Through the telescope 3-6-22

 

Story Slingers Prompt

Your character looks through a telescope. What does he/she see?

Daren Flynn

SOMETHING GOES MISSING

Hello! Come with me. You are invited to put your eye to my special telescope.What's so special about your telescope?, you ask.

My telescope is equipped with audio and with a little  tweaking can be focused on a time and place in the not-distance past. I have made the necessary adjustments give you an eye witness view of Wednesday March third 2022. So come close. Now put your eye right up to the special eyepiece and put the earbuds in and looked listen. There how's that? A little fuzzy, you say?  And there seems to be some static? Okay. Just a little fine tuning is all that is needed. There is that better? Good. Now tell me what you see and hear.

"I see a house on Oak Street in Spokane, Washington. Wow, now I can see inside.I see several people. It looks like Shawn, the owner of the houses there. He is asking what the others would like for breakfast. Everyone else, that's Shaylee, Ryanne, Orissa and Daren, pretty much are not coming up with any preferences but when he suggests pancakes, sausage and eggs, they all agree that would be great.

As Shawn begins preparing breakfast the conversation seems to revolve around the Girls 2B State Basketball tournament. Ryanne, Orissa and Daren are in Spokane to watch the Warden girls, who I gather from what they are saying , are ranked number two and will be playing their first game later this morning.

Daren's telephone rings. He puts the phone on speaker and says, "Hello." The caller, who I see is Myrna calling from the basement bedroom, says with a very frustrated and agitated inflection, "I can't find my bra! I've looked everywhere for it. It's not here."

Everyone in the room hears her exclamation and burst out in loud laughter. Myrna responds with, "It's not funny. I can't find it. It should be right here where I put it last night."

Daren hangs up the phone and, after more laughter, goes to the basement to helper find THE missing item of clothing and asks her where she put it last night. She points to her travel bag where her shirt is and says, "Right there! It's not there and it's not in the bag either. I've taken everything out of it. I've looked everywhere."

Daren strips the bedding from the bed searching for the missing bra. It's not there. A thorough search of the room is conducted to no avail. Myrna wonders aloud if she walked in her sleep and hid it somewhere.

Daren gives up and returns upstairs to the living room and tells everyone he did not find it.

Now, Ryanne goes down and looks everywhere including the washer and dryer and in the rolled up mat and bedding she and Orissa had slept in and did not find the elusive bra either.

Myrna decides there is a "Wahootie" in the house who took the only bra she had brought with herald did who knows what with it. Not exactly the best start to her 83rd birthday. She's not happy.

Ryanne says she brought an extra one Mom can use. So Myrna prepares to spend her birthday wearing the borrowed item. Someone upstairs, and I can't tell who, says, "You could call it an athletic supporter since she will spend the day supporting the girls basketball team.

Everyone has breakfast. Shawn takes Shaylee to school. Megan returns from work. Ryanne, Orissa, Myrna and Daren all go to the tournament. 

The telescope, is still aimed at the house on Oak Street but the video and audio fades away.

But don't you go away. There will be more to see and hear when they return from the basketball tournament.

Well, it looks like they are back. Look and listen.

It's still in focus, right? Good. So, what's going on in there?

"They are excited about the games they watched and are telling Shawn and Megan all about them. Warden beat Wahkiakum and will play La Connor, the number one ranked team tomorrow. The basketball discussion goes on for quite awhile then the conversation turns to other subjects. Now a birthday cake is placed on the table with the suitable candles. Everyone is singing Happy Birthday to Myrna. She blows out the candles and everyone is eating cake and having a good time.

There's not much of interest going on right now so I'll take a break from the telescope and look in a little while.

I'm back on the spyglass again. It's evening now. Myrna has retired to the basement bedroom where she is resting and reading. Ryanne and Orissa are also in the basement where their bedroll is located. Megan has gone to bed as she has to get up early in the morning to go to work. Shawn, Shaylee, Liam, Clara and Daren are watching TV.

Daren gets tired of the show on TV, joins Myrna in the basement and is getting ready for bed. He takes off his right boot, sees something white protruding from his pant leg, reaches down and pulls it out.

It's the missing bra!

"How did it get there", he says, "It's impossible".

Myrna texts Ryanne, "The lost is found."

Okay, they are going to sleep so lets shut the telescope down until morning.

I'm back. Looking and listening. The kids have been taken to school and Megan is back from work. Everyone else is upstairs and talking about the mystery of the missing, but now, found bra.

Daren explains what happened the night before the bra went missing thusly.

"Myrna changed into her pajamas and put her clothes, including you know what, on her travel bag at the end of the bed against the wall. I, when I went to bed, took my clothes off, looked in my bag for pajamas but they were not there. I had forgotten to pack them. So got in bed sans pajamas. In the night when nature called, I got up and slipped my pants on to go upstairs and just left them on the rest of the night and in fact did not take them off until the next night. The night of the discovery. I don't know how the bra got into my pants. Myrna doesn't know. No one knows. So Myrna's 83rd birthday is one never to be forgotten. It may be remembered as

... "The day Myrna's bra went to the basketball tournament but not with her."

or

... "The day Daren wore Myrna's bra to the basketball game."

That's all folks. The peep show is over. But the mystery remains unsolved.

Story Slingers

March 6, 2022

Myrna Flynn

TELESCOPE MISGUIDED

Billy Arnold and his dad decided to go camp at their favorite mesa for watching the constellations. Billy had a new telescope that he could tune into channels that could give virtual guides of any subject he wanted.

They got their tent set up, ate their dinner and placed the telescope where they wanted it.

Billy said to his dad, "Everything is ready. Let's turn it on."

Dad replied, "Okay, go for it."

Billy tuned it and took his first look, expecting to see and hear a constellation guided tour. He gasped and shouted, "Dad it is not on the right satellite!! Some how we are on a sports program and it is showing a State Basketball Tournament. It is the championship game between the Warden Lady Cougars and the Colfax Lady Bulldogs."

His dad asked, "Do you want me to see if I can find the right one?"

Billy answered, "No, I want to see it all, it is the last quarter and the Cougars are ahead. This is history in the making! And our girls have never been in the winners bracket and they are going to be the champions. the buzzer has just sounded!! Cougars 70 Bulldogs 55."

What exactly is that?

Carrie Keiser

The night sky was beautiful and perfect for gazing into the heavens. Jamie was an amateur astronomer with a passion for space and galaxies. She dreams of one day discovering something awesome. Every clear night for as long as she can remember, she has tuned in her telescope and gazed up into space. Over the years her telescope has been upgraded along with her skills. Jamie has recently purchased the Celestron Advanced VX 8 Edge HD, which is great for taking amazing photos of celestial wonders.  

As Jamie sets up her new “toy”, she fantasizes about taking a mind-blowing photo that will be published around the world, putting her on the map. A slow smile spreads across her face as she imagines this scene playing out. 

Jamie feels a tug on her pant leg, she looks down to see her young daughter, Meg, standing in her Sonic PJ’s, a questioning look on her face, pulling her out of the dream. “Meg, what are you doing out of bed?”

“Mommy, I want to see the stars? Can I take a picture of them?” Meg asked her.

Jamie boosts Meg up and adjusts the eyepiece for her. Meg, with stars in her eyes, lit up with the anticipation of seeing the unseeable. A small gasp escapes Meg’s lips and she exclaims, “Oh! Mommy, you have to see this!”

Gently Jamie sets Meg down and puts her eye to the eyepiece and tunes it for her. This is it, this is that mind-blowing opportunity! She begins to take photos, moving the telescope ever so slightly to get just the right angle. These photos will be amazing!  What exactly is that beautiful celestial phenomenon? “Wow, Meg, this is an amazing and beautiful thing.”

Jamie has no idea what this is or what to call it. She wonders if anyone else has seen it. Maybe she will be able to be the one to name this? The night sky looks so dark, only she can see all the colors that are really there. Oh how she wishes everyone could see this! They will, she will publish this series of photos and world will behold this stunning sight.