Hi peoples!
Time for another blog chain entry from over at AbsoluteWrite. And in honor of March’s holiday, St. Patrick’s Day, our prompt was “What the Leprechaun said.”
Lots of people joining in and the list will be at the end of this post so take some time, visit and comment on all those lovely people’s blogs! And without further ado, my entry. Enjoy 🙂
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“The leprechaun had said what we needed would be down this way.” Michael called to Lisa, who stood at the entrance to the alley.
“I don’t like this, Mike.”
“It’ll be fine. There’s thousands of people celebrating here.” He took her hand, pulling her between the buildings. “It’s not like we have anything for them to take.”
She tried to brush those thoughts away. They’d come to the city parade to relax and escape the recent stress between them.
“Lisa, c’mon, it’ll be fun. He said it was just on the other side of this block.” He pulled her with him a few steps before she shook his hand loose.
“Look up there.” When he did, he saw the laundry lines strewn from building to building, pants and shirts swaying in the breeze.
“Yeah, great. I thought those were illegal in the city.” He kept moving, not quite as fast as he had been as the light grew dimmer, blocked out by the huge buildings of the city sections.
Lisa was looking at what else was hanging from those lines, though. Some were filled with laundry, yes, but if you looked hard enough, you could see decorations for the holiday. Bright green clovers and store bought cutouts hung from clothespins, even green garland was strung across in places, glittering where the sunlight hit. She smiled before looking to see where Michael had gone.
“Mike, wait up!” She ran to catch up as he made it to the next lot and looked between the buildings.
“Not this one. Must be the next.” Lisa followed as he led the way, leaving him to his half-jog as she picked her way carefully through the dumpsters and over puddles. She stopped again as the back of another building made her laugh.
“Oh my god, Mike. Look at what they’ve drawn back here!”
He stopped and trudged back with a sigh, giving her that look she hated, the one that meant he was tolerating her and not liking any bit of it. “What is it, Lisa.”
She brushed the feeling away and smiled, pointing at the massive rainbow painted with bright, intense colors that arched across the stone.
“Isn’t it great? Hidden for anyone walking down here to find.”
“You called me back to look at rainbow graffiti?” Michael shook his head and took her hand, pulling her down the alley.
She would’ve liked to have more time with the picture but Mike had wanted to go to that party all week and whether she liked it or not, she’d agreed to go.
As he looked between the next buildings, she turned, wondering if there was anything else. Her eyes lit up as she saw the small green area set up on the other side of the dismal alley.
“Mike! Look, it’s beautiful!” She covered her mouth with her hands, pleased with finding such surprises in such a strange place. A small tree grew there, while not huge, it was perfectly shaped, its branches sheltering the grass that had been planted underneath it. It wasn’t large enough to be called a park, but big enough for a few people to remember that the world wasn’t all covered in concrete and steel. She reached over and tried to catch Mike’s hand, managing his fingertips before he pulled away, batting at her.
“Lisa, stop. We have to get going if we’re going to make it on time.”
“Michael, I want to see. It’s just a party; we don’t even know anyone there.”
He kept walking, ignoring Lisa’s words until she called once more, frustration clear in her voice.
“Michael! Where are you going?”
“I’m going where we planned on going. Follow or not. I’m not gonna hang around in an alley looking at some stupid plant.”
The words hurt and for a fleeting moment she considered following him, letting him turn her day into a rush to get somewhere she wouldn’t enjoy anyway, like he had so many times before. But, she looked back at the small tree and felt a sudden pain of guilt at letting him ruin the lovely surprise she’d found. She walked over and put one hand against the wood, looking up into the branches above. She made a decision then, watching Michael disappear around the corner and smiled up at the lone tree, in such a happy place, hidden away by the cityscape.
“I guess I’ll just have to explore on my own, huh?”
She turned back towards the painting and the decorations and started to walk away when her foot hit something hard and she fell to her knees in the grass.
There, in front of her was large black bowl overflowing with the shiniest glowing gold coins she’d ever seen.
“They can’t be real…” Her gaze darted around the alley, trying to find who’d put it there when she heard the bright laughter and voice come from somewhere around her.
“I told you you’d find what you needed, if only you kept your eyes open!”
Lisa smiled in understanding. The gold would take care of all her money troubles; allow her to get her own place, more so, her own life. Another wave of guilt swept across her and she smiled and did something she hadn’t done in a very long time. She did what would make her and her alone, happy.
She swept up two great handfuls of gold pieces and put them into her purse, leaving the bowl half-full and then patted the tree. “Save the rest for someone else. This is all I need.”
The leprechaun she’d taken for just a man in costume appeared and swept his hat off as she stood.
“Aye, a heart of gold you have, lass. You’ll find my luck wherever you wish for that act of kindness.”
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Other entries this month:
orion_mk3 - http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to post)
robeiae - http://thepondsofhappenstance.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
writingismypassion - http://charityfaye.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
Sudo_One - http://sudoone.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
randi.lee - http://emotionalnovel.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
pyrosama - http://matrix-hole.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
katci13 - http://www.krystalsquared.net/ (link to post)
MsLaylaCakes - http://taraquan.com/ (link to post)
Angyl78 - http://jelyzabeth.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
Bloo - http://www.emergencyroomproductions.net/ (link to post)
dolores haze - http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
ConnieBDowell - http://bookechoes.com/ (link to post) [not 3/15]
Lady Cat - http://carolsrandomness.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
Araenvo - http://www.simonpclark.com/ (link to post)
MichaelP - http://portablemagicblog.com/ (link to post)
Ralph Pines - http://ralfast.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
mdgreene50 - http://www.gettotheinside.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
scatterjoy! - http://www.sleepinginanunmadebed.com/ (link to post)
SRHowen - http://srhowen1.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
Twilight Asylum 