I usually write these little cold opens as a way to get my fingers going, but today I had to dive right into the prompts and come back after. It was just too close to the surface for me to ignore it. And it made me laugh. I hope it will do the same for you. I need a laugh this Friday. It’s been a rough week at our house. Health, choices, school starts, schedule juggling, and more have all contributed to it being emotionally exhausting. And it turns out emotional is harder on the body than physical. And to add insult to injury the recent rain (which we are profoundly grateful for, please Lord send more!) has brought forth flies. And these flies like to dive-bomb my face. It is super annoying to have a ton of kids saying, “Mom, mom, mom,” while a pair of flies circle your head. It’s madness-inducing in fact. Anyway—

Today’s prompts are… interesting. It’s not that I don’t love them or anything, I just well, you’ll see. I take the prompts, as should you, and do a little free-flying fiction on a micro level. No edits, no stops and starts. Just a little bit of creative improv. Enjoy!

Today’s prompts are “rider of elevators,” and “wedding.” Here we go.

Molly knew what she was getting when she got engaged to Paul. He was a hard working IT specialist who could wax needing about almost anything. 

Paul lived with his mother, an older woman of very modest means, in a house he had purchased and outfitted with a suite just for her. He had introduced her to his doberman, Snuffles, as the current love of his life. And one night after some streaming, with Mom, in the living room he had invited her down to his “man cave” of a basement where he showed off his collection of action figures and model replicas. And she’d only been mildly freaked out by kissing on the couch as the Hulk stared at her with an expression that plainly said, “No girls allowed.”

And over time she’d gotten used to all the quirks, the goofiness that he hid while at work. She loved the way he took care of his mom. She loved that he hadn’t let the world beat his child-like love of super heroes out of him. In a way he was a kind of modern super hero. The steady, well-off, willing to commit male. 

So when he’d gotten on one knee, Molly knew her answer before he asked the question. Even if the diamond was set in a pair of W’s she knew stood for Wonder Woman. If he looked at her like an Amazonian warrior princess, that was fine with her. 

And she had let his choices around the wedding slide. The light that came into his eyes when he talked about the groomsmen’s tuxes and having his life size cardboard cut off of Ironman in the line. 

She’d know what she was signing up for, and still those vows—

“Molly, I knew the minute we sat down in my man cave and you didn’t run, and you didn’t stop taking my calls, that you were the woman for me. I knew that you would be my sidekick and my partner in crime. I promise to always be your defender. To love you even when you don’t respond to my bat-signal flash light.”

Warming to it, his voice rose, until it filled the little grove they’d picked for the ceremony. 

“I will never desert you to be devoured by gridlock traffic. We will team. And our friends will know us as fighters for justice, enemies of carb-counters, RIDERS OF ELEVATORS! And our love will be one for the ages. This I promise and more. Forever.”

Molly realized that she had tears in her eyes, making Paul swim before her, creating a vision of them and their five children wearing matching Avengers t-shirts, eating ice cream while waiting in line for the newest ride at Universal. She was six dress sizes larger. So was he. 

She wiped her eyes. 

Cleared her throat.