Imagination

Write a new post in response to today’s one-word prompt

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Joelly knelt on her thin mattress, gazing out the smeary window as the rain made tracks through grime. Shivering, she pulled her only blanket around her shoulders and settled down to watch for her mom to come home.

It was very late. Joelly’s eyes kept closing, but each time she felt herself sliding down to the mattress, she shook herself awake and resumed her vigil.

“Joelly, honey, how come you are always so sleepy when it’s time to get up for school? Don’t you sleep well?”

And Joelly would shrug and grab her back pack as she headed out the door. She couldn’t tell Mommy the truth. Mommy had enough to worry about.

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Each night, as she kept her vigil, Joelly would use her imagination to create a life for her mommy. She worked as a hostess in a glamorous restaurant. She was an actress in a famous theater. She helped take care of babies in the pediatric ward so the nurses could have a break. She helped out in a shelter for people who had no place to live. She passed out food to street people. She helped the police look for lost children. She was so beautiful, she worked as a model for a photographer who could work only in the evening. She was so smart, she probably helped kids who needed a tutor.

There was no end to the possibilities. Joelly would finally hear the click of Mommy’s key in the front door, and with a sigh she would lie down under her blanket and allow herself to fall asleep.

She dreamed of all the things she imagined.

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