Happy Friday. I hope you had a nice week and your weekend is just as good. I am writing this on Thursday. I had an incredibly unproductive day yesterday. I can’t stay mad. My stoicism philosophy wouldn’t allow me to. Below are two pieces of writing I have done this week. The first is the homework for my writers’ group that I set myself. The prompt was “My first story”:

"Alright, lads, back to your seats," Mr Hughes says to his rowdy class of 10-year-old boys. They had just returned from lunch and knew they wouldn't have class for the rest of the day. It was drama day.

Their drama teacher, Liam, arrived with blank paper and pens. He handed them to the twenty young men and began the brainstorming session.

"Right, lads. Last week I said we would write our story, and that's what we will do. I want ye all to think of some characters and maybe a setting, okay?"

The class settled down and got to work. Ten minutes later, Liam spoke up again and decided to go around individually.

"When can we go play football?" Shane asked without raising his hand. Mr Hughes was quick to dismiss him.

"Mr. O'Toole, enough of that. We are not playing football today."

Liam continued to hear each student's stories for inspiration. He would then go home and write something based on what they wrote.

"Who's next?" Liam asked, looking at the next boy.

The next boy, Fin, spoke up.

"What about if it's about a family who moves to a town where everyone is, like, perfect?"

Liam's curiosity peaked.

"Oh, right. That's a pretty good idea. What you think, lads?"

To Fin's surprise, everyone agreed.

"What would this town be called then?" Liam continued, writing down the idea.

"Dibble", Fin replied immediately, having written it down already.

"I like it. What's your name?"

"Fin", Fin replied.

"You might be on to something, Fin" Liam winked.

That is a pretty factual story. That school project is probably one of the reasons you are reading this right now. I still have the script somewhere. I’m in the process of decluttering all of my stuff. It’s incredibly stressful. I will be sure to hold onto this script when I find it. The second prompt comes from an exercise from the meeting. The prompt was: What sense do you get the most from? I chose sight and wrote this:

It’s 9 am. I’m on my morning walk. Same time. Same road. The phone is hooked to my space-age headphones, and I am taking in the sights. The sights I have seen a thousand times. It never gets old. The same crappy road with the same rusty gates into the same grassy fields. The same houses. The ones my family have named affectionately. The ship house. The O’Connell’s. The house where the gangsters live. All these places are what I see most days on my morning walk. All these sights are what I am grateful for. I could walk further. I could walk past Mary’s house. I could walk past the farmhouse. I could walk to the local village. But I won’t. Not today. Maybe tomorrow.

That’s all from me today. I am meeting a buddy of mine for coffee later. I won’t tell you his name because I haven’t decided on his blog name yet. You will most likely hear about it on Monday.

Thank you for reading. I hope all is well in your life. If not, things will get better. Thank you for your time.