WP: Morning Habits

VIGNETTE

Looking down at my fingertips, I notice them black, smudged by the paper. It’s part of my habit. Coffee brewed at 6:30 am every morning for the past twenty years. An English muffin topped with sweet marmalade and three slices of jalapeño. And a single fried egg with bacon. Always with bacon. Some people call it a rut. I call it a habit. And habits can be good. It would behoove more people today to have some good habits. It takes self-discipline. But I guess habits can be bad too. If taken to an extreme. But not a breakfast habit. Most important meal of the day. I still believe that.

So I grab my morning paper off the porch and take a seat at the kitchen table—the table I built with my own hands in 1986. It’s not the prettiest thing, but it gets the job done. With a steady flick of the wrist my paper crinkles open, and I review the news from around the world. Then I remember to say my blessings. Sometimes I forget, but not today. I need prayer. The world needs prayer.

I like to start with the funny pages even though they’ve gotten less funny as the years have gone by. Except Dilbert, boy do I enjoy Dilbert. Been reading that clown and his cronies since it came out in 1989. I was an accountant for 47 years and had some colleagues that, well, let’s just leave it well enough alone. I try not to focus on the reality of people’s stupidity. We all have our share.

News in general seems to have gotten more depressing. But I read on. It’s a healthy habit—staying aware of our world. The grease from my bacon’ed fingertips smudge the paper, leaving them a dull black. But it’s well worth it.

With only crumbs left on my plate, I get up and wash the dish. My fingertips cleaned by the habit of kitchen cleanliness. I wander about my living room with my second cup of coffee before sitting on the sofa. Not quite sure what to do with myself, I grab my word search book. Keeps my brain sharp. After finding five words about cars, my mind wanders to dominoes. Not a game I can play by myself. On a normal Friday, I’d be playing with Smitty, James and Barb. But things are a little different these days. Everything is closed up. On lockdown. Here I am, not so much lonely as alone. So I sit circling words in a book, passing time and wondering when life will get back to normal.

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This writing prompt was a single word prompt, “Smudged.”

It is from the book A Year of Creative Writing Prompts available on Amazon by clicking here. It has single word prompts, genre prompts, midday and evening prompts. All encouraging one to write, just write! Which is the habit I’m creating…

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