Francis Daisy

“Speaker phone” by Francis Daisy

"Let me get you off speaker phone. She just got home. Hold on a sec." I set the grocery bags down and slide off my shoes. I don't know why I take my shoes off. Force of habit? Optimism? Ever present hope to lead by example? If everyone sees the mat by the front door, sees the heap of off-cast shoes, wouldn't they assume that shoes need to be removed upon entering our home? Maybe they just don't want cat hair stuck to their socks. Maybe if the floors were cleaner, people would take their damn shoes off? Maybe the floors would be cleaner if e...

1 like 1 comment 1

Read story

“On the Road Again” by Francis Daisy

*unfinished story, but I've been away from writing so long, I thought I would try this out again... On the Road Again Lost The shiny pimply faced teen looked back at her, “Never heard of it.” “You dumbass! It’s in Massachusetts, everyone knows this. Did ya go to school ever?” another voice came from one of the aisles. “Dad says you ain’t s’posed to call me names in front of customers.” “Seein’ as she ain’t buyin’ she just askin’ then she’s not a customer, fuckturd.” “Listen, I’ve been driving for over six hours already, the last...

1 like 1 comment 1

Read story

“Accidental Antique” by Francis Daisy

He sat in his brown leather recliner sipping on a cold beer. She perched on the saggy sofa beside him counting stitches, ripping stitches, and cursing the day she picked up the crochet needle. Her friend had made it look so easy. Loop it here, stick it here, wrap it around there, do it again. Do what again? Where again? She either ended up with a straight line or a tangled mess.  He glanced over at his bride of forty seven years and smirked, “Having fun with your new hobby hon?” “Clearly I am. I don’t know why you even have to ask. ...

2 likes 3 comments 3

Read story

“Grand Cat” by Francis Daisy

"So what's the catch?" "Ask me about the day I got my cat." “How did you get that cat?” “We found him.” “You found him?” “Yeah, his mom dropped him on the road when she was crossing the street. She must have been moving her litter from one spot to another. You know, how cats do this? And my mom was there and she saw the whole thing.” “What happened? “A car almost hit the mama cat when she was crossing the street and so she dropped the kitten and took off running! She never came back! My mom loves orange cats. She had been watch...

1 like 0 comments 0

Read story

“Just the Basics” by Francis Daisy

"At least 28 dead in Buffalo's worst blizzard in 50 years" the headline screamed out in black and white font. An image of a local restaurant coated with ice and icicles accompanied the article. It looked like an ice castle and would have been pretty if not for the somber message it was bringing.Roads are impassable, people are without power, and the temperatures are sub-arctic. The winds are howling and the snow won't stop piling up. The rescuers are unable to rescue. I can't imagine how helpless this has to make them feel.Holiday feasts gro...

8 likes 8 comments 8

Read story

“Numbers and other such nonsense” by Francis Daisy

*Warning: mention of suicide/self-image Numbers and other such nonsense I am sitting on an orange pile rug in my typical W shaped style. Long blond pony tails brushing against the shoulders of my green and pink tank. It’s a warm spring afternoon, late in the school year. First grade is ending. It had taken me until the end of Kindergarten to learn to tie my shoes. Now the task at hand is to count every one of the pennies surrounding me. Once again my dad asks me, “How many pennies do you think are here?” His blue eyes twinkle as he si...

7 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“Best Laid Plan” by Francis Daisy

***This may not make any sense at all as I haven't written in MONTHS, so please be kind. Please give feedback, comments, suggestions, edits. Any and all comments are welcome! Thank you!He sat staring at the blinking cursor wishing he could shove the laptop out of sight and away from him. Why did he check his email if he didn’t want to read the emails? He knew if he even saw the subject line appear he would have to tell her. This wasn’t something that happened just to him. He thought back to the day he first met her. She was at the bar, ...

4 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“Rebin duks” by Francis Daisy

Mrs. Booker hummed tunelessly under her breath as she watered the lifeless plant on her desk. “Indirect sunlight my ass,” she muttered. She turned the ivy slightly more towards the window and wondered if the tower of books had something to do with blocking more sunlight than the plant truly needed. She set the water bottle down on her oak desk, or rather on a stack of papers on the top of her oak desk and stared. “Why do I even have this desk? It just gathers so much crap?”  Her eyes took in the abandoned mechanical pencils that no...

11 likes 3 comments 3

Read story

“You ain't much fun” by Francis Daisy

We should sit down and talk about getting divorced.  This was the shape of the words on her phone. The text message had plinked, signaling that a new note had arrived from her husband. The white and blue screen brightly screamed: We should sit down and talk about getting divorced.  Kat had just walked upstairs and set her phone on the bedside table. Right before this, Kat was downstairs. She was seated on the couch. The couch that was almost as old and worn out and comfortable as she thought her world was. Kat and Rich ta...

7 likes 5 comments 5

Read story

“Eat the Chocolate” by Francis Daisy

Top 10 reasons to never grow up:10. Number One reason to not grow up: Candy.When you are a kid you can eat all the candy you want and never have to worry about a thing. You don’t worry about the cavities, dentist visits, brushing, flossing, or even the calories consumed. You think about the chocolate that melts in your mouth. You think about the gummy sugar bears that stick to your teeth. You think about the colorful lifesavers and who can make theirs last the longest in her mouth before it disappears. And then there are the m & m’s.&nbs...

13 likes 16 comments 16

Read story

“Delores rages against the world” by Francis Daisy

****WARNING: HATE and RANTING and MILITARY mention! CAUTION!The house that once smelled like sunshine, giggles, daisies, and happiness is no longer here. The scent of cardboard from jigsaw puzzles, plastic from Barbie doll shoes and American Girl doll hangers, and kool aide is missing. All of the scattered tiny clothes, mismatched socks, and slipper jammies are gone. What you find instead, of a home, is a hospital.You are greeted with the scent of bleach and rubbing alcohol that never quite ever covers up the smell of urine and poop. You sme...

12 likes 13 comments 13

Read story

“The girls chose Hawaii” by Francis Daisy

Submitted to Contest #135

*Warning: mention of cancer in storyMy daughter and I sat on the hard bench. She was in her sophomore year of high school, yet she still held my hand as we sat there together. We were both lost in our own thoughts. Watching. Staring. Fascinated by the two girls in front of us who were moving so gracefully. They wore simple black dresses that seemed to make their dance appear ever more elegant as they moved to the music. I couldn’t tell you the tune. It was melancholy and peaceful and sweet. Just like the girls who were dancing. One of the gi...

31 likes 43 comments 43

Read story

“Imagine That” by Francis Daisy

“We can make special accommodations to your home to help,” the vet told me as I held my dog’s limp paw in my hand. Her big caramel brown eyes stared up at me. Was it my imagination or were they wetter than usual? Or were those my tears I was looking through? “Obviously, she won’t be able to use her back legs anymore, so we will set something up for her to use. Do you live in a one story house?”  I stared in disbelief. How could this have happened to my sweet puppy? Well, she is no longer a puppy, at eight years old, she is certainly n...

14 likes 6 comments 6

Read story

“My First Valentine” by Francis Daisy

Submitted to Contest #133

You know when you can no longer fit your clothes - as opposed to when your clothes no longer fit you, but that is a different story for a different day - but when your clothes no longer fit into your bottom left hand dresser drawer, you know that there is a problem. What in the devil is in that drawer anyway? It’s your dresser. You’ve owned this dresser for the last, do we want to think about age here? Okay, upper level math skills being tasked here - years married, plus the apartment, minus the year in storage during the teeny tiny apartmen...

45 likes 42 comments 42

Read story

“Just Married” by Francis Daisy

“You have got to be kidding me. You don’t even like her. You complain about her all the time. You tell me she doesn’t listen to you. Just the other day you said, what is that you said? You were mid-sentence when she got up and walked out of the room?” “I know, I know,” he sighed. He truly hated her. It seemed what was once his favorite spot on the sofa, the one closest to the end table so he could set his beer on it, was now her favorite spot on the sofa. It was probably so she could reach the remote more easily. He tried moving the r...

14 likes 11 comments 11

Read story