“Mom, Bobbi and I split up. I’m coming home to get my head together,” Toni’s voice crackled over the phone. “She kicked me out. Good thing I never signed the lease.”
Joy rubbed her forehead. She’d be more open to her daughter’s return if it weren’t the third time in as many years. “Your room is now my office. Your bed’s gone, hon’.”
“Where else am I supposed to go? Please, Mom!”
“Doesn’t your dad have a spare room?”
“He’d make me pay rent. You never do!”
“I am now, Toni. I can’t keep both you and my job.”
© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2021)
Carrot Ranch Prompt (06/10/21): In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about a new way to office. Has the office changed? Can we return to normal after big changes or time away? Go where the prompt leads
Valley of the Trolls 
Very well written! I feel for both characters.
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Thanks, Nicole!
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It’s hard when we get to these difficult transitions with loved ones who finally face the consequences. Well written, Liz.
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Thank you, Charli!
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What a new office, well deserved I’m sure! Mum needs boundaries to keep herself sane and to help her daughter learn to respect boundaries in others. Way to go Mum! Great take on the prompt.
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You nailed it. Rebecca!
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I’m not sure if it is a generational thing. When I left home I didn’t expect or want anything from my folks.
Tough love… That little birdie needs to respect the abandoned nest(s).
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Hoping Mom holds firm.
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“Tough love!” But sometimes it’s the right choice!
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Exactly!
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Nope, time for this one to grow up. Mom needs and deserves a space of her own.
Thinking a lot of homes shrunk with remote officeing. School was a nightmare for families with working parents and multiple students in the family.
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I can’t even begin to fathom how families did home-schooling & work.
And yeah, maybe time for Mom to grow up a little, as well…
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“I can’t keep both you and my job.” Ouch!
Now which parent is going to charge more for rent?
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Maybe the little birdie finally builds a nest of her own?…
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