#Repost Frozen in Time, Part II

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Originally posted December 2018 as part of my #52Weeks52Stories Challenge

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#52weeks52stories: Week 46

Word prompt: smack

Word count – 414

Reading time – 1 mins, 43 secs

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Frozen in Time, Part II

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Vance Gwynn was a mountain of a man who used his bulk to intimidate his wife, Luci.

When his size and words failed, he pummeled her plus-size body with his massive fists.

Luci not only took the beatings, but she’d also always apologize and promise to be a better wife.

She shielded and protected him from law enforcement and concerned neighbors and praised him to their three children.

To no avail.

By the time Petra was eight, she had a deep, soul-wrenching hatred for her father, as did her two older brothers, Arnold and Leonard.

Vance saved the physical abuse for Luci, visiting verbal and psychological tirades on his children instead.

Regardless of how much they grew, the Gwynn children only received new school clothes every other year. Their ill-fitting apparel made Petra and her brothers the targets of abuse and bullying at school. The thrift store items Luci bought to bolster their wardrobe only worsened their plight.

Birthdays and Christmas weren’t recognized, and Vance’s practice of destroying any gifts sent by extended family ceased the flow of gifts… and communication.

The siblings grew closer, bound by their misery, their confusion about their mother’s complacency, and their intense hatred for their father.

At the end of his last year in junior high, Leonard received an engraved plaque for maintaining a perfect 4.0-grade average—the only one in the district at the junior high level. He was on-track to receive multiple scholarships for college.

He beamed with pride when he presented the award to his mother that evening. Leonard refused to allow her blatant indifference to steal his joy.

Vance took care of that.

Snatching the plaque from Luci’s hands, he banged it against the kitchen sink then dropped it in the trash.

“Stop acting like a girl. It’s just a hunk of wood and means nothing. You’ll still end up cleaning hubcaps down at Remington Car Wash… you and your brother. That’s all you’re good for.”

Standing at just under six-feet-tall, Leonard was bigger than most of the boys in his ninth-grade class, but he was almost a hundred pounds smaller than his father.

Still, his murderous glare that followed Vance as he sauntered from the kitchen both scared and excited Petra.

She didn’t want her brother to get hurt, but had he grabbed a knife from the butcher block and ran after their father, she wouldn’t have stopped him.

Just as she couldn’t stop herself two weeks later.

To be continued…

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©2018 Felicia Denise, All Rights Reserved

What a Mess! Who Wrote All This?

Pulled out ALL my works-in-progress today and was absolutely floored!

There are three, as in 1, 2, 3 books so close to completion, it’s ridiculous. They even have covers.

I also found:

three short story anthologies that need a final edit

eleven outlined stories

drabbles

poetry

song lyrics

… and a cute story about a little frog that I don’t even remember writing.

Looks like I have my work cut out for me through the end of the year and beyond.

But my first two projects will be to get Family Matters, book 2 to In the Best Interest of the Child out of my hands and into the hands of readers who continue to ask for it. Many thanks for staying with me. Olivia Chandler, Bruce Bellamy and the Bellamy crew will be back with you in 2021.

I’ll also being doing my part to complete book one of a medical thriller series I’m co-writing with a partner who has the patience of the saints for waiting patiently for me for two years. Will definitely be bringing my A-game for that.

I’ll be checking in with writing updates for accountability. I don’t want to lose my momentum.

And I’ll be sharing free reads here too so please check back often.

I’ve got to do something with my frog story. 🙂

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

#MarchWritingChallenge – Thank you, Marquessa!

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I must thank Marquessa for hosting the 31-day March Writing Challenge with questions from Alexandra Franzen‘s “100 questions to spark conversation and connect.

The questions were all unique, with some being light and fun, and others that were thought-provoking, requiring a face-to-face with the man-in-the-mirror.

But most importantly, the challenge helped me achieve a major accomplishment… writing daily for the first time in almost two years.

Thank you, my friend.

Follow Marquessa’s AtoZChallenge during the month of April as she shares her personal thoughts and insights on the devastating issue of domestic violence.

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Image by RitaE from Pixabay

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#MarchWritingChallenge – Day 31 – What are you most grateful for, right now, in this moment?

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This March Writing Challenge of thirty-one questions is hosted by Marquessa, with questions from Alexandra Franzen‘s “100 questions to spark conversation and connect.

All are welcome to join in and a list of the questions can be found here.

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Den and I worked hard to raise our three children to be respectful, grateful, and helpful.

We strayed from that path several times over the years and had many “Why did we have kids?” moments. The teenage years are a penance for everything parents ever did wrong… before becoming parents.

However, we had as many teary, proud mama and papa moments, watching them grow into responsible, caring adults who never missed a chance to help a friend or reach out to someone in need.

But I never thought I’d be the one they reached out to.

I’m the Mom-Beast, the Warden, 5-0, Darth Vader’s mom, the Terminator, and Cruella de Ville… and so many other names my children have given me over that years to describe my protectiveness and fierce nature. But in the spring and summer of 2019, I broke.

However, I wasn’t the only one to experience loss. My children lost their father and maternal grandmother, after losing their paternal grandmother the year before.

But they came together to hold each other up so they could hold me up.

Sometimes I cry when I think of all the flowers and teddy bear deliveries, phone calls, chats and extra doses of love I’ve received from them.

So, I’m most grateful for having David, Drew, and Lindsey for children because I wouldn’t have made it this far without them. ❤

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Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

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#MarchWritingChallenge – Day 30 – What’s your most urgent priority for the rest of the year?

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This March Writing Challenge of thirty-one questions is hosted by Marquessa, with questions from Alexandra Franzen‘s “100 questions to spark conversation and connect.

All are welcome to join in and a list of the questions can be found here.

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I no longer do urgent.

I used to have tasks and appointments written in LARGE RED LETTERS with stars and asterisks in my planner that were so urgent to me I’d sit up into the wee hours of the morning to make sure they were completed.

Not anymore.

Grief and loss bring tons of baggage that don’t have to be unpacked in any certain order, but they must be unpacked for one’s own self-care and mental stability.

So far, reflection has been the kindest and most helpful to me. I’ll always have my memories of my husband and my mom, but it isn’t just remembering my life with them, but how precious those times were.

We lived full, busy lives, working and rushing from one family gathering to the next school event.

Did I rush through them? Did I take the time for granted?

I don’t believe I did, but that’s just my perspective.

Life is full of things we must do to continue moving forward to achieve our goals and claim fulfillment or success.

We can rush through with a sense of urgency, never taking time to enjoy the journey, or we can heed the words of poet Robert Lloyd, “slow and steady wins the race.”

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Image by David Mark from Pixabay

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#MarchWritingChallenge – Day 29 – What’s the most out-of-character choice you’ve ever made?

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This March Writing Challenge of thirty-one questions is hosted by Marquessa, with questions from Alexandra Franzen‘s “100 questions to spark conversation and connect.

All are welcome to join in and a list of the questions can be found here.

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This one is hard, but I’m usually so low-key and pragmatic. I think things threw before making choices… most of the time, so I’ll have to go with the one of the few times I snapped.

Yep, snapped as in I literally saw red and thought the top of my head was going to explode.

Made a quick trip to the market for diapers when my firstborn was still an infant.

Grabbed a box of diapers and went to the 10 items or less line. There was one woman in front of me and one woman got in line behind me. I was right at the check-out belt with my son in one arm and the diapers in my other hand.

Out of nowhere, this woman rams me in the side with her shopping cart. Remember, there was someone in line BEHIND me, but it was me she rammed.

The quick movements of the lady in front of me kept my son and me upright.

The lady behind me started giving Miss Cart-Rammer hell about running into me.

The woman “sniffed” and said “I didn’t see her.”

It’s hard to give a blow-by-blow, but before I knew it, I’d handed my son to the lady in front of me, grabbed Miss Cart-Rammer’s cart and launched it about five aisles across the front of the store.

Some people applauded. More people laughed. The store manager frowned.

Miss Cart-Rammer stood there with her mouth open wide enough to shove a watermelon down her throat.

I reclaimed my son, thanked both of the ladies in line with me, paid for my diapers and went home.

The store manager never said anything about it, other than anytime after that he saw me in the store, he’d say, “Are we shopping today or juggling shopping carts?” 😀 😀

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Image from Google

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#MarchWritingChallenge – Day 28 – Do you have a morning ritual?

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This March Writing Challenge of thirty-one questions is hosted by Marquessa, with questions from Alexandra Franzen‘s “100 questions to spark conversation and connect.

All are welcome to join in and a list of the questions can be found here.

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There was a time when I rose at 5 AM every morning, pulled out my color-coded day planner with the pretty stickers, and by 9 AM, I’d accomplished half a day’s work.

I miss those days.

I still get up at 5, but by 9, I’ve only managed to find my glasses, one house slipper and my phone.

And coffee. I’ve had several cups of coffee.

Then I just wait and see how the rest of the day goes.

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Image from Fantasy Dan’s

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#MarchWritingChallenge – Day 27 – Would you rather have a live-in massage therapist, or a live-in chef?

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This March Writing Challenge of thirty-one questions is hosted by Marquessa, with questions from Alexandra Franzen‘s “100 questions to spark conversation and connect.

All are welcome to join in and a list of the questions can be found here.

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This is the easiest question so far this month! 😀

Anything I want to eat I can prepare. If I don’t want to cook, Door Dash is on speed dial, so bye-bye, Chef!

But for someone like me with arthritis, osteoarthritis, and Fibromyalgia, a live-in massage therapist is like hitting the Lottery!

I don’t care if they look like Jason Samoa or a Hobbit, just tell me what day they’re arriving! 😀 😀

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Image by Gundula Vogel from Pixabay

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#MarchWritingChallenge – Day 26 – Would you consider yourself an introvert, extrovert, or ambivert?

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This March Writing Challenge of thirty-one questions is hosted by Marquessa, with questions from Alexandra Franzen‘s “100 questions to spark conversation and connect.

All are welcome to join in and a list of the questions can be found here.

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I’m an introvert… by choice.

But like Prince T’Challa, when the need arises, I can morph into my superhero suit and become the Social Butterfly!

I’m sure this stems from being born into a super huge family (Mom had 16 siblings, Daddy had eleven, and I grew up with eight of my own) and having to “get along” at numerous family gatherings.

The only person who enjoyed my company more than me is gone, and even before he died, except for meals, we could go 2-3 days without talking, each engaged in our own pursuits. Just sharing the same space was enough.

The pandemic and lock-down life has done a number on many. Folks have posted the walls are closing in on them, they’re sick of their families, and they need to get OUT and be around people.

Self-isolating is not a problem for me. I don’t suffer from cabin fever or feel like I’m drowning in loneliness. If I need to go out, I do, but if there’s a way I can avoid it, I do that too.

Marquessa said in her post, she’d found people exhausting. I have to agree. But I also find them annoying… in a casual, friendly, please-do-not-talk-to-me kind of way. 😀 😀 😀

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Image by Mira Cosic from Pixabay

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