A Photo Album, a Lunar Event, and a Furry Friend

Words for Wednesday was a meme originally created by Delores of Under the Porch Light. She used this weekly writing prompt to encouraged others to write something creative. When she could no longer continue to host it,  Elephant’s Child took over for a while, and then organized volunteers to share the responsibility. Drifting through Life hosted in July, Randomosity in August. 

During September the challenge was posted here, and now October's prompts will be created by Margaret Adamson and her friend Sue, but published on the blog Elephant's Child.

Today, I am continuing the fiction story I have been writing using the Words for Wednesday word prompts from last week. 

To catch up with "The Mindy Story" so far, click the link to any chapter below:

• Part 1, Cleaning Products Don't Work Unless You Use them

• Part 2, A Perfect Match.

• Part 3, Fiction, Sangria, Roasted Red Pepper Spread and a Picnic

• Part 4, Stitches and an Uncomfortable Surprise

• Part 5, A Banana Relapse Will Require a Repair

• Part 6, Capturing Fruit Flies, & Wine Glasses for Two

• Part 7, A Coffee Date and Cathedral Windows  

• Part 8, Chicken Broth and Walnuts - - Oops! 

• Part 9, A Mystery and a Secret 

• Part 10, Blue Bird - Blue Bell - - Blue Bonnet! 
• Part 11, Lemonade and a Pleasant Conversation 

When you are ready, here is Part 12  ...

Another chapter in the unpredictable life of Mindy ...

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A Photo Album, a Lunar Event, and a Furry Friend

Mindy was working hard to finish putting the rest of the photos she had printed into a sparkle-covered album.  She had purchased this particular scrapbook (with glittery hearts across the front) because she had wanted a romantic place to keep all of her photos from time spent with Ryan. It had been almost a year since they had begun dating, and the album was nearly full.

Mindy hadn't seen much of Ryan for about a week. He was really busy with his new job, working for a new builder in town. It had been hard for him to give up his own business, but he said he preferred the regular income to the independence of having his own handy-man business. The full-tiime hours, on top of still going to classes part-time, and trying to attend to the needs of his parents, just hadn't left him much free time.

Earlier in the week, Mark (Ryan's dad) had climbed a ladder to replace a bulb in a sconce on the wall above a stairwell. One of the ladder rungs had given way, and he had slipped and taken a bad fall.  Home alone, Mark had been able to crawl to the phone and dialed 911, but then became too out-of-breath to speak. It had been a good thing his parents still had a land line - the ambulance, as per protocol, was dispatched to his address and help arrived. Had Mark called from a cell phone, it might not have been so easy for the paramedics to locate him.

Although aways completely independent, Ryan's parents suddenly needed quite a bit of help from their son. With four broken ribs and a recently collapsed lung, Mark needed assistance with basic activities-of-daily-living, and couldn't do any of the household tasks he usually did. Ryan was trying to be there to help his mom as much as possible.

Mindy had wanted to help too, but she didn't want Ryan' parents to contract the miserable head cold she had been suffering from for most of the week. Ultimately, she had realized the best thing she could do would to be to stay away from them! 

There was one thing she had been able to do for them, though. Ryan's parents had a pet bunny, still living even after all their children had left home. Ryan's mom was allergic to it, and it had always been cared for by Ryan's dad. When Mindy found that out, she had offered to keep it at her house until Mark could take care of it again.  Ryan had brought the hutch, the rabbit, and all it's supplies to her house in his truck. She rather liked having a fluffy little furry friend in her home, although it made her nervous to take care of someone else's pet. More than once, she had called the vet to inquire if its eating habits and behaviors were normal for a pet rabbit!

With just a handful of photos left to place in the album, Mindy stopped to admire a few. Her camera had done such a good job of capturing the "super moon" during it's eclipse on September 27th. Mindy reminisced about how lovingly Ryan had hugged her as they gazed up at the night sky. He had remarked that they would only have to wait 18 years to see the next super moon lunar eclipse together - in 2033! 

She had been so sure his comment had been the lead-in to a proposal. Now she felt a little ashamed of how grouchy she had been for the rest of that evening, when she realized Ryan was not planning to propose that night.

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The word prompts that I used in this story segment  (from last week's Words for Wednesday challenge) were:

album, lunar, sparkle, furry, sconce, inquire
AND/OR 

builder, contract, attend, ultimately, land line, fall

Don't forget to visit Elephant's Child today, to see the Words for Wednesday Word prompt for this week!

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Are you as surprised as Mindy that Ryan hasn't proposed? 

Do you think she should talk with him about her hopes for the future, or just wait and hope that he will propose?

This post may be linked to one of the great link-up parties I follow and list on my blog. Check them out!