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She picked at her cuticle, her nail scraping at the skin that had grown terribly hard and calloused, and now extended like a unicorn’s horn, on her middle, tallest finger. “That’s prophetic,” she thought wryly, giving the side-eye to her boyfriend.
He was explaining why his mother should to move into the basement of her townhome: Limited income, loneliness, chronic health problems.
Funny, that’s what he’d argued when he moved in with her. Was any of this worth it?
She considered biting off the hangnail, but reconsidered. She’d need the protection of a unicorn’s horn in the coming days.
© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2022)
Carrot Ranch Prompt (02/07/2022): In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that includes anxiety. Who has anxiety or what is the source? Is there conflict? How can you use anxiety to further a story? Go where the prompt leads!
Valley of the Trolls 
Ominous.
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Well, you managed to sneak a unicorn into this… she’s gearing up for anxiety, but maybe should plan an eviction or two?
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Perhaps a defenestration! These things MUST be carefully orchestrated…🦄👻
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Yes! There’s a window of opportunity here for defenestration, definitely.
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(Yeets boyfriend out the window)
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Ominous, and told so well with through the consideration of a hangnail, Liz. Thanks for submitting to the Anxiety Collection!
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She will indeed….
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