Oh my goodness it is good to be back! I have been nine days without my laptop, waiting for the logic board then the screen assembly, then some storage wahoozie to be replaced. As my darling husband was driving home with it safely ensconced in the car this evening, I was nearly trembling with antici..................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................pation.
Now while stuck on my stupid, stupid, not-so-smart phone I have been jealously watching the progress of the fantastic #Freewrite group led by the even more fantastic @MarianneWest. Some of the members have been congregating over at the Isle of Write Discord server in their own little getaway, "Free-Writing-Retreat." I confess to having climbed a palm tree to spy on their activities. There is zero nudity, but the creativity totally makes up for it! So many people are just getting words out! And that's often the hardest part of writing.
What Marianne and the others are doing is such a great exercise in disciplining yourself to keep going, write at least a little every day, and let creativity just blossom! We at Isle of Write are so incredibly pleased to have such a great group of creatives around. In fact, I pledged that the minute my laptop returned to me I would make the day's prompt my very first writing adventure.
And so I did. Here, thanks to #freewrite, @MarianneWest, and the Day 70: 5 Minute Freewrite - Prompt: Surprise coming to you!, inspired by 
Annie's Surprise
I reach down to pick up the brown-paper-covered box from my front step.
"Give it here," Annie says, customary bite in her tone.
Meekly, I hand it over. Meekly is how I do most things these days. Once I remember being assertive. The night I asked the most beautiful girl in the college cafeteria to go to the movies, that was assertive. I was flying high.
Too close to the sun, I suppose.
She carries the package to her chair. The one only the persian cat is allowed to use when she's not in it. She settles her tight ass into the small dent it's made over the past ten years of marriage and begins to slice the paper away with her silver-plated letter opener.
I stand over by the kitchen island, wondering when she'll see what's inside. I bend down behind the teak and marble as she lifts the lid.
Her long-lasting shrieks are preceded by a guttural growl. When I finally poke my head above the counter to look, there's nothing left of her but a pile of offal. The creature turns its eyes to me, but after ten years with Annie, I'm not even bothered.
Holy cow that was fun!
I used The Most Dangerous Writing App which I found through @MarianneWest's post as well. Loved it, what a challenge to keep going! If you, like me, have trouble with just sitting there staring at the page for long periods of time, searching in vain for exactly the right word... if you as a writer have let the perfect be the enemy of the good, this app could be a game changer. Give it a try. You set a timer and write. If you stop for more than three seconds before the time is up, all that you've already written goes POOF! I am proud to say I did not poof even once this first time, though I can imagine it happening many, many times in the future.
Anyway Steemians, it's wonderful to be back among you, and maybe I'll see some of you over at the Isle of Write, whether in the Pub or in the Free-Writing-Retreat. All are welcome to kick back, relax, and soak up the rays (of inspiration).
