PROMPT WORD: SHIFT
Mildred was about to turn eighty, was recently widowed, and had started a rather lengthy ‘bucket list’ with number eleven written in bold letters: 11. “Tell Lydia exactly what I think of her!”.
Lydia had been Mildred’s widowed neighbor for twenty-five years and a major ‘pain in the ass’ as she was always complaining about how Mildred, and her husband, should live but Mildred’s husband had a philosophy of not ‘making waves’ so Mildred had refrained from any confrontation.
Two of Lydia’s many complaints were requests that they’d barbeque on the other side of their house because of the smell and smoke damage to her drapes AND that they should mow their adjoining lawns on Tuesdays and Saturdays, as she did, to keep the neighborhood looking neat!
Even as Mildred reminded herself of Lydia’s persistent nosiness her fists clenched… “Of all the nerve!”.
As luck, or divine intervention, would have it on the very morning when Mildred had decided to confront Lydia and clear the air ‘once and for all’, she happened upon a newspaper article about teaching ‘difficult kids’ that caused a dramatic shift in her attitude.
It stated, ” The kids who need the most love and understanding often ask for it in the most unlovable ways.”, and Mildred supposed that adults were no different, so, she decided to invite Lydia over for a cocktail -low and behold- instead of serving a long planned ‘tongue lashing’, Mildred made a new friend.
Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt! – GirlieOnTheEdge’s Blog (wordpress.com)
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Sillyfrog's Blog 
Miss your visit to my blogs as you were doing before
I’ve been away from my computer and outdoors more lately. So sorry. I’ll make an effort to visit but I won’t have an online routine until October.
Welcome back, Susan. Thank you
You never know when you will meet a new friend.
That’s always a delightful possibility. 🙂
Awe – love that twist! 😊
😊 Thanks
I like how Lydia became Mildred’s friend in the end.
I do too. Thanks Frank. ❤
Sometimes it only takes a slight shift in perspective to consider alternative actions or, in Mildred’s case, a well timed newspaper article!
Uplifting Six, Susan 🙂
Thanks!
I so love it when that happens.
Lovely tale and a good reminder!
Thanks. 🥰
As a teacher, I can confirm that quote is definitely spot on, and how nice that Mildred remembered it and took it to heart!
It really is something I keep in mind. Thanks for your kind comment.
super stuff, super six
Thank-you sir!
Exactly! The line about catching more flies with honey than vinegar is usually correct.
❤ I’m sure Mildred felt a weight lifted simply by regarding Lydia’s actions a result of her own troubles not as an assault on her.
Enjoyed the Six.
(Not that I look for things beyond a simple story… as if lol), but the notion of perspective seems in evidence among the Babble of Sixes*
To make the choice to consider an alternate reality (because, what else is considering another perspective on a situation) can yield such a surprising range of outcomes.
Thought-provoking Six.
*not an official, legitimate or, even, ‘real’ term for a multiple of six sentence stories… and, the use of babble is not the more pejorative, modern definition, rather more akin to the source story.
Thank-you!
A sweet outcome and a lesson for all of us. Nice six!
Thank-you!
I’m definitely going to try this.
Or probably not…
LOL… it doesn’t work all the time, I’m sure!
I think it does. And if it doesn’t work 100% as we’d expect with gaining a new friend, it makes us feel good. (And it confuses the heck out of the other person!)
SO true! Thanks for your clarity, Michael!