Last year was a rough one here at the Charming-Mercury household. As I result, I lost my love of writing and shut down.
Quite frankly, it sucked.
My dear friend Coral Mallow rode to the rescue! For Christmas, she gave me a box full of writing prompts. Here is the first prompt. Her challenge to me was to write fast, not edit, and let the story come.
And here we are!
Secret Rose
He was the baddest, burliest, biker boy you ever did
see. Leathers, patches, tattoos, scars, beard, long hair…the whole shebang.
There was one thing, though, that no one was brave enough to ask about – the matter
of the tiny bouquet of roses pinned into his hair.
But if they had asked, he would have told them the
truth. Of the baby sister he’d once had. How he had built a full Victorian doll-house for her; three floors of
little rugs, teacups, and lace
curtains.
She was a surprise baby, born when he was fully
sixteen years old. The late pregnancy took a toll on everyone, though. Their
miracle had Down’s Syndrome.
No one cared. Little Rosie was their sunshine, their
joy, the reason the household smiled every day. Her uncoordinated hands could
play with the delicate handmade furniture for hours, never once scratching or
dropping his hard work.
The therapist always encouraged his time with Rose,
but truth was, he would have played with her anyway. She was his escape from
the misery of High School where he only excelled in the automotive arts.
She died the day he graduated from from his motorcycle repair course.
He took the tiny bouquet of roses from the entry hall of the doll-house, put
them in his braid, and left town, never to return to the scene of his heartbreak.
