Hunched over the bar rail, leaning into the bowl of free peanuts, having made his way from the bright morning, across a treacherous savannah of broken shells, pull-tabs and a number of suspicious sticky spots, Artie noted he was out of money and therefore, on his final drink.
Thank God he was technically still a student, though he had turned in all final papers, placed the capstone on his senior project, blocked in the correct surprised mouth of each multiple choice question; the diploma drop date, with Summa Cum Laude was exactly seven days away.
He was sick to death of living the high life, so ready to turn over a new leaf.
Roger Whitaker’s “The Last Farewell” moaned through the crackly speakers of the small town local bar, a final tribute to years of battling his way to achieving his parents’ dreams.
He snorted, sure (and he may have been correct) that a better theme song would be Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.”
No job, no plans for graduate school, no money, and thus, not as drunk as he’d like to be at this moment, Artie smiled and chewed on the skinny red straw as he slid off his bar stool, and walked out into the still-early morning of a new day.
© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2021)
The challenge? Write a story in 6 sentences, no more & no less, and if you’d like, share your creation or just visit and comment on others’ ideas, with GirlieOnTheEdge, Denise. The prompt is “JOURNEY”, and here’s where you join the party: Six Sentence Stories
Rules of the hop:
Write 6 Sentences. No more. No less.
Use the current week’s prompt word.
Return here, link your post Wednesday night through Saturday late…
Spread the word and put in a good one to your fellow writers!
Valley of the Trolls 
Yes, well-crafted coming of age story.
Time to face the world on equal terms, hmm…
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Now that the last coin’s been spent…
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Go Artie. If I’d have been there I might have bought him a drink, and if it was a jukebox – ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ would be a good choice for next song, my round again (not that I’m flush for cash myself 🙂 ).
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It’s the thought that counts the most!🍸
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🍸 Cheers to that!
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Running out of money is one means to stop drinking.
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And to get on with it, already! 😉
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BRAVO, I could feel this one.
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🥰🥰🥰
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💖
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Now that Artie has realized his parents’ dream, it appears he’s ready to go out and make his own (whatever they turn out to be) dreams come true!
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Fingers crossed that Artie lets his freak flag fly and catch whatever wind blows his way–plenty of time in the years ahead to come to rest.
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Let’s hope it’s time for him to chase his own dreams.
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Amen!
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Engaging Six. Funny thing about stories and writing and such… what the characters actually do, even the circumstances in which we encounter them isn’t as critical as them being accessible… or to get semi-technical, if we the Readers can identify with them on some level.
Nicely done.
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Were you able to identify? Can’t quite tell from your comment…
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Sounds like his heart hasn’t been in it for years, as he has followed his parent’s dreams for him.
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You may be right. Almost universal story of adolescence…
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One of my favorite places to stop each week. Wonderful six.
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Glad you enjoyed, UP!
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Interesting. So, pizza delivery is prominent in his future?
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If he can shake down a couple housemates for cash?
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Sure. Side perk.
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Which way will Artie turn? You leave me wanting more!
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🤔😉 I imagine there will be more than one direction as he moves forward…
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