One of my favorite stops downtown is Sissy's, a boutique on Main Street. I can get a good bowl of chili, a delicious cup of apple tea, or an ice cream cone. I also come away with gossip and ideas.
While drinking my tea today, I asked Francine and Sandy, as well as Bridget, one of the vendors, about their worst Thanksgiving. Boy, did I get some interesting answers. I heard about fights, about drunken binges, about guns being pulled. I heard about burnt turkeys and other bad food.
I shared some of my worst holidays, some of which have made their way into my stories. There was the Thanksgiving that my son was sick and couldn't do his paper route. His substitute was out of town. I had the route. I had to prepare a dish to take to my mother's house, take care of a sick boy, and run around in slushy snow delivering 80 newspapers and not the usual Thursday newspapers. These were the Black Friday sales ads and that meant they were heavy.
I used that experience in my short story "Shades of Green".
My experiences with Christmas shopping came through in "Black Friday." My years as a choir director inspired "The Pastor".
The conclusion I always come to during talks with friends and strangers is that everyone has had a bad holiday. Hence, the collection of depressing Christmas stories I am currently editing.
Will anyone want to read them?
While drinking my tea today, I asked Francine and Sandy, as well as Bridget, one of the vendors, about their worst Thanksgiving. Boy, did I get some interesting answers. I heard about fights, about drunken binges, about guns being pulled. I heard about burnt turkeys and other bad food.
I shared some of my worst holidays, some of which have made their way into my stories. There was the Thanksgiving that my son was sick and couldn't do his paper route. His substitute was out of town. I had the route. I had to prepare a dish to take to my mother's house, take care of a sick boy, and run around in slushy snow delivering 80 newspapers and not the usual Thursday newspapers. These were the Black Friday sales ads and that meant they were heavy.
I used that experience in my short story "Shades of Green".
My experiences with Christmas shopping came through in "Black Friday." My years as a choir director inspired "The Pastor".
The conclusion I always come to during talks with friends and strangers is that everyone has had a bad holiday. Hence, the collection of depressing Christmas stories I am currently editing.
Will anyone want to read them?
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