Fiction Friday - Big Cat, Little Cat

The Cat sat on the deck, looking below. He watched the Tiger roam around earth, pouncing here, causing trouble there, making the unexpected happen. Tiger had been inexhaustible from the start of his reign, wasting no time in getting that one guy to invade his neighbor. Mere weeks into Tiger's rule, that invasion happened. What a mess.

The Cat licked a paw and smoothed it over his ear. Tiger would come back to the palace in a few days, smug at all the chaos he'd created. Cat had watched it all unfold. That one country made up of islands had ruined a new leader in a matter of weeks. Their figurehead royalty died, too. Of course, that death probably had nothing to do with Tiger, but he'd take the credit.

He'd really outdone himself this year. In the Cat's opinion, the Tiger was one big cat who needed to take a nap.

The pandemic had been calming down but the Tiger managed to make some effective chaos as countries loosened restrictions. Especially in that big kidney-shaped country. They'd tried to shut the pandemic down, but too hard. Tiger had a ball over there, finally getting things to open up, resulting in a sudden upsurge of disease. Now everyone was scared to leave their houses even though they could. Like Pandora's box, Cat feared even he might not be able to put the lid back on that mess.

The Cat looked out from the deck of Buddha's heavenly palace, gauging the sun. He moved to a better position to lie in a puddle of sunlight, soaking up the last rays of Tiger's reign. He was on the deck, and "on deck". Soon it would be his year.

In his year, the Cat would be sure to have plenty of fun - parties with all the people, high tea, coffee meetings. He couldn't wait to see what the intelligentsia would get up to in his year. There was a lot for them to learn, and he could help. 

Political upheaval created by that annoying Tiger would have to settle down. The Cat was on it. 

The Cat was a stickler for justice. He'd get the wheels rolling on resolving issues left ambiguous by the Tiger.

The Cat sighed. He didn't like taking charge after Tiger. There was always a mess. That's just the way it was. But Buddha had determined their ruling order and there was nothing to do to change it. 

It was too bad he couldn't bring back the dead. That Japanese prime minister didn't need to die. Cat was just sure Tiger was behind that one.

It's FICTION FRIDAY!

Every Almost every Friday I write a new flash fiction piece. Today's fiction was inspired by the coming Lunar New Year. NOTE: Chinese folklore says the coming year (Jan 22, 2023) is year of the rabbit. But Vietnam calls it Year of the Cat. I don't know why, but I live in Vietnam, so will espouse this tradition.

If you have a writing prompt you'd like to see turned into a story, just leave it in a comment.

Tuesday Twist

Morning thoughts:

1. It doesn't matter if I get up today.
2. No one requires anything from me today.
3. I have no obligations.
4. I am superfluous.
5. I could literally just lay here playing games on my phone all day.
6. ... Until I need to recharge the battery.

How long will I stay in bed? Not all day. Even at my most depressed I can't do that.

I have saved onto my phone a few yoga workouts that are suitable to do on the bed. Days like this, I eventually sit up, play one of the workouts, stretch myself out, and then get up and start my day.

It's a break in routine, and it means the floor probably won't get swept, but that's not the end of the world. 

Does anyone else have days like this?

Fiction Friday - Forbidden

Corinne waited at the kitchen table, pretending not to wait. The newspaper lay open on the table and she filled a number into the Sudoku puzzle, not really paying attention. Where was the mailman? He was late today.

She refilled her mug of coffee and nearly dropped the carafe when the letter slot clapped in the door. A soft rustle of paper falling alerted her that mail had arrived.

"Dear Cori..." she read, skimming the letter quickly. Yes, yes... love... he's reforming... hoping for parole... "With love, Darius."

Now to decode it.

When they'd come up with the code, sitting at the little table during prison visiting hours, her crazy, forbidden, romance had seemed like a game. But their relationship grew and Cori was now obsessed with him: the visiting, the letters, the hidden messages he included, and - let's be honest - the bad boy. She kept hoping...

"What is this?" She asked the open room. He had encoded an address, plus the words "third stone" and "dig". Something was hidden under the third stone at that address. She sighed.

There was no time to go find out what he buried there. The mail had come late, and she'd have to be at work soon. Leaving the letter, she pocketed the decoded message and pulled on her coat. Maybe she could find the place after work, and return to dig tomorrow.

Whatever could it be?

This Fiction Friday post is coming to you from a coffee shop early on my Saturday morning. I downloaded the Blogger app to my phone and I'm not 100% familiar with it yet. If this looks different, that's why.

Today's flash fiction is from the prompt we followed in my Monday morning writing group this week: "woman befriends a prisoner who reveals a secret".

Old Year New Year - Tuesday Truths

Technically it's Wednesday, but I forgive myself. 

It's that time of year when everyone looks at what they did in the past year and sets goals for the next. So let's just take a peek, shall we?

In 2022, I read 32 books. It would be more, if I added in all the plays I read for my old theatre group, but I didn't bother because I'd hit the mark.

In 2022 I exercized over 300 hours. Not too bad. I usually get in 40-50 minutes a day. Some days more, some less. Yoga everyday, some cardio, some others, some cycling. This is tracked through my phone, so the steps (not shown here, except for in the distance) are inaccurate. 

In 2022 I watched 104 movies. I don't track them electronically, though, so there's no quantifying genres or lengths. I will say we definitely boost the Horror numbers in October.

In 2022 we flew to Hanoi twice, but other than that didn't travel much at all. I'm hoping to do more traveling in 2023.

So what's up for 2023? Things are always changing. We'll just have to see how the year plays out.

Happy new year!