Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Flooftel (floofinition) – A hotel or motel that allows pets to stay or caters to pets. ‘Flooftel’ is often misused for ‘flooftella‘, but other than sharing the same roots, the two words are not related.
In use: “Although a luxury hotel, the Overleaf is also a flooftel, allowing pets to stay with their owners.”
Oh, I remember the first time. Dad had taken us children out. It was just the four of us. Mom was working. When we reached home, we discovered that Dad didn’t have the key, and the door was locked. This was pre-cell phone days, back when phones were big, clumsy things a headset as large as a small child’s head, and a rotary dial.
Dad reconnoitered to find a way in and then started talking about going to one of the neighbors’ houses to call Mom. We hadn’t lived there long, and didn’t know the neighbors.
I had a more pressing issue; I had to pee. Dad pointed to a bush and said, “Just go behind a bush.”
I was shocked. Pee outside? What are we animals. But when a boy hasta go, a boy hasta go.
Yep, I remember the first time.
“There’s a Dairy Queen. Want to go there for dessert?”
“Okay.” She sounded pleased.
He’d been joking but he made the right turn, found parking, and they went inside. It’d been a long time since they’d been in a DQ, and the menu was different from those days, requiring a study of offering, ingredients, and calories. Finally choices were made. “Do most people take a long time like I did?” he asked the young cashier.
She smiled. “Yes, most do.”
His wife said, “We used to go to the Dairy Queen when we were dating. Not this one, but I mean, another Dairy Queen. It was the only place around.”
“That was literally almost fifty years ago,” he said. He and his wife laughed.
The cashier smiled. “Your orders will be up in a moment.”
While sitting on the commode, doing their business, has anyone heard their body making noises like the predator from the original Predator movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger is hunting them?
Asking for a friend. Should he be worried?
Floofvenir (floofinition) – 1. A momento or keepsake to remember a pet. 2. An article, such as a sock, pillow, stuffed animal, or shirt, that a pet keeps and sleeps with for comfort.
In use: “In a private drawer, he kept floofvenirs of the four dogs and three cats he’d owned — used collars with a locket with their name and a favorite picture. It was private, meant only for him.”
Floofears (floofinition) – A unique hearing capability among pets that allow them to hear cans and refrigerator doors opening, rattling kibble, and package rustling, often from amazingly far distances and frequently through walls and doors.
In use: “Opening a can of food for one cat pestering him, a scratching at the door pulled his attention. Staring in through the window beside the front door, the cat meowed at him. Shaking his head, he went to the door to open it and let the cat in to be fed, even as he marveled at their floofears.”
I’d come in, fired up the ‘putin’ machine (no, not the one that make everything that comes out look or sound like Putin), had my coffee, and settled in to write. Problem was that I didn’t know what to write.
In the course of revising April Showers 1921, I added another layer. It’s worked well. I was ready to end that layer. I didn’t know how. I’d been thinking about it but nothing came to me.
And then, hands on keyboard, the muse arrived and conducted, as a muse will. A scene flashed on my mind’s edge. Words arrived. I typed. The scene took off, becoming multiple scenes and dialogue, becoming a chapter. Walking away from it much satisfied with the results, I continued thinking about it as I conducted my post-writing walking review, and the next pieces came to me. Arriving yesterday and setting up, I took up with that, and had more terrific results. Then, today — yep, again, for a hat trick.
It was an intense and productive three days. I feel like I’m just coming back up for air.
I know it’s not a muse, but deep recesses in my mind shooting neurons at mental walls until something sticks and some sort of Jackson Pollack-like story ideas gel. It’s easier, simpler, and more elegant to just attribute it to the muse, though.
Besides, you never know. If it is a muse, sure as hell don’t want pull a Joey Tribbiani* and upset them.
Done writing like crazy for at least one more day. Cheers
* If you need the explanation…
Joey Tribbiani was a Friends character played by actor Matt LeBlanc. (Friends was a U.S. television sitcom on NBC last century.) Joey was an actor who achieved success on a daytime television soap opera. During an interview, Joey claimed that he wrote most of his own lines. The writer wasn’t happy and promptly killed the character.
The end.
Floofsuasive (floofinition) – Sound, expressions, and behavior that pets employ to gain attention and move others to give them things such as food, treats, and attention.
In use: “One cat employs a sad, drawn out meow that really conveys his deep levels of suffering and deprivation, a combination that’s always floofsuasive.”
