Seems lately I can't write unless someone's given me a prompt. Thus, my submission for Lance's 100 Word Song. This week's song was Hotel Illness by Black Crowes. To explain to you how I got from that song to this response would take many hundreds of words, so I'll spare you. But Lance says it's okay. He says there aren't any rules. So here goes:
Crystal grew up swaddled in the stories her mother told about her. “This one, she’s trouble,” she said with a glint in her eye and a shake of her head. “Independent and fierce. Wild.”
Every cup spilled and every tantrum thrown were carefully catalogued as evidence of the girl’s propensity towards rebellion. And, somehow, of her inherent strength.
When she turned eighteen, I bought her a dog, one of those angry, sturdy-looking ones that comes with papers you pay a thousand bucks for. Her mother told me she needed it for protection. Looks to me, she needed it for company.
I like this one! And I wouldn't mind one bit the many of hundreds of words that would help illuminate how it came about =)
ReplyDeleteThanks, t!
DeleteYES - I love finding out how people's minds work. I agree with t - I want to know how you got from the Black Crows to there. Oh yay. And I have developed the same prompt addiciton. I forgot to sign up for IndieInk last week, and I'm feeling EMPTY without it!!
ReplyDeleteI am unsure of how you got there and would enjoy hearing about it, but I love this piece.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, now I feel like I gave you guys some kind of leading, "Beg me to tell you more" thing. And although I'm not above that sort of thing, I honestly didn't think that.
ReplyDeleteMy thought process went like this: google the lyrics to the song. Remember the song. It's about drugs. Think about drugs. Think about how I can write about drugs. Think about how I don't want to write about drugs because I hate being told what I should write about. Think about how I can write about drugs without giving the rote response that immediately comes to mind.
Think about drugs some more. Think about drugs as they relate to my life. Be thankful that they never played a very big role in my life, not in MY life anyway. Though they were huge in other people's lives. Think about why they never were that big in my life even though they were all around me. Wonder about people who don't know me very well. Wonder if they thought that drugs were a bigger part of my life than they were, just because they were all around me. Think about how people who don't know people very well assume things based on what people say about them.
And then, as an outside thought, think about how I want to adopt a dog. :-) And then think about how I tried to buy my 3 year old daughter some new underwear the other day and how I stumbled upon some. . .suggestive. . .underwear in the very-young-girls department. Thought about my daughter and how she'll grow up one day and how I'll think one thing about her and it may well be that she grows up to be someone completely different. And maybe I'll know that and think my own thoughts anyway, or maybe I'll be completely unaware of who she really is.
But I hope not.
xx
Uhm, okay...your explanation didn't really help :p
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I like the piece. I like the idea of how we can project our own beliefs on our kids and in the end they can totally surprise us :). A regular joke in my house is that the RESP money we're putting away for each kid will be used very differently. Kid 1 it'll be university....kid 2 it'll be bail money LOL
Wow, your mind works in mysterious ways! Looks like you came up with another story just explaining the 100! Good one,
ReplyDeleteeden
I do like this. I didn't realize the song was about drugs (I don't really catch the subliminal messages sometimes), I just thought of it being about a crazy female, so yours fit that scenario too.
ReplyDeleteI like Crystal and her private mythology. And a sturdy, loyal dog is always essential for a girl with a destiny, in my humble opinion.
ReplyDeleteThis was great. I love the twist of why she needs the dog at the end.
ReplyDeleteThis song was tricky for me as well. I also started off by googling the lyrics, but I just couldn't come up with anything. I ended up basing my writing on the sound of the music more than words.
ack! i really like your 100 words but now i feel a rant coming on about sexualization of little girls! take cover! fucking thongs for three-year-olds.... rant rant rant
ReplyDelete