I just purchased a book of another children’s author and somehow she’s mastered the art of rhyming. Her main character is a dinosaur. How many of you have tripped over stuffed animals or Legos when you wake up and stumble to the coffee machine?
Today, we are going to trip over a green dinosaur. This may sound silly but just write for 3-5 minutes. Before we begin, I’ll help by asking if the dinosaur holds any memories? Who does it belong to? Is it yours or someone younger? Why is it lying there?
You have freedom to turn this piece into free verse, something that can turn into comical spoken word, or poetry. Create a short if that’s what you prefer. Just write!
Here is the result of my prompt for today! Raw as always!
Eyelids half closed Tim started toward his morning coffee, when his legs faltered and his crooked big toe hit something soft. Unbalanced, his hand braced against the wall and his body jolted, and staggered forward. He looked down at the soft green thing with a sneer on his lips.
There was a reason friends and family stayed away from him before he had his first cup of coffee. He picked up the stuffed dinosaur and shook it.
“How did you get out here?” He shook his head. “How did I get roped into watching you and the little terror who owns you?”
His sister knew he didn’t get married or have children for reason. He liked order and he like things his own way. Yet, something couldn’t turn away the toothless smile and the look in his sister’s eyes. Her dirtbag husband left her and the messy haired kid a month ago. He never cared for the jerk and frankly, she was better off without him. Of course, he would help so that she could work her first job in 10 years. He was proud of his stay at home mom sister for landing her dream job after not working for the past few years to raise her child.
She worked hard. In fact, she was the one who was the backbone of building that jerk’s multimillion dollar business. He thanked her by divorcing her for his just out of college intern. He looked down and shook the green dinosaur harder. This was a birthday present from his nephews father, only his sister never told the kid she bought it. The little monster ran around with the stuffed toy like it was sacred.
He shook his head and plopped the ugly thing on stool next to to the counter. Coffee was all he needed. He sniffed. At least she made the coffee before she hurried off to her new job. His eyes went back to the stool and he scanned his living room. A long sigh wafted over his cup of coffee. A few moments of silence before the terror woke up and wanted to play all day.
The questions from the kid never ended. “Uncle Tim, I named Dino after you. He looks just like you, like in the morning. Mom says not to talk to you before you’ve had your coffee. Are we going to play in the backyard again? Can we build a fort? Can we ask Laura to play with us?”
He half smiled as the questions raced through his mind. Laura. He never talked to his new, single neighbor until his nephew decided to through his ball over the fence. The kid couldn’t catch anything to save his life. His smile grew wider at the thought of her in her red bikini. They were the same age and it didn’t show one bit on her.
He set his cup of coffee down and decided that they would try football today. At least the kid had a good arm. He might not be good at aiming but the ball would make it over the new hedges he put in this spring. Good thing they weren’t taller than the terror. Maybe he would invite her over for lunch on the terrace. He stretched and felt awake this morning. More than usual. He knew he would have lunch on the terrace too.
My posts are Monday through Friday. You can find a copy of my new Writer’s Journal at https://www.amazon.com/Writers-Journal-Writing-Prompts-Notes/dp/B0931QRL7C.
~Yoon Ju
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