Weekly Wordzzle Challenge # 223

Oops.  Started this in the afternoon and then got a phone call and then got involved in something else and completely forgot about finishing it up.  Sigh.  I should never write these this late because it takes me forever and I keep digressing to other things. Sign. It's 10:30 and I just finished the mini. I kind of like that one. It's a love story. The mega is kind of stupid, if I do say so myself. Now I still have the 10-word and less than no enthusiasm. But I must persevere. 11:00 pm. Finally finished. Not my best, but it's done. 


Words for this week's 10-word challenge were:  horrors, family, ginger, relevant, center, cheaters never prosper, flag, twine, mayonnaise, he's got my vote,  And for the mini: books, pressed, off the wall, anchor, lavender


My mega: 

Identical twin sisters Lavender and Ginger Twine, were passionate about politics, but the similarity ended there. Ginger was an arch conservative, while Lavender was an equally fervid progressive. To make the situation even more bizarre, each of them anchored an opinion spot on rival news stations and the networks, smelling ratings gold, made sure that the sisters aired at different hours so that viewers could tune in and delight in two identical faces uttering totally opposing views on the horrors of one candidate or another. Ginger was prone to recite complex collections of talking points and often closed her segment by saying, "He's got my vote," while waving a small American flag. Lavender, on the other hand was inclined to more cerebral conversations with authors of relevant books on various political and social topics. This approach was partly just the natural bent of liberals as a collective but was probably also a response to being the only liberal in a family of rather stodgy conservatives. The Twines were Republican royalty of sorts and considered Lavender with her compassion for the poor and for animals - she was a vegan of all things! - to be rather off the wall.  She had spent her teen and college years pressed to defend her every decision - from volunteering at a Health Care and Abortion Center that catered to the poor to eating vegan mayonnaise - from derision or ethical challenge. "Cheaters never prosper," a family mantra and they aimed it at her as though compassion for the poor was a crime rather than a display of goodness. It was a matter of significant satisfaction to her, therefore, that while her sister won the family battles, her programs won both the ratings wars and awards for excellence in journalism. That said, sweet as that revenge was, she would have traded her public acclaim for a little respect from the family that seemed incapable of loving her.


My  mini: 

Megan loved the Off the Wall book store. She loved the smells and the people and the odd old volumes she found there which sometimes held delightful surprises. Once she had pulled a book about anchors off one of the crowded shelves only to find an old love note ans a sprig of lavender pressed between two of the pages. And she had met George there. How could 45 years have flown by so quickly? They had visited old hole in the wall store often and the owner had become one of their best friends. She had rather dreaded returning to their old haunt, but in his will George had told her he had left something for her there. When she had arrived, she was surprised to feel a sense of comfort as though George was watching over her. When Jack - the owner - handed her a sealed envelope, she had opened it with trembling hands. It read, "Beloved wife, how I have loved you. I know when I am first gone, you will need a purpose, so I have left you 11 (your favorite number) surprises here at our favorite book store. Not even Jack knows where they are, but I know you will find them and when you are done, you will know for sure that I will never really leave you or you me. I love you always. George."  Laughing, she showed the note to Jack before tucking it next to her heart. "Even from the grave, that man knows how to make me happy. I'm sure he will have made it a challenge. I think I'll start in the poetry section, Jack. I really feel his presence. Don't you?" And she was off on her quest. It took her almost a year to find all of his notes and pressed flowers, but she found them and with each one, she found her husband again in a new way. When her own time to leave this life came a few years after that, she embraced death with the faith and knowledge that George would be waiting for her. Their children, who were present when she died, all swore that they could feel their father's presence and the power of their parents' love.  And many years later, their youngest granddaughter wrote a book about it which she called, Pressed Flowers and Love Notes Off the Wall.


My 10-word:

Jane Relevant was exhausted but happy. The President had been re-elected and she felt like her country had escaped the great peril that his opponent embodied.  It had been a difficult campaign, though, full of such ugliness, vitriol and an assortment of horrors. The worst had been a strange package tied with twine and hidden in the rest room at campaign headquarter and even though it wasn't a bomb, it had turned out to be a dripping pig's heart and a note written in blood that said "cheaters never prosper." The police had had evacuated the whole shopping center, which for some reason many people blamed on them rather than on the perpetrator of the threat. Then there were the flag-waving (and sometimes gun toting) crazy people who shouted racial slurs or called them socialists and told them to stop ruining America and get a job. That said, there were precious memories too. Many of those she called were so excited about the election and the President and before she said two words would pronounce happily, "He's got my vote." The best thing, though, the thing she would never forget was the evening when the first family stopped by with pizza, cold cuts, bread and big jar of mayonnaise and making sandwiches for the five of them... even sending someone out to get some fresh ginger, which the first lady promised (correctly) would help settle Jane's upset tummy. And the President himself had hugged her and thanked her for her help and he and his wife had takne pictures with each of the volunteer. It had been awesome and had renewed their spirits and made them work even harder. He had won and she had helped him do it. She would sleep well tonight.


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Words for next week's 10-word challenge:  school, letter to the editor, service, turkey, furnace, weeds, trading, rambling, crass, forgery

And for the mini: general, affair, color, laughter, pepper

Thanks you for playing.  Newcomers can check here for some guidelines to make the game more fun. There are no rules, just some general guidelines and tricks.