Freewrite Jan 13, 2018 - Part 1 -The only way John could pass the exam was by cheating

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Fifteen-year-old John Bufford lived in a trailer park just outside of Magic City, Florida. Linda, his Mother was dying of cancer and John had quit school to stay home and take care of her. His Dad, or who they thought was his Dad, had left Months ago long before the diagnosis and no one had heard from him since. It was rumored that he had welched on a drug deal and got on the bad side of the local distributor, but no one knew if he had just caught a one-way ride to anywhere else, or if they had caught up to him and left him in the nearby swamp for the Gators.

John didn't want to think about that, right now he was just glad that he had been able to work out a deal with the power company to keep the lights on, it seems that FPL had a special plan for situations like his that was supported by the employees as a way of giving back to the community. Tomorrow was John's birthday, and he had set it up with a friend to take him to the State Troopers Office for his driver's exam. He needed that license so that he could drive to the grocery store and the pharmacy if nothing else. So far he had only had to walk once, but that was in a cold rain and he had been forced to wear a trash bag to stay dry. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is for a fifteen-year-old to have to walk to town wearing a trash bag? Most of the time he could beg rides from neighbors or his old classmates from school, but he really needed that license, someday he would need to get Mom to the hospital or for a treatment and there was not going to be anyone around.

The problem was that the only way John could pass the exam was by cheating. He was pretty sure that he could pass the written test, and he knew that he could pass the driving test, the problem was the color blindness test. The test he took at the clinic two years ago had shown that he was almost completely color blind. It was really odd, when he looked into those special multi-colored squares he could never make out a number, all that he could see was a strange yellow and greenish monster thing dancing around. To him, it looked like an ear of yellow corn with arms and legs, but that's just crazy. If he told them that he not only wouldn't get a drivers license but they would probably hold him for observation at the hospital for a few days like they did George, the homeless mumbler that hung out under the overpass sometimes.

He was just going to have to find some way to cheat, and he was sure that his former science teacher Mrs. Snook could help with that. Sure, she had always liked John and didn't she just say when they crossed paths at the grocery store the other day to call her if he needed anything. He would call her tonight, maybe she could figure out what was wrong with his eyes. While he was at it he would ask her why the name Karl was always popping into his head. He had called Charley, the neighborhood cat, Karley the other day. What was even weirder was that he had called out in his sleep last night and his Mom had asked later: "Who is Karl?" Yes, Mrs. Snook had to be the answer, if she couldn't find out what was wrong with him maybe she could help him figure out a way to beat that test.
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**Disclaimer: I often use the freewrite prompt to tell a story instead of doing a pure freewrite, so they sometimes take longer than 5 minutes and usually have some editing. But I try to do my story straight through at one sitting without any unnecessary breaks.
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Graphics by: Giphy.com
Footer by the fabulous: @topkpop
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Prompt: The only way John could pass the exam was by cheating
Set your timer for 5 minutes.
Start writing
Use the hashtag #freewrite
Publish your piece (include a link to this post if you wish)
Copy and paste your URL into the comment section of the prompt post.
Or, if you don't want to publish your freewrite, just copy and paste as a comment under the prompt post.
If you don't know what a freewrite is, here is a link to the introduction post.

Introduction to freewrite

Thank you @mariannewest