"Adapt or die, foolish little fool!" the intimidating alien rumbled.
I, however, refused to be shaken, no matter how he grumbled.
"Hah!" I snorted. "For something so impressive in appearance, you certainly lack cleverness.
"Anyone can see that I am far from little.
"My ass is large, and so is my middle."
"Yes, and you've had to find the key to adapting to such undesired conditions, haven't you?" the being inquired pensively.
"Your luck has not been exactly stellar, wouldn't you agree?
"What you found when you were transported over the rainbow was not what you hoped to see.
"When you shuffled off to the pier to see if your sacred ship had come in,
"Mawkish mediums informed you that your destiny was arriving at the airport too far in the distance for you to find redemption."
"Indeed, and when I asked them to elaborate, they promised to do so for a small fee equal to several of my paychecks," I replied. "I had a suspicion that they might have lied, so I decided I didn't care a shingle for their advice and proceeded to do things my way from that day forward."
"And how is that working out for you?" the alien, who now suspiciously resembled Dr. Phil, pressed.
"Probably better than the flashy fairy tale I once believed was my destiny," I sentimentally surmised, as glimmers of dreams of what might have been glittered in my eyes, overflowing down my face. "I'm pleased that I'm not surrounded by fake people to annoy me, but there have been times in my life when loneliness threatened to destroy me.
"I've discovered first-hand that no one cares how the disabled, elderly, and downtrodden fare.
"If you aren't young and you aren't pretty, nobody wants to see you anywhere.
"The liberal elite as much as the rigid right would prefer that the likes of me die and decrease the surplus population.
"Society cares only about the up-and-coming, not those nearing their destination.
"Age bias is rampant, the outsides given more weight than what lies within.
"If I were at all religious, I'd say it's a goddamn sin.
"Being a caustic agnostic, I'll just say it's a crying shame.
"Every year I hope for improvement, and every year it's always the same."
"Yet still you keep on kicking," the alien said, impressed. "I hope to meet more folk like you in my travels--ugly, angry, disabled, fat old women are the best!"
As the alien took off in his spaceship, I couldn't help but grin.
If we'd care more about what's on the inside, a better world could begin.
~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~
Ornery Owl
Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors
Free use image by Clkr Free Vector Images on Pixabay
Hangry Wyrm sez:
"I really ate this story up. Five out of five stars! Can we have breakfast now?"
Get your groove on with this melodic deep house mix.
Here's the link in case you can't see the player.
Here's another Deep House mix in case you happen to be bogged down with formatting an hour later. Like, you know, not me. I never get bogged down with formatting, or editing, or, you know, anything, because I'm completely perfect and do everything right the first time. First draft? Hah! You mean only draft, Sunshine, because I'm just that good!
I'm off to find someplace to hide my metric butt-ton of bullshit now. Here's the link in case you can't see the player.
notes and prompts used
The prompt requests:
"For this challenge, let’s go on a wild walk together. Report on what you’ve found and the lessons you’ve learned."
While my piece did not address nature as such, it addresses the sometimes difficult lessons I've learned about myself in my nearly 60 years walking this planet. I honestly don't think I would have survived those "Hollywood dreams" I had in my youth. I'm a sensitive soul, though I seem thick-skinned.
Today's challenge asks participants to create a poem about adaption.
I almost forgot about this prompt. I'll probably play catch-up with it over the next few days. Today's suggestion is:
"Another form of being has just communicated something to you...Write down 5-10 words, to fix the moment forever in your mind then use those words to write about something else."
This prompt gave me the idea of the alien communicating with me.
Word List
key
rainbow
distant/distance
shuffle
transport/ed
shingle
redemption
pier
mediums
sacred
elaborate
suspicion
also sharing with
