Prompted this morning by @jayna's prompting, I promptly assembled a story for her 50 Word Short Story Contest with the prompt of 'child'. I've been remiss in my entries as of late, but since I have a slow period this morning in my work day I felt I could fit one in. Since I missed last week ('bells'), I worked that into the story too. Two-for-one deal. No extra charge!
Since good stories often feature something that the author has actually felt, seen, or experienced, that is what I drew from here.
I clutched my worn Trapper Keeper, avoiding the children, head down. But I couldn’t avoid their laughter in the halls behind me.
“Who still wears bells?”
“Too poor for anything new?”
Whatever. What do they know? I thought I looked good.
Raising my head, I walked to my next class.
Ah yes. My Lamborghini Trapper Keeper and my out-of-fashion bell bottoms. Going to school in the 80s was hard. Style was changing fast, and there was no internet to tell you what was cool or uncool. Just the children. It was hard to keep up, and I didn't really care to try. Much better being an adult where being out of style is the norm and nobody bothers to make fun of you.
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Oh, this is wonderful, and very touching, @negativer. And I can most definitely relate. I was one of those kids who had to go to school to figure out what to wear to school, but this was a no-win process, since you could come back the very next day wearing the erstwhile cool thing, and the cool kids had already moved on. Sadly, my parents somehow thought we could escape the social misfit stigma we were inevitably stamped with by attending Catholic school where we had to wear uniforms. But see, the cool kids wore the uniforms the cool way. And then there was all the rest of us! For the record, I still think bell bottoms are cool. I’m just waiting for their come back.
I was too late to the cool party...or far too early. Whatever I was at the time was never cool at the right time. I always thought it was fine...until some kid told me otherwise.
That's the upside of getting old; you stop caring about what's cool and just go for what's comfortable :)
Thanks for reading, @jayna!
Yes! Among the many perks of getting old, that one is the very best. 😀
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I like to say I was ahead of the fashion trend. I wore holey pants before the grunge scene took off. LOL
My pants were naturally holey too. Maybe it's people like us that STARTED the trend?
Thank you for being here for me, so I can be here for you.
Enjoy your day and stay creative!
Botty loves you. <3
I wear sandals everywhere...
Yes, in New Hampshire snow in the winter...
You've seen Braveheart, no doubt?
Picture @creatr, in his sandals, shouting:
"COMFORT!"
😄😇😄
I wear socks everywhere, even when I'm wearing sandals. I'm pretty sure that's the height of non-fashion. Still, folks probably are grateful they don't have to see my feet...I know I am.
I also (usually) wear socks with sandals... for both practical and aesthetic reasons.
I revisited your story here today, having belatedly realized that I am completely ignorant of what a "Trapper Keeper" might be.
Consulting the oracle, I am now duly enlightened. This also provides further confirmation that I must have fairly recently been dropped onto this planet, despite my persistent delusion that I have lived here all of my life.
I also attempted to ex-post-facto reward you for this cool and evocative story (yes, I was of course not one of the cool kids, so it resonates) which I somehow failed to reward earlier... however, I discovered that there are no recent enough comments to reward.
Plan B: find a recent @negativer comment and vote the heck out of it, and/or lurk and pounce on the next available Neg comment...
I hope your travels in the Land Whale have been going well and that you had a blessed Christmas in the frozen north... ;)
😄😇😄
P.S. So I found and read this cool history of the Trapper Keeper. I now understand why I was oblivious to it; it came after my time.
Guess, like most of my troubles, it's just that I am old... :O
I still remember my old Trapper Keeper with the fancy Lamborghini on the front and probably some lightning and geometric shapes in the background. One of the few positive moments from my school years :)
I wonder if I still have mine hidden away in a box somewhere. I'm such a packrat, it's entirely possible.
My thanks for you consistently quality comments, insights, and content over the past year, @creatr. Happy New Year!
And a very Happy New Year to you and yours as well, my friend...
How are your efforts at writing for "conventional" publication going?
I have seen your work before. You certainly do have talent. I enjoyed this quick story.