Prompt; Down Memory Lane

It’s Friday and I have that Friday feeling! I just got the email from Reedsy with this week’s prompts. Wow, I can’t believe it. The prompts this week are brilliant, not even that. I already have a great story which I’ve never used, and it is just perfect for this week’s prompts. What are the chances of that?

  Now, where have I got that great story saved? I wrote it a while ago, maybe a couple of months ago. It’s a sure winner this week. It will probably get a couple of hundred likes, or a couple of thousand even. And the prize money, $250 dollars. Wow, I’m not sure what I will spend the money on yet. I better buy my wife something nice. I’m getting the old broken television treatment at the moment; Picture, but no sound. I don’t know why. Is it something I did? Or is it something I didn’t do? I haven’t figured it out yet. It’s probably something I forgot. My memory hasn’t been the best lately, or ever really.

  I’m looking forward to all the comments on my great story, of course. They will tell me how great a writer I am. “Have you any more great stories?” they’ll all be asking. I’ll say I have, of course. I’ll say I have great ideas for stories all the time. The fact that I rarely remember to write the ideas down isn’t important. I won’t tell them that bit. The stories and ideas are all in my head, somewhere. Unfortunately, my head tends to be all over the place sometimes, or all the time, really.

    This won’t be my first time having a winning story. I had a winning story before. Well, the story would have won if I had remembered to submit it on time. What a story that was, too. I had the story ready to submit. I had checked it a zillion times. Then I checked it again. It was perfect. I decided to wait a couple more days, in case I thought of any way I could improve it. The countdown timer on Reedsy showed plenty of time, so there was no panic for me. I checked it again after a couple of days and decided it was still perfect. I was ready to press the submit button on Reedsy when my phone rang. It was my wife. She was waiting for me at the train station. I had forgotten to collect her. There was panic for me then. By the time I had collected her and got back home, the competition was closed. Or really, by the time my wife was back talking to me, having been waiting impatiently in the rain, I had missed the submit window. 

  Reedsy’s loss, I figured, or it was your loss, really. What a great story it was. You would have loved it. I lost out on the $250 dollars prize money. I might get a chance to submit that story another time, if a suitable prompt arrives from Reedsy. I have it saved somewhere. I’m sure I saved it. I wouldn’t mind, but my wife would have been able to get a taxi home that day for about $10 dollars. I wouldn’t have missed the submit window then, so it was her fault I missed out on winning that week. I told her I was going to give her the $250 dollars prize money if I had won, or when I had won. Ieven told her that I would have won if she got a taxi that day instead of phoning me. That story would have been the winner that week, I’m sure of it. I won’t tell you what she said, or where she said I could stick the prize money when I eventually get it, if I ever get it. 

  I’m wondering now if I actually saved my amazing story on my old phone. I know I still have that old phone somewhere. I kept it because I had notes and photos which I wanted to save. They were supposed to be saved to my laptop. I never got round to it, or forgot, I suppose. Now, where did I put that old phone? It’s ironic that this week’s prompts are down memory lane and about remembering, and I can’t remember where my story is saved.

  The good news is, I found my old phone. The bad news is, I can’t remember where I put the charger for the phone. Did I even remember to keep the charger? I’m regretting not following my son’s advice when he told me to open an iCloud account to save my great stories and fantastic ideas. I had every intention of doing it; iForgot.

  Maybe it’s an age thing. Am I getting old? I never was much good at remembering things even when I was young, if I’m honest. My memory is getting worse as I get older. I can’t remember who it was, but someone once told me that three things happen as you get older. The first thing is your memory goes. The second thing is…. actually, I can’t remember the other two things, but I now know what they meant now.

    I found it. Can you believe it? My memory is not so bad after all. Maybe I’m not old yet. I found my amazing story; My amazing story was right here, under my nose, the whole time. Reedsy, probably best if you send that $250 prize money to my wife. It’s her birthday tomorrow. Would be a nice surprise for her. It’s the least she deserves for putting up with me. Or was her birthday yesterday? Her birthday was yesterday! That explains why I’m getting a picture, but no sound. 

  I better run and get my wife a birthday present, and flowers. I better get her flowers, too. Oh, and a birthday card, of course. Hang on a minute, I better do this before I forget. Or before I again…….

*SUBMIT*