Welcome to my (fairly) regular weekly Flash Fiction Friday post, where I take the prompt words left in the previous week’s FFF post’s comments and use them in a new bit of flash.
This one uses the words/phrase, neighbor’s yappy dog, left in the comments of the December 8 FFF post. I wrote a standalone scene not featuring characters from any of my published works or any of my recurring flash fiction characters.
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Here is a photo that provided extra inspiration for this scene:
This scene is told from Nathan’s 3rd-person POV:
Yip, yip, yip!
“It’s my turn,” one of the kids—it sounded like Jeremy—hollered from the other room.
“Is not!” Georgie’s reply wasn’t exactly a solid gold debate winner, but in his defense, he was not quite three, and had learned his arguing skills from Jeremy. Needless to say, there was only one likely reply…
“Is too!”
“Boys, Dad’s still sleeping. Quiet down.” Anthony’s voice was calm as ever. “Georgie, it’s Jeremy’s turn. I’ll set the timer. When it dings it’ll be your turn again.”
Yip, yip, yip!
“I swear to God…” Nathan grumbled, stuffing a pillow over his head. The neighbor’s yappy dog annoyed him more than the noise from his family. He didn’t expect “Stepford kids,” and the boys’ hearts were in the right place.
“Here, Georgie.” Anthony’s voice drifted down the hallway. “You can help me crack eggs for the pancakes.”
Nathan smiled beneath the pillow. Anthony was a master at redirecting the kids’ interests, but even he could predict where this one would go.
“I wanna help, too,” Jeremy said.
“Great!” Anthony said. “Go get the other stepstool, I could use another skilled egg-cracker.”
Yip, yip, yip!
Nathan chuckled despite the exasperating yapping, and emerged from underneath the pillow. Anthony had known as well as Nathan did that Jeremy would want to “help,” too. He blinked a few times and stumbled to the bathroom. Anthony would probably appreciate some real help.
When he was freshened up and decent, he breezed into the kitchen and took an exaggerated breath. “Bacon, coffee, and pancakes…what more could anyone want on such a glorious Saturday morning!”
“Chocolate milk,” Jeremy, aka Mr. Literal replied.
“And apple juice,” Georgie said, because of course he couldn’t let Jeremy be the only one chiming in.
“And Pop’s beautiful smile,” Nathan added for good measure as Anthony beamed at him from the other side of the table.
Anthony stepped around and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “How about adding a good morning kiss to that list?”
Yip, yip, yip!
Even the yappy dog couldn’t ruin this lovely scene. Nathan trailed a finger along Anthony’s jaw. “Better and better.”
Note: Since I’ll have a houseful of family this coming week, I’ve got something different prescheduled for next Friday, so words left in the comments here will be used in my next planned Flash Fiction Friday post on December 29.
What a lovely, heartwarming scene. I love waking up like that…not to the sound of the annoying dog, but to sounds of my family drifting into the bedroom. It happens far too seldom when the kids are grown up and live across the world from you, but I’ll get to meet her on Friday and I’ll sleep in her apartment and I’ll wake up to sounds of my family like this. I’m SO looking forward to it.
Thank you for this beautiful FFF! I loved it.
Words for next time: reunion, hugs, love (can you tell I look forward to meeting my kid?? 🙂 )
I hope you’ll have a lovely time with your house full of family and I look forward to seeing what you’ve come up with for next week 🙂
Thank you! I feel the same way. I love waking up to homey sounds and smells. Since it’s my house that family is about to descend on, I’ll likely be the one creating them, but that’s just as enjoyable, right? 😃
Have a wonderful holiday visiting with your daughter. I’m looking forward to seeing mine and her family, including my youngest granddaughter again—she’s now crawling up a storm and close to walking. It’ll be fun seeing her now able to interact and play with my 2-1/2 year old granddaughter.