“Image Props for Stories #4: A Remote Control, a Basket of Flowers, and a Bandage”
Bandage -Pixabay – I thank you for allowing me to use this image.
Dear Readers,
The challenge is to use all three props: a remote control, a basket of flowers, and a bandage in a meaningful way to show emotion in your main character. Feel free to add a paragraph or more in a comment below.
Joan Y. Edwards wrote:
There was not a bandage big enough to cover the hurt from relinquishing the remote control to my wife last night.
“What! You want to watch Boxing with the Stars?”
Ann said, “Uncle Ted is on it.”
“You don’t even talk to your Uncle Ted, yet you want to watch him on television?” It was all I could do to contain my temper. Why was I getting so upset about this anyhow? I don’t have control of my wife. I definitely don’t have control of her Uncle Ted.
“It’ll just be for an hour,” she said.
I know now, I’m upset because I was about to relinquish control of the television. Giving control of the television for an hour was like giving it up for a lifetime. This was my downtime from work. This was my recreation. But I owed her a little.
“All right,” I said. I slung the remote control down on the coffee table in front of her. It knocked off a basket of flowers. I didn’t mean to throw it that hard.
Ann picked it up and placed it back on the table. She patted the seat beside her. “Would you watch it with me?” She clicked through the channels to the right one. “Would you?”
I didn’t answer right away. Would it be relinquishing more control if I watched? I turned and looked at the screen. Oh my gosh. Uncle Ted was in boxer shorts. This I had to see.
“Yes. I’ve got to see Uncle Ted in boxer shorts.”
No bandage covered my hurt. But humor transformed it. I searched for ways to transform other hurts in my life.
Change any of the story you like. Use the props above in a free-spirited writing exercise. Write down the words that flow from your mind. Perhaps you’ll find a way to add a prop to one of your works in progress. A prop can add pizzazz to your story.
Do something fun for you today.
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards