Thank you to everyone who participated in the “Grateful in 5 Words” Challenge. This has been a blast! We have 11 pieces published (not including mine), and they will be featured on the homepage until Saturday, July 22, 2023.
Stay tuned for the next challenge in September!
Originally published in A Cornered Gurl via Medium.
Ed tossed the remote control to the far right end of the couch after flipping channels for the twentieth time. He slid back in his reclining massage chair, pressed the button to activate the slow pulse on his lumbar spine, and sank into the peacefulness of the night.
Sadie had been gone since Tuesday, and it was Friday. She decided to visit her big sister, Sweetie. She hadn’t seen her in four years.
The WWE’s intro sounded throughout the entire living room. He blinked his eyes a few times to keep from falling asleep. Although he never missed an episode, he struggled tonight to stay awake.
Working the second shift at the power plant was starting to wear on his middle-aged bones. Years ago, he could pull a double, parade around town until 3 in the morning, and still wake up to get another day going at work.
Those days are long gone now. Everything hurts. Even his fingernails. But money’s got to be made.
He silently berated himself for tossing the remote to the far right of the couch. The chair had gotten comfortable and he didn’t want to get up.
He smacked his weary lips, placed two fingers in his mouth, and whistled for his oldest child to come downstairs.
The young one appeared; doe-eyed and slightly aggravated.
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Edward Sloane Parker, Jr., reach on over there on that couch and get your daddy the remote control, will you.”
It wasn’t so much a question as it was a statement — a cool command. Ed, Jr. shuffled past his dad, leaned over hastily, scooped up the remote, and tossed it in his dad’s lap.
“That it?”
“Yeah, son. That’ll do me.”
The night air crept into the cracks of their old Victorian home, Ed settled into the grip of the reclining massage chair, pressed the volume up button on the remote, and closed his eyes.
“I’ll just rest them for a few. I won’t even miss the main event,” he whispered to the thin air.
When Ed woke up, the sun was beaming down on his beady eyes and the kids were racing downstairs to the kitchen to make breakfast.
He missed the main event. He missed the whole damn show.
Originally published in Hinged.press via Medium.
I’m posting this here as well, as I typically do with ACG challenges.
Hello, beautiful people! Welcome to the fourth challenge since A Cornered Gurl’s relaunch. What do I have in store for you for this challenge? Ah, a sharing of just how grateful we are, even in the midst of this turmoil and grief and age of endless bad news . . . there are still things for which to be grateful.
And how will we do this? Oh, you beautiful human beings, you . . . we will express ourselves by using 5 words only.
adjective
1. warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received; thankful:
2. expressing or actuated by gratitude:
3. pleasing to the mind or senses; agreeable; welcome:
The challenge: Writers will share something (or some things) for which they are grateful. It can be anyone and anything, just describe it poetically — in verse by using 5 words only. Are you up for this challenge?
Note: This is a challenge — a challenge in brevity. Please do not submit a series of 5-word grateful responses to me in one post. Think outside the box, people. Use 5 words only in one set.
Nature’s kiss gives
me hope.
•Request to be added as a writer by emailing me at acorneredgurl[AT]gmail[DOT]com with “Please Add Me” as the subject line and please include the link to your Medium profile.
Don’t want to be a writer in A Cornered Gurl — simply comment with your response in this challenge post, or create your own post to your profile or in another publication, however, please use the tags, “Challenge” and “Grateful.”
The challenge will run from Friday, July 07, 2023, until 6:00 PM Monday, July 17, 2023 (with publishing days as Friday, Sunday, and Monday based on ACG’s publishing schedule). Please have “5 Words: Tell me what you’re grateful for” as the subtitle for your submission. CHALLENGE SUBMISSION BEGINS NOW!
It’s time to use our creative minds and share something or some things for which we are grateful; remember, use only 5 words!
Originally published as a newsletter in A Cornered Gurl via Medium.
to be loved, deeply loved
is what I crave, but …
I fear it, too.
why?
isn’t that a conundrum
that shouldn’t be a
conundrum?
there’s this little thing
called t r u s t that
settles itself at the
hem of my garments and
reminds me I have
a hard time with it.
and I move on
knowing the struggle
continues and only I
have the power to
overcome it.
maybe tomorrow.
A Cornered Gurl 
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