Parts

[Bmichael]

This thread is for those parts of tales we’ve written –  inspired  beginnings (or middles and endings)  and flashes of brilliance that came out of nowhere – only to  mysteriously disappear as quickly as they came-  leaving us stranded at our keyboards.

Good writing, but orphaned without a “rest of the story”.

Check your files…show off some of that stuff. Who knows? Maybe now is the right time to complete it.

[Westerly_2]

Maybe you should take a shot at killing off Skip?

[Marilyn]

I'm too busy killing off customer benefits! Yes, my latest fascinating assignment is to write letters telling people we're cutting their travel benefits -- "and don't use an apologetic tone." THIS is why I no longer write fiction! Perhaps after I retire (18 months from now, yay!)

[Westerly_2]

What? can't even use the boilerplate: "We are sorry if this causes any inconvenience"?   As in: "So just suck it up and move on, you ungrateful overcompensated slackers. Hope this doesn't cause you hardships, headaches or a feeling of being buried alive in an avalanche of meaningless work with no hope of respite."

[Bmichael]

Why, Westerly...that was beautiful!

(sniff)

[Marilyn]

Ok, so I'm borrowing that, Westerly! Lessee, "Dear Idiots, er, customers, er, former customers....."

Fortunately I have a few days. Unfortunately, I know whatever I write (clear, concise, easy to understand) will be first murdered by the client, then slaughtered by the lawyers. Sigh.

[Bmichael]

Dear Employee,

Please be advised that your recent reimbursement request for travel expenses has been denied for the following reason(s):

Change in Employee Benefits/Company Policy

Effective today, the company will no longer reimburse employees for expenses incurred while traveling. This includes lodging, food, beverage, gasoline, mileage, tolls, airline, train, or bus travel, cabs, car rentals or any other means of public conveyance.

However, we are pleased to inform you that Kleenex, while traveling for the company, will remain a reimbursable expense (within limits). See addendum A.

In addition, there is a potential for us to regret any inconvenience this change may have caused. (within limits). See addendum B.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this benefit/policy update, please consider the fact that our interest is limited (see addendum C) – and could be an issue in your next performance review.

Warmest Regards,

Human Resources

[Westerly_2]

knee-slappin'ly excellent!  :^ }

[Marilyn]

Depressingly true! But also knee-slappin'ly excellente!

[Westerly_2]

Ah, yes, a fine mist on the skin, a glowing rub with a fine thick towel…. Heavenly. “The highlight of my day was a lovely hot shower,” Helen was telling her granddaughter Kate on the phone.

            “Ah,” said Kate. She was trying to keep in touch. Grandma had lost another friend just last week. She was a good storyteller once you got her going.

            “I feel like a new woman.” Helen paused a minute to consider who that was she was speaking to. Phone volume was so low these days. That was Kate, the art student. Quiet, serious girl, always speckled with paint, and clay beneath her nails. She reached for her teacup and found  it had grown cold.

            “Time was, it was always a bath for me. That’s how I was raised. I remember every night my mother ordered me into the tub before bed.

            ‘No, no,’ I would say, ‘I don’t want a bath.’ This made her cross, and she would say ‘Now, you don’t want to climb in between clean sheets with that dirty body, do you?’”

            She heard Kate sigh. Helen chuckled and poured some boiling water into the cup – her English rosebud pattern, light as an egg shell. Funny thing, that “dirty body” business. Long ago Helen had figured out the math of her birth date and her mother’s real wedding date – a year after the one she owned up to – and figured her mum was 6 months pregnant with Helen when she was wed. How about that? And no one spoke of it.

            It seemed that Mum spent the rest of her life scouring the sin out of floors, sinks, counters, laundry and poor Helen’s young body.

            “The water was so hot. and she scrubbed my skin nearly raw with a stiff brush and gritty soap. I thought she would drill through my ears with that washcloth.”

            “That’s dangerous, Grandma. You can rupture an eardrum that way.”

            The tea was hot but weak. She should hang up and make a new pot.

            “Well,” she said, “to this day I can’t bear to lie between clean sheets without running water over this dirty body. Showers now, though, that’s the difference.” And a soft spray and sweet lavender soap, and that fat, juicy sea sponge. Slow, sluicing massages….

            And that made all the difference.

[Marilyn]

Sexy, sensual and sad ... good stuff!

[Westerly_2]

Thank you. It's good to be read.

[Marilyn]

Yes, and our crowd has sadly dwindled ....