SUNBURN [5MinuteFreeWrite]
This is for @mariannewest and @improv's Freewrite Day 127. Man, time flies so quickly! The theme for today is sunburn. This one's a bit off-tangent, so bear with me. Enjoy!
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Vee asked politely.
"The door's open, man," Abe replied, shouting from the kitchen. "You can come right in."
"Yeah, no, I don't want to be rude, s'all."
After a few minutes, Abe came to the front door to let his friend in. He had been cooking dinner and couldn't leave it unattended. "Come in, come in. Sorry to keep you waiting, must be cold out."
"What in damnation happened to you?" Vee exclaimed the moment he caught a glimpse of his friend. He was repulsed by Abe's almost-charred flesh, that it almost made him lose his appetite.
"Wha- Huh? Oh this? Ha! It's nothing. Mina, Lucy, Jon and I were out on the beach earlier. Forgot to put on sunscreen and fell asleep on the sand. I texted you about it, didn't I?"
"Yes, yes. You, uh... you did. You should really put some lotion on that. I had a late night. Slept in the whole day."
"Is that your beauty secret?"
"This skin doesn't moisturize itself, y'know?"
"They were all dying to meet you. Some other time perhaps."
"Dying, yes. Well, some other time for sure."
"Dinner's almost ready, kick up your feet in the meantime. How do you like your steaks?"
"Bloody."
Vee paced the room, perusing the variety of artifacts littered throughout Abe's living space. As a professor, Abe has had the pleasure of travelling over the world. He made it a point to collect trinkets from every country he visits. Vee was fascinated by the wealth of experience his newfound friend had.
"Dinner's ready," Abe remarked, urging Vee to the kitchen. "Come get it while it's hot."
"Ah yes, well done."
"Hmm? Did you wanted yours well done? I cooked it rare, like you wanted."
As soon as Vee took a bite, he felt a burning sensation down his throat. "What is in this!?"
"Uh, beef?"
"N-No, no, no. What did you cook this with?"
"Butter, extra virgin coconut oil, garlic—"
"There! There it is! Who the hell puts garlic!?"
"Huh? Doesn't everyone?"
Vee sighed, closed his eyes and bit his lip. "Look, Abe. I like you, but there's something you need to know."
"Please," Abe interrupted. "You don't have to say it. I already know."
"You do? Well, I, uh—"
"You're gay. I get it. It's cool. I'm fine with it."
"I'm... what?"
"I mean, I'm flattered and all. I just don't swing that way. Totally cool with you being gay and all. No judgments here."
"No, wait. That's not—"
"That's not what?"
"That's not what I was going to say."
"Really? I just assumed with your pale skin and—"
"Wait, what's wrong with me being pale?"
Unfortunately, I ran out of time! Well, this was awkward. Definitely a first for me in my illustrious freewriting career. Although, I think it ended at just the right note. How do you think the story would've ended? Did you get the point of the story? How do you think I was going to relate sunburn to end the story? Hit me up in the comments section and share your thoughts! I would appreciate all of the interaction. Rest assured that I will repay it in kind :D
Fun fact: The font size for the 'sunburn' text in the cover photo is 666 haha!
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Yes, everyone definitely uses garlic. Oh, I know, he's a vampire! Which is why he's so pale and can't be in the sun without burning- er, well I assume that's where you were going to go- and I'm sure I'm not the first clever person on your blog lol, but I didn't check comments :)
Ding! Ding! Ding!
You got it, sis! ;) 'Tis the timeless tale of one Vlad Dracula and Abraham Van Helsing haha! I didn't know how many would guess it, but I'm glad it's already a handful. I threw in Mina Murray, Jonathan Harker and Lucy Westenra for good measure haha! Oh, and also, the steaks haha! I recently re-watched Dracula Dead and Loving It, and I couldn't resist paying it an homage :D
Me and my friends would have never-ending fun with a scene/story like this..I was starting to laugh when it stopped..not fair!
In this ancient martial art temple, the freewrite hombu-dojo, the great soke @mariannewest put me, her sempai, in charge of communicating the powerful moves on which we will train for becoming BBB (bananafish-black-belt):
Martial art technique n. 1, single prompt option
Martial art technique n. 2, three parts freewrite: 1 2 3
Life isn't fair, my friend. One of its spices, or so I'm told. It would be an honor to have you and your comrades fill in the blanks!
Please send the sensei my regards, sempai! I appreciate you looping me in on the steps on how to come closer to the elusive BBB. Unfortunately, weekends have my hands tied. I shall return on the path soon!
The path you've choosen is a hard but rewarding one..BBB awaits for you! Oss! :-P
And I await it, in kind!
Snort.
I gotta ask, is that a thing? Do people think that skin tone is indicative of sexual orientation? HA! Still giggling.
Poor misunderstood vampires.
There are some who have been questioned, mainly because they're well kept (metrosexuals). I find it ridiculous that's why I included it in this absurd half-tale.
How utterly bizarre
Well if you find that bizarre, you haven't been to a lot of countries. I find that par for the course. There are even stranger practices and views elsewhere.
Ha. No, I've seen bizarre things. I just still find them bizarre. In Norway, for example, some folks I met believed that racism is purely a USA problem. Within 20 minutes of that conversation, they pointed out a license plate from Turkey and told me to be careful because Turkish people were untrustworthy.
It's bizarre to me that we think we can tell anything about a person's character based on skin tone
Haha! The irony! Maybe they don't know that's exactly what racism is. I've had Indian exchange co-workers before who were wary about a gay officemate. They told me that homosexuality doesn't exist where they live. All the while, they were quite handsy with each other.
So, a secondhand story, but I think what I experienced also indicates that its true: In Morocco, on health forms there are separate options for "gay" and "man who has sex with other men" That being gay means something to people who are homophobic but maybe also have sex with men.
So who has it worse in that scenario? "Gay" or "man who has sex with other men"?
The end seems like the end of a beginning or the beginning of an end, to me it was quit a good end leaving everyone to think of the end they accommodate, so we all join you in the free writing by writing the end in our minds so that's a good way to end making your readers participate in your writing, when you began to talk a lotion and skin, I began to feel the story is going to the sunburn.........but all of a sudden gay came in, judgement, perception, point of views, got readers thinking and participating, then the story becomes long and long until it become a long long story. I really wanna hear what Vee have to say..........thanks for writing and sharing my friend
Nice to throw a curve ball here and then! I'm glad you enjoyed reading, my friend! Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.
Thanks too for the wonderful things you write about entertaining us in the same time educating us.
Man, you really pile it on with the wonderful compliments! I feel undeserving :D
I have pale skin and I love garlic but I am not a vampire. I do like blood tho. Is that a sign? Maybe I have to discover I was a vampire in my past life.
You are pretty fast to write that in 5 minutes. I shall give it a try too.
I wrote this in 5 minutes, way way shorter.
https://steemit.com/writing/@sandrina.life/a-trip-in-the-trip-with-lord-skyscraper
That is a sign. You should probably get your rabies shots updated. We wouldn't want you foaming at the mouth now, do we? Do we!?
I plan the story in my head ahead, that's why I get to write that long. Also, I don't format during the sprint. I just insert the quotations and the proper spacing after haha!
How do you know that I am not foaming at the mouth?
It was a wishful assumption. May the Creator bless the people of Cambodia. If I live to survive the impending apocalypse, I will make sure to tell the other survivors the tale of how the end began.
Hahahaha sleep in the sand without protector alone, it will be a bicolor person ... hahaha ... very fun to imagine, I hope it does not happen ... haha greetings my friend
Haha that's why it's always important to lather on some SPF haha! One of the best life lessons out there :D
That was an interesting twist - gay because of your pale skin 🤪
Every time he is going to cook with garlic, he will remember his faux pas
Haha I'm glad you appreciated it :D I do hope that it's what he remembers. I threw in some steaks to give it a more vampiric twist haha!
Bahahahhahahahahhahahaaaa Abe you numpty lol aaahhh my sternum XD
I reckon poor Vee is simply photosensitive and allergic to garlic and really oldschool polite and doesn't want people to know and the exasperation about the "dying to meet you" phrase and how he "had" to be invited in was a red herring to make us think he's a vampire XD
...or is he...? Dun dun DUUUUUUUN [dramatic reverb]!
Surely "Vee" isn't short for something more nefarious, right? Something that resembles "Glad Tapas" somewhat, because who isn't glad for tapas amirite?
What gave it away, mate? I feel like this is a deep cut and not a lot of people will get the reference. I'm a little relieved I ran out of time for this one. I'd much rather have people fill in the blanks haha!
I saw one of my favorite childhood films the other day, Dracula Dead and Loving It, and I knew I just had to write an homage haha!
Perhaps he felt Vesuvius was a bit of a mouthful.
What gave what away?
Did you enjoy the childhood fav as much now as you did then? :D Perhaps moreso if you understood any jokes that originally went over your head?
What gave the vampire twist away? I had thought I had concealed their true identities, but I knew I couldn't let anything past you!
As a matter of fact, I did! There's just something about those campy comedies that shuts off my more discerning side. They don't make them like that no more.
like it!!
Woohoo! Awesome!
This post has received gratitude of 10.76% from @appreciator courtesy of @jedau!
I appreciate the appreciation!