YAY, PLUMBING PROBLEMS AT CHRISTMAS...
NOT IDEAL.
Sometimes, I give myself a prompt and let my fingers fly. This was the case for my romantic comedy short story, Holiday Disaster. When I was a single girl, I’d dropped a contact and watched it flow down the drain. At least, I had the presence of mind to turn off the water and pray the darn thing had lodged in the trap. I waited for the maintenance man to go on duty, phoned, and he came right over. He unhooked the trap, poured the contents in a bowl, and out flowed my contact.
I’d been asked to write a holiday story for the Season of Magic boxed set. I began with “disaster,” reached back in my head, sifting through the billions of disasters I’d been through. Out popped the scenario I described above, only I twisted it into a holiday one.
Once I had put that scenario on the pages, another disaster came to mind, the one when my roomie and I had a dinner party. The disposal backed up with potato peelings. Who knew? A call later, Mr. Maintenance Man came to the rescue.
And then there was the time when Handsome and I hosted a wedding reception. The next morning, I went to the basement to wash linens only to find the sewer had back up. So not pretty. That went in the story too. It’s about plumbing—right?
But I had to have more. Mr. Maintenance Man wasn’t who my librarian heroine (did I say I should have been a librarian?) thought he was. And he was pretty flirtatious and arrogant.
Christmas + Bad Plumbing =
HOLIDAY DISASTER
by Vicki Batman
So what is new? Why Season of Magic, a holiday boxed set, is now FREE at Amazon and all the other great e-retailers. Here’s a bit about our stories:
Noel Noel Noel by Merry Holly ~ Dumped and lonely, is it possible to find love at the local mall? Noelle thinks not, but a chance encounter with Chase Clayborne while Christmas shopping has her rethinking her rigid set of rules.
A Cinderella Christmas by Cara Marsi ~ Jessica Gallo no longer believed in fairy tales or happy endings. And she certainly didn’t believe she’d find her Prince Charming at Saks Fifth Avenue. Her Fairy Godmother thought differently.
Matchmaker Matchmaker by Bobbi Lerman ~ With Chanukah around the corner, is there enough magic left for a matchmaker to bring Molly's cynical heart back to life?
Yuletide Bride by Gerri Brousseau ~ The Dowager Duchess’s decree that her grandson must marry before Twelfth Night or relinquish his title and fortune sends him into a tail spin. Without any prospects and with only two weeks until Christmas will Stuart Nelson find himself destitute or will he find The Yuletide Bride?
Holiday Disaster by Vicki Batman: The week before Christmas and all is in disarray when a librarian experiences horrible plumbing issues and a Mr. Maintenance Man who isn’t nearly as jolly as Santa Claus.
VICKI IS OFFERING A $10.00 STARBUCKS card to one commenter. Be sure to enter the Rafflecopter. Enter through Sunday, Nov 19th.
HAVE YOU HAD SOMETHING DISASTROUS HAPPEN ON A SPECIAL OCCASION?
Good morning, all! Internet issues--'nuff said. Now, I'm here and am happy to be with everyone. I hope you can get a chance to read my fun story and if you do, let me know what you think! Happy day!
ReplyDeleteThings have happened at times... once the cat ate the turkey before we cut it for Thanksgiving... another time we were travelling down to see my grandparents and we were rear-ended, had to return home, etc... but nothing that stands out as a true disaster...
ReplyDeleteHi, Colleen! My cat licked my birthday cake. lolol Truthfully, disasters are just every day life, aren't they?
DeleteGlad to have you visit Vicki !
ReplyDeletesmooches, Angi!
DeleteVicki so glad that you came to GLIAS I have been wanting to vent this for some time my daughters father and I were going to Thanksgiving at his mothers home. She lived close to us so she often premade dishes and put them in our refrig and then we would bring them over. One time while carrying the lasagna my daughters father dropped it on the sidewalk and it was the main dish. She was not so nice so I made him go in and tell her and then I cleaned it up. What a mess all over me him and the sidewalk. From that point on I told her to buy another refrigerator as ours was full. ptclayton2@aol.com
ReplyDeleteOh the joy of disasters! I have this set but haven't read it yet. But it sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteHi, P T Clayton! Oh dear, that is disastrous. But you got a new fridge and lots of help. Hugs!
ReplyDeleteHi, Melissa! I urge you to read mine soon and get that holiday spirit!!!
I was in charge of a lunch and fashion show for our Officers' Wives Club. I needed to get my two young daughters out of school to model. My aunt had had heart issues and had been in the hospital for a week or so. The morning of the luncheon, The hospital called and said my aunt was being discharged that morning and I needed to be there to pick her up. My husband had to work that morning. I got to the hospital and the doctor was with my aunt. I asked him if she could stay in another day or until that afternoon. He was really nasty to me and told me what an inconsiderate niece I was. We waited and waited for the paperwork to clear so I could take her to our home. At about 10, the nurse finally came in and said my aunt could leave. I told the nurse to get her to the door and I raced to my car. I was just heading to the front drive when the fire trucks came roaring in and blocked the front door of the hospital. There was an alarm and the hospital was locked down. I sat in my car and cried. I called my husband and begged him to get off and pick up the girls and told him I would meet him at the house, drop off my aunt . and pick up the girls. It was 10:30 when the fire department gave the all clear and let me into the drive. I got my aunt and sped home. 10:00 was when I was supposed to be at the club helping people dress and lining up the fashion show and getting the script finalized. I pulled into our driveway, dumped the poor woman out to my husband, threw the girls in the car and made it to the club about 11. Everyone was in a panic because I wasn't there and no one knew what to do. Thankfully, I had dropped off all the clothes, etc the day prior. I changed the show midway through. Normally we stopped halfway through, had dessert, and then had the second half of the show. I decided to run the show straight through. The other officers weren't too happy with me. However, I got many thank you's from members saying they always missed the end of the show because they had to be home for the children coming home from school. By the time we packed up, I dropped the girls back at school, and returned the clothing etc and headed home. I felt totally wiped out. We had another mini-disaster about 2 weeks later involving a fuel tank leak, clouds of gas fumes, cat appointment at the vet, 5 AM evacuation in cold rain, having to walk so the gas cloud wouldn't explode when a car started, and my poor aunt was still with us trying to recover. A 5 am walk in cold rain wasn't what a she needed. Thankfully we were able to flag down a security police car a few blocks after leaving the house and they took her to the shelter leaving me with 2 girls in PJ's a dog on a leash and a cat trying to scratch my stomach out.
ReplyDeleteOMG, what a day! Those hectic ones send blood pressure skyrocketing all because of stuff out of our control. Sounds like your disaster worked out and I hope you had a glass of wine after. Thank you so much for sharing with me.
Deletecan't think of any
ReplyDeleteHi, bn100! Like I said, those little treasure trove of memories can add realism to a story. Or perhaps, you lead a charmed life and that would be loverly.
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