Prompt: Write a story or a scene involving an animal that symbolizes something else. It can represent a concept, an experience, an emotion, a historical moment, or anything else you can think of.
Story:
"Look at that sloth momma." I tugged her dress. The yellow one she wore on church when my classmate Andy tripped on the mud puddle on the way out of church. It was a fun day.
"This is an all sloth zoo baby." Momma said to me something about sloths, something about why they're always so slow. I forgot what it was, but I know it was funny.
"Oh. What does that mean momma?" I tried asking, maybe she might jog my memory.
"It means you're tired baby." No, that's not it momma.
"But you said so yourself momma, we're in a zoo. Plus I'm not tired at all." I contested. We started walking to other places that had different sizes of sloths.
"Oh baby." She gave me that look. That look that she always gave me many years ago, back when I was 6. It's the same look she gave papa on her wedding photos. Then she hugged me and I woke up crying.
"Hey, hey sweetie. What's the matter?" My 38 year old Papa barges in. He always does that whenever I'm in trouble.
"It's the same dream again papa. The sloths, the zoo, momma and her dress." Papa took some tissues from my stash and wiped my tears.
"Oh sweetie. I miss her too." He sat on my bed beside me, hugged me then tucked me in. It was 4 in the morning and I couldn't sleep anymore.
I remember now what momma told me when we visited the sloths that day. The reason why they were so slow is because they're really lazy like me when momma says I have to wipe the dishes dry. I hated that.
Though, I never really associated sloths with laziness at all.
I associated sloths with death more than laziness. That was my first impression on sloths, I thought sloths were dead because they don't move much at all. I cried the first time I saw a sloth because I thought it was dead, only to know later on that they just don't move much.
Just like momma, that day at the hospital. She looked like a sloth, lifeless and dull. I wish my curiosity hadn't gotten the better of me. Seeing your momma "go" like that at such a young age is just too much for a kid.
YOU ARE READING
Prompted Shorties
General FictionThese are stories that I make with a pre-made prompt for me. I try to limit it to 500 words or less but most of the time I get carried away. I hope you enjoy and I'll try to keep adding new ones whenever I get the chance to revisit the site.
