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Keep On Keepin' On, by Doug Bartlett

15/10/2021

 
RRRiiinnnnnngggggggg !!!!!!!!! RRRRRRiiiinnnnnnggggggggg !!!!!!! Bill groggily woke up and turned off his alarm.

“Ah,” he thought, “ Today was Friday, his favorite day of the week. The day his story which he had so intensely labored over would be posted on FFF. “

He didn’t have time to see it now as he had a doctor’s appointment. He turned on the radio as he got dressed. The newscast stated his governor was not recalled as Bill had hoped for.

“Oh well, “ He thought, “ at least I can look forward to my story coming out. “

He was given bad news at the doctor’s office.

“ Your tests came back positive and while this probably isn’t a death sentence, your life will dramatically change.”
This news knocked him down but not out.

“ At least I can look forward to my story coming out, “ he thought.

He left the doctor’s office to get in his brand new car only to discover someone had backed into it, caving in the frontend and crunching the left front fender.

Bill started to sink into a depression and then remembered his story, his precious story.

He thought, “ At least I can look forward to my story coming out. “

Also, several of his friends had gotten accustomed to seeing his stories posted on Fridays and would be anxiously waiting.

He hurried home and was so anxious to get there he almost didn’t hear the siren or see the flashing red light.

“ What’s the problem, officer? “

“ You were doing 55 mph in a 35 mph zone. “

In Bill’s mind the officer couldn’t write the ticket fast enough.

“ At least I have my story to look forward to,” he thought, “ but if one more thing happens to me I don’t know what I might do.”

He screeches into his driveway and shoves the transmission into “ park “. He quickly exits the car and makes a beeline to the front door. He puts his key in the front door lock but it doesn’t work. He tries the other keys in his pocket and gets the same result. He then notices a small note attached to the door . It was left by his wife and stated he was no longer welcomed here.

His entire life was crashing down and shattering into what felt like a million pieces. He was contemplating on how to end it all.

He then remembered his story was coming out and by now he would have several comments to the story. He loved reading the comments as much as writing the story.

He went back to his car and pulled up FFF on his phone. He searched frantically for his story and was shocked that it was nowhere in sight. It then dawned on Bill that for the very first time his story wasn’t going to be there for it had been rejected.


Don’t feel too sorry for Bill. You see, he persevered and in a few months would win the Christmas contest that FFF puts on every year.
​
Jim B. link
15/10/2021 04:00:04 pm

Oh no, Mr. Bill! The troubles just keep pilling on!!
At least he "persevered" and got a nice little Christmas present from FFF. ;-)
Fun read
Jim

Doug
15/10/2021 05:06:43 pm

Thank you Jim for the comment. Yes, it pays to get up one more than you get knocked down.

Jim link
15/10/2021 05:11:41 pm

piling on, not pilling, Though with all of his troubles, maybe he was pilling it on as well ;-)

Doug
15/10/2021 05:25:05 pm

Thanks for your comment Jim.

Mike B
15/10/2021 06:37:25 pm

Enjoyed the read Doug!! I’m having a wonderful Friday compared to Bill. Writing seems to be good therapy for him however.
Glad his persistence paid off in the end…

Doug
15/10/2021 06:42:07 pm

Thanks Mike. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Chuck J Anderson
15/10/2021 10:26:29 pm

This reminds me of that old saying, "I wept because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet." The best is yet to come.

Doug
16/10/2021 04:03:11 am

Thanks for your comments Chuck.

Pamela Kennedy
15/10/2021 11:36:23 pm

Some days are like that - everything goes wrong and then a while later a special gift comes along. I enjoyed the happy ending.

Doug
16/10/2021 04:05:07 am

Thank you for your comment Pamela. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Dee Lorraine
16/10/2021 03:20:25 am

This is such a good story, Doug. Good for Bill -- his perserverence paid off.

Doug
16/10/2021 04:06:49 am

Thank you so much Dee. I'm glad you liked it.

Sue Clayton
19/10/2021 01:24:08 am

All of the above and much more praise for a wonderfully entertaining story.

Doug
19/10/2021 06:05:50 am

Thank you so much Sue for your very kind comment.


Comments are closed.

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