TUESDAY TALES - PICTURE PROMPT - MORE OF MIDNIGHT IN CENTRAL PARK - AN URBAN FANTASY

Welcome! Thanks for coming. This is picture prompt week. We're only allowed 300 words. So it's a short and sweet episode of Midnight in Central Park. Scroll down to return to Tuesday Tales. Thanks for stopping by.

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When I show up after school, Mrs. Gold has a plate of cookies and a glass of milk waiting for me. Kids are supposed to hate milk. Not me. I love it. Milk makes me feel strong. We never had it at home. But the lunchroom ladies would slip me an extra carton at breakfast, 'cause not that many kids showed up then.

I haven’t been to the park for three nights now. I’m getting soft. I like the bed. None of my friends want to hit the road with me. If I run, I travel alone. So I’m thinking about waiting ‘til spring. Too damn cold in the winter to be sleeping outside, anyway.

I’m doing my math homework when I smell something good. Picking up my empty glass, I use a refill as my excuse to see what’s going on in the kitchen.

“It’s beef stew. Like it?” Mrs. G. is stirring something in a pot.

“Never had it. Sure smells good.”

“Mr. G’s favorite.”

“He likes it better than pot roast?”

She nodded. “Want a taste?” She scoops some up in a spoon and blows on it. Ma used to do that to hot cereal when I was a kid. Suddenly I feel like I’ve swallowed a rock.

“No thanks. I’ll wait.” I gotta go.

In my room, staring out the window at the high rises around me, memories flood my mind. I don’t want ‘em. I don’t want to remember when Ma was okay, and we lived close to normal. At the knock on the door, I turn.

“Come in.”

Mrs. G. enters, carrying my glass.

“You forgot this.” She puts the milk on my desk. “See you at dinner.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

She closes the door just in time. Hey guys don’t cry, right? Right.

Tuesday Tales
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