Challenge
May 2024 Drabble Challenge: "Sprung"
Using exactly 100 words, tell me a prose story. This month's interpretation is wide open, but somehow stick to the topic / idea of "Sprung." Spring, sprung, hung, bouncy, end-of-wintery, whatever. Horror? Sure, ok. Porn? Hell, let's see what you got. Mechanical mania, machines awakened by the passing of an infectious comet? Overdrive it, baby, to the maximum. The only rules here are standard English grammar and punctuation and a word count of exactly 100 words. I'll pick a winner sometime after June 1 and before July gets here, probably.
Turning 30
Sprung forward by obligation but always a step behind. Bills pile up, laughter dies down, and the party quietly fizzles out. You wanted to go home hours ago anyway.
You have to call your mother more. Clean your kitchen. Fix the broken stair. Your mother wants to know why you’re not married yet.
Bloodshot eyes roll back as you toss back a drink. This used to come more naturally to you. Now it makes you grimace.
You realize you never really liked those friends anyway. So you stop going out for drinks. Maybe you’ll teach yourself how to crochet instead.