Monday, May 14, 2012

Trifecta

This week's challenge: Using between 33 and 333 words, write a response including the third definition of the word: 
A Valentine for WLS-FM


“The True Oldies Channel!” 94.7 on her dial. That’s her go-to when she hurts. It doesn’t matter if she’s coping with one trouble or twenty. The Top 40 of days gone by can help cure what ails her.

Today it's cash flow that drives her to the radio. The paycheck she received on the 15th simply won’t stretch all the way to the 30th. She hadn't foreseen an increase in her annual homeowner’s insurance premium hitting at the same time her cat needed his 3-year rabies vaccination. If she had squandered her money on couture or cosmopolitans, it wouldn't feel this bad. But the expenses that vex her are mundane and it really weighs her down.

Still checkbook math is easier to master with while listening to the travails of that sailor sweetheart, Brandy, the one who's a fine girl. It’s comforting to know that singing Jenny-Jenny’s phone number – 867-5309 – still makes her smile.

She has no idea what Tommy Tutone looks like today. She can’t name a single member of Looking Glass. Yet just now they seem like dear friends and she is very grateful to them. When she hears them, she feels happier, more hopeful and even a little more capable.



15 comments:

  1. I love music so much so THIS i relate to, completely. I love the wistfulness of this piece. You continue to do gerat work.

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  2. Anonymous2:03 PM

    Sometimes no matter where we are, finding a good radio station usually makes for good company. Very nice write I enjoyed!

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  3. Loved this - I can definitely relate to that streeeeeetching of the paycheck.

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  4. Oh, how many of us can relate. Music, the international bandaid for the wounds of modern society. Your work is always so rich and beautifully written.

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  5. I enjoyed reading this! It really rings true! Listening to the music of your youth is a good pick me up for one trouble or twenty!

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  6. Anonymous3:40 PM

    It's so true -- it's when the paycheck squeezes when you've been responsible that it's the worst kind of stress. I feel the comfort of familiar music too.

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  7. Anonymous7:33 PM

    Music does help! (Now I have Jenny's number going through my head. Good thing I like that song :))

    I crack up when my six-year-old sings Bad Medicine (Bon Jovi) - it's a song from my youth and I think it's great he likes it, too!

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  8. Turn on the radio, turn up the smile. So much I could say, but will keep... and simply say that I enjoyed this.

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  9. through the tough times . . . music has always helped me. Falling back into the music of my youth helps even more. Hope she (you) wins the $$ from the radio cash cow.

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  10. Anonymous11:56 PM

    I grew up not far from St. Louis, and we could pick up WLS-AM. Great station back then.

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  11. Anonymous1:54 PM

    I love the beauty in this, because 'she' could easily be 'me'. I rock out to get things out of my soul.

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  12. I love the wistful tone too, and how music heals. It sure does.

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  13. Anonymous6:00 PM

    I believe we created music to help us through life.

    Great job!

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  14. You've hit me right in the nostalgia. Brandy has her own place there.
    Thanks for playing. Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the new prompt.

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  15. Anonymous8:52 PM

    Music is such a physician and your post illustrates this beautifully. I always find myself doing what your character did in this piece. Music to soothe the soul.

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