Deanna Repose Oaks

Poetically Captured Moments From the Heart

Prompt Responses

Prompt 15

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“Tracy asked me yesterday if she could relieve herself. She didn’t ask where the powder room was or if she could use the restroom or the go to the bathroom. She asked if she could relieve herself.”

“What was your answer?”

“Well, you know me… I just asked her ‘How do you do that?’”

“Really?”

“Yeah. She looked at me like I had lost my mind and asked again if she could relieve herself.”

“So, I said that I didn’t know what she was asking me exactly because I didn’t know what she wanted to be relieved from and I asked her to rephrase the question.”

“She didn’t get it, did she?”

“Nope. She started bouncing on her feet trying not to pee herself and stared at me while she fought her brain for a reasonable rephrasing to the question.”

“Wow. Did she get to the bathroom?”

“Yeah, after a minute of her staring at me, I couldn’t take it any longer and pointed to the bathroom door. She ran.”

“I guess no one warned her not to ask about the bathroom.”

“It is not that she needed to be warned about bathroom questions, just my sarcasm in the face of stupidity.”

Prompt 14

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When Helen met Steve, her body became warm. It wasn’t a feeling she could put into words exactly, it was much more complicated than that. The only feeling she cognitively recognized was: he radiated happiness. During the months after they met, they always seemed to land in the same restaurants without planning. Helen always FELT Steve in the room, even before she saw him. When she finally caught sight of him in the room, she couldn’t take her eyes away, even though he wasn’t her type.

They spoke occasionally, but only small talk while waiting for tables or a quick wave as they passed each other on the way to or from their respective tables. Helen couldn’t bring herself to ask anything more probing than “How is your day?” or “How long is the wait?” when they ended up waiting for more than 5 minutes in the same restaurant.

There were several evenings where Steve was in a restaurant when Helen was on a date. Whenever this happened, Helen’s dates left annoyed and disappointed. Helen’s blatant staring at Steve even while she was asking them about their lives gave them the impression they will never garner her undivided attention.

Prompt 13

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The End.

Two little words at the end of almost every story. I love reading them. It means that I can travel to a new place and meet new people, with very little expense comparatively. Plus, I can time travel. Can’t buy that from a travel agent, no matter how much I pay. Being in different places and different times takes me so far out of my reality that I can get through the day to day stress.

Yet, by losing myself in books, I cause myself more stress because I get behind in my day to day responsibilities, which just cause me more stress. I can’t be doing laundry in 2020 while I am France during WWII, it is not possible, no matter how creative I get holding the book.

Rather than stop reading to do my laundry, I stop doing my laundry. It is easier that way until I run out of underwear. Then, the problems begin. I have to put whatever book I am reading aside to do mountains of laundry. While there are 40 minutes between loads, but I can only read through the first two loads because once the first load is dry, the clothes must be folded and put away.

Prompt 12

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I was in math class.

There was a lot going on outside in the hallway. All the seniors were walking out for some rally or something. Maybe it was senior ditch day, I don’t know. So, being in math class was the last thing I was paying attention to. I wanted to be with all the kids storming the hallways. They seem to have this purpose other than theorems.

As the teacher blathered on about whatever I wasn’t paying attention to, the hallways became quiet again. My brain started thinking about all the places and purposes that people have in their life. I wondered if I would ever have a purpose greater than passing this math class I am not interested in. Hard to imagine passing this class let alone any other purpose.

The bell rang, and I gathered my books.

But the day was far from over.

Instead of bumping into seniors on my way to my next class, I bumped into freshmen. Freshmen who thought they had the right of way in the nearly empty hallways. Funny how the “in-between” classes always get the short-stick. Freshmen get “oh, poor baby.” Seniors get “you rule the school.” It all sucks.

Prompt 11

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The company I worked for was in transition. They sold to a larger corporation and we are all worried about our jobs. At that point, the executive vice president invited the best person in each department to lunch at a local hotel. There, we met with a bunch of investors looking to start another company. We weren’t told about the company they wanted to invest in, but we knew that this wasn’t one of those “get rich quick” schemes. There was real money in the room.

During the luncheon, my boss asked me if I was up to the risk of this venture they were starting.

“Just getting this company started will take a lot of legal maneuvering, and there is complete uncertainty of success. Are you seriously up for this risk?”

“All of my life, I have been jumping into the fire rather than out of it. I like the sizzle and the warmth of the frying pan. There is no fun in standing on the sidelines in the cold,” I replied.

He looked at me with this quizzical look, as if he expected me to play it safe, given my life situation. I smiled, shrugged my shoulder, and continued eating my lunch.

“Are you sure?”

Prompt 10

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NotMe landed me in hot water more times than I can count. I grew up with several siblings, and when my parents didn’t catch us doing something, NotMe did it when we were asked. It didn’t matter who invoked it first, if all 9 of us said “Not me,” all 9 of us were punished equally. My parents always said, “I didn’t name any of you ‘Not Me’ so until one of you breaks, you are ALL in trouble.”

We never ratted each other out. Our loyalty was always stronger than our punishment. It also helped that there were only 5 bedrooms in the house, so we always had company when we were sent to our rooms. A few times my mom wanted to separate the person she thought did whatever it was she punished us for, but that always ended badly because when three of us were stuck in a room too long, fights would break out. It didn’t matter if it was 2 boys and a girl or 2 girls and a boy, 3 boys or 3 girls, it ALWAYS ended badly.

I am glad I had such loyal siblings, who stood by me when I caused them all trouble.