Saturday Wordzzle Challenge: Week 66

This is week 66 of the Saturday Wordzzle challenge. Anyone new to the process can refer back here to find out how it works. I have no idea why the type face changes between paragraphs. Blogger is strange.

The words for this week's ten word challenge were: swashbuckler, heads-up, dry martini, recovery, jungle gym, whiskers, bathing suit, spade, circular reasoning, abrasive and for the Mini Challenge: butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, stagnation, chart, star crossed lovers, apricot brandy

My 10-word offering for today:

Mary Sue watched her two young children in their bright-colored bathing suits happily running in circles, alternately playing on the jungle gym her husband had set up for them a month earlier while she had been "away" in rehab and chasing poor Whiskers-cat, whose speed and kittenhood were now long behind him.. She sat by the flower bed, spade in hand, wishing very much that she was not in recovery and could dim the abrasive noise of her boisterous children with a large dry martini. She knew this was wrong of her, but the siren song of the drink was calling her to the path of twisted and circular reasoning by which she could rationalize a fall from grace. The call of addiction was so strong. It seemed impossible that anything could make her want to turn aside from the wonder of her beautiful children. Time, she thought to call in to her sponsor. Swashbuckler she called him, because he reminded her of Errol Flynn and she if she called him when temptation became strong - gave him a heads up he called it - he would ply the sword of logic and reason and remind her what the drink really did, not what it whispered that it would do. With an eye on her children and a shaking hand, she dialed the number and breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of his voice.

For the mini:

Mandi had loathed Jennifer. She was beautiful and smart and she could cook better than any other wife in the neighborhood. Everyone buzzed with praise for hostessing skills and her cornish hens and strawberry tarts and apricot brandy. And she could do astrological charts besides everything else. And that fake friendliness. Hah. Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. Or that's what Mandi had thought.. tried to think. In more rational moments she looked at the stagnation of her own life and knew that the problem wasn't with Jennifer but her own insecurity and jealousy. In truth she admired Jennifer, wanted to be like her and hovered at the edge of conversations like a star-crossed lover. Luckily for Mandi, Jennifer was as kind as she was gifted. She had seen past the frosty shyness and nurtured Mandi's confidence and gifts, taught her cooking and dress-making and even astrology. She had become that best of things... a true friend.

And for the mega challenge:

Note to self. No more apricot brandy. Ever. Another Jeopardy nightmare. Don't know why I always dream about Jeopardy. The name, maybe. Anyway, I'm standing on stage in a bathing suit. Wearing a bathing suit alone is a nightmare. But it goes on. The other contestants are dressed in formal wear. She's one of those "butter wouldn't melt in her mouth," sugary types. Gorgeous and wearing a bright yellow gown and and a crown. She's a former Miss Kansas. Name's Amber or some such thing. The guy next to her is named Freddy Spade. He manufactures jungle gyms for a living. Nasty, abrasive person. You'd think someone who made a children's toy would be kind. Not this guy. Alex Trebec was sporting a beard very jaunty whiskers for some reason and was sipping a dry martini... He actually had a pitcher of them and seemed a touch drunk. As he read off the categories: Famous Swashbucklers, Circular Reasoning, Star-Crossed lovers, Maps and Charts, and something called Stag-Nation. "I'd give you a heads up on what that's about," he slurred, but I don't want to ruin the fun. "I'll take Stag-Nation for $1,000, Alex," I heard myself say. "If the shoe fits," he replied. And then Amber said something about it being time for me to go into recovery in a voice that sounded a lot like my husband's." That last part, I think, wasn't a dream. I'm not sure where I am but I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore. And now I see Danny's concerned face. No dear. You're not in Kansas. You're out of jeopardy now... you're in rehab... Don't be afraid, baby. It's going to ok.

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Afraid these worlds reflect my state of mind. Sorry.

Next Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: nausea, everything is on sale, expect great things, frying pan, pledge, birds of a feather, stick, Saturday morning, liver and bacon, caterpillars

For the mini challenge: aggravation, protective, bargain basement, take me out to the ballgame, break a leg

Thanks for playing. For those who are new, here are some guidelines to make the process more fun.

Enjoy! See you next week.

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