Abby flopped onto her side in bed and pushed out a frustrated sigh. Between the nerves about tomorrow’s presentation and Arnold and Miriam’s clomping footsteps in the condo unit above, her hope for a good night’s sleep faded.
“Why wood floors?” The silent response stirred her melancholy. Another experience she didn’t share with Mark.
Something scraped across her ceiling from right to left. More clunks, followed by muffled voices and another object sliding. She wondered what they were doing up there. She wished the units had thicker walls and more insulation.
The dawning came.
“No! It’s Wednesday night,” she groaned. Abby scrambled under her covers and pressed both pillows over her head. She knew she didn’t have much time.
What started as a light rumble grew into a thunder of wheels that vibrated across her ceiling. When the roar ended, she threw her covers back. The pull chain on her ceiling fan clanked against the glass light fixtures. She knew they had just moved their sectional sofa out of the living room. They would need the extra space.
More footsteps thumped and then she heard laughter. Their friends arrived. Abby knew what was next. Three, two, one… she counted off in her head.
Latin music blared. Right on time.
Ever since Arnold’s retirement last year, the first Wednesday of the month meant one thing: salsa dancing night.
She couldn’t complain about the noise, though. Abby remembered how the couple had brought a tray of cookies down and asked, “Do you mind if we have some friends over for salsa on the first Wednesday night of each month?”
It would be too embarrassing to admit she thought they meant chips and salsa.
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In honor of Cinco De Mayo (whis is a big deal in AZ), I decided to write one more Trifecta entry. Last night, I read the other Trifecta stories. Lots of really good ones! Since many stories also incoporated rain and storms into them, I wanted to challenge myself to write a story without the help of a rainstorm.
For this week’s challenge, we again dug through your suggestions for inspiration. (If you haven’t linked up yet with Meet Your Fellow Trifectans, please do.) We’re going with Tamyka‘s suggestion:
thun·der noun \ˈthən-dər\ – bang, rumble <the thunder of big guns>
JannaTWrites 
if you can’t beat em, join em! 😉 GREAT work!
Thanks, Braintomahawk. I appreciate you stopping by to read my story!
HA! Bueno uno Janna T!
(Uno bueno)… 🙂
It’s been too long since high school Spanish!! 🙂
Thanks, Jonesing. Glad you liked it 🙂
Oh, no! As someone who is not necessarily quick on her feet in responding in those situations, i can totally sympathize. Well done.
Yep, Abby should make her Wednesdays ‘earplug Wednesdays’. Thanks for reading leaving a comment, Annabelle!
Ole!!! 😀
Ole, is right, Nancy. I think I’ll have some chips and guacamole this weekend 🙂
Just thought you might like this:
Your reference to salsa and the picture at the end made me think of it.
And as a bilingual Spanish Speaker, “Que tengas un buen Cinco de Mayo!” (Have a good Cinco de Mayo!)
Y sigue escribiendo! Me gusta leer lo que escribes 🙂
And keep on writing! I like to read what you write.
Thanks for the video, Scriptor. I never would have thought to put mint in salsa. (Don’t care much for cilantro, so I’d probably sub something else there.) Overall, it looked yummy 🙂
I’m glad you translated your Spanish because my college Spanish skills weren’t great. So many years later, it’s sketchy at best. I appreciate you stopping by to read my story and leaving such a nice comment.
Oh, this is great! Everyone dance! (It’s a big deal in TX, too..but there’s also the Dragon Boat Festival on Sat….)
Once again – well done!
Never heard of the Dragon Boat Festival. A quick Google search revealed that we apparently had one in AZ earlier this year. Hope yours turns out to be a good time.
Thanks for reading, Phil. Glad you liked it! (I enjoyed it, but that doesn’t mean anyone else would :))
Don’t you just hate it when you catch on too late for it to do any good? Great story.
That’s pretty much the story of my life, Paula. I’m either confused or walk around with one foot in my mouth 🙂 Thanks for reading my story!
I’ve been invited to one of those parties, and I, like Abby, misinterpreted. And I hadn’t eaten before I went. You’ve done a great job of this prompt, and it stands out as very different from some of the other’s I’ve read. And… it makes me want to dance. And eat nachos.
Ha, I had no idea how close to truth this story could be, Tamyka!
Thanks for the compliment on my story. I’d hoped the idea would be unique.
P.S. I read that this prompt was your idea – thanks for the challenge (it was a difficult one for me.)
Oh my heck! That would be one loud overhead party!
Yep. Abby’s not getting much sleep – those seniors do like to salsa til all hours (okay, they wrap it up around 11). Thanks for reading, K~
The irritations definitely spills across.
Salsa parties are fun…as long as you’re not the neighbor in the unit below one 🙂 Thanks for reading, Ruby!
Loved this! Also, really identify with your reply to a comment: “I’m either confused or walk around with one foot in my mouth.” Yep, sounds about right for me too… 🙂
Thanks, Amanda. I’m glad I’m not the only one confused/with foot in mouth – imagine the damage the havoc we could create should we ever meet 🙂
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Happy Cinco de Mayo, Janna — nice twist on this Trifecta!
You too, Debbie! Thanks for reading my salsa Trifecta 🙂
Once again, so well-written! Funny, and I can relate! Ergh! The least they could do is invite you up for the salsa dancing!
Thanks, Janet! She probably wouldn’t go anyway – tired and cranky (and anxious about her presentation at work.)
haha very cute 🙂
Thanks, Evelyn! I appreciate you taking time to read it 🙂
🙂
… and the moral of the story is NEVER assume anything! … nicely written.
I thought the moral was “seniors don’t sit around in their rocking chairs anymore” or “always choose an upstairs condo unit.”
Your moral is much better, Widdershins 🙂 Thanks for stopping by to give it a read and share your thoughts.
Great piece. I could really hear that furniture gouging the floor above as they dragged it.
Nicely done.
Thanks so much for reading and letting me know that you enjoyed it. I appreciate the comment, Diane 🙂