"How in the world to you plan to master the technique when you won't put in the time to practice!" his mother's voice droned on. It was the same lines he heard from her every day, so familiar that he had learned to mostly tune it out and only hear the key words that told him when to nod, when to shake his head, and when to look down in "shame."
When he knew by the timbre of her voice that she was finishing up, he began to nod vigorously, as if in agreement with every word.
He knew that her desire for him to achieve what she wanted was born of love, and he also knew he had to be the person he was made to be, which did not match her dreams.
Heaving a sigh as she left the room, he turned back to what he'd been doing before she came in. He would practice, of course, but only he knew that the one thing he had mastered so far was simply appeasing her until he could be out on his own.
Linking up with Uncharted Blog and Six Sentence Stories, where the cue is Master.
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Gosia, of Looking for Identity, has taken over Good Fences, and it's now Good Fences Around The World. Post a picture of a fence or gate, link back to her blog, and go visit others to see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.
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| Behind Ms. C's house is the special gate for the private subdivision. |
Today is:
Africa Day / African Liberation Day -- African Union; related observance
Heroes' Day -- Lesotho
President Yajya Jammeh's Birthday -- Gambia
Ascension Day -- Christian; related observances
Procession of the Holy Blood -- Belgium (religious historical procession recalling the adventurous crusaders, especially Count Thierry of Alsace, who was supposed to have carried back relics of the Holy Blood)
Brown Bag-It Thursday -- it's cheaper and healthier, and you might like it enough to start a new habit
Do Dah Day -- Rhodes and Caldwell Parks, Birmingham, Alabama (fun while fundraising for local animal charities)
First Patriotic Government / National Day -- Argentina (Dia de la Revolucion de Mayo)
Flitting Day -- parts of England; Scotland (traditional day on which leases were up for the year and people moved)
Geek Pride Day / Nerd Pride Day -- celebrate the geek / nerd in you! Geek culture is the obvious choice to laud when it's Glorious 25 May, Star Wars Day, and Towel Day at the same time; began in Spain as "Día del Orgullo Friki"
Glorious 25 May -- in Terry Pratchett's Discworld
Grand Prix de Monaco -- Monaco (premier Formula 1 race through the streets of Monte Carlo, run since 1929; through Sunday)
Hay Festival of Literature -- Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales (largest annual festival of literature in a beautiful market town in the Black Mountains of the Welsh marches; through 4 June)
Independence Day -- Jordan(1946)
Kodiak Crab Festival -- Kodiak, AK, US (there's more than bears up here, you know! through Monday)
Last Bell -- Russia (tradition of closing schools for the year by having a formal ceremony with the children, and a first grader rings the school bell for dismissal)
Liberation Day -- Lebanon
Memory Days -- Grayson, KY, US ("Time, Love & Memories; Past, Present, & Future!" is this year's theme, with a parade, art show, music, Firefighter's Dinner and more; through Monday)
Morel Mushroom Festival -- Muscoda, WI, US (the "Morel Mushroom Capital of Wisconsin" celebrates the end of the peak morel season in style, with everything including an antique tractor pull, Fireman's Steak Feed, and even a parade; through tomorrow)
Mudbug Madness -- Shreveport, LA (festival of crawfish and Cajun heritage, arts, entertainment, and more; through Sunday)
National Brown-Bag-It Day
National Missing Children's Day -- US (promoting awareness of the problem of missing children)
National Tap Dance Day -- US, birth anniversary of Mr. Bojangles
National Wine Day
Offering to Demeter -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)
Poetry Day -- Florida, US (since 1947, the state legislature declared this for all public schools in the state; if you don't live in Florida, enjoy a poem today, anyway)
Procession of the Statue of Artemis -- Ancient Greek and Roman Calendars, at Ephesus (date approximate, but always near the Thargelia)
Self-Reliance Day -- an internet originated holiday, based on the idea that we should all become more self reliant in this day when it is a dying art.
Star Wars Day -- Part IV, A New Hope was released this date in 1977
St. Bede the Venerable's Day (Patron of lectors; Father of English History)
St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi's Day (Patron of the ill; against illness and sexual temptation)
Towel Day -- Douglas Adams fans, unite! Always know where your towel is!
Week of Solidarity with the People Of Non-Self-Governing Territories begins -- United Nations
World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival -- Oxford, MS, US (competition and festival of ragtime, honky-tonk and old-time music; through Monday)
Anniversary Today:
Lord Guildford Dudley marries Lady Jane Grey, 1553
Birthdays Today:
Brian Urlacher, 1978
Ethan Suplee, 1976
Lauryn Hill, 1975
Justin Henry, 1971
Jamie Kennedy, 1970
Anne Heche, 1969
Stacy London, 1969
Mike Myers, 1963
Connie Sellecca, 1955
Jessi Colter, 1947
Karen Valentine, 1947
Frank Oz, 1944
Leslie Uggams, 1943
Ian McKellen, 1939
Raymond Carver, 1938
Tom T. Hall, 1936
K.C. Jones, 1932
Beverly Sills, 1929
Robert Ludlum, 1927
Miles Davis, 1926
Jeanne Crain, 1925
Claude Akins, 1918
James Joseph "Gene" Tunney, 1898
Igor Sikorsky, 1889
Philip Murray, 1886
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, 1878
John Alexander Dowie, 1847
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803
Debuting/Premiering Today:
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi(Film), 1983
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope(Film), 1977
"The Subject Was Roses"(Play), 1964
"H.M.S. Pinafore"(Comic Opera), 1878
Today in History:
First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, BC240
Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain back from the Moors, 1085
Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ, 1420
The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw, 1521
Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth of England, 1659
Jews are expelled from Warsaw by Marshall Mniszek, 1784
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates convene a Constitutional Convention to write a new Constitution for the United States, 1787
In the May Revolution, citizens of Buenos Aires expel the Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the Semana de Mayo, 1810
The Patriots of Lower Canada (Quebec) rebel against the British for freedom, 1837
The first telegraphed news dispatch is published in Baltimore Patriot, 1844
Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London, 1878
The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Ching-sung as the president, 1895
John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in Tennessee, 1925
Henry Ford stops production of the Model T to begin the Model A, 1927
Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks five world records and ties a sixth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1935
The first ascent of Kangchenjunga (8,586 m.), the third highest mountain in the world, by a British expedition, 1955
In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Organisation of African Unity is established, 1963
Star Wars (retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981) is released in theaters, inspiring the Jediism religion and Geek Pride Day holiday, 1977
Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people, 1985
Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion, 2000
32-year-old Erik Weihenmayer, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 2001
Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, 2011
The first commercial spacecraft, SpaceX Dragon, docks with the International Space Station when it completes docking at 12:02pm EDT, 2012
Beautifully written.
ReplyDeleteNice fence thanks for joining
ReplyDeleteWell written. Long suffering for the young man. That is a pretty fence and gate.
ReplyDeleteLovely fence, lovely story, lovely lady
ReplyDeleteTrue , our children will be what they are meant to be, no matter how hard we try to impose our wishes on them . Very nice depiction of the contrast between their dreams, Mimi.
ReplyDeleteI love your stories. You write so very well.
ReplyDeleteLove the gate. We have lots of private subdivisions here. Lots of people with lots of money.
Have a fabulous day. ☺
generational disagreement can be intriguing
ReplyDeleteWell done, I see you are off to a great start on another story.
ReplyDeletenice tie-back* on the theme! no doubt a not-uncommon occurrence in families with children.
ReplyDelete*probably not a 'real' term for the indeed of taking a theme (or theme word) and letting it mean one thing, but tying it back to the original intent.
Nicely written. Even just a few sentences can have an arc.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a sad reality for so many young people who are being "directed" into the career their parents want them to pursue. I am a firm believer that we each have our own dream in life, and our own path, and that should be encouraged, while instilling the practical realities of managing your own expenses. I also think that 18 is often too young to know what you want to be "when you grow up"! Great story, I could feel his earnest attempt to placate his mother while not giving up his own desires.
ReplyDeletenice fence!
ReplyDeleteCredit to you for telling so much in just six sentences. I guess we all bring our own experiences to add to the flavour of your tale, so there seems to be so much more to it than what you write.
ReplyDelete