WINNER for Creative Writing Challenge October 2018 - STUFF - Padiho

jesi23

Welcome to the Creative Writing Challenge for October

… and the winner, with 16 kudos … @padiho … for the story about finding grandfather’s STUFF in the garden!

November’s topic is PAIN

Congratulations to @acetech with 12 kudos for his humorous poem about musical ‘aspirations’ unrealised!

Thanks also to @american_twin for her suggestion for October’s Challenge:

She has been seeing advertisements in her social feeds for a performance at Birmingham Rep of “Stuff” which is based on testimonies of hoarders, and thought it was appropriate for our situation trying to get rid of 22 years’ worth of clutter.

As @serving_n_a_j and I are still trying to declutter our flat () I thought it was a splendid suggestion.

Remember to keep only entries in this thread, and put any Comments in the Comments thread:

COMMENTS THREAD

Everyone is welcome to submit an entry in this thread. Feel free to interpret the theme however you want!

Please keep your entry under 1500 words if possible.

If you submit an entry written by someone else please give proper credit and acknowledgements.

There are no prizes, but the winner will be chosen as usual on the basis of ‘kudos’ received by the end of the month.

acetech

Tim, what are you doing?

Oh just stuff he said

Tim, what did you have when you came in?

Oh, just stuff he said as he put a box under his bed

When Tim was out his dad snuck a peek

He pulled the box from under the bed

As he slowly opened the lid

Out crawled some caterpillars, in blue, green and red

Tim, why do you have a box of caterpillars under your bed?

That's my stuff keep out he said

He got flustered and annoyed

But then a thought crawled though his head

It's a good job it was only that box he found

And the frogs didn't make a sound

So he thought all was ok it was just the bed

And his dad didn't check the box in the wardrobe instead!

(Edited as I caught the post button when trying to scroll on my phone)

scrips49

Stuff

He sat in the old leather recliner surrounded by it all. Being part of it, as though he was waiting to be cleared out with the rest. Old newspapers, magazines with pages torn out to be read at some later date, when time allowed, littered where the carpet should be. That, like the furniture was completely hidden. There were toy cars without wheels, cycles with no chain or saddle, paintings who’s frames were long since broken and so much more, stacked high, covering windows and doorways he couldn’t use any more.

He’d always meant to clear up but the time just overtook him and he knew he could never do it now. Besides, how could he ever part with all that good stuff? Given a little more time, he could sort it out and recycle most of it. It wasn’t rubbish, he knew. People, with the right knowledge would give their right arm for that exquisite porcelain doll, he was keeping for his granddaughter who now had a daughter herself. He just needed to find its missing eye and left foot. Once refitted she’d love it, just like his mother had. He’d seen one valued on ‘The Antiques Road Show’, back when he could get to the TV. He knew where it was but the years of hoarding had slowly covered it and now he was just too tired to try to reclaim the space. Besides, there was nothing much good to watch anyway, he’d read.

He imagined the expression on his daughters face as she stood in the doorway and looked at the scene. He knew she would be upset, her face always told the whole story. But she couldn’t see the valuables all around. She said it was junk, laughed when he told her that these were priceless heirlooms for her and her children to inherit, once he’d gone. As soon as he got around to repairing the broken leg of the table, the dining suite would be worth a fortune. Although before he could repair it he needed to remove all the rest of the valuables which covered it. All he needed was a little time and a bit of motivation, then she’d see.

He visualised the tears begining to roll down her face and he began to cry too. She refused to come home anymore, said it was a health hazard. That he would fall, break his hip and then it would be over for him. He’d gotten used to stepping between the roll-top desk and the drinks cabinet, long since empty of alcohol. Each piece of furniture had memories attached. As he looked at the cabinet he recalled his wife pouring them a pre-dinner gin and tonic, then they sat down and discussed their day.

He had nobody to discuss his day with now, and no day to discuss anyway. Just his thoughts and memories, the past is precious. Why should he give up the only link to a life he had just so his daughter could have her way? Tomorrow, when he was feeling a little better, after a good nights sleep in his chair. He hadn’t been to bed for over a year, the stairs had suddenly become too steep and he didn’t understand how that could happen. So he would sleep in his recliner again, such a shame it no longer reclined. Tomorrow he’d fix that too.

spiritquest

Stuff is an interesting word! My son used to eat candies in the living room and stuff the empty wrappers under the couch. That same son would work half a day with me raking leaves in the front yard and help by stuffing the leaves into large black garden bags. My older son was very athletic, he played them all, and actually set records for his ability to stuff the basketball in the hoop during the game. My younger son also played sports, favouring football, where he would stuff all his football gear and other stuff into his gym bag, then stuff all that smell sweaty stuff into the washer after a game.

On the weekends we would go to the store to buy food stuff. The kids always had an idea there was a lot of other stuff we needed to buy as well. For example my older son was in a sewing class in high school, hence he needed to buy all the stuff necessary to make a stuffed toy, which he promptly stuffed away in a drawer already very full of other stuff.

The boys dad was an over the road truck driver, and on occasion, he would bring the boys home some interesting stuff. Cotton balls, from a field in Mississippi, salt from the salt flats in Utah, but without fail he would stuff two weeks of laundry into a duffel bag and drop it in front of the washing machine for me to sort thru and wash, dry and repack, so the process of being used and stuffed could be repeated.

Me, well, I am really not a big fan of stuff, as my sentimentality lies more in feelings and memories. That does not however mean I am not a stuffer. All the horrible memories of an abusive child hood, stuffed down deep inside. The memories of a twenty year bad marriage, stuffed in the same place. I used to be a smoker and when I would experience a negative, scary, sad, or angry emotion, I would light up. Later I realized I used a cigarette to help me swallow down whatever feeling I should have been expressing and just keep it stuffed inside. Thankfully I gave up cigarettes, and gave up stuffing negative feelings.

At this time in my life, I work at concentrating on all the good stuff. There will always be stuff we need, stuff we throw, stuff that we cannot remember where we came by it, however, the stuff that really matters in this world is to be true to yourself, kind to your fellow man and to get to know who you are, and why all the stuff that has happenned to you in this life has helped create the masterpiece that you really are. When we can do that, that is truly the stuff dreams are made of!

holier_than_thou

She looked around the room

Sighed, a little huff

Bags loaded in the corner

Full of all his stuff

Wringing her hands

Tears fall down her cheeks

She feels lost, alone

It's only been three weeks

How can she carry on?

Who will help her through?

Friends will try their best

.........they always do

But she has to keep going

She promised to the end

It made his passing easier

Knowing her heart would mend

She looks down at her stomach

Growing bigger by the day

This is all he ever wanted

All he'd ever say

"I love you more than anything

And only you i'll miss

So when you meet our son

Give him, from his dad, a kiss"

Ben

kath72

The ads tell you you all you need is this one thing

What they really mean is you need one thing more

So we’re waiting on the parcel that is coming

And then we will be happy, we’re so sure

All the stuff we have it makes us feel important,

It identifies the person who we are.

In things we own we hope to find fulfilment;

Big house, labelled clothes, the shiny car.

But if all we own is swept away by water

Or life twists possessions out of our control

Or on the day we finally meet our maker

Will he think the stuff truly reflects our soul

I wonder if it’s the stuff that He will cherish

Or the way we’ve treated people in our path

Will people say ‘what she owned had value’

Or ‘my life is better because she walked this earth’ ?

I know what impact I’d like to leave when I’m gone,

Not things, or plastic in the sea.

I’d like people to feel their lives had added value,

In some small way, perhaps, for knowing me.

silemairin

:heart: Darling Jake:heart:

My darling Jake,your wicked right through

Just stand in the ring is all I ask of you

Your ears should be up and your tail should be down

All you want to do is act like a clown

I have tried different ways to make you see sense

I've loved you ,I've scolded you ,you've even slept on my bed

Yet once in that ring you turn my face red

,All this I have done ,I have tried hard enough.

The truth is quite simple .You Don't Give A Stuff..

123kingarthur

A few years back I saw a very nice large freestanding cupboard which was to good to leave in the shop. When it was delivered I realised it was larger than I thought so I asked the delivery men to pop it in the garage and I would sort where it had to go later.

Since that day it has remained in the garage and I have been filling it up for years with stuff, until last week when I decided to tody it up. I opened the door and a lot of this stuff that I had been pushing into it over the years, sort of tumbled out.

I could not remember what half of it was for or indeed where it had come from, but it looked like it belonged on something and so I had still better keep it, after all I was always told that 'You never know when you will need that'

So I spent the next day or so tidying it up and placing all thoses bits and bobs neatly in little boxes a tins nicely labled.

Then last week a very helpful couple of 'mothers little helpers' arrived and said 'Look half of this stuff, you do not know where it came from and the other half is too rusty now to use anyway, so lets take it to the tip for you'

The thought of parting with the crockery or electrical goods seemed sad as I had known them being around the houses I had live in for years. But it made good sence realy expecially when they said you have not needed it up to now have you. So I agreed and off to the tip it went.

But would you belive it only yesterday did I need a Large Cake Tin fot the first time in 7 years to make a Christmas cake and I went into the garage opened the cupboard and then remember the Tip.

Secretly however I decided heck why make a Christmas Cake I am off to stay with Mother's little helpers at Christmas so

problem solved Yeh

padiho

What's all this stuff cluttering up my floor?

Mum asked of me as she opened the door

I've just spent hours cleaning up this room

So all in the bin please, and make it soon

But Mum I cry, it's important gear

All this is treasure that I have here.

Where did it come from ? my Mum did say

I found it hidden in the garden whilst out to play.

Let's look then at this treasured stuff

Mum rolled her eyes and huffed and puffed

One by one I display my wares

Glancing at Mum as she gazes and stares

A black shiny pebble, perfectly round

A rusty old whistle that makes no sound

An old penknife and a scout badge or two

Shiny glass marbles in red, white and blue

A birds egg carefully wrapped, now cold

Not something to take I've always been told

A faded old comic, some cigarette cards too

A little boy in a photograph with a brownish hue

Mum picked up the photo with misty eyes

Gently she stroked it to my surprise

This boy is your Grandad she said with a tear

Sadly he died before you were here

I've found his stuff, do you think he will mind?

I'm sure he won't care, who better to find ?

You were right when you said you'd found lots of treasure

Those items I'm sure bought Grandad much pleasure

woolcos

Lots of stuff happening to commenorate 100 years from the end of WW1 which prompted me ot think of the mothers who had to send their sons to war. We lost 52 boys from our town. Bad enough when its a small place but 7 families lost 2 boys, 1 lost 3 and 1 lost 4 sons. Unimaginable.

Soldier Number 5

The room is empty, an aching quiet. Just his stuff there in the space where he sat only yesterday. Where he tried and failed to contain his excitement and his mother, well his mother fought to remember her patriotic duty and ignore the fear for the last baby this war could take from her. The baby she had raised.

Now she touches the stuff. The ordinary, every day stuff that is suddenly so special. The only link to her little boy. A man, a soldier now but still her little boy. Always her little boy. So the stuff is now extraordinary, a memorial and treasured and something to cling to. The faint smell of his hair oil hangs in the air, his brush by the bed, a few blonde hairs caught between the bristles. Would that be all she had left of him? Just the stuff? So many boys sent to fight never to return and so much stuff left behind.

Four sons sent already - no news is good news. Look after number 5 for his mum. He's her baby and he's made of good stuff.

gillbromley129

Stuff…..I feel paralysed by my stuff.

I say my stuff, it is now but it once belonged to my family that have now passed away.

You see all of this stuff has memories for me and for that reason it feels very disrespectful to discard it.

When I cleared my parent’s house I was faced by a mountainous task, some days I would just sit there crying and unable to clear anything and then go home having achieved nothing but there came a point when I had to move into action and I found it so very hard giving most of their belongings to charity shops.

My parents were of the war baby generation where they had nothing, so seemed to cling on to everything they had because one day it could be worth something, so consequently accumulated lots of things. For example my dad collected stamps and coins and spent a lot of time (and money) on this, I have memories of him sat at the kitchen table with his hobby and it just would seem bad or wrong of me to sell this for my own financial gain so they are stashed away….and sadly I had them valued and they are not worth very much but I still can’t get rid whilst they sit there taking up valuable storage space!

My Mum also never parted with things, she would go to flea markets and second hand shops buying crockery most of which I am ashamed to say I did give away. She did have nice things and lots had memories attached, like the tureen she collected for her bottom drawer on their engagement I can’t part with, or the 1950’s water drinking glass set. So instead these too are stashed with boxes of their stuff that it feels hurtful to part with. Years later they are still there and I promise myself I will sort it but cannot bring myself to.

Mum actually went to a creative writing group (bit ironic!) and on clearing I found a piece of her work that sadly was about her finds in antique stores, how she once found a dusty cut glass vase that now sparkles after cleaning it. She also said that she found it sad that these items were once treasured by their owners but probably came from house clearances and she hoped her treasured items did not end up here. You can imagine the guilt I felt.

Stuff can bring happiness but can also be a burden with the emotional ties, yet I am sure my parents would not have wanted me to feel like this, but still I can’t move on!

lisadominic

Once upon a time

I was neat and alone

I had shine and glamour

I was envied by many and looked up to

Kind words were said and plenty of smiles

That gradually disappeared

I couldn't see I couldn't smell

No one looked and smiled anymore,

I was invisible ,but I am here I am still glamour and gleam .. can't you see, I feel locked in my little world ,

Lift up all this stuff. And wipe off the dust, you see I am still here and to see I must.!!

Yours truly

The ornament x

Hoarding or finding ! You choose

sp94

Brown, fluffy, snored like a log.

Just a few words to describe my dog.

He barks when I talk,

and runs when I walk,

and lolls around like a dork,

and drinks toilet water from the bog.

He eats kibble when he's hungry,

and eats kibble when he's full.

In fact, he eat kibble all around the clock

Which gives him enough energy to run to Bangkok.

My little doggo is a trooper

He fought cancer and came back stronger.

He has a smile greater than that of Gary Cooper.

I just wish he lives for longer!

yvonnearmstrong

@Jessie23

MY STUFF

I've got loads of stuff that I don't want to part with as they hold memories❤

Photos and loads of them under the bed and in the loft and I'm surprised the loft hasn't caved in

I've even got a pink baby suit with a little blanket my nanna made for my daughter who is now 42 in the cupboard and tea towels I got as engagement presents.........more memories❤

Oh and even more stuff in the garage

Cheers

Yvonne

themzbiker

STUFF

once had lots of stuff which I'd kept around the house from motorcycle magazines & books don't really like reading but they we're nice to collect & there was pictures to look at kept me happy any way

had what you call Nik naks not much to some people but ment some thing to me

also had a German beer stein which my uncle had given me which ment hell of a lot to me also a very large blue scooter metal which he had bought me from Spain sadly my uncle passed away a few years ago

then there's photographs which I'd once had but no longer do sadly can't be replaced none of the stuff as we it can be replaced

our stuff is memories to each & every one of us they always say keep your memories

but you know yeah memories is all we have but some times we need to make new memories

so it's time to make new memories for me any way you can buy new stuff & nick naks

even take new photographs which in it self starts new memories

at the end of the day stuff is just that Stuff

well that's my take on STUFF

thanks

dolly247

Stuff…

Memories… Heartache…

I stuff it all inside. Deep down. I bury it deep within. Secrets and the trust of others. My burden.

I know you won't tell…

You won't say, will you…

How do you know…

I can't say…

It's inside of me, my head is full of stuff, other people's stuff. Important stuff.

I won't reveal.

orionsflame

The Guardian of the Universe stared at his screen and sighed. A little pop-up blinked in the corner, the number **bleep**... was displayed almost inside it, but the box wasn't quite big enough. He scrolled through a huge list of entities in the main window, their details all important, but impossible to evaluate due to the sheer scale of the record set. The door creaked quietly open and the cleaner poked his head cautiously around the door, "Sorry" he quietly interjected, "I need to empty the bin." "It's OK," the Guardian replied, stretching back in his chair then kicking it gently away from the desk to allow access, "be my guest." The cleaner stepped gingerly into the room "How's it going?" he asked as he carefully scooped the bin out from under the desk. "It's so frustrating." the Guardian moaned, "It was easy in the beginning, things happened fast, but it was all so much simpler. Now I have all this... stuff." The cleaner paused and cocked his head, "I don't know a lot about computers" he confessed, "but someone showed me a quick way to clear out the trash the other day. Did you know there's a keyboard shortcut to select all?" the Guardian's eyes lit up "No! Is there? Show me!" The cleaner leaned over and pressed ctrl-a "There, see!" then, without thinking, he hit Delete.

aryelle

29/10/2018 :

Stuff is only stuff if you make it so

I learnt the hard way, still learning don't you know.

You find a balance, then let it go - it's your choice to make stuff fester or grow.

Small steps and large transition is underway, the stage is yours your stuff might say.

Anxiety and fear, confidence and bravery my stuff's fulls of it, a condition of my sanity.

The world is ours and ours alone, to take our stuff or leave at home - for one day home shall become our castle; surely all our stuff could never withstand the battle.

Stuff is only stuff if you make it so, I'm still learning don't you know.

I am part of the world and I am in control, stuff can take it or leave it I wish for the world to know.

pinks29

A few ago I had an adventure, we sold up our home and brought an American RV. Had a large house so had plenty of stuff to sort. Started with my rescue cats, found them all good homes. Then the sentimental things were stored in the children's attic, distributed a lot of my favourite bits to friends on long time loan. My pride and joy pictures by Louis Wain were carefully packed in thick boxes and stored again at my sons.

Off we went on the road, first trip was to travel to Scotlands west coast then across to east side, staying on small caravan sites. It was great as have always loved to travel and explore new places. Best memory was the 3 day Hogmanay event in Hawick, great time, we just went back to Motorhome for a sleep when we needed it. Met lovely people on our travels and collected loads more stuff including a yellow refrigerator that was a designed as a teddy bear, it also played 10 tunes, one being Happy Birthday so used to ring up family and friends and play it down the phone, embrassing some of family members. I then started buying pot plants and put them.on the large dashboard(everytime we moved had to pack them in boxes. Coleccted so stuff that we brought an even bigger RV that had a small bath so somewhere to put my growing plant collection. Also had a small washing machine and tumble fitted in large locker outside. The list goes on. A truly wonderful 9years, made lots of new friends and lots of memories, have newsletters we wrote every year so.nice to look back on. Stayed most of the time in Scotland. But things change when we put down roots again life was different.

I live on my own now, but still have travelling life, great friends, lovely place to live and the most lovely caring man I've ever met, I'm very lucky but feel there is another adventure in my life to come.