Hope’s Tollbooth

These are my responses to the Writober prompt post Fear of Rejection.

OctPoWriMo

No Fear of Rejection

The suits push the Benjamins
with the zeroes and ones
and if you don’t play along
you’re just one of the numbers
subtracted as a cost
of their living

The rejected and discarded
the husks and the chaffed
shuffled and scuffled
until some new mouthpiece
from some talking head
convinces you that you’re already dead

So you could only feel better
in their pyramid
buying in with your last cent
to upgrade their new jet
because they know all the secrets
to your happiness
and can’t wait to share
They’ll never say no to
your last dollar bill.

Writober Flash Fiction

Even Her Reflection Rejects Her

After Tabitha tells Vince her life would be so much better if she had never met him; after he moves out, and she changes the locks; after she breaks her phone and never replaces it; after she stops getting dressed, putting on make-up, or doing her hair; she starts talking to her reflection in the mirror. After one particularly vicious fight in which Tabitha pounds her fists on her reflection until the mirror cracks, Tabitha’s reflection says her life would be so much better if they had never met, turns her back, and walks away.

Halloween Photography Challenge

For today’s images I thought about rejection as a stop sign, a barrier to hopes and dreams, so I used an octagon shape with a bar across it filter and tried different plastic filters behind it. When I used the word VALID behind it, I understood rejection as a denial of validity, and suddenly taking the images in the mirrorworld felt like play.

Happy Writober!

See you tomorrow!