https://buymeacoffee.com/defaultingtograce
Scoot is taking some time away from providing new prompts, but encouraged his FFF fans to pick and choose from prompts posted throughout the year, listed here. I scrolled around and selected these:
Write about a sailor without a ship
steaming cold
“Don’t say a word”
A character personifying a season
Hal was cold. Steaming cold, in fact. But then, he was always cold— from his wintry disposition to his ice-gray eyes. He was Old Man Winter, in flesh and imagination. His pointed nose resembled a snowman’s carrot, and the girth of his arms was more twig-like than anything else. He growled like thundersnow whenever he spoke.
Hal had no friends to speak of. No community welcomed his chilly demeanor at their events, and even the neighborhood feral cat avoided him. He secretly liked the idea that he was just a sailor without a ship; that someday he might meet “his people,” who would embrace him with their warmth and thereby defrost his heart and mind.
This holiday season was gloomier than most. It was unseasonably warm with thunderstorms one week, then cold rains and winds swept through town. All the changes in the weather made everyone sick and more cranky than usual, which did nothing to improve Hal’s wellbeing. The sky was dark; Hal’s mood was darker.
Hal slid into a seat at the bar on Fifth Street. The bartender took one look at Hal’s face and held up his index finger.
“Don’t say a word,” he whispered conspiratorially. “I know a Lowland Scotch order before the drinker does himself.” With that he turned toward the tower of bottles behind him and pulled out a bottle half-filled with a golden liquid.
“You’re definitely a single malt man—no blends for you. You usually want an Auchentoshan, but I’m going to offer something different: GlenAllachie Speyside, 12 years old. Slightly warm, balanced acetone to sweet sultanas. Christmas notes from dried apple, orange zest, nutmeg, and cinnamon.” With a wink, the bartender placed the alcohol in front of Hal, who grunted his thanks.
The first sip surprised Hal with its smoothness. It didn’t burn when swallowed, but rather warmed him as it traveled down his throat.
“Not bad, don’t you think?” said the bartender, who was watching Hal carefully. Hal growled a response that might have been agreement or not as he stared into the glass.
Hal swirled the amber liquid and watched as the oils of the Scotch made tears of rainbows down the sides of the glass. He lifted it again to his lips and drank with the bartender watching.
“It’s good,” he muttered. “Real good.”
The bartender smiled. “I can read a man when he sits at my bar. Some men can be easily satisfied with anything, but others, like yourself, require the best I can offer to break through their defensive masks. Only one glass, because anything more is excessive.”
Draining the glass, Hal felt something new deep within him. Warmth without heat that had little to do with the alcohol and much to do with the friendly bartender who served him.
“What do I owe you?” Hal wasn’t really in a hurry to leave, but he knew that bottle was expensive, and he wanted to close out his check before the bartender poured again.
“Not a thing,” replied the bartender. “This one is on the house. I can always tell what a man needs, and sometimes it’s just to know that he is seen and understood. It’s not about the Scotch.”
Hal nodded his thanks and turned to leave. Thinking again, he pulled out his wallet and put two crisp fifty-dollar bills on the bar top.
“That’s for the next man who comes in just needing a warm voice and a good Scotch.” He turned again as the bartender smiled and tucked the bills into a locked box under the bar.
Hal let the door close behind him. He wasn’t sure what had happened while sat at the bar and enjoyed the drink, but he felt the icicles around his heart melting as he walked down the street toward home. Maybe his proverbial ship had finally come in. He looked back at the bar again, not terribly surprised to see that, instead of the warm and cheery bar, a boarded-up facade spray-painted with graffiti filled the space. Hal just shook his head and continued his journey home.
I like this one a lot!