Freeing Restrictions

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

OctPoWriMo

Limited Restrictions

This room is not the smallest room
This wood chair is not the hardest
I don’t know what I’m doing here
The rules won’t be too restrictive

It’s not the strangest rope I’ve felt
Not the tightest knot ever tied
I’ll wriggle out eventually
The rules won’t be too restrictive

Not the scariest scream I’ve heart
Not the stinkiest breath I’ve smelled
So once I know what’s going on
the rules won’t be too restrictive

Writober Flash Fiction

She Couldn’t Play by the Rules

Oscar had never paid much attention to his wife Sasha’s rebellious nature until he was voted in as president of their home owner’s association. Sure, she watched Real Housewives instead of cooking dinner, but she had never been much of a cook. And he paid their live-in-nanny extra to clean because Sasha couldn’t abide restriction. She said her free spirit needed to follow her whims. Those whims turned out to be mostly shopping, drinking, and clubbing, at any and all hours, but Oscar didn’t know that because he was always working, taking on as much work as he could to keep up with their bills. But his son was thriving and his wife was happy, so Oscar was content. Until Bob had to go and retire as president of the HOA.

As if Sasha took each rule as a dare, she started with plastic pink flamingos in the middle of the front yard. Then, she surrounded those with ceramic gnomes. When the neighbors’ complaints started flooding in, she added large political signs for every candidate and cause. When Oscar confronted her with the first fine, she laughed, full-throated, head back, boobs jiggling. She grabbed the notice from Oscar, tore it up, and flung it at him like confetti.

“You’re try to stifle me,” she yelled. “I can’t breathe with all your restrictions!”

Something snapped in Oscar. He heard it as if a dry branch was tromped on between hi ears. “Restrictions!” he yelled back. “I’ll show you restrictions!”

After clearing everything from the yard and placing the garbage and recycling bins at his designated spot by the curb, he planted a board-approved pink azalea bush of the correct size in remembrance. He waved to a neighbor walking his leashed cat on the sidewalk. Patting the dirt, he could barely feel her pounding the lid of her restrictive pine box under his feet.

Halloween Photography Challenge

For today’s image, I took my new mummy filter outside and shot in black and white.

Happy Writober!

See you tomorrow!