else—kind of like flying with my feet safely planted on the ground, if that makes sense. Without encouragement from my boyfriend a few weeks ago, I wouldn't have asked for the phone number of a singing teacher. And I'd have missed out on flying.

For June, the theme presented was asking for what you want, and for July, the theme is asking what it is that you want to do—not what you want to have, or what you want to be, but what you could do that would make you happy (is that a dirty word?), even just thinking about it. So think about it, and whisper it, or shout it out, in a Drabble. 100 words exactly, excluding title, and due on July 10 for the August issue. In your submission, please put the word Drabble somewhere in the subject line. Here are the Guidelines, and here is where to submit: drabble@wvu.org. See you next time.

About the Author
Hello, and welcome to Drabbles. I'm Michelle, your Drabbles editor. I live south of San Francisco, with four spoiled cats, near the sea where I love to walk every day. I've tutored English in workshops, classrooms, and individually at San Jose State University, and have worked on the Fiction Panel here at Writers' Village. Comments and questions are always welcome!