It’s time for my weekly Story Starter prompt. Here’s how it works. Every Tuesday morning (my time), I’m going to give you a “teaser” sentence or sentence fragment and your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to build a story (prose or poetry) around that sentence/fragment. It doesn’t have to be the first sentence in your story, and you don’t even have to use it in your post at all if you don’t want to. The purpose of the teaser is simply to spark your imagination and to get your storytelling juices flowing.
This week’s Story Starter teaser is:
It wasn’t that long ago when Ethan was rarely bothered by mosquitos, but this year he’s being eaten alive by them.
If you care to write and post a story built from this teaser, be sure to link back to this post and tag your post with #FSS. I would also encourage you to read and enjoy what your fellow bloggers do with their stories.
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Mosquitos
By Tessa Dean June 2024
It wasn’t that long ago when Ethan was rarely bothered by mosquitos, but this year he’s being eaten alive by them. He looked at the can of spray that claimed it protected you from mosquito bites, but he flung it across the room. It hadn’t worked. He was still covered with the itchy bites from last night’s party. At this rate, he would have to stay cooped up inside the house all summer. The excessive rainfall didn’t help as mosquitos like the rain and heat of summer, and let’s face it, where he lived now, it was summer almost year round. He should never have bought this new house and relocated, but he didn’t know that mosquitos were so prevalent here before he moved. He had also been warned about the mosquitos spreading disease and to try and avoid them as much as possible.
From his research, he realized that the pond of stagnant water in the backyard was a favorite breeding ground for mosquitos. He would have to look into draining and filling the pond with dirt. Just then, another mosquito flying around landed on his arm and bit him. He slapped it, killing it so that one wouldn’t bite him again.
Tessa–
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
Welcome to the Saturday Mix – Story Starter, 15 June 2024! You will be given a sentence to start off your response. It is your choice whether you write using poetry or prose.
Your story starter for this week is:
Gary pushed “send” on the email and hoped for the best…
Good luck with your ‘Story Starter’ – I can’t wait to see what you come up with! Don’t forget to tag ‘Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie’, ‘Saturday Mix’, and hashtag #StoryStarter.
As always, make sure you link to your fabulous creation via the comments or pingback.
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The Not So Private Email
By Tessa Dean June 2024
Gary pushed send on the email and hoped for the best. There, that’s done, Gary thought, unable to suppress a sigh. He worried Maggie would be upset since they had never discussed this. He just wanted out of all the drama before someone else found out about them, especially his wife, who worked in the office next to his. Way too close for comfort.
Just then, his wife, Lori, barged into his office crying. What’s she upset about?
“What’s up, Lori?” Gary asked his sobbing wife.
“How could you do this to me? Everyone knows our business.”
“What do you mean everyone knows our business? What business?”
You sent a personal email to everyone at work. You told Maggie that you loved her and were going to divorce me. When were you going to tell me? I know things haven’t been ideal, but you never let on that you were so unhappy that you were leaving me for another woman, especially Maggie, who is the company whore.”
“Whoa there, Lori, she is not a whore.”
“What would you call a woman who will sleep with anyone, especially her boss?”
“She doesn’t sleep around. We have been seeing each other for 2 years now. Besides, you have your own boyfriend. Did you think I didn’t know about him? I have known about the two of you since I started seeing Maggie. Your seeing him was the reason I started to date Maggie. You hurt me when you did that, so we started talking and dating.”
Lori shut up. She hadn’t realized that he knew about her boyfriend. He never said anything, but she could see why now since he had been seeing Maggie. “We might as well see Maggie now and get this over with. I am not going to contest the divorce. It will be great to be out of this marriage. I will have my lawyer contact yours once we each have a lawyer. Let me know who you choose so we can get different lawyers.” She left his office, still sniffling and blowing her nose on a tissue, and headed down the hall to Maggie’s office.
Suddenly, Maggie became aware of the rumble of talking through her closed door. Wondering what was going on, she walked to the door and opened it. Mark and his wife, Lori, were standing there looking very unhappy. Lori was crying. “What’s going on?” she said to the pair.
“How could you?” Lori asked her with tears running down her face.
“How could I what?” she asked the pair standing before her.
Lori reached over to slap her on the face. “How could you sleep with my husband?”
Maggie rubbed the spot where the slap had landed. Boy, that hurt, she thought.
“What are you talking about?” Maggie asked her, and she knew he had done something wrong by the look on Mark’s face. And how did Lori find out? They had been so discreet.
Mark said between clenched lips, “I mistakenly sent that email to the whole company, not just you. Thanks to that stupid email, everyone knows about us.
Maggie sucked in her breath as what he said got through to her. The whole company? How had he managed that? What email? She hadn’t checked her email yet this morning.
She looked at the couple before her, Lori sobbing and Mark furious, just standing there with a confused look on his face. “I haven’t checked my email this morning, so I don’t know what you are talking about.” She wished she were anywhere but here. This wasn’t her fault, except that she knew sleeping with the boss was never a good move. She had been there before. Why did she think this time would be different?
“I will pack up my things and go. I never meant for this to happen.”
“Maggie, wait! The email said that I loved you and was going to divorce Lori. That is why she is so upset. She doesn’t love me and has her own boyfriend. She just doesn’t want to lose my money. I want us to be together. Please don’t leave.”
“Maggie looked at Mark and said, “You really are leaving Lori for me?”
“Yes, I love you, not her.”
Maggie rushed to his outstretched arms to kiss him. She couldn’t be happier, although she still felt bad for Lori and would have preferred more privacy. Now, they didn’t have to sneak around anymore.
Tessa–
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.). Today’s word is unfurl.
Plus I used Fandango’s Story Starter Challenge. Today’s story starter is: #153 With tears in his eyes, Jason turned around and began to walk away.
I am also using The Daily Spur prompt which is medicine.
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And last is the “My Vivid Blog” daily prompt which is refreshments.
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Eyeing all the medicine on the bedside table along with the untouched refreshments, Jason suspected that his dad wasn’t telling him everything about his condition. He used to be a rugged man, able to get around on his own and climb mountains for fun, but now he was confined to a bed and a wheelchair if he needed to leave his bed for something. He wanted to reject his suspicions, but the rows of medicine made him realize something was up.
He unfurled his long frame from the chair beside the bed and elected to see his father’s doctor, who was downstairs conferring with his dad’s nurse for the day shift. He now had 24-hour nursing care.After he talked to the doctor, who told him his Dad had cancer and only had a few weeks left to live, Jason was stunned and started to breakdown. With tears in his eyes, Jason turned around and began to walk away.
Tessa–
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
It’s time for my weekly Story Starter prompt. Here’s how it works. Every Tuesday morning (my time), I’m going to give you a “teaser” sentence or sentence fragment and your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to build a story (prose or poetry) around that sentence/fragment. It doesn’t have to be the first sentence in your story, and you don’t even have to use it in your post at all if you don’t want to. The purpose of the teaser is simply to spark your imagination and to get your storytelling juices flowing.
This week’s Story Starter teaser is:
Life wasn’t great at all for Walter. In fact, it wasn’t even mildly good.
If you care to write and post a story built from this teaser, be sure to link back to this post and tag your post with #FSS. I would also encourage you to read and enjoy what your fellow bloggers do with their stories.
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The Smoke Alarm (492 words)
By Tessa Dean May 2024
Life wasn’t great at all for Walter. In fact, it wasn’t even mildly good.
Walter woke up that morning to the piercing wail of his smoke alarm. He didn’t smell smoke, but he knew that didn’t mean anything. With a knot of anxiety in his stomach, he had to get up and check the smoke alarm, just in case.
Stumbling out of bed, he went to the kitchen, where the alarm was screeching out its warning. He smelled smoke there but didn’t see any flames. He entered the laundry room and found the dryer had stopped and the lint filter was on fire. It was a small blaze as it probably had just started. Walter quickly dumped some water in a pan, poured it on the flames, and managed to put it out. He was thankful that it hadn’t spread into the rest of the house, but he had just bought that dryer, so he was surprised to already have a fire in it.
There was pounding on the door and he rushed to the living room to open the door to see the fire department with their hose. They pushed him aside and ran into the kitchen. They saw the damage to the dryer and sprayed the hose on the dryer just in case there were more flames inside the unit.
“What are you doing here? Stop spraying more water on the dryer. The fire is out. It was a small one.” He pushed the hose away, but the fireman kept spraying the hose on the dryer. “Stop it, please. It is out now. You are creating more damage than there needs to be. You can see that it is out. It was a minor fire. And what are you doing here anyhow? I didn’t call you.”
“Sir, your neighbor heard the fire alarm going off continuously and called for the fire department. It was still going off, so we rushed in to see what was happening. Why didn’t you turn it off?”
“I had to put the small fire out first before it became a big fire. Now you have caused major water damage, and this was a brand new dryer. I only had it for a few months. I want to file a report against you for the damages you caused.”
“Sir, did you clean the lint filter after every use?”
“The lint filter? No, I didn’t see that much lint, so I didn’t worry about it yet.”
“It doesn’t take much lint to cause a fire. By not cleaning out the lint filter regularly, you caused the damage to your dryer. We aren’t responsible for trying to make sure the fire was out. Next time, clean your lint filter after every use.”
“Next time? There had better not be a next time.” Walter shook his head. Life was complicated right now. He told the firemen to leave. He just wanted to go back to bed. He would deal with the mess later. The firemen silenced the smoke alarm on the way out.
Tessa–
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
It’s time for my weekly Story Starter prompt. Here’s how it works. Every Tuesday morning (my time), I’m going to give you a “teaser” sentence or sentence fragment and your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to build a story (prose or poetry) around that sentence/fragment. It doesn’t have to be the first sentence in your story, and you don’t even have to use it in your post at all if you don’t want to. The purpose of the teaser is simply to spark your imagination and to get your storytelling juices flowing.
This week’s Story Starter teaser is:
Arlene panicked when she realized she had sent the text to her boss, rather than to her boyfriend.
If you care to write and post a story built from this teaser, be sure to link back to this post and tag your post with #FSS. I would also encourage you to read and enjoy what your fellow bloggers do with their stories.
And most of all, have fun.
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I am also including the prompt from Di’s Three Things Challenge #M701
The three words are:
ASHEN PALE COLOURLESS
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Mistaken Identity
By Tessa Dean May 2024
Arlene panicked when she realized she had sent the text to her boss, rather than to her boyfriend. She tried to think if she could possibly unsend the text, but she wasn’t very smart when it came to smart phones and didn’t know if it was possible to unsend or not.
Her boss texted her back almost immediately. Her face turned ashen, pale, almost colorness if that is possible in her embarrassment. She was terrified to open the text.
She had mistakenly sent her boss the text meant for her boyfriend David. The text contained a nude picture of her taken in a moment when she wasn’t thinking clearly. He had always begged her to send him nude pictures in return for some of him. She had always refused and didn’t think it was appropriate. Now in her haste at his begging for one she had mistakenly sent the text including the nude picture to her boss. She could only imagine what he was thinking right now and here was a text from him that she was terrified to open.
Arlene needed her job and she was almost positive her boss was firing her. After all he was married and had never even hinted that he might be interested in her and she could only imagine what he must be thinking right now.
She moved to open the text and get it over with. She could hardly believe what she was reading. Mr. Connelly had written back just a quick message. “Just say when, baby!”
He wasn’t firing her, but he obviously expected her to sleep with him. Now what?
Tessa–
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
Welcome to the Saturday Mix – Story Starter, 18 May 2024! You will be given a sentence to start off your response. It is your choice whether you write using poetry or prose.
Your story starter for this week is:
She threw back the glass of wine and stormed out of the room…
Good luck with your ‘Story Starter’ – I can’t wait to see what you come up with! Don’t forget to tag ‘Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie’, ‘Saturday Mix’, and hashtag #StoryStarter.
As always, make sure you link to your fabulous creation via the comments or pingback.
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Calling It Quits
By Tessa Dean May 2024
She threw back the glass of wine and stormed out of the room, nearly stumbling over her own two feet. What was Jack up to, she thought to herself. She returned to the dining room, picked up the letter, and began rereading it, tears streaming down her face.
Jack couldn’t be serious. He had never been cruel to her before. They had always been a loving couple, supporting each other through thick and thin. Why now? She headed off to search for him to find out what he was up to.
She searched the downstairs completely and found no sign of him. Maybe he had left after dropping off the letter. She headed upstairs, although she didn’t expect him to be there as the letter seemed final. He wouldn’t go to her room after that, and other than bedrooms and a bathroom, there were no other rooms up there.
There was no sign of him, so she headed back downstairs. She opened the front door and looked to see if his car was still parked behind hers. It was gone.
She picked up her cell phone and quickly dialed his number. It rang once but then went to voicemail. He didn’t answer, and she became angrier. Where was he? How could he tell her they were through by letter and not tell her in person? Plus, he hadn’t left a reason in the letter why he was through with them as a couple.
What had she done? Surely, they could have talked it over and resolved it. She picked up her car keys and headed to her car. Determined to find him and demand an answer.
She drove to his house and found her best friend, Mandy’s car there as well as his. What was she doing here? Had they been seeing each other behind her back? She jumped out of her car and approached the front door. She reached for the doorknob and turned it, surprised it was open. She entered the house, headed to the living room, and found the two of them locked in an embrace, kissing passionately.
“Jack, Mandy, what is going on here? Jack, you gave me a letter saying we were through for no reason and then left. I followed you here only to find you and Mandy kissing passionately. When did this start?”
“Listen, Rhonda, I am sorry, but Mandy and I are in love. I didn’t know how to tell you, so I wrote you that letter and hoped you would accept that we were over. I didn’t want to tell you about Mandy because I know you are best friends.”
“Were, Jack. I will not be best friends with someone who would take my boyfriend. We could have talked about our relationship if something was wrong. You didn’t even give me a chance. You just ended it with no explanation. How could either of you do this to me?”
“I’m sorry, Rhonda,” Mandy said. “I didn’t plan on this to happen, but Jack approached me about how he felt that your relationship lacked real love and things just happened. We have only been together for about two weeks.”
“Two weeks? And you think that makes it alright?” Rhonda turned around, and with tears streaming down her face, she slapped Jack across the face and said, “I hope you are happy now. Good riddance to you both.”
Tessa–
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
It’s time for my weekly Story Starter prompt. Here’s how it works. Every Tuesday morning (my time), I’m going to give you a “teaser” sentence or sentence fragment and your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to build a story (prose or poetry) around that sentence/fragment. It doesn’t have to be the first sentence in your story, and you don’t even have to use it in your post at all if you don’t want to. The purpose of the teaser is simply to spark your imagination and to get your storytelling juices flowing.
This week’s Story Starter teaser is:
“You don’t know me, but I’m the ex-wife of your new boyfriend,” the woman said to Pamela when she answered her door, “and he’s not who you think he is.”
If you care to write and post a story built from this teaser, be sure to link back to this post and tag your post with #FSS. I would also encourage you to read and enjoy what your fellow bloggers do with their stories.
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The Ex-Wife (1130 words)
By Tessa Dean May 2024
“You don’t know me, but I’m the ex-wife of your new boyfriend,” the woman said to Pamela when she answered her door, “and he’s not who you think he is.”
Pamela looked stunned. She didn’t know this woman, although she had often noticed her lurking around her street. She clearly had an agenda.
“What do you mean? Peter and I have been dating for several months now, and I know everything about him. He doesn’t keep me in the dark. I have met his family and friends. He never mentioned you. He said he had never been married before, and no one else told me about an ex-wife. What do you want from me?”
“Of course, he wouldn’t tell you about me. I am the wife who got away. All his ex-wives had met untimely and suspicious deaths. I started to look into his past when I became suspicious. I went into hiding with one of the cops at the local police station when I mentioned my suspicions about Peter, and he helped me look into his past. To be safe, he moved me in with him.”
Pamela tried to shut the door, but the woman put her foot into the space and blocked her from shutting the door all the way.
“You would be better off if you listened to me. I am only trying to protect you. I would hate to see another young woman die a mysterious death.”
“Go away before I call the police,” she said, pulling harder on the door, trying to shut the woman out. “I mean it. I will call the police. I don’t know what your agenda is, but I don’t believe you. Go away!”
The woman held a list of names and told her to look them up online. She would see that they all had one thing in common. They were all married to a Peter, with various last names. He changed his last name every time, but the description fits Peter, including the broken heart tattoo. She tried to hand the paper to the woman.
“Peter will be home soon, and I will tell him someone is trying to interfere with our lives.”
“Please listen to me,” the woman pleaded with her. “I am only trying to save your life. Listen, tell me, does he have a broken heart tattoo on his left bicep?”
The woman appeared to be thinking about what she had been told. She remembered that he had a tattoo on his left bicep and refused to talk about it. She had never pressed him about it since he wasn’t willing to talk about it. She had figured that he had a broken heart over some relationship, and that tattoo was a reminder of that time, and he didn’t want to talk about it with her. She never pushed it.
“Why should I listen to you?” she asked, letting the door open again. The woman pushed inside.
“Please listen to me. Do you have a computer handy so you can look these names up?”
“Ok, fine, come in quickly. There isn’t much time before Peter returns.
They settled at the computer, and Pamela started at the top of the list and looked each woman up and noted that each story talked about her husband with a tattoo on his left bicep and asking the public to be on the lookout for this man wanted in connection to the suspicious deaths of each woman. In each case, the man’s first name was Peter. The police were on the case and actively seeking information.
Pamela became uneasy and asked the woman her name. “Miranda Stillwell,” she replied.
Pamela started to tell Miranda that she noticed that he went out a lot, and he always insisted that he go alone. She was now beginning to wonder what he was up to during these times he left her alone. He took her out, of course, but he preferred to go out alone more often.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, and the two women jumped. Peter looked at Miranda and shouted, “ What are YOU doing here?”
Miranda fumbled in her handbag for the can of mace she carried, but Peter was on her quickly. Pamela moved to the side and searched for her phone so she could call 9-1-1, but she couldn’t find it fast enough. Peter had pulled a gun on them.
Pamela, while in shock, asked Peter what he was doing. His attention was still drawn to Miranda. She noticed a cop coming in the still open door. He had a gun trained on Peter and told him to drop the gun and move away from the two women.
“Drop it,” he said again. His eyes never left Peter. “You aren’t getting away with another murder, Peter Weatherspoon. I have a witness to your escapades. Don’t try anything funny because I have a backup team arriving momentarily, and we are taking you in this time. Miranda, get over here and bring the woman with you. Get behind me.”
Peter just watched as Pamela followed Miranda to stand behind the policeman. He didn’t try to shoot her. He debated briefly about his options but finally put the gun down.
“How did you find me?” Peter asked.
“Miranda has been searching for you since you left her for dead at your old apartment. She was determined to bring you down for all the murders of your past ex-wives. You somehow didn’t manage to kill her, and since you left her for dead, a neighbor found her soon enough to save her life. You are not going to get away with this. Hopefully, Pamela here will also be a witness against you. Miranda mentioned that she was sure she had located you and would warn the girlfriend. She gave me her address so I could follow her and hopefully catch you here.”
Pamela was still in shock. “Peter, how could you? I trusted you. Why didn’t you tell me about your ex-wives? Why did all of your friends keep your past secret from me? No one ever mentioned Miranda or anyone else for that matter.”
“That’s because they didn’t know about my past. I had just met them all. They knew me as Peter Weatherspoon and that I was unmarried and had never been married before. Miranda wasn’t around to tell them, and to be honest, I had no idea she was still alive. I should have listened to the news, I guess.”
The backup team arrived, and Peter was handcuffed and taken outside for the ride to the police station. Miranda offered to take Pamela down to the police station so she could file a report and give a statement. She promised to bring her home again after she was done.
Tessa–
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
It’s time for my weekly Story Starter prompt. Here’s how it works. Every Tuesday morning (my time), I’m going to give you a “teaser” sentence or sentence fragment and your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to build a story (prose or poetry) around that sentence/fragment. It doesn’t have to be the first sentence in your story, and you don’t even have to use it in your post at all if you don’t want to. The purpose of the teaser is simply to spark your imagination and to get your storytelling juices flowing.
This week’s Story Starter teaser is:
She held out her arms to hug me, but I knew this wasn’t my house — and she definitely wasn’t my wife.
If you care to write and post a story built from this teaser, be sure to link back to this post and tag your post with #FSS. I would also encourage you to read and enjoy what your fellow bloggers do with their stories.
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Missing!
By Tessa Dean May 2024
She held out her arms to hug me, but I knew this wasn’t my house — and she definitely wasn’t my wife.
I struggled to get out of the policeman’s grasp. He was trying to push me toward the woman I had never seen before. She continued to claim she was my wife and that she was so glad to see me at home.
“Sir, I don’t know who this woman is or why you insist on bringing me here, but this is not my house, and she is not my wife. Why don’t you believe me?”
“Sir, we found you wandering around, and we had just received a phone call from your wife that you were missing.”
“She is not my wife! I have never seen this woman before. I swear to you, I don’t understand what is going on here.”
The policeman stopped shoving me toward her. He looked at her and said, “Can you show me proof that this is your husband?”
She said, “Would our wedding picture help?”
“That would be a start, ma’am.”
She turned around and headed back inside to grab a picture off the shelf. She handed it to him. He studied the picture, which showed both of us in wedding attire, but it was a very recent picture.
He noticed that it was a recent picture and asked her for her wedding date.
“It was just last week. I can’t imagine why he says he doesn’t remember it. We had a very large wedding at a local establishment; although he had no family, mine was in full attendance. You can ask any of them about it.”
The policemen turned to me and said, “Sir, is that not you in the photo?”
“No, he replied, “It is my twin brother, Mark! I gather he never told you about me.”
“A twin brother,” she looked surprised. “No, Mark never mentioned he had a twin brother.”
“That doesn’t surprise me at all, as he has done this over and over, and you are not the first woman he has married and pretended to be me. You will find that he is a con artist, and I am afraid you fell for it.”
“Sir,” the policeman asked. “Can I see your identification, please?”
I pulled out my wallet and showed him my license. It was in the name of Clark Brown.
“My brother has probably already wiped out your bank account and is on the run. That is his usual way of doing things. I am sorry, but I am not your husband, and I am sorry you were taken by him. The policeman is already here, so why don’t you file a report? If you look at your bank account or accounts, I am sure you will find them empty.”
The woman was dumbfounded and asked the policeman what should she do. He told her to gather all of the information she had, including her wedding license, and told her to check her accounts to see if what I had told her was true.
She took out her phone, pulled up her banking app, and cried out when she saw a zero balance on her checking and savings accounts. She had trusted him and added him to both accounts because he told her he didn’t have an account and that they should have joint accounts since they were married. She began to cry as the full implications of the situation hit her.
“Am I free to go yet? I have no idea where he is or where he would head next.” I felt sorry for her, but there was nothing I could do. I was no longer in contact with my brother as I didn’t approve of his lifestyle of robbing people. He had even gotten to me when he first started this chain of conning people out of their life savings. He pretended to be me and emptied my accounts as well. Luckily, I didn’t have much money, so he wasn’t really interested in me anymore.
Tessa–
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
There was no way he was doing it. And that was that…
Good luck with your ‘Story Starter’ – I can’t wait to see what you come up with! Don’t forget to tag ‘Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie’, ‘Saturday Mix’, and hashtag #StoryStarter.
As always, make sure you link to your fabulous creation via the comments or pingback.
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There was no way he was doing it. And that was that!
Edwin looked at the two-wheeled bike his parents had bought him and were excited to see him ride it. He eyed it miserably. He was terrified. His old bike had training wheels on it and he simply wasn’t ready to give them up.
His parents egged him on. Both of them gave the bike a ride to show him how easy it was to ride. They just didn’t get his fear. They told him all his friends were riding two-wheelers and that it was past time for him to learn.
“No!” he shouted at them. “I am not ready yet!”
Just then Susie Jones came riding down the street on her new bike. He had a crush on Susie and he wanted to join her, but she just laughed at him standing there. Tomorrow he thought, I will do it tomorrow and then Susie and I will ride to school together on Monday.
He told his parents that he would try it tomorrow. They sighed and agreed. What could they do. They couldn’t force him to try it. Susie rode past again and he said it would definitely be tomorrow.
Tomorrow came and he went slowly towards the bike. He looked like he was going to an execution. His parents showed him how to climb on the bike and then they said they would hold him until he got his balance before letting him go. He started peddling and they let go and over he went. He scraped his knee and started to cry. They convinced him that he should try it again. This time he got further before falling. One more time and he was up and riding.
Susie was clapping out on the street and they headed off together for a ride down the street and there thankfully were no more mishaps.
Tessa–
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
Tessa Dean - Author 